Jordan welcomes water deal amid fears on refugee, climate crises

The National Water Carrier Project will produce roughly 300 million cubic meters of desalinated water annually in Aqaba. (AFP/File Photo)
The National Water Carrier Project will produce roughly 300 million cubic meters of desalinated water annually in Aqaba. (AFP/File Photo)
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Updated 02 January 2023

Jordan welcomes water deal amid fears on refugee, climate crises

Jordan welcomes water deal amid fears on refugee, climate crises

AMMAN: Jordan has signed a soft loan agreement with a European lender to help finance a mega $2.5 billion water-carrier project amid persistent shortages made worse by climate breakdown. 

The government agreed to the $213 million loan with the European Investment Bank, which will go towards a total $352 million state contribution to the National Water Carrier Project (Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Transport Project).

The EIB loan has coincided with reports that Israel was intending to supply desalinated water to the West Bank, Gaza, and Jordan.

An Israeli radio station recently said that the country’s water authority and Mekorot company would begin pumping desalinated water from the Mediterranean Sea, alongside groundwater, to Lake Tiberias through a newly established pipeline.

The report quoted an official as saying that “Israel would be able to solve its water issues for the next 30 years, including providing Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza with this resource.”

A Jordanian official said that the kingdom had “received nothing official from Israel on that.”

The source, who requested anonymity, said: “Israel usually pumps water into Jordan, under the peace deal, from Lake Tiberias and there is nothing special in that. But it would probably be the first time if Israel sends desalinated water from the Mediterranean.”

Described as the “largest infrastructure project” in Jordan’s history, the National Water Carrier Project will provide about 300 million cubic meters of desalinated water annually, conveyed from the port city of Aqaba on the Red Sea northward to the densely populated capital Amman and other cities.

Amman is described as one of the fastest growing cities in the world, with a rapidly increasing population due to refugee influx from crisis-hit neighboring countries.

According to official figures, the population of Amman has increased from 200,000 to four million over the past 50 years due to the refugee influx from Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria between 1948 to 2013.

The UNHCR says Jordan remains the second largest refugee host per capita worldwide with roughly 750,000 refugees of 57 different nationalities.

But official figures said that around 1.3 million Syrian refugees live in the resource-poor Jordan with the majority of them living outside the refugee camps.

The government has said that the “dramatic rise in the population growth rate and the impact of the refugee crisis has worsened Jordan’s water woes and placed it below the water poverty line.

According to official estimates, Jordan’s annual water resources were about 90 cubic meters per person, well below the international threshold of 500 cubic meters per person.

Jordan said that the National Water Carrier Project would be based on the “build-operate-transfer system, “and would be ready by 2027.

The project, according to the Ministry of Water, will consist of a seawater withdrawal system, desalination plant based on the southern shore of Aqaba, pumping stations and tanks, and a 450km pipeline.

Jordan is classified as the world’s second-most water-scarce country. The total population in Jordan was estimated at 11.1 million people in 2021 with a growth rate of 1.23 percent, according to official figures.

In October last year, Jordan announced that it had bought an additional 50 million cubic meters of water from Israel outside the framework of the 1994 peace agreement and what it stipulates in water quantities.

Under the 1994 Wadi Araba Peace Treaty, Israel is committed to providing Jordan with 55 million cubic meters of water a year.

In November last year, Jordan, Israel and the UAE signed a declaration of intent to begin deliberations over the feasibility of an energy-for-water project.

The Jordanian government, which faced criticism at home from the parliament, political parties and other civic forces for signing the deal, said that Jordan is to receive 200 million cubic meters of water annually under the project.

International media have reported that a massive solar-energy farm will be built in the Jordanian desert as part of a project to generate clean energy that would be sold to Israel in return for desalinated water.

The EIB loan fell within the European lender’s commitment during a donor conference in March this year, a government statement said, where a total of $1.83 billion was pledged in grants and loans.


Latakia governor praises UAE’s rescue efforts in Syria’s quake-hit areas

Latakia governor praises UAE’s rescue efforts in Syria’s quake-hit areas
Updated 24 March 2023

Latakia governor praises UAE’s rescue efforts in Syria’s quake-hit areas

Latakia governor praises UAE’s rescue efforts in Syria’s quake-hit areas
  • Amer Ismail Hilal: ‘The UAE has supported the Syrian people since the quake first struck the country’

LATAKIA, Syria: Latakia’s governor has lauded the UAE’s efforts to rescue those affected by the earthquake that hit several cities in Syria last month, the Emirates News Agency reported on Friday.
“The UAE has supported the Syrian people since the quake first struck the country,” Amer Ismail Hilal was quoted as saying. He added that the support included search and rescue teams, as well as humanitarian aid.
Hilal highlighted the deep-rooted relations between the two countries, underscored by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s visit to the UAE last Sunday.
On behalf of Latakia governorate, Hilal thanked the UAE’s government and people for the continuous efforts of the Emirates Red Crescent field teams.


