Saturday November 11, 2023

The United Nations has described floods that uprooted hundreds of thousands of people in Somalia and neighbouring countries in East Africa following a historic drought as a once-in-a-century event.

Around 1.6 million people in Somalia could be affected by the heavy seasonal downpours, which have been worsened by the combined impact of two climate phenomenons, El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement late on Thursday.

The floods, which followed heavy rains that started in early October, have already killed at least 29 people and forced more than 300,000 from their homes in Somalia, and inundated towns and villages across northern Kenya.

Camps for people displaced by an Islamist insurgency and the worst drought in four decades have also been flooded, causing people to flee for a second time, aid groups say.

Large-scale displacement, increased humanitarian needs and further destruction of property remain likely, OCHA said, with some 1.5 million hectares (3.70 million acres)of farmland potentially being destroye

“Extreme weather linked to the ongoing El Niño risks further driving up humanitarian needs in already-vulnerable communities in Somalia and many other places,” said Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General, the UN’s Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

“We know what the risks are, and we need to get ahead of these looming crises,” he said.

Reporting by Abdi Sheikh in Mogadishu and Hereward Holland in Nairobi; Writing by Hereward Holland Editing by Tomasz Janowski

Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor
Saturday November 11, 2023

Rishi Sunak’s government will discover next Wednesday whether its flagship immigration policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is lawful.

The supreme court will give its judgment after the Home Office challenged a court of appeal ruling that the multimillion-pound deal to send deported asylum seekers to the east African nation was unlawful.

If the decision goes against the government, Sunak is expected to come under intense pressure from the right of his party to promise to leave the European convention on human rights [ECHR].

Suella Braverman, the home secretary, is believed be in favour of placing a pledge to leave the ECHR at the centre of a general election campaign if the judgment goes against the Home Office.

If the policy is deemed lawful, the Home Office believes that flights could take off for Kigali early next year.

Five justices at the UK’s highest court will give their decision on the challenge on Wednesday, the court has said.

Government lawyers have argued that the court of appeal was wrong to conclude that removal to Rwanda would breach article 3 of the European convention on human rights, which prohibits torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

A memorandum of understanding agreed between the two countries provided assurances that everyone sent there would have a “safe and effective” refugee status determination procedure, they said.

However, Raza Husain KC, for several of the asylum seekers at risk of deportation to Rwanda, described the country’s asylum system as “woefully deficient … marked by acute unfairness and arbitrariness”.

The UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, intervened in the supreme court hearing, with its barrister Angus McCullough KC telling the court the assurances were “no sufficient answer” to “basic and fundamental defects” in the Rwandan system.

The ruling by Lords Reed, Hodge, Lloyd-Jones, Briggs and Sales will be handed down on Wednesday after 10am.

The policy of sending tens of thousands of asylum seekers to the east African country, where their claims would be processed, was first announced by the then prime minister Boris Johnson in April 2022.

It was devised amid growing numbers of refugees travelling across the Channel by small boat to claim asylum in the UK. Ministers believe that sending asylum seekers to Rwanda will act as a deterrent.

At least £140m has so far been paid to the authoritarian regime of President Paul Kagame, and the money has been spent. Despite the introduction of the illegal migration bill, no deportation flights have taken place amid a series of legal challenges.

Sunak has set stopping small boats of asylum seekers from arriving in Britain as one of his five pledges to the electorate. But since the year started, almost 26,700 migrants have arrived by crossing the Channel, according to UK government figures from earlier this month.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince on Friday called for an end to the war in Gaza, a stance later echoed in a declaration with African leaders attending a summit in Riyadh.

“We condemn what the Gaza Strip is facing from military assault, targeting of civilians, the violations of international law by the Israeli occupation authorities,” Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said during the African-Saudi summit in the kingdom’s capital.

“We stress on the need to stop this war and the forced displacement of Palestinians,” he added.

Israeli air strikes hit three Gaza hospitals and a school on Friday, killing at least 27 people, and a ground battle was underway near another hospital, Palestinian officials said, as Israel’s forces took on Hamas in the heart of the enclave.

Palestinian officials said 11,078 Gaza residents had been killed as of Thursday, about 40% of them children, in air and artillery strikes, with many others wounded.

Israel says 1,400 people were killed by Hamas in Israel, mostly civilians, and about 240 were taken hostage on Oct. 7, while 39 soldiers have been killed in combat since.

