Depressing scenario

PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s latest statement terming President Pervez Musharraf a ‘relic of the past’ whose ouster is being demanded with more vigour by the people than they are asking for bread and electricity has understandably sent shockwaves through political circles. It has also exacerbated the sense of uncertainty and anxiety in the country. Whether Mr Zardari’s statement marks a change in his ‘policy of reconciliation’ or mere posturing and brinkmanship as he negotiates a constitutional package with the presidency seeking a transfer of power from the president to parliament/prime minister is not clear. Mr Zardari has come in for sharp criticism from many quarters for what is seen as a change of heart over the restoration of the sacked judges through a resolution in parliament as he had promised in the Bhurban (Murree) Declaration. Some analysts are saying his latest remarks may just reflect the pressure from his allies and even elements within his own party to distance himself from the president at least publicly. Sources close to the president, albeit unnamed, wasted no time in sharing with the media his displeasure over Mr Zardari’s remarks, raising the prospects of a fresh confrontation. On top of the hitherto unresolved judges’ issue, this latest twist in events is hardly likely to bring calm to the markets and put the fragile economy on the path to recovery.

This is imperative if hunger, disease and poverty that abound in the inflation-ridden country are to be tackled at all. It is sad that the optimism that the dawn of Feb 19 brought along with the election results appears a distant memory. One doesn’t wish to point the finger of blame in any one direction but it is clear that all characters involved in running or influencing the affairs of the state have played politics rather than rise to the occasion with a statesman-like response to the various crises plaguing the country. The will of the people as manifest in the election results has not been entirely respected for key players have chosen to sacrifice the larger national interest at the altar of personal gain and ego. At a time when the global economy is in the throes of a crisis, Pakistan needed economic vision and management of the highest order to have any hope of delivering something to the deprived multitudes. But the events of recent weeks provide few reasons for optimism. And it remains a forlorn hope that we will find leadership at all tiers and in all areas of the state that will sacrifice self-interest for the greater good of the nation.

Syria-Israel talks

EVEN though they have pledged to pursue negotiations ‘with good faith and an open mind’, there is no cause to be optimistic about the outcome of the Syria-Israel talks, given the Zionist state’s track record. Certain features of these indirect talks, brokered by Turkey, deserve to be noted because they have brought together two of the Middle East’s bitterest foes. First, Syria and Israel are technically at war. Second, the talks are not about ‘disputed territory’ but about a piece of land that belongs to Syria which Israel occupied in 1967 and later annexed in 1981. Third, Damascus has made it clear that it will not accept any preconditions for talks. Israel has always insisted that Syria stop supporting ‘terrorist groups’ — Israel’s euphemism for Palestinian militias fighting for freedom. Syria had let the Turks known that it would continue to support Hezbollah and Hamas. Fourth, Syria has also stressed the fact that the talks are about the Golan Heights, and Damascus wants it reunited with Syria in totality. In short, the government of Bashar al-Hafez wants a return to the 1967 borders.

The Golan Heights are of special importance to the two sides not only because of their strategic location — they overlook the Syrian plains — but also because they are a source of precious water in an area short of it. The occupation of the 690 square miles of heights has enabled Tel Aviv to steal water from the Arabs and divert it to its own settlements in the Galilee area. That would explain why the Israeli leadership proceeded to annex the heights. But Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is a politician desperate to boost his sagging image. The disastrous 2006 war with Hezbollah was a blow to his political career, and currently he is under investigation for corruption. The opposition rightly suspects that the talks with Syria are a stunt to divert public attention from the probe. The crux of the matter is now America’s approach, considering that it was President Bush who gave the go-ahead to the talks, and also commended ‘Turkey’s useful role’. The fate of the Annapolis agreement is before us. Within a week of its signing Olmert had declared that he was not bound by the document’s timetable which visualises an independent Palestinian state by the end of this year. Given America’s unqualified backing for Israel, it is doubtful that Israel will relinquish territory it has already annexed.

Switch to daylight saving

AS expected, at least two features of the energy conservation plan unveiled last week are coming under criticism from the public at large and the business community in particular. Traders are up in arms over the decision that shops must shut by 9pm starting June 1, with the chairman of the small traders committee of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry vowing that any such move will be vigorously opposed. Considerable concern is also being voiced over the three-month switch to daylight saving time in which clocks will be advanced by an hour on June 1. Many are asking why this is being done when a similar initiative in 2002 had no impact on loadshedding during the day while the difference even at night was negligible. Other complaints carry less weight, if any. The argument that daylight saving is somehow culturally at odds with our way of life holds no water at a time of national crisis. Similarly, the mere inconvenience for the privileged of not being able to go for early morning walks for a few months because of the darkness, or take evening strolls due to the heat, hardly clinches the matter either.

