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US is spending billions to tackle the global food crisis, official says

US is spending billions to tackle the global food crisis, official says
A truck unloads barley at a grains terminal in Odessa, Ukraine, on June 22, 2022. Grains production is being hindered by Russia continuing attack. (Reuters)
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Updated 23 June 2022
ALI YOUNES

US is spending billions to tackle the global food crisis, official says

US is spending billions to tackle the global food crisis, official says
  • Assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs said Washington is working with global and regional partners to tackle the causes and effects
  • Climate change is the root cause of the crisis but it has been exacerbated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, he added
Updated 23 June 2022
ALI YOUNES

WASHINGTON: Climate change is to blame for the global food crisis but the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic have made it worse, according to Ramin Toloui, the US assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs.

Addressing the issue of global food shortages during a briefing on Wednesday, attended by Arab News, he said the US government is working with global and regional partners to tackle the effects of the crisis, especially shortages resulting from the conflict in Ukraine.

While acknowledging that the food crisis was already a concern before the war began, Toloui said the conflict has exacerbated the problem and is having a particularly significant effect on countries in the Middle East and North Africa because they import about half of their grain from Ukraine.

 

 

Through its Feed the Future Initiative, the US is working with countries around the world to increase food production and develop crops and seeds that are more resilient to climate change, he added.

“The US is committing $1 billion a year for the program,” he said, adding that Washington has also encouraged countries around the world to increase production of fertilizers, supplies of which have been disrupted by the conflict in Ukraine.

In addition, Toloui said, the US has pledged $2.5 billion in global humanitarian aid to address food insecurity, and committed $11 billion as it spearheads efforts to help US farmers and global producers cope with the effects of climate change on food production.

In the Middle East, he added, the US is working with local partners, including Saudi Arabia, to address the effects of the food crisis in the region, help alleviate shortages, in particular in countries such as Yemen that are facing other crises and challenges, and provide assistance to Syrian refugees. He also noted that Washington is working with international financial institutions to help reduce the effects of the food crisis on the poor.

All countries in the Middle East have a role to play in efforts to resolve the food crisis, and in collaborating with the international community to achieve sustainable production and supply of food, Toloui said.

On the specific issue of the current inability of Ukraine to export its grain crops to global markets because of the war with Russia, Toloui said the US government is working with Ukrainian officials to help reopen sea ports so that shipping can resume.

“The US will continue to advocate a rapid end to the conflict,” he added.

Topics: climate change COVID-19 Ukraine War Feed the Future Initiative USAID

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Biden pays tribute to Iranian women at Nowruz celebration

Biden pays tribute to Iranian women at Nowruz celebration
Updated 8 sec ago
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Biden pays tribute to Iranian women at Nowruz celebration

Biden pays tribute to Iranian women at Nowruz celebration
  • US President said that he wished Nowruz holiday would be a moment of ‘hope for the women of Iran fighting for their human rights and fundamental freedoms’
  • Joe Biden: ‘We’re going to continue to hold Iranian officials accountable for their attacks against their people’
Updated 8 sec ago
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WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden used a White House event to mark Persian New Year on Monday to pay tribute to Iranian women and girls who took to the streets of Iran to protest following the death last year of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and vowed to keep pressure on Tehran.
Biden said he wished the Nowruz holiday, a nearly 4,000-year-old tradition known as the Festival of Fire that’s linked to the Zoroastrian religion, would be a moment of “hope for the women of Iran fighting for their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
“The United States stands with those brave women and all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their conviction,” Biden said, describing the reception as the biggest White House Nowruz celebration to date. “We’re going to continue to hold Iranian officials accountable for their attacks against their people.”
The United States, Europe and the United Kingdom have imposed a series of fresh sanctions on dozens of Iranian officials and organizations, including the country’s special military and police forces, for their violent clampdown.
The protests began in mid-September when Amini died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
The protests mark one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 revolution.

