Human Rights Watch claims Cyprus illegally pushing back migrant boats

Details

by cyprus-mail.com -- Jonathan Shkurko -- Cypriot coast guard forces summarily pushed back, abandoned, expelled or returned more than 200 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers coming from Lebanon during the first week of September 2020 without giving them the opportunity to lodge asylum claims, a Human Rights Watch report released on Wednesday said. People involved reported they were threatened by both Greek and Turkish Cypriot coast guards and claimed that Greek Cypriot coast guard vessels circled them at high speeds, swamping their boats, and in at least one case abandoned them at sea without fuel and food. They also said their asylum claims were ignored and that in some cases Greek Cypriot marine police officers beat them. “Lebanese nationals are now joining Syrian refugees on boats to flee Lebanon and seek asylum in the EU, due to the severity of the crisis facing that country,” said Bill Frelick, refugee and migrant rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Cyprus should consider their claims for protection fully and fairly and treat them safely and with dignity instead of disregarding the obligations to rescue boats in distress, and not to engage in collective expulsions.”

The report saud Human Rights Watch interviewed 15 Lebanese and Syrian nationals who left Lebanon and entered or attempted to enter Cyprus or its territorial waters on one of seven boats between August 29 and September 7. UN peacekeepers in Lebanon rescued them on September 14, after at least 13 people had died or been lost at sea. According to Reuters, Cypriot authorities returned 230 people to Lebanon between September 6 and 8, a claim substantiated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who reported that people left Lebanon irregularly on 18 boats between August 29 and September 14, with five of them intercepted by the Lebanese naval forces while in Lebanese territorial waters.

Read more ...

Lebanese leaders mourn death of Kuwait emir

Details

The Daily Star BEIRUT -- Lebanese leaders offered their condolences Tuesday to Kuwait after the death of its ruling Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. “He was a great brother to Lebanon and an example of chivalry, moderation and wisdom,” President Michel Aoun tweeted. “He stood by the Lebanese in the difficult circumstances they went through, rebuilt many Lebanese cities and villages, and launched many development and urban projects. His absence will be a great loss,” Aoun continued. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Sabah would be missed by “Lebanon, Kuwait, the Arab and Islamic worlds and humanity as a whole.” He described the late Emir as “a voice that speaks nothing but the truth ... and a white hand that heals the wounds and rifts in the body of the nation.”

Future Movement head Saad Hariri wrote on Twitter that Sabah occupied “a page of Arab history written in golden letters.” He described him as “a great man who moved the levers of government and responsibility over decades” and that his legacy was “rich in achievements, successes and initiatives.” Sabah “championed Arab and Muslim causes, and did not abandon Lebanon in the most difficult circumstances,” Hariri wrote. Former Prime Minister Najib Mikati meanwhile described Sabah as “the prince of diplomacy” in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency. Sabah was “the voice of conscience in all Arab and international forums, calling for unity and reconciliation between brothers in times of disagreements and crises,” Mikati said. “Lebanon and the Lebanese people had a special affection in the heart of the late Emir, as he was at the core of all the efforts that were made to address the Lebanese crisis, most notably in the era of the Taif conference in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he continued. The Taif Accord put an end to the 1975-90 Lebanese Civil War and established parity in representation between Christians and Muslims in the political system.

Carlos Ghosn unveils $20,000 business course to ‘serve’ Lebanon

Details

by thenational.ae -- Sunniva Rose -- Former Nissan and Renault head turned fugitive Carlos Ghosn wants to serve the interests of his debt-ridden home country Lebanon by collaborating with a new $20,000 three-month business programme at a local university, he said in a rare public appearance on Tuesday. The move has grabbed the former executive headlines, but experts say that the impact of the unusual initiative could be limited. “The objective is…serving the country and the society, because if today there is one specific thing that Lebanon needs, it is to create jobs,” explained Mr Ghosn during a press conference on Tuesday at the Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik (USEK) near Beirut as he presented three new business programmes.

Costing $20,000, the main three-month “Business strategies and performance programme” due to start in March 2021 is aimed at executives from Lebanon and the region and will include a one-on-one consultancy session with Carlos Ghosn as well as guest speakers such as Jaguar and Land Rover Chief Executive Thierry Bolloré, former Goldman Sachs vice-chairman Ken Curtis and venture capitalist Raymond Debbane. The online version of the course will cost $15,000. This programme will subsidise two others, said USEK’s President, Father Talal Hachem: a “training and upscaling programme for local businesses” and an “investment and advisory board for start-ups”. Lebanon is reeling from one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history at the Beirut port on August 4 that killed nearly 200 people and worsened its economic crisis which has pushed half the population under the poverty line. “Carlos Ghosn is capitalising his networks and on Lebanon’s strength, which is its education system. But the limits are clear. Who in Lebanon will be able to pay for such a programme in the middle of a financial and economic meltdown?” asked Sahar Al Attar, editor-in-chief at the Lebanese economic magazine Le Commerce du Levant.