African migrants stuck in Tunisia say racism persists after crackdown

African migrants stuck in Tunisia say racism persists after crackdown
Updated 24 March 2023

African migrants stuck in Tunisia say racism persists after crackdown

African migrants stuck in Tunisia say racism persists after crackdown
  • ‘We need evacuation, Tunisia is not safe, there’s no future here when you have this color, it is a crime to have this color’

BEIRUT: Weeks after a violent crackdown on migrants in Tunisia that triggered a perilous rush to leave by smuggler boats for Italy, many African nationals are still homeless and jobless and some say they still face racist attacks.

Outside the UN refugee agency in Tunis, dozens of African migrants stood protesting this week by the temporary camp where they have lived, including with children, since authorities urged landlords to force them from their homes.

“We need evacuation. Tunisia is not safe. No one has a future here when you have this color. It is a crime to have this color,” said Josephus Thomas, pointing to the skin on his forearm.

In announcing the crackdown on Feb. 21, President Kais Saied said illegal immigration was a criminal conspiracy to change Tunisia’s demography, language the African Union described as “racialized hate speech.”

US Assistant Secretary of State Barbara Leaf said Saied’s comments had unleashed “attacks and a tidal wave of racist rhetoric,” with rights groups saying hundreds of migrants reported being attacked or insulted.

Saied and Tunisia’s foreign minister have rejected accusations that he or the government are racist and they announced steps to ease visa regulations for Africans and reminded police of anti-racism laws.

While the official crackdown appeared to end weeks ago, migrants say they still face abuse.

“People told me ‘since you are in our country after the president’s speech, don’t you have any dignity?’ I kept silent and they told me I am dirt,” said Awadhya Hasan Amine, a Sudanese refugee outside the UNHCR headquarters in Tunis.

Amine has lived in Tunis for five years after fleeing Sudan and then Libya with her husband. Now 30, she has been living on the street outside the UNHCR headquarters since local people pelted her house in the capital’s Rouad district with rocks.

“We want to live in a place of safety, stability and peace. We don’t want problems in Tunisia,” she said.

Although some West African countries evacuated hundreds of their citizens earlier this month, many remain stuck in Tunisia, unable to support themselves let alone afford passage home or pay smugglers hundreds of dollars to ferry them to Europe.

“Tunisia is an African country. Why do they do racist things to us?” said Moumin Sou, from Mali, who was sacked from his job working behind a bar after the president’s speech and was beaten up the next day by a man in the street who stole his money.

Sou wants to return home, he said, but many others are determined to travel on to Europe.

In the wake of the crackdown, in which police detained hundreds of undocumented migrants and authorities urged employers to lay them off and landlords to evict them, smuggler crossings to Italy have surged.

Tunisian National Guard official Houssem Jbeli said on Wednesday alone the coast guard had stopped 30 boats carrying more than 2,000 people. On the same day and the following day four boats sank, with five people drowned, authorities said.


540,000 children in Yemen ‘starving’: UNICEF

540,000 children in Yemen ‘starving’: UNICEF
Updated 24 March 2023

540,000 children in Yemen ‘starving’: UNICEF

540,000 children in Yemen ‘starving’: UNICEF
  • The agency pleads for more aid as a child dies every 10 minutes

JEDDAH: More than 540,000 children under the age of 5 in Yemen are suffering life-threatening severe acute malnutrition and a child dies every 10 minutes from preventable causes, the UN said on Friday.

The UN children’s agency UNICEF warned that it could be forced to slash support for children in Yemen without a funding boost.

A total of 11 million children are in need of humanitarian assistance, UNICEF says.
It said it required $484 million to continue assistance this year, but the UN raised only $1.2 billion for all its agencies in Yemen at a pledging conference in Switzerland last month, well short of the $4.3 billion target.
“The funding gap UNICEF continued to face through 2022 and since the beginning of 2023 is putting the required humanitarian response for children in Yemen at risk,” the organization said said.
“If funding is not received, UNICEF might be forced to scale down its vital assistance for vulnerable children.”

The conflict in Yemen began in 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized the capital, Sanaa, in a coup. An Arab coalition intervened the following year to support the legitimate government, and launched their first assaults against Houthi positions on March 26, 2015.
A truce expired last year, but fighting has remained largely on hold.
More than 11,000 children are known to have been killed or maimed since the conflict escalated in 2015.
Fighting in Yemen has triggered what the UN describes as one of the world's worst humanitarian tragedies. Itsays more than 21.7 million people, two-thirds of Yemen's population, will need humanitarian assistance this year.
 