But these disruptions in schedules and lifestyles do count and will be resented if they are all for nought. For one thing, there is the precedent of the failed 2002 experiment and the government is yet to explain how the outcome will be any different this time round. Some are also finding it hard to wrap their heads round the geographical anomaly that Pakistan will soon be half an hour ahead of its neighbour to the east. The water and power ministry may be better off focusing on some other aspects of the conservation plan that seem to make perfect sense, such as staggered working days for industrial zones, checking line losses, turning off half the country’s streetlights for three months, replacing ordinary bulbs with energy-savers, and cutting off supply to billboards and neon signs. If implemented and monitored rigorously, these moves could well result in substantial savings. In addition, the authorities should strictly enforce a cut-off point for festivities at marriage halls and other night-time functions at public places and hotels, a move that was successful a decade ago. The practice of illuminating government buildings and municipal parks all through the night must also cease forthwith. What worked in the past or is yet to be implemented ought to be given precedence over what has been tried before without success.

OTHER VOICES - Bangladesh Press

Spotlight on human rights

Amar Desh

MUCH has been done and talked about since the caretaker government came to power last year. Yet, doubts linger on. People seem unsure about the future. With all due respect to the government, we can say this for sure. There is no denying that the political situation had been in chaos before 1/11. [Then] the clouds dissipated and a relatively clean voter list was fashioned. The government overhauled the Election Commission (EC), Anti-Corruption Commission, Public Service Commission and the University Grants Commission by installing new people. The anti-corruption drive continues in earnest. The judiciary has been set free from the executive branch.

But a sense of uncertainty still stalks the people of Bangladesh. In a series of public speeches, Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed and army chief General Moeen U. Ahmed have assured the people of holding elections in line with the EC roadmap. But politicians and businessmen say they are not at ease. We have alerted the government to people’s doubts about the future many times.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State [for democracy, human rights and labour] Erica Barks-Ruggles has expressed concern over the ‘continuing violations of human rights’ in Bangladesh. The State Department official also asserted that Washington would continue to work with the government, political parties and civil society until the human rights situation became normal. ...She said not only former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina but all prisoners must get fair and transparent trials.

Meanwhile, the appellate division of the supreme court has said that the police should not have arrested Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami when his bail appeal was pending in court. At the same time, doubt has deepened after about 99 per cent of verdicts handed down by the appeals court in rights-related cases in recent times went in the government’s favour.

BNP leader Hafizuddin Ahmed, known for winning support from the government, went public with a statement that the government had pushed the country back by 10 years. We have always emphasised that detainees should have the right to bail. But the bottom line is that a state of emergency is in force which has created an extraordinary situation.

People — if tried under the normal legal system — would be able to seek bail from court. We emphasise once again that the government must uncover corruption … before arresting the suspects with links to it. — (May 22)

— Selected and translated by Arun Devnath

Is Fortress Europe a reality?

EUROPEAN Union governments have become entangled in a fierce debate on immigration policy, with Spain and Italy — the two EU member states which were once well-established worldwide exporters of labour — exchanging heated words over how best to deal with migrants and foreigners.

The quarrel pits the government of newly-elected conservative Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi against Spain’s socialist Premier José Luis Zapatero, with Rome demanding that officials in Madrid stop criticising Italy’s hard-line immigration policies.

“Declarations from ministers that interfere with the activities of a government elected by the Italian citizens are not acceptable, especially in areas like immigration which need close cooperation between Spain and Italy,” Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini warned recently, adding: “Frankly, it’s time to stop these (political) pitch invasions.”

Frattini was referring to comments last week by Spain’s deputy prime minister, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, who complained about Berlusconi’s reported plans to hasten deportations of illegal foreigners and turn holding centres into detention camps. “The (Spanish) government rejects violence, racism and xenophobia and therefore cannot agree with what is happening in Italy,” said Fernandez de la Vega.

The Spanish minister’s remarks signal growing unease in many EU capitals at the new Italian government’s determined bid to crack down on crimes committed by foreigners, especially Roma or gypsies. Last week, Italian police arrested some 400 suspected illegal immigrants, with media reports adding that some Italians had taken the law into their own hands and formed so-called ‘vigilante’ groups to round up Roma.

