EU temporarily holds back food aid in Somalia after UN records widespread theft

Internally displaced women lining up at a food distribution center in Afgoye, Somalia. (AFP file photo)
Internally displaced women lining up at a food distribution center in Afgoye, Somalia. (AFP file photo)
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Updated 19 September 2023
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EU temporarily holds back food aid in Somalia after UN records widespread theft

Internally displaced women lining up at a food distribution center in Afgoye, Somalia. (AFP file photo)
  • One senior EU official said the decision was taken after the UN investigation concluded that landowners, local authorities, members of the security forces and humanitarian workers were all involved in stealing aid intended for vulnerable people

UNITED NATIONS/NAIROBI/GENEVA: The European Union executive has temporarily suspended funding for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Somalia, two senior EU officials told Reuters on Monday, after a UN investigation found widespread theft and misuse of aid, which had been meant to avert a famine.
The European Commission gave more than $7 million in aid to the WFP’s operations in Somalia last year, a fraction of the more than $1 billion it received in total donations, according to UN data.
EU member states gave much more money on a bilateral basis. It was not immediately clear whether any would also suspend aid.
Balazs Ujvari, a spokesman for the European Commission, neither confirmed nor denied specifically a temporary suspension but said: “So far, the EU has not been informed by its UN partners of a financial impact on EU-funded projects.
“Nevertheless, we will continue to monitor the situation and abide by our zero-tolerance approach to fraud, corruption or misconduct,” he said.
The WFP did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
One senior EU official said the decision was taken after the UN investigation concluded that landowners, local authorities, members of the security forces and humanitarian workers were all involved in stealing aid intended for vulnerable people.
This official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the aid would be restored after the WFP meets additional conditions, including on vetting of partners on the ground in Somalia. The second senior EU official confirmed that.
A third source, also an EU official, said the Commission was “cooperating actively with WFP to resolve systemic defects” but said no aid was suspended at this stage.
The July 7 report, which is marked “strictly confidential,” was commissioned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to a copy reviewed by Reuters. The contents of the report were first published on Monday by Devex, a media outlet focused on international development.
It cited internally displaced persons (IDPs) as saying they were coerced into paying up to half of the cash assistance they received to people in positions of power in the face of threats of eviction, arrest or de-registration from beneficiary lists.
Three months ago the WFP and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) suspended food aid to neighboring Ethiopia in response to the widespread diversion of donations.
The European Commission contributes 10 million euros ($10.69 million) to Somalia and Ethiopia via the WFP, with the suspension covering part of that, according to one of the senior EU officials.
The United States is by far Somalia’s biggest humanitarian donor. Last year, it contributed more than half of the $2.2 billion of funding that went to the humanitarian response there.
USAID spokesperson Jessica Jennings said in a statement that the United States was working to understand the extent of the diversion and was “already taking steps to protect beneficiaries and ensure taxpayer money is used to benefit vulnerable persons in Somalia, as intended.”
An official at the agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the situations in Ethiopia and Somalia were different and USAID was not planning to pause food assistance in the latter.
The Somali Disaster Management Office, which coordinates the government’s humanitarian response, said in a statement on Monday that Somali authorities were committed to investigating the UN report’s findings, while noting that the current aid delivery systems operate “outside of the government channels.”
Guterres’ office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

’WIDESPREAD AND SYSTEMIC’
Donors boosted funding to Somalia last year as humanitarian officials warned of a looming famine due to the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in decades.
Famine was averted, according to official data, but as many as 43,000 people, half of them children under 5, died last year as a result of the drought, researchers have estimated.
The UN report did not attempt to quantify the amount of aid that was diverted but said its findings “suggest that post-delivery aid diversion in Somalia is widespread and systemic.”
In all, investigators collected data from 55 IDP sites in Somalia and found aid diversion in all of them, the report said. Some 3.8 million people are displaced in Somalia – one of the highest rates in the world.
Aid distribution has been a problem in Somalia for decades, complicated by weak government institutions, widespread insecurity caused by an Islamist insurgency and the marginalization of minority clans.
Since revelations of aid theft during a 2011 famine, humanitarian agencies have converted most of their assistance to cash-based transfers that have been presented by some officials as less vulnerable to corruption.
The UN report was the latest evidence showing that cash-based systems can be exploited too. It identified a variety of perpetrators, led by so-called “gatekeepers,” powerful individuals from dominant local clans.
These gatekeepers leverage their influence over access to camp sites and food beneficiary lists to coerce payments out of IDPs, the report said.
Members of the security forces also play a role by intimidating and sometimes arresting people who refuse to pay, while some humanitarian workers collude with gatekeepers to pocket stolen funds, the report said.
While famine has been averted for now, the report warned that inadequate humanitarian funding could imperil fragile progress.
Aid budgets are under strain globally and to date only 36 percent of the $2.6 billion that the UN says is needed for Somalia’s humanitarian response this year has been funded. ($1 = 0.9355 euros)

 


Germany’s government and Elon Musk spar on X over migrant rescue ships

Updated 6 sec ago
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Germany’s government and Elon Musk spar on X over migrant rescue ships

