Syrians lose life-saving care as Turkiye halts medical visits

Syrians lose life-saving care as Turkiye halts medical visits
After the February 6 earthquake ravaged health facilities on the Turkish side of the border, Ankara halted medical visits through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing – the sole access point for patients from Idlib. (AFP)
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Updated 09 June 2023
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Syrians lose life-saving care as Turkiye halts medical visits

Syrians lose life-saving care as Turkiye halts medical visits
  • Seriously ill Syrians in the country’s last rebel bastion of Idlib used to be able to access life-saving care across the border

HALZOUN, Syria: Huddled inside a tent in rebel-held northwestern Syria, Umm Khaled says she fears her baby will die unless she gets specialist treatment in neighboring Turkiye for a congenital heart defect.
Seriously ill Syrians in the country’s last rebel bastion of Idlib used to be able to access life-saving care across the border.
But the main crossing there for medical visits slammed shut after a deadly earthquake ravaged southern Turkiye on February 6, prompting Ankara to prioritize its domestic needs.
Born just a week before the disaster, baby Islam needs urgent cardiac surgery, unavailable in Syria’s war-scarred Idlib region where the health care system fell into further disarray after the quake.
“I watch my daughter suffer and I can’t do anything about it,” said Umm Khaled, showing only her eyes and hands beneath her black niqab.
The 27-year-old said her baby was losing weight and her condition worsening.
Islam often struggles to breathe, and a doctor has warned that repeated such episodes, which put further strain on her heart, could be deadly without an operation or treatment.
But only cancer patients have been allowed to cross into Turkiye after months of waiting — and only since Monday.
“When she cries, she turns blue and her heart beats very fast,” Umm Khaled said, as her three other young children sat on the ground in their tent in the village of Halzoun.
“I hope they’ll open the crossing soon,” she said, baby Islam squirming in her lap.
Doctors in Idlib refer most heart and cancer patients to Turkiye, where they can receive free treatment under an agreement between local authorities and Ankara.
Burns victims, premature babies and people requiring complicated surgery have also been allowed to cross.
But after the quake ravaged health facilities on the Turkish side of the border, Ankara halted medical visits through the Bab Al-Hawa crossing — the sole access point for patients from Idlib.
The border has remained open for United Nations humanitarian aid, goods and even Syrians visiting relatives in the area.
Firas Al-Ali, diagnosed with a benign tumor near his brain in 2017, has undergone surgery and tests in Turkiye, where he usually gets medication and treatment every three months.
He had been waiting for treatment on February 23, but then the earthquake struck.
“Due to the delay, I’m getting pain in my eyes and my head,” the 35-year-old blacksmith said.
“My treatment is unavailable here and if it is, it is expensive and I can’t afford it.”
Rebel-held Idlib is home to around three million people, many of them displaced from other parts of Syria and dependent on humanitarian aid.
Government-held areas of Syria are off limits to civilians from Idlib. The Syrian side of the Bab Al-Hawa crossing into Turkiye is controlled by the country’s former Al-Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.
The Syrian American Medical Society runs the only center in Idlib for cancer patients.
Paediatric oncologist Abdel Razzaq Bakur said the clinic lacked diagnostic equipment and medications, and had been overwhelmed by “numerous patients who urgently need to be admitted in Turkiye.”
The children’s ward alone has admitted 30 patients left untreated by the border closure, he said.
Around 40 more “haven’t been getting chemotherapy and their condition is very bad — some risk dying.”
Some families had tried to get medicine from Turkiye or Lebanon, but prices were often prohibitive, he added.
“Most people can’t cover their basic daily needs, so how are they supposed to secure chemotherapy doses?” he asked.
Yusuf Hajj Yusuf, 60, was scheduled to have chemotherapy in Turkiye the day the quake struck and said a recent scan showed his lung cancer had worsened.
He had asked relatives to help pay for treatment in Idlib but “no longer had the strength” to raise funds.
“I was very happy about the reopening of the crossing,” he said.
“After the earthquake, we cancer patients have suffered a lot. We have all been waiting to return to the Turkish hospitals.”


