Afghan-born champion sustains hope for refugees stranded in Indonesia through karate

Special Afghan-born champion sustains hope for refugees stranded in Indonesia through karate
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Meena Asadi teaches karate at the Cisarua Refugee Shotokan Karate Club in Cisarua, West Java. (Supplied)
Special Afghan-born champion sustains hope for refugees stranded in Indonesia through karate
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Meena Asadi established the Cisarua Refugee Shotokan Karate Club, in 2016, to help refugees in her community. (Supplied)
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Updated 19 June 2022

Afghan-born champion sustains hope for refugees stranded in Indonesia through karate

Afghan-born champion sustains hope for refugees stranded in Indonesia through karate
  • Meena Asadi won three silver medals at 2010 South Asian Games
  • She founded a karate club for refugees in Indonesia, where she teaches 40 students

JAKARTA: Meena Asadi fought against all odds to chase her dreams of being a professional karate athlete. 

She was 13 years old and living in a refugee camp in Pakistan when she first decided to learn the martial art. After fleeing violence in Afghanistan with her family, Asadi was driven to break gender barriers in sports. 

“When I saw boys playing sports freely, I asked myself: ‘Why couldn’t I do that?’” Asadi told Arab News in an interview. “It motivated me to start karate professionally.” 

Asadi’s passion for karate has guided her life journey since, even over a decade later in Cisarua, a West Java town south of Jakarta, where she now teaches the art to fellow refugees. 

Asadi returned to Afghanistan in 2011 but had to leave the country again due to violence and war. She arrived in Indonesia in 2015, where she has lived for years under increasing uncertainties over the future. 

“In Indonesia, refugees live without even the most basic human rights. We consider ourselves forgotten,” Asadi said. “We all suffer from depression and psychological damage.” 

Indonesia, which is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and mainly serves as a transit country, is host to more than 13,000 refugees, many of whom have languished in the archipelago nation for years as they await resettlement in a third country. 

As refugees in the Southeast Asian country find themselves further trapped in uncertainties, without the right to work and with only limited access to education, Asadi has been using karate to help them reduce their anxiety and find hope. 

“Karate helps them to be physically and mentally strong. When they wear a karate uniform, they forget that they are homeless,” she said. 

“This is how their stress decreases and they become hopeful.” 

Asadi, who is a black belt in karate, won three silver medals at the 2010 South Asian Games. 

She started the Cisarua Refugee Shotokan Karate Club in 2016 and now trains 40 students three times a week for two hours per session. Her youngest student is 7 years old, while her oldest is in his 50s. They are refugees from Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sudan. More than half are girls. 

The club in Indonesia, which the 29-year-old sustains with the help of local and foreign donations, was not her first, as she had started one back in Afghanistan not long after she returned to Kabul as an adult. 

“You can just imagine being the one girl who is a karate coach in Afghanistan; people don’t want you to do sports,” she said. 

“If a girl opens a karate club for boys and girls, she will find many enemies, which is something I was faced with. That is why I escaped and came here — to save my life.”

Throughout her life, Asadi has faced many barriers in pursuing her karate dreams, from family members who did not believe in her to the persistent violence in her home country. 

Though she is thankful for the hospitality she has received from Indonesia, Asadi said that refugees in the transit country are akin to prisoners. 

“We are prisoners here. Our crime is that we escaped from violence and survived. We have been living without basic human rights for years,” Asadi said.  

As the world commemorates World Refugee Day on Monday, Asadi hopes that resettlement is in the near future for herself and her community. 

“The world must open its doors to the refugees trapped in Indonesia,” she said. “They should be resettled as soon as possible because refugees are talented and skilled people.”


Reports that billionaire British Muslim brothers plan $9.8bn takeover of Subway

Billionaire British Muslim Issa brothers are considering an £8 billion ($9.87 billion) takeover of sandwich chain Subway
Billionaire British Muslim Issa brothers are considering an £8 billion ($9.87 billion) takeover of sandwich chain Subway
Updated 55 min 23 sec ago

Reports that billionaire British Muslim brothers plan $9.8bn takeover of Subway

Billionaire British Muslim Issa brothers are considering an £8 billion ($9.87 billion) takeover of sandwich chain Subway
  • Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who started their business empire with one petrol station in the Greater Manchester area in 2001, are said to be set to buy the chain

LONDON: The billionaire British Muslim Issa brothers are considering an £8 billion ($9.87 billion) takeover of sandwich chain Subway, according to media reports.