Germany’s government and Elon Musk spar on X over migrant rescue ships
BERLIN: Germany’s government rebuked X owner Elon Musk after he criticized the recent work of migrant rescue ships that German humanitarian groups operate in the Mediterranean Sea.
Musk late Friday shared a video that showed migrants and aid workers on a boat. The right-wing account that first put the content on X, formerly known as Twitter, praised the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has taken a hard line on migration issues.
“Is the German public aware of this?” Musk wrote in his repost.
The German Federal Foreign Office replied to Musk directly on X, writing: “Yes. And it’s called saving lives.”
Musk responded that he doubted the German public supports the actions of non-governmental organizations that take asylum-seekers from unseaworthy vessels in the Mediterranean. He also asserted it was “surely” a violation of Italy’s sovereignty for German-operated ships to bring rescued migrants to Italian territory.
“So you’re actually proud of it. Interesting,” he wrote to the Foreign Office, adding that he thinks such maritime operations have “invasion vibes.”
The exchange comes as migration has returned to the political forefront in Germany and other European countries, with government officials and opposition politicians sparring about how best to handle an increasing number of arriving migrants.
Cities and communities across Germany have sounded an alarm, saying they are running out of room to accommodate them and to provide kindergarten and school places.
More than 220,000 people applied for asylum in Germany from January to August this year. In all of 2022, about 240,000 people applied for asylum. In 2015-16, more than 1 million people applied for asylum in Germany.

Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East

Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East
Updated 30 September 2023
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Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East

Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East
  • Farmers are tapping into afforestation programs in Gulf countries
  • Bangladeshi growers started exporting saplings to UAE and Qatar in 2019

DHAKA: After long research and trials at his nursery in Cumilla, some 100 km from Dhaka, Shamsul Alam started to bring tiny mango, jackfruit, and fig trees to the Gulf region. The efforts — and trees — have recently started to yield fruit, inspiring other Bangladeshi farmers to follow in his footsteps.

Alam began to export fruit saplings to Qatar in 2019, and soon also to the UAE and Oman.

“Since 2019, I have exported around 150,000 saplings to UAE, Qatar, and Oman,” he told Arab News. “All these plants are grown now and offer the taste of Bangladeshi fruits to Arabs. Bangladeshi fruit orchards are now seen in Qatar, Oman, and the UAE.”

He tapped into the market at the right moment, as in recent years afforestation programs have been gaining momentum in Gulf countries.

This year, Alam is focusing on mango trees and has already prepared several varieties at his Green World Nursery.

“Dubai ordered some Bangladeshi mango saplings from me. I have prepared 400 mango saplings with seven varieties of Bangladeshi mangoes, and these plants are ready now,” he said. “I hope to make the shipment in October.”

Dr. Reza Khan, principal wildlife specialist at Dubai Safari Park, who ordered the saplings from Alam, told Arab News that they will be planted in the Dubai desert as part of an “experimental” initiative.

“If rice can be grown in the desert, I hope that with proper care mangoes could be cultivated here as well,” he said.

For Bangladeshi growers, the business has potential. While it costs them about $2 to prepare a tree sapling in nurseries in Bangladesh, they sell them in the Gulf market at a price about four times higher.

According to Bangladeshi government data, Qatar has been the largest export destination for Bangladeshi fruit saplings, but the UAE is quickly gaining pace.

“The UAE is a big potential ... Especially saplings of mangoes are very popular,” said Kamrul Hasan, commercial counselor at the Bangladeshi Consulate General of Bangladesh in Dubai.

He believes that the UAE could become a hub for Bangladeshi sapling trade, as exporters have already scored phytosanitary certificates and environmental clearances.

“We have been exporting saplings in larger volumes for the last four-five years,” Hasan told Arab News.

“A lot of nurseries are there in Bangladesh involved in this sapling business and they are very efficient in their work, supplying quality saplings to Middle Eastern countries.”

Mohammad Khadim, who has been exporting saplings to the UAE since last year, says the main competitors for Bangladeshi exporters are Pakistan and India, which have easier access to the Gulf.

“For us, it takes around one month to reach the ports in Gulf countries,” he said. “Our competitors require only one week.”

But he is not discouraged and already plans to expand business to Saudi Arabia, which under the Middle East Green Initiative targets the planting of 50 billion trees across the whole region.

“I am in discussion with some buyers from Saudi Arabia,” Khadim said. “I hope to get positive results in the near future.”


Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East

Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East
Updated 30 September 2023
Follow

Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East

Moving mango trees to Dubai, Bangladeshi farmers take wing in Middle East
  • Farmers are tapping into afforestation programs in Gulf countries
  • Bangladeshi growers started exporting saplings to UAE and Qatar in 2019

DHAKA: After long research and trials at his nursery in Cumilla, some 100 km from Dhaka, Shamsul Alam started to bring tiny mango, jackfruit, and fig trees to the Gulf region. The efforts — and trees — have recently started to yield fruit, inspiring other Bangladeshi farmers to follow in his footsteps.

Alam began to export fruit saplings to Qatar in 2019, and soon also to the UAE and Oman.