Rare anti-Houthi protests in Yemen after activist’s death

Hundreds of angry demonstrators are seen carrying the body of Hamdi Abdul Razaq through the streets of Ibb province on March 23
Hundreds of angry demonstrators are seen carrying the body of Hamdi Abdul Razaq through the streets of Ibb province on March 23
Updated 24 March 2023

Rare anti-Houthi protests in Yemen after activist’s death

Hundreds of angry demonstrators are seen carrying the body of Hamdi Abdul Razaq through the streets of Ibb province on March 23

SANAA: Rare protests have erupted against Yemen’s Houthi rebels following the funeral of a popular critic found dead after he was detained by the group.
Videos posted on social media showed hundreds of angry demonstrators carrying the body of Hamdi Abdul Razaq through the streets of Ibb province on Thursday.
Eyewitnesses, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisal, said the Thursday protests spanned several neighborhoods and protesters were heard chanting “No Houthis after today.”
Activists have accused the rebel authorities of abducting, torturing and killing Hamdi Abdul Razaq, who spoke out against the Houthi authorities in videos posted on Youtube. Followers knew him by his profile name, “Al-Mukohl.” He was reported dead by authorities late last week. His family have not commented on the incident.
In a series of videos, Abdul Razaq openly criticized Houthi rule, branding its administration as corrupt and repressive.
Houthi forces, who control Sanaa and most of northern Yemen, have cracked down on dissent in their territories. Some who oppose them have been charged for working with Saudi Arabia, which is part of the coalition battling the Houthis.
Yemen’s devastating conflict began in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital of Sanaa and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. The coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government to power.
In a statement following Thursday’s protest, the Houthi authorities claimed Abdul Razaq had been detained for insulting another influential family in the area. On Sunday, he escaped through a bathroom window of the police station and was found in a half-constructed building later that day, it said.
In a statement Thursday, the head of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, Rashed Al-Alimi, offered his support to the protesters and said a monthly stipend would be given to Abdul Razaq’s family.
Mohammed Ali, a high-ranking Houthi official, later said on Twitter that a committee had been set up to further investigate the incident.
His death comes amid a string of similar reported incidents. Earlier this year, a fruit and vegetable vendor from northern Houthi-held territories was abducted and killed, whipping up widespread anger across the divided country.
On Tuesday four activists were handed prison terms, ranging from six months to three years, by a Houthi court for their criticism of the Iran-backed rebels on social media, a lawyer said.


Charity opens village in for Syrians displaced by earthquake and conflict, named after child killed in quake

Charity opens village in for Syrians displaced by earthquake and conflict, named after child killed in quake
Updated 24 March 2023

Charity opens village in for Syrians displaced by earthquake and conflict, named after child killed in quake

Charity opens village in for Syrians displaced by earthquake and conflict, named after child killed in quake
  • The village is named after 10-year-old Massa Al-Najjar, a Syrian girl who was killed in last month’s earthquake

LONDON: A new village housing 500 Syrian families, who have been forced to live in tents and other informal accommodation due to last month’s devastating earthquake and the 12 years of conflict, was opened on Friday.

The town was opened by Action For Humanity, the parent charity of Syria Relief.

The Massa Village, in Al-Baab district of Northwest Syria, has already welcomed hundreds of people who due to move into their new homes.

The village is named after 10-year-old Massa Al-Najjar, a Syrian girl who was killed in last month’s earthquake and was the niece of Yarub Al-Asfari, AFH’s deputy country director for Syria.

The UK-based charity had already built 500 homes prior to this in the development and aims to build a further 1,000, for another 6,000 people, once it has secured funding from the public.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck parts of Turkiye and Syria on Feb. 6, killing more than 52,000 people — the vast majority in Turkiye — with 7,200 deaths recorded in Syria.

The quake and resulting aftershocks caused about $5.1 billion in direct physical damage in Syria, the World Bank estimated earlier this month, some 10 percent of Syria’s GDP.

“The past 12 years have been heartbreaking for the people of Syria, so many people have been killed and injured and lost their homes, and sadly, so many people lost their home multiple times,” Othman Moqbel, AFH’s chief executive, said.

“In addition to this, virtually all of the internally displaced persons in northwest Syria — 98 percent — were displaced by the devastating earthquakes on Feb. 6, and, sadly, 89 percent of these families had already been displaced at least once prior to this by the 12 years of conflict.

“So many people have to call a tent home, (so) we have built them proper homes, 50 square meters in size, each featuring a kitchen, a bathroom, bedrooms and living rooms.

“Adequate shelter is a basic human right, we hope this village will give hope to the affected Syrian population, where now more than 1.5 million people are residing in temporary shelters following February’s earthquakes.”