Syrian refugee entrepreneurs boost Turkey’s economy

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A wave of Syrian refugees is taking advantage of the opportunities and relative ease of doing business in Turkey — to the benefit of the country’s economy. Since 2011, 4,000 new businesses have been set up by Syrians or Syrians with Turkish partners — and the number is accelerating.

According to the Economic Policy Research Foundation, an Ankara-based think-tank, 1,600 were set up in 2015, with 590 more established in the first three months of this year alone.

“There is now enough evidence that they are now doing something positive and contributing to the Turkish economy,” Guven Sak, the think-tank’s head, said. “It’s not just people on the street; there are many people who came with some kind of funding, and have figured out ways to invest it.”

A report this week by Standard & Poor’s also concluded that the new arrivals, who now account for almost 4 per cent of the population, have boosted Turkey’s growth. Frank Gill, the report’s author, depicts the migration as a “positive shock” increasing Turkey’s attractiveness to investors as a country with a young, economically active population.

Most of the Syrian migrants live outside refugee camps, some in abject poverty, with beggars on the streets of almost every Turkish town. But many are middle-class, with savings of their own or the ability to borrow.

[Financial Times]

Turkish President criticizes Europe over Syrian suffering

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According to the Turkish news agency Anadolu, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently criticized the alleged indifference of some European countries towards suffering Syrians in need and stressed that the EU is more worried about rare species of turtles and gay rights, rather than the fate of refugees.

“Shame on those who in the West divert their sensitivity to the so-called freedoms, rights, and law shown in the debate over gay marriage away from Syrian women, children, and innocents in need of aid,” Erdogan said, cited by the media source. “Shame on those who divert their sensitivities to the living space of the whales in the seas, seals, [and] turtles away from the right to life of 23 million Syrians,” he added.

According to the Turkish leader, neither Europe nor the US care about hundreds of thousands of Syrians who had to flee their home country amid increased violence.

Earlier in March, Brussels and Ankara agreed on a deal under which Turkey pledged to take back all undocumented migrants who arrive in the European Union through its territory in exchange for Syrian refugees accommodated in Turkey, on a one-for-one basis. In return, the 28-member bloc pledged to accelerate the Turkish EU accession bid and introduce a visa-free regime between Turkey and the Schengen area.

However, the refugee deal is on the brink of failure. The European Parliament has temporarily suspended its work on the visa-free program for Turkey, since the latter has not fulfilled 72 conditions necessary for the visa-free travel to enter into force.

[Sputnik]

Iraq humanitarian crisis ‘one of the world’s worst’

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Recently, the United Nations described Iraq’s humanitarian crisis as “one of the world’s worst”, saying that more than 10 million Iraqis, making up almost a third of the population, are in need of immediate humanitarian aid. This number has doubled from last year.

In a statement to the Security Council, UN Envoy to Iraq, Jan Kubis, warned of the potential mass displacement of an additional two million Iraqis in the coming months. He also called on the international community to provide aid to those in Fallujah, whose conditions were described as alarming.

The war against ISIL has created more than 3.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs), many living in camps without access to medical care, water and clothes, according to one UN official.

According to the UN, approximately 2.6 million Iraqis have fled the country since the beginning of the crisis in January 2014 when ISIL overran large swaths of the country. Additionally, more than one million Iraqis fled between 2006 and 2008 due to the sectarian war in Iraq, following the US-led invasion and occupation in 2003.

Iraqi government forces, backed by US-led coalition airstrikes and advisers, have managed to regain some of the territory seized by ISIL. However, the group still controls vast areas of northern and western Iraq.

[Al Jazeera]

Don’t just condemn humanitarian law violations. Stop them.

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The recent airstrike on a camp for Syrians displaced from their homes is the latest in a long line of tragedies resulting from the disregard that certain parties to conflict hold for international humanitarian law. The UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, the UN high commissioner for human rights, the French foreign ministry, the White House and many others have all spoken out against this horrific attack, yet frustrations abound with the inability of the international community to stop them from happening.

This frustration has prompted the withdrawal of the highly respected Médecins Sans Frontières‎ (MSF), one of the integral cogs in the humanitarian system, from participation in the first world humanitarian summit, due to take place in Istanbul this month. In announcing their withdrawal, MSF said: “We no longer have any hope that the summit will address the weaknesses in humanitarian action and emergency response, particularly in conflict areas or epidemic situations.”

With attacks on medical facilities continuing, MSF’s anger is widely shared. But the cross-party international development committee believes that the summit can and must bring about action to uphold the law. First and foremost is action on international humanitarian law. As the report points out, the problem is not the absence of binding laws, but the persistent failure to comply with or enforce them. In his pre-summit report, the UN secretary general refers to the flouting of law as “contagious” – when states disrespect the basic rules governing the conduct of war, they invite others to do the same.

[The Guardian]

Turkey’s humanitarian role worldwide

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Turkey is presently hosting almost 3 million refugees fleeing war zone regions and conflict, including 2.7 million Syrian refugees, according to official statistics.