Fernandez de la Vega warned that Italian policies could encourage racism and xenophobia and said Spain “did not support the policy of expulsions without respect for the law and rights, or actions which exalt violence, racism and xenophobia”. She added that “immigration is a necessary phenomenon and a good one as long as it was legal and ordered”.

Denying accusations that his country was turning xenophobic, Italy’s interior minister, Roberto Maroni, insisted the crackdown was on criminals, not foreigners. He denied Italy was planning mass expulsions of immigrants, stressing that Rome would abide by EU rules and seek to expel only foreigners who committed crimes.

The squabble is about more than troubled relations between two traditionally friendly EU neighbours: it also spotlights Europe’s continuing failure to forge a coherent and consistent policy on immigration. EU policymakers say there is no doubt that the bloc needs foreign workers to compensate for labour shortages and an aging population. European politicians, however, continue to stoke the fires of anti-immigrant sentiment in most EU countries.

The facts are clear, however. A recent EU study pointed out that as a result of demographic changes in Europe, there will be one retired person for every two workers in the EU as early as 2050. In addition, as employment rates rise, it is getting harder to match Europe’s growing demand for high-skilled labour with an overall receding supply of specialists, especially in the technology field.

EU governments also have to face increased competition from emerging economies like China and India which are training more technicians and engineers than Europe. At the same time, countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland also manage to attract the lion’s share of the world’s specialists willing to migrate, including many people trained in the EU. According to recent figures, 85 per cent of unskilled labour migration goes to the EU and five per cent to the US, whereas 55 per cent of skilled labour goes to the US and only five per cent to the EU.

Responding to the challenge, EU policymakers last year recommended the adoption of a so-called Blue Card scheme to attract highly mobile high-skilled workers by setting up a single application procedure for non-EU workers to reside and work within the 27-nation bloc.

Third countries — mostly those in Africa, but also the EU’s neighbouring states to the east — have expressed concern that the Blue Card will further aggravate the exisiting ‘brain drain’ problem, which means that those countries’ young elites, rather than trying to find a job locally and help boost the local economy, will opt for higher salaries, better working conditions and more job security in wealthier parts of the world, including Europe. In many African countries, this phenomenon concerns not only scientists but also the well-qualified health-sector staff.

On the other hand, third countries, most importantly the US, have become so attractive for young scientists that Europe itself is experiencing a constant loss of graduates: last year, 270,000 high-skilled Europeans emigrated to the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. A November 2003 survey by the European Commission found that only 13 per cent of European science professionals working abroad intended to return home.

Development agencies and UN organisations have suggested that Europe might give back at least part of its benefits from high-skilled migration to countries of origin in the south by encouraging circular migration, where specialists could spend a limited period of time in Europe to develop their skills, which could then be brought to use in their countries of origin.

The proposal has, however, run into opposition in Germany and Austria. Trying to ease concerns, however, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has underlined that the EU will not be opening the doors to 20 million high-skilled workers. “The Blue Card is not a ‘blank cheque’. It is not a right to admission, but a demand-driven approach and a common European procedure,” said Barroso, adding, “member states will have broad flexibility to determine their labour market needs and decide on the number of high-skilled workers they would like to welcome.”

Even as they seek to attract skilled workers, EU governments are reinforcing the fight against illegal immigration. Malta, Italy, France and Germany recently launched a joint operation called Frontex aimed at intercepting hundreds of fleeing Africans seeking to reach Europe by boat.

“Fortress Europe ... is a reality,” said Irene Khan, secretary-general of Amnesty International, adding: “Access to Europe is very difficult and the initial border of the European Union is being pushed further and further away,” she said, pointing to the rescue operations of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, patrols in Senegal and increasing EU cooperation with transit countries.

“Once the politics of fear take over, then obviously human rights take second place,” she said, adding that there was a tendency in Europe to lump all foreigners together — regardless of their background and status — and paint them out to be ‘suspicious’ and ‘dangerous’.

The debate is expected to continue, however. France, which will take up the EU’s rotating presidency in July, has said it will put immigration at the top of the EU agenda. And although EU labour shortages are expected to grow, Paris will certainly be able to count on support from Rome on a further toughening of EU attitudes towards immigration.

The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Brussels.

Islamists oppose UN talks

A SENIOR leader of Somalia’s Islamist opposition vowed on Wednesday to expel US-backed Ethiopian troops by force and create an Islamic republic in the war-torn country on the Horn of Africa.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who led Somalia’s Islamic Courts movement and who the Bush administration claims is a terrorist linked to Al Qaeda, said Mogadishu’s western-backed Transitional Federal Government was run by “traitors”.