Aswan governorate launches tourism app for ‘the best winter resort in the world’

Aswan governorate launches tourism app for ‘the best winter resort in the world’
Updated 9 sec ago
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Aswan governorate launches tourism app for ‘the best winter resort in the world’

Aswan governorate launches tourism app for ‘the best winter resort in the world’
  • Attia claimed that Aswan is “one of the best governorates in the field of tourism, and the best winter resort in the world”
  • The new app, he explained, allows tourists to access “all necessary information, such as tourist places, hotels, and hospitals”

CAIRO: The Egyptian Governorate of Aswan in Upper Egypt has rolled out a new app to serve tourists.
According to Aswan Gov. Major General Ashraf Attia, the application been well-received so far. “It has significantly contributed to facilitating (tourists’) trips, saving both time and effort,” he said in a video published by the Information and Decision Support Center of the Council of Ministers and on his official Facebook page.
Attia claimed that Aswan is “one of the best governorates in the field of tourism, and the best winter resort in the world.”
The new app, he explained, allows tourists to access “all necessary information, such as tourist places, hotels, and hospitals.”
He continued: “The reaction we have received from tourists who have downloaded the application has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly during meetings with tourists in floating or fixed hotels, or during tours. The program has achieved great success.”
Bassem Halaqa, the head of the Tourism Workers Syndicate, highlighted the assistance the application has provided to Russian tourists, who currently make up the majority of visitors to Egypt, saying it had “significantly eased navigation” around Aswan.
“It underscores the importance of Russian tourists in supporting and revitalizing the tourism sector due to the close geographical proximity between Russia and Egypt, the availability of economical flights, and balanced prices for the services they receive,” he said.
Halaqa noted that Russia is cold for most of the year, and Egypt serves as a “warm haven” for Russian tourists.
“They particularly enjoy Aswan and the beaches of the Red Sea in Hurghada or Sharm El-Sheikh,” he said. “Some (like) to take day trips to visit the antiquities in Aswan and Luxor or travel to Cairo and Giza.”
Halaqa said that proposals to allow closed residential buildings to be converted into hotels are currently under consideration at the Ministry of Tourism. The initiative will focus not only on luxury tourism, but on two- and three-star accommodation as well, he added.


US exhibit of sphinx with African features angers Egyptian experts

US exhibit of sphinx with African features angers Egyptian experts
Updated 7 min 6 sec ago
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US exhibit of sphinx with African features angers Egyptian experts

US exhibit of sphinx with African features angers Egyptian experts
  • An exhibition at the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands recently caused a stir by linking hip-hop music with pharaonic coffins and statues, aiming to show the influence of ancient Egypt on artists of African descent

CAIRO: A statue of a sphinx featuring a head with African characteristics has sparked anger in Egypt after it was placed on display at a leading US museum.

The installation, crafted by American artist and activist Lauren Halsey, is on show at the Metropolitan Museum in New York as part of an exhibit that opened in April 2023 and is due to close in October.

Leading Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass described the sculpture as “a distortion of history and a complete falsification.”

“It is a shame that the museum, which is well-versed in the history of Egypt, allowed its trustees to carry out this farce,” he told Arab News.

Mahmoud Darwish, professor of archaeology at Minya University, said: “Unfortunately, there has been no move to address the controversy.”

The 36-year-old Halsey plans to display the artwork at various locations in the US, Darwish added.

Hussein Dakil, an archaeology expert, said the controversy raises questions about the “cloning” of ancient artifacts.

He said the practice violates Egyptian law, but cannot be enforced internationally.

However, Dakil said that international agreements such as the 1972 UNESCO World Heritage Convention could offer a framework for resolving such issues.

“Countries, including Egypt, can demand compliance with the UNESCO convention, offering a potential solution for removing and preventing such replicas,” he said.

This is not the first time that the intersection of contemporary culture and ancient Egyptian artifacts has raised eyebrows.

An exhibition at the Leiden Museum in the Netherlands recently caused a stir by linking hip-hop music with pharaonic coffins and statues, aiming to show the influence of ancient Egypt on artists of African descent.

Photos of Beyonce as Queen Nefertiti and a video of Rihanna dancing in front of the pyramids have also sparked a backlash.

The latest controversy comes on the heels of a Netflix documentary about Cleopatra featuring a dark-skinned actress in the title role.

The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities condemned the casting, saying that Cleopatra was “light-skinned with Greek features,” and criticized the film as an attempt to endorse an “Afrocentric” perspective.

 

 


Lawsuit filed to halt Mubarak sons from contesting elections

Lawsuit filed to halt Mubarak sons from contesting elections
Updated 10 min 51 sec ago
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Lawsuit filed to halt Mubarak sons from contesting elections

Lawsuit filed to halt Mubarak sons from contesting elections
  • The lawsuit accuses them of illicit gains, and seeks the recovery of smuggled funds from across the world
  • Apart from preventing their candidacy, Ismail’s legal action calls for the recovery of funds that have allegedly been smuggled abroad