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Serbia’s refusal to sign agreement with Kosovo will not halt progress, says US official

Serbia’s refusal to sign agreement with Kosovo will not halt progress, says US official
Updated 18 min 51 sec ago
RAY HANANIA

Serbia’s refusal to sign agreement with Kosovo will not halt progress, says US official

Serbia’s refusal to sign agreement with Kosovo will not halt progress, says US official
  • Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has verbally agreed to normalize relations with the breakaway former province but will not sign any legally binding international documents
  • US State department official Gabriel Escobar said the ‘important and historic’ deal is binding nonetheless and leaders on both sides had shown political courage and vision
  • Both countries seek EU membership and the bloc set normalized bilateral relations as a condition for this; Escobar said they will now be judged by their actions under the agreement
Updated 18 min 51 sec ago
RAY HANANIA

CHICAGO: The refusal by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to sign a formal agreement for establishing diplomatic ties with its breakaway former province, Kosovo, will not prevent the normalization of relations process from moving forward, a US official said on Monday.

Gabriel Escobar, the deputy assistant secretary for the Department of State’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, said that Serbia had verbally agreed to implement a Western-backed plan to establish ties. But he acknowledged it represents just the first step in efforts by the formerly warring nations to resolve their differences.

Vucic has made it clear that he wants Serbia to join the EU, but the latter has made it a condition of membership that the former normalize its relations with Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority but a large community of Serbs.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008 but Serbia refuses to recognize this and continues to consider it a province. During a meeting with EU officials on Saturday, Vucic verbally agreed to the normalization proposal but declined to sign any legally binding international documents.

“The United States is very happy to welcome this important and historic agreement,” said Escobar. “It sets the conditions for normalization between Serbia and Kosovo, on European terms, and in that regard it took a lot of political courage and a lot of vision from both Serbian President Vucic and Kosovan Prime Minister (Albin) Kurti to reach this agreement.

“This agreement is a legally binding obligation on both parties and both parties will be judged by their performance under the agreement. And that agreement will continue to be the basis of our policy for the United States going forward, and the basis for European engagement in the region.”

Escobar reiterated that despite the lack of formal signing, the agreement reached by the negotiators from Kosovo and Serbia is nonetheless “legally binding in every respect” and both sides have made commitments as they seek EU membership.

“So the signature was not the issue,” he added. “It was the obligation that both countries freely entered into and, again, the understanding, the clear understanding from both sides, of what was expected and what each side would receive. So, it is an agreement in every respect.

“The next steps, really, are for both sides to start on the implementation as it was outlined on Saturday. Both sides have legally binding obligations that they have to meet.”

On the Serbian side, Escobar said, this means the beginning of a process of recognizing “Kosovo’s documents and other national symbols … and things of that nature.”

He added: “For Kosovo, it’s important for them to begin the drafting of their version of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities. There are many other obligations but I think those are the most important ones.”

The significance of the negotiations and the agreement between the two nations marks “the start of the reconciliation between Serbia and Kosovo,” Escobar said. “So there will be a lot of work to continue to be done beyond this agreement. Additionally, the EU-facilitated dialogue will also continue.

“So there’s a lot here but what’s important is that we have set clear markers on how the two countries are going to relate to each other going forward.”

As the two nations move forward they “will receive the benefits flowing” from European nations and from the US, he added.

In turn, the responsibilities that both Serbia and Kosovo have accepted are clear, he said.

“I think … for Kosovo the most important thing, and the thing that will get them the most benefit, is greater Euro-Atlantic integration. So that’s our focus: Integration into European structures,” said Escobar.

“For Serbia, their insistence on the implementation of the legally binding obligation to … begin talks and implementation of the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities remains key.”

While acknowledging that it has only been two days since the agreement was announced, he added that everyone is hopeful it will succeed and lay the foundations for further progress for both nations.

After generations of conflict dating back to when the Balkans were controlled by the Ottoman Empire, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1244 on June 10, 1999, which placed Kosovo under transitional UN administration and authorized the deployment of a NATO-led peacekeeping force called the Kosovo Force. It provided for Kosovo to be granted autonomy, initially under the former Yugoslavia and then under successor nation Serbia.

Topics: Serbia Kosovo

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Rohingya refugees ask for citizenship, rights guarantee before Myanmar return

Rohingya refugees ask for citizenship, rights guarantee before Myanmar return
Updated 20 March 2023

Rohingya refugees ask for citizenship, rights guarantee before Myanmar return

Rohingya refugees ask for citizenship, rights guarantee before Myanmar return
  • Bangladesh hosts, supports around 1.2 million Rohingya people
  • Myanmar now more willing to start repatriation process: Bangladesh foreign ministry official
Updated 20 March 2023
SHEHAB SUMON

DHAKA: Rohingya refugees said on Monday their citizenship and basic rights must be guaranteed before returning to Myanmar, as the first step of a potential repatriation got underway.