Turkey’s official development aid supplies to more than 140 countries across the globe. Turkey’s successful provision of humanitarian and emergency aid is thanks to several institutions, including the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA), the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), and the Turkish Red Crescent (or Kizilay).

Turkey’s development aid provided via TİKA more than quadrupled from $85 million in 2002 to $3.59 billion in 2014. Over the same period, total humanitarian aid from Turkey increased 47 percent to $6.4 billion, a rise of 42-fold. According to preliminary figures, in 2015 Turkey’s official development aid reached $3.91 billion.

TIKA drilled over 1,000 water wells in 2013-2014, including 423 in Asia and 337 in Africa. TIKA also provided over 250 health centers with equipment during the same period. It has also supplied refrigerators, ovens, eating/cooking utensils, and food packages to refugees fleeing Daesh terrorism living in camps in northern Iraq’s Kirkuk, Erbil, Dohuk and nearby areas.

It also launched an emergency campaign for Somali, which suffers from drought, supplying food and healthcare equipment. When Pakistan was hit by an earthquake two years ago, 12,000 food packages were supplied to victims of the quake. TIKA also runs charity activities in Palestine.

The Turkish Red Crescent is number two in world rankings with its ability to provide emergency shelter and food for 300,000 people. Carrying out humanitarian aid activities in countries and regions such as Pakistan, Chad, Haiti, Libya, Somalia, Arakan, Palestine, Mauritania, Senegal, Niger, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Philippines, Iraq and Lebanon, the Turkish Red Crescent was also the first relief organization to help disaster victims after the Pakistan floods.

[Anadolu Agency]

Turkey to host landmark World Humanitarian Summit on May 23-24

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Turkey will play host to the ground-breaking World Humanitarian Summit, the first such summit of its kind, on May 23-24, in Istanbul. The summit, spearheaded by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is aimed at discussing humanitarian issues in detail.

The high-profile summit will attract up to 5,000 participants, including statesmen, businessman, NGOs, international agencies, and representatives of communities affected by refuge crises. The summit will suggest to countries sustainable policies and measures to address shortcomings and difficulties in the humanitarian system.

Turkey itself is currently home to the world’s largest refugee population, and it has spent $10 billion on the refugee crises on its soil since 2011.

In the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ranking of aid allocated, Turkey came in second with $2.42 billion following the U.S.. However, in terms of aid as a percentage of its gross national product (GDP), Turkey ranks first.

[Anadolu Agency]

Doctors Without Borders pulls out of World Humanitarian Summit

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Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF) announced that it will not be participating in the upcoming World Humanitarian Summit, calling it a mere “fig-leaf of good intentions” that will not actually hold states accountable for their failure to address the humanitarian crisis in the world today.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon previously called on world leaders to attend the first World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), which will be held in Istanbul later this month. But news that Doctors Without Borders will not be attending the summit reveals how little faith some international aid organizations have that the summit will bring about true change.

“We no longer have any hope that the WHS will address the weaknesses in humanitarian action and emergency response, particularly in conflict areas or epidemic situations,” Doctors Without Borders announced in a statement on Wednesday. “As shocking violations of international humanitarian law and refugee rights continue on a daily basis, WHS participants will be pressed to a consensus on non-specific, good intentions to ‘uphold norms’ and ‘end needs.’”

The announcement comes mere days after a Doctors Without Borders-supported hospital in Aleppo, Syria was attacked, killing at least 50 people, including one of the last pediatricians in the city. It also follows recent news that 16 U.S. military personnel involved in the horrific bombing of a Doctors Without Hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan in October 2015 received “disciplinary measures,” but no criminal charges were made. These cases are not new. According to the organization, 75 hospitals managed or supported by Doctors Without Borders were bombed last year.

In its decision to withdraw from the summit, Doctors Without Borders called for greater accountability for these violations of international law, as well as greater attention to the refugee crisis, which the U.N. has said is the largest the world has seen since World War II, with nearly 60 million refugees in the world today.

On Tuesday, the president of Doctors Without Borders, spoke in front of the U.N. Security Council in New York City, and called for an end to the bombing of hospitals throughout regions of conflict. “What are individuals in wars today? Expendable commodities, dead or alive,” Dr. Joanne Liu said. “In Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen, hospitals are routinely bombed, raided, looted or burned to the ground. Medical personnel are threatened. Patients are shot in their beds. Broad attacks on communities and precise attacks on health facilities are described as mistakes, are denied outright, or are simply met with silence. In reality, they amount to massive, indiscriminate and disproportionate civilian targeting in urban settings, and, in the worst cases, they are acts of terror.”

[Médecins Sans Frontières ]

Nepal’s recovery only just beginning a year after earthquake

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Many people here in Nepal pin their hopes on promises of foreign aid: After the disaster, images of collapsed temples and stoic villagers in a sea of rubble were beamed around the world, and donors came forward with pledges of $4.1 billion in foreign grants and soft loans.

But those promises, so far, have not done much to speed the progress of Nepal’s reconstruction effort. Outside Kathmandu, the capital, many towns and villages remain choked with rubble, as if the earthquake had happened yesterday. The government, hampered by red tape and political turmoil, has only begun to approve projects. Nearly all of the pledged funds remain in the hands of the donors, unused.