CAIRO: Abdel Salam Ibrahim Ismail, director of the National Center for Citizenship and Human Rights Support, has filed a lawsuit aimed at preventing Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, the sons of Egypt’s late President Hosni Mubarak, from running for any high-ranking office in the country.
The lawsuit accuses them of illicit gains, and seeks the recovery of smuggled funds from across the world.
Ismail said that he filed an urgent lawsuit in which he demanded the cancelation of the justice minister’s decision to refuse to open a probe against Mubarak’s sons, in accordance with Article 44 of Law 20 of 1977.
Apart from preventing their candidacy, Ismail’s legal action calls for the recovery of funds that have allegedly been smuggled abroad.
He said that these funds belong to the Egyptian people and should be reclaimed, whether they are in the form of real estate, liquid assets or deposits in Egyptian or foreign banks.
Ismail added that these funds should be handed over to the Ministry of Finance to contribute to the state’s general treasury.
He said his lawsuit is driven by a sense of responsibility toward safeguarding the Egyptian people’s money.
“This request of mine has nothing to do with the approaching presidential elections in 2024, but rather a citizen’s care for the Egyptian people’s money that was plundered by symbols of Mubarak’s state,” Ismail said.
However, Ammar Ali Hassan, a researcher in political sociology, raised doubts in a post on X, pointing out that neither Alaa nor Gamal Mubarak had applied for any political positions.
“What would happen if the court permitted them to run for office, potentially opening the door to their political participation,” he said.
The legal saga traces its roots back to May 2015 when an Egyptian court sentenced Mubarak and his sons to three years in prison.
They were also fined about 126 million Egyptian pounds ($4 million) and ordered to return about 21 million Egyptian pounds.
This ruling followed their conviction for embezzling public funds in the widely known “presidential palaces” case.
The court of cassation upheld the ruling, making it final in January 2016.
A legal expert, who chose anonymity, highlighted the complexities in the case.
He said Law 22 of 2014, enacted during the era of interim President Adly Mansour, stipulates that anyone running for the presidency must not have been convicted of a felony or a crime against honor or trust, even if their reputation has been restored. The interpretation of this law remains a point of contention among legal experts.


Turkish authorities warn unregistered Syrians to leave Istanbul

Turkish authorities warn unregistered Syrians to leave Istanbul
Updated 14 min 23 sec ago
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Turkish authorities warn unregistered Syrians to leave Istanbul

Turkish authorities warn unregistered Syrians to leave Istanbul
  • The government needs ‘new strategy because current harmonization plan not paying off,’ analyst says

ANKARA: Against a backdrop of increasing anti-migrant sentiment in Turkiye, the Ministry of Interior has instructed unregistered Syrian residents of Istanbul that, unless they leave the city by Sunday Sept. 24, they will face “severe sanctions.” Syrians who had previously registered in other Turkish provinces are required to return to their original places of registration.

In recent months, Turkish authorities have intensified their efforts to crack down on illegal migrants in Istanbul, which currently hosts more than 500,000 Syrian refugees, the most of any city in Turkiye. Many of the refugees were registered in locations outside of Istanbul, but came to the city in search of employment.

Syrians who fled the provinces in which they were registered after the devastating earthquake in February and were subsequently granted travel permits to Istanbul are exempt from the ministry’s orders.

Sinem Adar, an associate at the Center for Applied Turkey Studies in the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, noted that similar restrictive measures have been imposed in the past.

“In 2019, the Ministry of Interior told Syrian refugees who were not registered in Istanbul to return to the districts where they were initially registered,” she told Arab News. “The fact that a similar measure is now being implemented — four years later — is a sign that the earlier efforts were not successful.”

As of Sept. 14, Turkiye is home to approximately 3.2 million Syrians with temporary protection permits, down 19,100 from the previous month’s figures.

According to Adar, public pressure and its own policies mean Turkiye’s ruling government is keen to repatriate at least some of the Syrian refugees as soon as possible.

“Ankara has been trying to create a safe zone in Northern Syria,” Adar says, “while also attempting to foster a reconciliation with Bashar Assad.”

Turkish President Recep Erdogan promised ahead of elections back in May that he would repatriate a million Syrian refugees. He has also unveiled plans for the development of new residential, agricultural and industrial projects — financed by Qatar — in northwest Syria, where Turkish troops are stationed, to accommodate the resettlement of Syrian refugees from Turkiye over the next three years.

This initiative — dubbed “The Aleppo Model” — will also encourage businesses in Turkish provinces bordering Syria to engage in commercial activities within Syrian safe zones, thereby generating employment opportunities for local residents. However, progress remains sluggish due to the protracted reconciliation process between Ankara and Damascus.

“Unfortunately, a Syrian’s fate relies on procedural arbitrariness,” Omar Kadkoy, a migration policy analyst at Ankara-based think tank TEPAV, told Arab News. “The mere fact that a documented Syrian is present in a province other than that (in which they were initially registered) does not constitute sufficient grounds for deportation (in either) domestic or international law. The authorities, however, could arbitrarily link one’s presence outside the province of registration to other activities, like being a threat to the public, for which deportation could qualify as a legal procedure. So, an apprehended Syrian relies on luck instead of rule of law to appeal the decision.”