“Since 2019, I have exported around 150,000 saplings to UAE, Qatar, and Oman,” he told Arab News. “All these plants are grown now and offer the taste of Bangladeshi fruits to Arabs. Bangladeshi fruit orchards are now seen in Qatar, Oman, and the UAE.”

He tapped into the market at the right moment, as in recent years afforestation programs have been gaining momentum in Gulf countries.

This year, Alam is focusing on mango trees and has already prepared several varieties at his Green World Nursery.

“Dubai ordered some Bangladeshi mango saplings from me. I have prepared 400 mango saplings with seven varieties of Bangladeshi mangoes, and these plants are ready now,” he said. “I hope to make the shipment in October.”

Dr. Reza Khan, principal wildlife specialist at Dubai Safari Park, who ordered the saplings from Alam, told Arab News that they will be planted in the Dubai desert as part of an “experimental” initiative.

“If rice can be grown in the desert, I hope that with proper care mangoes could be cultivated here as well,” he said.

For Bangladeshi growers, the business has potential. While it costs them about $2 to prepare a tree sapling in nurseries in Bangladesh, they sell them in the Gulf market at a price about four times higher.

According to Bangladeshi government data, Qatar has been the largest export destination for Bangladeshi fruit saplings, but the UAE is quickly gaining pace.

“The UAE is a big potential ... Especially saplings of mangoes are very popular,” said Kamrul Hasan, commercial counselor at the Bangladeshi Consulate General of Bangladesh in Dubai.

He believes that the UAE could become a hub for Bangladeshi sapling trade, as exporters have already scored phytosanitary certificates and environmental clearances.

“We have been exporting saplings in larger volumes for the last four-five years,” Hasan told Arab News.

“A lot of nurseries are there in Bangladesh involved in this sapling business and they are very efficient in their work, supplying quality saplings to Middle Eastern countries.”

Mohammad Khadim, who has been exporting saplings to the UAE since last year, says the main competitors for Bangladeshi exporters are Pakistan and India, which have easier access to the Gulf.

“For us, it takes around one month to reach the ports in Gulf countries,” he said. “Our competitors require only one week.”

But he is not discouraged and already plans to expand business to Saudi Arabia, which under the Middle East Green Initiative targets the planting of 50 billion trees across the whole region.

“I am in discussion with some buyers from Saudi Arabia,” Khadim said. “I hope to get positive results in the near future.”


Armenia says over 100,000 refugees flee Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia says over 100,000 refugees flee Nagorno-Karabakh
Updated 30 September 2023
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Armenia says over 100,000 refugees flee Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenia says over 100,000 refugees flee Nagorno-Karabakh
  • Nearly all the official population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has left since Azerbaijan launched an offensive to regain control

YEREVAN: Armenia said Saturday that over 100,000 people have fled Nagorno-Karabakh, meaning nearly all the official population of the ethnic Armenian enclave has left since Azerbaijan launched an offensive to regain control.
Nazeli Baghdasaryan, a spokeswoman for Armenia’s prime minister, said the number of refugees entering the country over the past week had reached 100,417, out of Nagorno-Karabakh’s estimated population of 120,000.


India’s Jaishankar says Canada has ‘climate of violence’ for Indian diplomats

India’s Jaishankar says Canada has ‘climate of violence’ for Indian diplomats
Updated 30 September 2023
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India’s Jaishankar says Canada has ‘climate of violence’ for Indian diplomats

India’s Jaishankar says Canada has ‘climate of violence’ for Indian diplomats
  • Relations between India and Canada have been tense of late over killing of a Sikh separatist leader
  • Presence of Sikh separatists in Canada who demand separate homeland for Sikhs has infuriated India

WASHINGTON: Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Friday there was a “climate of violence” and an “atmosphere of intimidation” against Indian diplomats in Canada, where the presence of Sikh separatist groups has frustrated New Delhi.
“Because there is freedom of speech, to make threats and intimidate diplomats, I don’t think that’s acceptable,” Jaishankar told reporters on Friday evening in Washington.
Relations between India and Canada have been tense of late, mostly due to the presence of Sikh separatists in Canada who have kept alive the movement for Khalistan, or the demand for an independent Sikh state to be carved out of India.
Canada’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents may have had a role in the June murder of Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was labeled a “terrorist” by India.
New Delhi dismissed the allegations as absurd. Washington has urged India to cooperate with Canada in the murder probe.
In 2018, Trudeau assured India that Canada would not support anyone trying to revive a separatist movement in India, while repeatedly saying that he respects the right to free speech and assembly of protesters to demonstrate.
Canada is home to an influential Sikh community, and Indian leaders say some fringe groups there remain sympathetic to the cause of an independent Sikh state. The cause hardly has any support in India.
The demand for Khalistan has surfaced many times in India, most prominently during a violent insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s which paralyzed the state of Punjab for over a decade.
The insurgency killed tens of thousands of people and the Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by the Indian government. Sikh militants were blamed for the 1985 bombing of an Air India Boeing 747 flying from Canada to India in which all 329 people on board were killed.
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by two Sikh bodyguards after she allowed the storming of the holiest Sikh temple, aimed at flushing out Sikh separatists.