Mohsin and Zuber, who started their business empire with one petrol station in the Greater Manchester area in 2001, are said to be set to buy the chain, which had more than 37,000 outlets in over 100 countries in 2021.

The brothers co-own the Euro Garages firm, along with TDR Capital, which operates more than 6,600 petrol stations globally, and already has Subway outlets at 340 of its locations.

“EG Group have felt for a while that Subway treated them the same way as other franchise partners and their massive growth hadn’t been appreciated, so what better way to show who’s boss than owning them?” a source told British newspaper The Sun.

Another source told the newspaper it would “make good sense” for the brothers to complete the purchase.

The EG Group completed a £6.8 billion takeover of supermarket chain Asda in 2021 and is also KFC’s largest franchise owner in Europe.

It also owns the restaurant chain Leon and helped to launch the UK’s first drive-thru Indian street food outlet in the British town of Bolton.


Norway says repatriating sisters and children from Syria

Norway says repatriating sisters and children from Syria
Updated 28 March 2023

Norway says repatriating sisters and children from Syria

Norway says repatriating sisters and children from Syria
  • "The living conditions in the camps are extremely bad and dangerous,” Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said
  • The two sisters of Somali origin clandestinely left Norway for Syria in late 2013, aged 16 and 19, to join a popular uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad

OSLO: Norway said Tuesday it was repatriating from Syria two sisters who went there as teenagers as well as their three children, citing abysmal conditions in the displacement camp where they were housed.
“The living conditions in the camps are extremely bad and dangerous. These Norwegian children have been living for a long time in these camps where no children should have to live,” Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in a statement.
They were handed over on Tuesday, according to a statement from the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria.
The two sisters of Somali origin clandestinely left Norway for Syria in late 2013, aged 16 and 19, to join a popular uprising against the regime of President Bashar Assad, as they would later explain in an email exchange.
Norwegian writer Asne Seierstad recounted their experiences in a book.
The sisters, now aged 29 and 25, are between them mothers to three daughters born from partnerships with Daesh group fighters, according to Norwegian paper Verdens Gang.
“The two women themselves asked for assistance to return with their children (and) know they will be arrested on arrival in Norway,” said Huitfeldt.
The semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria said that “two women and three children from Daesh families” who were in the Roj camp were handed over to a Norwegian diplomat on Tuesday.
A statement said the children were aged six, seven and eight.
The situation of the sisters has been much discussed in Norway, as have similar cases involving youngsters from other European countries who made their way to Syria.
One such case was that of Shamima Begum, 23, who was stripped of her British citizenship after traveling to Syria as a teen to marry an Daesh fighter and who last month lost her legal battle to reverse the decision.
Huitfeldt noted that the United States as well as the UN and Kurdish authorities have been backing repatriation in such cases, citing instability in the region.
Norway in 2020 repatriated a woman from Syria with Daesh links as one of her children was seriously ill.


British business ministers announce working group on Islamic finance 

British business ministers announce working group on Islamic finance 
Updated 58 min 15 sec ago

British business ministers announce working group on Islamic finance 

British business ministers announce working group on Islamic finance 
  • The working group will help realize the Secretary of State’s priority of making the UK an undisputed investment, Islamic finance destination

LONDON: The British Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch, and Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade Lord Johnson announced on Monday the launch of new working group on Islamic Finance at a “Great British Iftar” at Lancaster House in London.

The working group will help realize the Secretary of State’s priority of making the UK an undisputed investment destination by ensuring the UK is a global hub for Islamic finance, a statement said. 

Johnson will lead a series of roundtables with the world’s leading Islamic banks to map out a path for the UK achieving its goal of becoming a global hotspot of Islamic finance.

The inaugural Great British Iftar included ambassadors from Morocco, Malaysia and several other Muslim majority countries.

Senior executives from investment firms, CEOs of major British businesses, and founders and entrepreneurs of exciting British firms were also in attendance, as were Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and government ministers.

Sheikh Hani Saad Mahmoud, Imam at the historic Al Azhar Mosque in Cairo, travelled from Egypt to lead prayers at sunset.