Official statistics show that around 554,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their homeland voluntarily, but Adar said it is difficult to discern whether they all truly chose to return, as there have been allegations of refugees being pressured to sign up for “voluntary” return, as well as reports of increased deportations. “Forced return cannot be excluded,” she said.

As many in Turkiye grow increasingly resentful of the large number of refugees in the country amid its ongoing economic crisis, Syrian refugees are once again being made scapegoats by nationalist campaigns ahead of local elections in March 2024. “Gitmeliler” (They Should Go) has been trending on social media site X.

According to analyst Kadkoy, this is a recurring theme. Similar events occurred before the local elections in 2019, he noted.

“The public are living through the effects of unorthodox monetary policy, the pandemic and the recent earthquake on the economy, and blame Syrians for the economic woes,” he said.

The government, in response, “tightens measures against Syrians as a quick relief. This is insufficient and unsustainable,” he continued.

“The local elections are six months away. We are likely to see similar measures in other provinces as well. These measures are short-term fixes.”

He said the government “must seriously discuss and work on a new strategy because the current harmonization plan is not paying off.”

The analyst added: “This is particularly important since the prospects of large-scale voluntary repatriation are rather low without political transition in Syria.”

Adar underscored the delicate balancing act the ruling Justice and Development Party faces as it attempts to address societal discontent by returning some refugees to Syria while maintaining harmonious relations with Turkiye’s Arab population.

Several Turkish journalists and a number of other citizens have been detained recently for their anti-refugee social media posts, accused of inciting hatred and hate speech. Three journalists were arrested on Saturday morning.

“Ramping up measures against Syrian refugees while simultaneously punishing anti-refugee views is a strategy aimed at appealing to various interests,” Adar said.

The recent serious assault of Kuwaiti tourist Mohammed Al-Ajmi in the northeastern city of Trabzon, which left him comatose with four broken teeth, was a reminder of rising anti-Arab sentiment in the country, stoked by the influx of Syrian refugees.

 

 


Somalia liberated over 45 percent of Al-Shabab-controlled areas in under a year: PM

Somalia liberated over 45 percent of Al-Shabab-controlled areas in under a year: PM
Updated 21 min 16 sec ago
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Somalia liberated over 45 percent of Al-Shabab-controlled areas in under a year: PM

Somalia liberated over 45 percent of Al-Shabab-controlled areas in under a year: PM
  • Hamza Abdi Barre calls for lifting of arms embargo ‘to combat terrorism more effectively’
  • Palestinians’ plight ‘continues to be a source of shame to us all,’ he tells UN General Assembly

NEW YORK: Somalia has managed in under a year to liberate more than 45 percent of the areas formerly held by the terrorist Al-Shabab group, Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre said on Saturday.
Addressing the 78th UN General Assembly, he called for “the complete and unconditional removal of the arms embargo” that has been imposed by the Security Council since 1992.
“Lifting this embargo would allow us to combat terrorism more effectively and build a peaceful and prosperous future for our people,” he said.
The arms embargo on Somalia has been the world’s “longest-lasting … widest and most comprehensive,” he added.
Barre said his country has “dealt with an iron fist with extremism,” employing a “successful campaign” encompassing military, financial and ideological measures.
He emphasized that Somalia today has “necessary administrative systems that are strict in controlling possession, use and storage of firearms.”
Somalia launched the first phase of its military offensive against the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab in August last year.
The second phase was announced last month, with the military collaborating with clan-based militias in central Somalia.
Barre stressed the need to establish a similar approach in dealing with terrorism worldwide. “We must guarantee the effective integration of local communities in a manner that protects their rights by offering justice and upholding the rule of law,” he said.
Citing recent extreme climate events and rising temperatures, Barre stressed the need for collective action to address climate change.
He said “it’s a great injustice for Somalia,” a nation that “had the least to do with carbon emissions globally,” to bear the brunt of the negative impact of climate change.
“In the past years, Somalia has been the victim of a vicious cycle of prolonged droughts and destructive floods that have killed thousands and displaced millions,” he added, urging the international community to support the country in tackling climate change.
“There’s no poorer country — compared to where it was in the 1960s — than Somalia,” he said. “Despite this, Somalia in the last decade has made tangible progress toward peace and stability. We’ve started to witness qualitative and tangible socioeconomic growth.”
Barre said his country looks forward to achieving social and economic progress free from security threats, calling for “an immediate and comprehensive cessation of violence and destruction.”
He said the plight of the Palestinians “continues to be a source of shame to us all.” Barre pledged continued solidarity with them, and called for the adoption of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict along the pre-June 1967 borders.
Describing the world as “fragmented on one end and unequal on the other,” he called for reform of multilateral institutions such as the UN and development banks “because these establishments and their current structures are no longer fit for purpose.”