Read more ...

One in four Beirut children could miss school after blast: IRC

Details

By AFP --- A quarter of school-age children in Lebanon's capital risk missing out on school after last month's deadly port explosion, the International Rescue Committee aid group warned Monday. "With 163 schools damaged by the Beirut explosion, at least 1 in 4 children in the city are now at risk of missing out on their education," it said in a statement. IRC said the estimations were based on the impact of the blast alone and did not take into account that of the novel coronavirus pandemic. "Over 85,000 pupils were registered at the schools damaged by the blasts and it will take up to a year for the most severely damaged buildings to be repaired," it added.

It was a devastating to blow to a country already facing its worst economic crisis in decades and a series of lockdowns aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19. IRC said the slow pace of rebuilding, parent concerns over the cost and safety of transport to alternative schools, and children being sent to work to help their struggling families could all keep pupils out of class. "Overall, we are expecting to see far fewer children enrolled in schools this September and a high drop-out rate as the year progresses," said the aid group's acting Lebanon director Mohammad Nasser. Schools in Lebanon have not yet re-opened over a spike in coronavirus cases, which have risen in the wake of the explosion to more than 35,000 infections including at least 340 deaths since February.

Surge in COVID-19 cases sees zonal containment trialed in Lebanon

Details

by Nick Newsom -- The Daily Star -- BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities said Monday they would introduce a new zonal approach to containing coronavirus as the number of cases climbed ever higher, with 1,018 people confirmed to have caught the disease within the past 24 hours and four more deaths. Just one of the people who caught the virus during that period had come from abroad. Caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab’s media office said the ministerial committee to follow up on coronavirus agreed on introducing the "zonal system," also known as the "traffic light system," as a way to determine the containment measures to be implemented in different areas. White areas with fewer than five total cases are considered “very low risk,” and mask wearing and social distancing are recommended, according to a table based on the US Department of Health's system that was published by Diab's media office. “Low risk” or green areas have fewer than four cases per 100,000 residents over 14 days. Testing of contacts, contract tracing and isolation are additional measures to be taken in these zones.

Yellow areas where there are between four to eight new cases per 100,000 people over 14 days are considered “moderate risk.” Intensive testing and contact tracing efforts are to be taken in those areas and not just targeted at contacts of cases. There will be a curfew after 7 p.m. In red areas where there is “high risk," or more than eight cases per 100,000 people over 14 days, residents will be required to stay at home and there will be a local lockdown. It was unclear if travel restrictions would be applied between the zones, as is the case in other places where this “traffic light” color-coding system is implemented, such as the European Union. A soon to be launched digital platform run by Cabinet’s Disaster Risk Management center will publish data on each area’s classification, the statement from Diab’s media office said. Implementation will be carried out in collaboration with the Health and Interior ministries. Public health expert Sara Chang told The Daily Star that she “commends continued efforts to address the spread of COVID-19” but that she approached the proposal “with concern and caution.”

Read more ...

Two soldiers killed in northern Lebanon barracks attack

Details

By NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Two Lebanese soldiers were killed early Sunday at their barracks, hours after security forces had attacked a terror cell on the border with Syria. The Lebanese army said that on Sunday at 1 a.m. terrorists in a car had opened fire on guards at an army post in Arman-Miniyeh, which is north of Beirut. The guards responded by returning fire. The gunfight killed two soldiers and one of the attackers, while the remaining assailants fled.

The army, in another statement, said: “The terrorist Omar Burais, who was on a motorcycle, attempted to enter an army post in Arman in Miniyeh and the guards stopped him, which led to his immediate death. Upon examination of the terrorist’s body, hand grenades and an explosive belt, which he intended to detonate inside the post, were found in his possession. A military expert worked to dismantle the explosive belt and detonate it.” Army units raided places that Burais used to visit and they arrested five of his relatives, including uncles and cousins. The army mourned the soldiers killed in the attack: Cpl. Mohammed Khaled Al-Nashar and Cpl. Ahmed Khaled Saqr. The attack followed an operation from the Information Division of the Internal Security Forces against terrorists in the northern border region of Wadi Khaled. The division said it had identified and tracked down the people responsible for last month’s Kaftoun-Koura assault, which killed three municipal guards in the town, and it emerged that the perpetrators were part of a cell working for Daesh in Lebanon. “As a result of the efforts, the Information Division managed to identify all the terrorist group’s members, who were more than 15 and worked under the command of a Syrian (M.H.), and arrested three of them,” it added. “On Sept. 26, the Information Division identified the whereabouts of the terrorist group’s members in Wadi Khaled, and they were in a secluded house. A security operation was carried out by the division’s Strike Force to besiege the house.”

Read more ...