Around 1.2 million Rohingya people are living in squalid camps in the coastal district of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, most of whom fled violence and persecution in neighboring Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017.

A team from Myanmar arrived last week to verify Rohingya refugees in Bangladeshi camps for their potential return as part of a pilot repatriation project, which has been delayed for years.

Authorities were expecting 400 people to be cleared to return to their homeland, part of more than 1,100 listed as a potential first batch of returnees. The documents of the rest were already cleared by Myanmar authorities remotely.

“I am willing to return to Myanmar if we are guaranteed citizenship and other associated rights, like freedom of movement,” Abdur Rahman, an 18-year-old Rohingya refugee in Cox’s Bazar, told Arab News.

Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as an indigenous ethnic group. Most were rendered stateless under the country’s 1982 Citizenship Law and had been excluded from the 2014 census. Many in the Buddhist-majority country refer to members of the community as Bengalis, suggesting they belong in Bangladesh.

“Our houses were burnt down,” Rahman said. “Some of my relatives are still living in Rakhine, I talk with them almost every day. As they told me, the situation in Rakhine is far better now.”

Rakhine State, one of Myanmar’s poorest states, was at the center of the 2017 violence.

Though Rahman’s village is still deserted, his relatives told him that some public facilities, including schools and hospitals, in other areas have been rebuilt.

However, repatriation was still uncertain even with the ongoing verification process, a Bangladesh foreign ministry official, who wished to remain anonymous, told Arab News.

“At the moment, it’s difficult to specify any time frame in this regard. We can say that both parties are working to solve the problems,” the official said, adding that the Myanmar delegation was expected to conclude its mission on Tuesday.

For a long time, Myanmar authorities “were going very slow” in verifying Rohingya refugees, leading to an extended delay of the repatriation process, the official said, adding that Myanmar officials now appeared “a little bit more willing than before” to start the project.

However, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said conditions in Rakhine State were still “not conducive to the sustainable return of Rohingya refugees.”

In a statement, the UNHCR said it was “not involved in the discussions” of a potential return of the Rohingya people in Bangladesh to Myanmar, though it was aware of the bilateral repatriation project between the two countries, which was reportedly mediated by China.

“We reiterate that every refugee has a right to return to their home country based on an informed choice, but that no refugee should be forced to do so,” the UNHCR added.

Mohammed Nur, a 22-year-old Rohingya refugee living in Kutupalong camp, told Arab News that he wanted to go back to Myanmar.

“I am very much willing to return to my homeland,” he said. “But it cannot happen without the rights of citizenship in Myanmar.

“If our rights are ensured, I believe all of us would return to Myanmar, because a refugee’s life has no dignity.”

Topics: Myanmar Bangladesh Rohingya

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India, Japan discuss stronger cooperation to foster peace in Indo-Pacific region

India, Japan discuss stronger cooperation to foster peace in Indo-Pacific region
Updated 20 March 2023

India, Japan discuss stronger cooperation to foster peace in Indo-Pacific region

India, Japan discuss stronger cooperation to foster peace in Indo-Pacific region
  • New Delhi, Tokyo hold respective presidencies of G20, G7 groupings this year
  • India ‘indispensable partner’ to achieve Japan’s vision of free, open Indo-Pacific
Updated 20 March 2023
Sanjay Kumar

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida met on Monday for wide-ranging bilateral talks and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation for peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

Kishida, who is on a two-day trip to India and this year chairs the Group of Seven industrialized nations, invited Modi to participate in the G7 Summit in May, which will be held in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima.

The two PMs addressed issues ranging from security to climate and energy during their meeting and discussed ways to converge priorities of India’s presidency of the Group of 20 biggest economies and Japan’s G7 leadership.

“The India-Japan special strategic and global partnership is based on our shared democratic values and international rule of law. To strengthen this cooperation is important not only for both countries but also this will enhance peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” Modi said.

“One of the pillars of the G20 presidency is to give voice to the global south. We believe in carrying everyone together,” he added.

Modi said Kishida’s visit was important “to keep the momentum going” for India-Japan cooperation.