Leaders attending the African-Saudi summit in a joint declaration said military operations in the occupied Palestinian territories needed to stop and civilians must be protected, the state Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Leaders who attended the summit included the presidents of Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Djibouti and Mauritania, the prime ministers of Ethiopia and Niger, and the foreign minister of Egypt.

The leaders “stressed the need to end the real cause of the conflict represented by the Israeli occupation,” calling for intensified efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on a two-state solution “to guarantee the Palestinian people their right to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” according to SPA.

They said the international community must play an important role in pressuring Israel to “stop Israeli attacks and the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip,” which it called “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and international laws.”

Israel says its goal is to dismantle Hamas’ military and governance capabilities following the group’s Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel.

The hospitals attacked on Friday are in northern Gaza, where Israel says the Hamas militants are concentrated, and are full of displaced people as well as patients and doctors. Israel says Hamas is using them as human shields, which the group denies.

The African-Saudi leaders, in the “Riyadh Declaration”, called for relief organizations, including the United Nations Palestinian refugees agency UNRWA, to be supported in their efforts.

Saudi Arabia, as part of its Vision 2030 plan to overhaul its economy, will invest about $25 billion in Africa by the end of the decade, SPA said.

Saudi exports to the continent worth $10 billion will be financed and insured through 2030, and the Saudi Fund for Development will finance development projects worth about $5 billion in the same time frame, SPA added.

More than 50 deals and preliminary agreements were signed during the summit in fields including tourism, energy, finance, mining and logistics, SPA said.

Reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Yomna Ehab; Writing by Yousef Saba and Nayera Abdallahl; Editing by Alison Williams and Bill Berkrot

Mogadishu, Saturday , November 11, 2023: The Federation of Somali Journalists (FESOJ) has concluded a two- day training on improving the role of journalists in strengthening peace building programs in Mogadishu city that have been implemented with the support of VIKES Viestintä ja kehitys -säätiö.

Thirty participants in attendance of the training were from the faculty of journalism of the Somali National University, Somali National TV, Astan TV, Jubbaland TV, Radio Mogadishu, Radio Star FM, Radio Danan, Radio Banadir Region, Radio Shabelle, Radio Kulmiye, Radio ArladiWartel, , Disability journalists union, Astan, Freelancers , FESOJ, Hiran Media, Bile Media , Dalka Newspaper, Hamar Newspaper, Somali Pen and other guests.

The participants have benefited from the capacity building program that have been in progress from the 7th to 8th November 2023 at Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu city.

Senior trainers from FESOJ, VIKES and CAFIS has been facilitating presentations focusing on main contents including what is peace Journalism, peace journalism Objectives, root causes of conflict, peace journalism actors, journalist’s role, media role, civil society role, government role, clan elders’ role, peace journalism practices, war journalism, conflict resolution Steps, principles of peace journalism and what is the negative aspect of peace journalism.

“The intention is how to further improve the journalists’ role in strengthening peace building program through using their professional skills and the media.” Farah Omar Nur, Secretary General of FESOJ has stated in his opening remarks.

During the two- day training proceedings, the participants have made analysis by engaging in groups discussion on the following key topics: what are the problems war Journalism can cause, what is the media Power to mitigate Conflicts, what are the root causes of conflicts, what is the media role in Peace building, who are the actors of peace Journalism and what is conflict resolution Process, and what steps could be taken.

With the group discussion sessions, the participants have been given opportunity to exchange different views on how to improve the role of journalists’ role in strengthening peace building programs through the media.

Mohamed Mohamud Adde, prominent journalist who have worked with the BB NEWS and part of the facilitators presented themes related with peace in Islamic teaching and how the journalists could the lead the way for the influential community members to have dialogue on peace and reconciliation which will eventually create environment of trust and integration that could be mitigation for the conflicts.

In partnership with VIKES, FESOJ is planning to undertake similar training within this year, and expecting the awareness of the Somali journalists on peace building programs will ultimately increase extensively.

In conclusion, Abdirahman Mohamed form the Disability Journalists Union indicated the media is the listening source for the public interest in either the cases of both conflicts and peace issues. He added the journalists should be impartial and illustrate the significance of peace for the community and the negative impacts of the conflicts as well, adding if conflicts occur, the society will face the most problems.

“We benefited from the training how the media will work on promotion of peace and development for the country, and how to find solution for the prevailing conflicts.” Amina Ibrahim Mohamed from Arladi Media stated.

“From the training we have learned what are the root causes of conflicts and the role of journalists to improve peace building programs. We appreciate VIKES, CAFIS and FESOJ for this capacity building program opportunity.” Mohamed Mohamud Geedi, from Bile Media pointed out.

End