The delay is misery for the 770,000 households awaiting a promised subsidy to rebuild their homes. Because a yearly stretch of bad weather begins in June, large-scale rebuilding is unlikely to begin before early 2017, consigning families to a second monsoon season and a second winter in leaky shelters made of zinc sheeting.

Visitors who came here to assess the reconstruction expressed shock at how little had been done. In March, a German lawmaker, Dagmar Wöhrl, publicly warned Nepal’s leaders that private donations to foundations and nongovernmental organizations would no longer be available if Nepal did not use the aid soon. She said it was the first time in her seven years as the head of Parliament’s economic development committee that she had given such a warning.

“I had the feeling that someone has to raise a voice and give an input from outside, because time is running out,” Ms. Wöhrl said in an interview. “It does not help a single Nepalese if there are millions of dollars of donation money on charity accounts. The money has to be invested now.”

The Nepali authorities say they must maintain control over the actions of nongovernmental organizations and foreign donors. Bhishma K. Bhusal, an under secretary of the reconstruction authority, said, “We didn’t want to make Nepal like Haiti, where more than $14 billion has been spent, but still people are living in tents.”  Mr. Bhusal acknowledged that the reconstruction agency remained weak, with more than half of its 208 positions unfilled, because civil servants were refusing to accept transfers to an overloaded, much-criticized division.

[New York Times]

Australia’s foreign aid budget hits rock bottom

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Cuts to Australia’s foreign aid budget as introduced last year are being maintained in the 2016 Budget. The latest reduction follows the biggest cut on record, with $1 billion slashed from the aid program 12 months ago.

Indonesia once again bears some of the brunt of the cuts, losing another 5% of funds, around $15 million, on top of a 40% cut last year. Two key nations involved in the government’s offshore refugee processing program, Papua New Guinea and Cambodia, emerged unscathed in the latest savings.

The government’s failure to restore the Australian aid budget is short-sighted and likely to damage Australia’s international reputation, aid agency CARE Australia has warned.

CARE Australia CEO Dr Julia Newton-Howes welcomed a modest increase to funding for humanitarian emergencies, but said the nation turned its back on the world’s poor.

“The Government’s refusal to reverse the final scheduled cut to the aid budget means Australia will become the least generous we’ve ever been with the lowest ratio of aid to the size of our economy ever,” she said. “Overall, the cuts will still be damaging to Australia’s international reputation and to our long-term interests, especially at a time when many other developed nations are increasing aid budgets.”

[Business Insider]

Granted a new life by the Pope

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On a warm evening in Rome, as waiters flapped tablecloths for outdoor diners at a trattoria down the cobbled alley, Ramy Al Shakarji leaned back on a bench and laughed as he described how the head of the Roman Catholic Church, plucked him, a Muslim, from a squalid refugee camp in Greece and flew him to a new life.

“When we were given the chance to come to Rome, my wife and I took about three minutes to decide ‘yes,’” he recalls. Making the offer to move to Italy was Daniela Pompei, an official with Catholic charity Sant’Egidio, which was asked by the Vatican at the last minute to find families and then host them back in Rome at its refugee shelter in the bustling Trastevere neighborhood.

Al Shakarji, 51, stopped laughing as he described the moment Francis greeted him before the flight. “I felt security and peace–a man like this is a father to the world,” he said.

The trip to Rome was the end of a long journey that started in Dair Alzour, a Syrian town under siege by Islamic State, where Al Shakarji recalls a rebellious neighbor’s decapitated head hanging from a balcony for three days. In March of last year, Al Shakarji decided to risk fleeing down mined roads and past snipers to reach Turkey, taking his wife and three children with him.

Another of the Syrians brought to Rome with Francis is Nour Essa. Her grandfather was a Palestinian who fled the new state of Israel in 1948 and settled in Syria. “The difference is there were two sides in 1948, whereas in Syria you can’t understand how many sides there are,” said Essa, 30.

Essa had escaped some of the initial turmoil of Syria’s civil war. She was living in Montpellier, France, while studying for a master’s in microbiology, before returning to her job in 2013 at Syria’s Atomic Energy Commission. She then married and had a child, but the war was creeping into her Damascus suburb. The couple fled, starting a terrifying, 10-day journey across ISIS-held territory in an ambulance and then in a cattle truck.

Stopping in Aleppo, her husband was ordered to fight by ISIS fighters–“real monsters,” said Essa. But a smuggler guided them through minefields toward Turkey, where after waiting out rough seas and numerous tangles with Turkish police, they made it to Lesbos on March 18, packed into a dinghy at night with 50 other refugees.

“I was shocked when we were asked if we wanted to go,” Essa said. What she is sure about is that no Muslim leader has made the gesture the pope did. “Muslim governments should be ashamed,” she said. “Instead of helping refugees, they close borders and stop visas for Syrians. If you want to work in Saudi Arabia, you cannot get a visa now.”

[LA Times]