The Japanese premier noted that India was an “indispensable partner” to achieve its new plan of a free and open Indo-Pacific, as he pledged $75 billion to the region as part of the expansive new vision.

“I believe that Japan and India are in an extremely unique position in the current international relations and furthermore in the history of the world,” Kishida said at a lecture hosted by the Indian Council of World Affairs.

“Japan and India have a great responsibility for maintaining and strengthening a free and open international order based on the rule of law.”

The two nations, along with the US and Australia, make up the Indo-Pacific alliance known as the Quad that has sought to counter China’s rising influence in Asia.

“This year, as Japan holds the G7 presidency and India holds the G20 presidency, my hope is that through working together with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and other many countries we will bring about peace and prosperity to the international community which faces a time of challenges.”

India is not a G7 member but has been participating at its summits as a partner country. Japan, on the other hand, is a member of the two major groupings.

The two Asian nations are strong economic partners with bilateral trade valued at around $20.6 billion in the fiscal year 2021 to 2022. Japan has been supporting infrastructure development in India, which includes a high-speed rail project, and Tokyo’s investment in the South Asian nation reached $32 billion between 2000 and 2019.

Harsh V. Pant, head of strategic studies at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told Arab News that both countries were increasingly looking at the Indo-Pacific through similar lenses.

“Though the two nations are on different tracks when it comes to the Ukraine crisis, certainly both feel the G7 and G20 have to work together if the global governance agenda is to be changed,” Pant said.

India has not condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Japan has imposed financial sanctions to isolate Russia.

“India is pivotal to Japan’s Indo-Pacific outlook and strategy,” he said.

“Japan wants G7 and India wants G20 to work for the developing world, to resolve global governance problems and to ensure that the leadership void that the world is feeling at the moment is filled with the leadership of countries like India and Japan.”

Topics: India Japan Narendra Modi Fumio Kishida

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UK opens probe after Afghans in hiding told to receive Taliban-stamped papers for relocation

UK opens probe after Afghans in hiding told to receive Taliban-stamped papers for relocation
Updated 20 March 2023
Arab News

UK opens probe after Afghans in hiding told to receive Taliban-stamped papers for relocation

UK opens probe after Afghans in hiding told to receive Taliban-stamped papers for relocation
  • Ministry of Defence apologizes ‘unreservedly’ over claims published by The Independent
Updated 20 March 2023
Arab News

LONDON: The UK’s Ministry of Defence has opened an investigation in the wake of a report by The Independent that revealed Afghan refugees had been asked to provide Taliban-approved documents for relocation to Britain.

The 37 applicants to the UK’s Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy — launched after the Taliban takeover in 2021 — were told by authorities that they needed to show documents that could only be signed by government ministries in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

The MoD’s demand was “asking them (the refugees) to sign their own death warrant,” one MP said, with charities warning that Afghans had been put in danger as a result of the request.

As a result of the newspaper’s report, the ministry apologized “unreservedly” for the error after initially denying that the demands had been made to the 37 applicants.

A ministry spokesperson also told The Independent that it would now carry out an investigation, saying: “Last month, we were notified of an error in recent communications with a group of ARAP applicants, instructing them to verify documents with local authorities.

“The 37 affected applicants were notified of the error and have since responded to the correct instructions and confirmed they are currently safe.

“The MoD is now conducting a review to identify any further remedial actions needed to strengthen policies and processes.”

The newspaper’s investigation found several instances of Afghans in hiding who had been told to request documents from various Afghan ministries.

One former interpreter for British forces was told by the MoD that his marriage certificate, as well as the birth certificates of his children, needed to be validated by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He visited the Ministry of Justice to receive validation of his marriage certificate, but due to living in hiding, has been unable to communicate with the Foreign Ministry, meaning his ARAP application is unlikely to be approved by UK authorities under the current circumstances.

The MoD told another applicant regarding his children’s birth certificates: “These documents are an essential requirement and really need to be provided. They should be in English and bear the (Afghan) Ministry of Foreign Affairs seal and other necessary department stamps.”

About 4,600 Afghans still in the country are eligible for relocation to the UK under ARAP, including family members.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said last week that the UK takes its obligations to former interpreters and contractors to British forces “extremely seriously.”

Topics: United Kingdom (UK) Afghanistan Taliban

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