The UN-sponsored peace talks that opened in Djibouti last week were doomed to fail unless Ethiopia first withdrew all its forces, he added. And, unless the US and other western countries heeded his words, the violence in Somalia would only get worse.

“The UN is not impartial. We don’t want to pursue this [peace] process. Our plan is to continue the struggle. It is important to expel the enemy from all areas,” Aweys said. “We don’t want a fight to the death. We don’t want to kill all the Ethiopian soldiers. We want to save them. We want them to leave.”

Aweys, 62, made the comments in a rare interview at his base in Asmara, the Eritrean capital. To American dismay, many Somali Islamists gained a safe haven in Asmara after the Ethiopian intervention in late 2006 broke the Islamic Courts’ grip on Mogadishu and southern Somalia.

A successor organisation to the Islamic Courts, the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia was launched in Asmara late last year. Sheikh Sharif Ahmed became its chairman. Western diplomats regard him as a moderate who may hold the key to national reconciliation. But Sharif, 44, is viewed with suspicion by an older generation of hardliners and some youthful militants. Diverging approaches have provoked speculation about a looming power struggle.

Aweys remains the Somali Islamists’ most influential and respected figure. Sporting an orange-dyed goatee beard, oval-shaped spectacles and a grey, collarless suit, he sees himself as a man on a mission.

He and his aides do not discourage comparisons with democratic South Africa’s founding father, Nelson Mandela. One day, he said with a laugh, he could become Somalia’s Thomas Jefferson, “but only if I win”.

Aweys complains that the opposition delegation led by Sharif went to the Djibouti talks without fully consulting him and other members of the alliance. “They went there without consent,” he said. “If there is a fair and balanced mediation by the international community, we could accept that. But the UN is no good.”

A western diplomat said: “Clearly there are strains showing within the alliance, they are not all reading from the same page. That is further complicated by a range of other interests ... from the sub-clans to regional players.” But convening a first round of exploratory negotiations was nevertheless a considerable step forward. “They’ve done very well to get so far.”

Aweys said the Bush administration’s interference in Somalia and its support for Ethiopia’s actions were making it more difficult to find peaceful solutions. “They back up the Ethiopian troops. Otherwise, Ethiopia would never have come to Somalia,” he said.

He singled out US offshore missile attacks and air strikes on supposed Islamist terrorist targets deep inside Somalia that, he said, routinely killed and maimed civilians. Aden Hashi Ayro, leader of al-Shabaab, the armed wing of the Islamic Courts and an Aweys protege, was killed in a US air strike earlier this month.

“Bush calls everyone who is against him a terrorist. It is a meaningless word. The Al-Qaeda allegation is a false allegation,” Aweys said. “Bush thinks he is in charge of the world. His policy towards Somalia and the rest of the Islamic countries is unfair. But, historically, every great power comes to an end. Bush’s power will also end one day.

“Every country has the right to fight for its freedom. If the United Kingdom was invaded, would the British people not fight the invaders?

“We are going to liberate Somalia from Ethiopia. Then we will form a government of national unity,” Aweys said. “We are all Muslims in Somalia. We have no idea of secularism. The people will place their trust in religion.”

But such a policy of inclusion would not be extended to members of the Transitional Federal Government, whom Aweys likened to European collaborators with Hitler. They would either be exiled or put on trial — he said.

US officials say they support the nascent peace process — a special US envoy, John Yates, attended the Djibouti talks — but suggest that Ethiopia’s troops will be unable to leave until the security situation improves.On Thursday, Ethiopia’s prime minister, Meles Zenawi, vowed to keep troops in Somalia. “Ethiopian forces did not enter Somalia to control the country, but to make sure that extremist forces will not be in power in that country,” he said.

“The Islamic Courts Union in Somalia declared jihad against Ethiopia twice, along with all sorts of anti-peace forces ... It was our responsibility to resolve the huge wave of jihadists.”

Aweys also accused Ethiopian troops of committing atrocities against civilians, a claim supported by an Amnesty International report this month. Ethiopia rejects the accusations as propaganda or misinformed hearsay.

As the political wrangling continues, UN agencies warn that Somalia is slipping closer to catastrophe, due to a combination of unmitigated violence, large-scale population displacement, drought, failed harvests, rising global food and energy prices, and endemic lawlessness.

The UN says up to 3.5 million Somalis — about half the population — may soon need humanitarian assistance.

—The Guardian, London