Badenoch gave a speech at the Iftar celebrating the flourishing trade and investment relationship with the Muslim world.

She made clear the amazing contribution business of all sizes make to the UK economy and the support her department can provide to make them the engines of British exports into new markets.

Celebrity chef and founder of Spice Village, Suleman Raza, and award-winning music producer DJ Naughty Boy (Shahid Khan) curated a special “British Iftar Menu” for the evening, which served up a fusion of cuisines inspired by Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Pakistan and Malaysia.

 


Greece arrests 2 Pakistanis for planning anti-Semitic attacks

Greece arrests 2 Pakistanis for planning anti-Semitic attacks
Updated 28 March 2023

Greece arrests 2 Pakistanis for planning anti-Semitic attacks

Greece arrests 2 Pakistanis for planning anti-Semitic attacks
  • The arrested men were targeting a building which houses a synagogue and a Jewish restaurant
  • Israel said it was a fresh attempt by Iran ‘to promote terror against Israeli and Jewish targets abroad’

ATHENS: Two young Pakistanis of Iranian origin have been arrested by Greek police over planned anti-Semitic attacks in central Athens, as Israel accused Tehran of being behind the plot.
Israel said it was a fresh attempt by Iran “to promote terror against Israeli and Jewish targets abroad.”
“After the investigation of the suspects in Greece, Mossad helped untangle the intelligence of the network, it’s operational methods and ties to Iran,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said referring to Israel’s national intelligence agency.
“As part of the investigation, it emerged that the infrastructure in Greece was part of a broad Iranian network, operated from Iran toward many countries,” the statement said.
Greek police spokeswoman Konstantina Dimoglidou said the “mastermind” of the cell is “a Pakistani who lives outside Europe.”
A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the person lived in Iran.
“After coordinated actions by the Greek police and the National Intelligence Service, a terrorist network was dismantled which, from abroad, was planning strikes against carefully selected targets on Greek territory,” a police statement said.
Police said the network had “already chosen the target of the attack” and were planning how to execute it.
Greece’s Jewish community numbers around 5,000. The government has good relations with Israel, including a number of security and military agreements.
The Greek police source said the two Pakistanis of Iranian origin were aged 27 and 29 and were planning attacks on areas frequented by Israelis in central Athens.
The source said the men were targeting a building which houses a synagogue and a Jewish restaurant.
The mobile phones of the two arrested men had allowed investigators to capture conversations, videos and sketches of the places targeted, according to the same source.
The country has not been the target of any terrorist attacks in recent years.
Greek police said the suspects were trying to undermine state security and its “international relations.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Greece’s under-fire prime minister announced elections would be held on May 21, as popular anger seethes over last month’s train tragedy that killed 57 people.
PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose four-year term is to end in July, is seeking re-election on pledges of safety improvements after the nation’s worst rail disaster and strengthening the economy.
His government has also pledged to tighten security and prevent illegal migration by sealing its frontier with help from the EU’s border agency Frontex.


UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons

UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons
Updated 28 March 2023

UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons

UNHCR launches Ramadan campaign for forcibly displaced persons
  • Campaign comes amid an increase in humanitarian emergencies in Turkiye, Syria and Bangladesh

DUBAI: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is launching a Ramadan campaign to raise funds for the growing needs of people who have been forcibly displaced around the world. 

The campaign comes amid an increase in humanitarian emergencies, the UNHCR said on Tuesday..

Over 100 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes last year as a result of war, violence, persecution, and human rights violations. 

The devastating earthquakes that struck Turkiye and Syria in February affected 23.8 million people, including many Syrian refugees who had already been displaced by the country's long-running crisis. 

UNHCR is appealing for $201.3 million to meet the urgent needs of quake-impacted families.

Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, a 90 percent funding shortfall adds to the difficulties that 978,000 Rohingya refugees face regarding nutrition, shelter, sanitation, and livelihoods. 

“UNHCR is urgently calling for support to address the growing humanitarian needs of displaced people observing Ramadan facing increasing challenges across the world,” said Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR’ Representative to Gulf Cooperation Council countries. 

“We are working tirelessly to ensure that those affected by war and displacement are provided with immediate and long-term relief,” Khalifa added.

Since its inception in 2017, the UNHCR Refugee Zakat Fund has supported over six million people  in 26 countries.