A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
(Full Story)
Search This Blog
Back to 500BC.
==========================
Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, August 5, 2017
Saudi bulldozers flatten Shia town as residents flee carnage
Hundreds of Shia Muslims in Awamiya are forced from their homes amid fighting and compulsory evictions
A screengrab appears to show bullet-ridden buildings demolished by bulldozers in Qatif (@AngryQatifi)
The Saudi government has been forcibly relocating residents of the
restive city of Awamiya as clashes continue between soldiers and
militant groups in the old city.
Hundreds of people have fled or been evacuated from Awamiya since the
beginning of the current troubles which have killed at least seven
people, including two police officers. According to al-Hayat newspaper,
the government received requests from residents and farmers around
Awamiya to help them flee the violence.
However, activists say that residents have been driven out of their
homes and their properties seized by private development companies,
primarily in and around the historic Almosara district.
An image sent to Middle East Eye by an Awamiya activist showed a
requisition order pinned to a house in the district of al-Shweikah,
about 6km south of Almosara.
The order is apparently issued by the Albarahim private property
developer, but it also contains a stamp from the National Joint
Counterterrorism Command (NJCC), a body formed in 2003 following attacks
by al-Qaeda militants in the country.
The document shows a list of requirements that residents can bring to the local authorities in order to be relocated.
Awamiya has long been a flashpoint for protests by Saudi's Shia minority
- the influential cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed by the Saudi
government in 2016, came from the town and demonstrations and unrest has
been frequent.
Al-Hayat quoted Falah al-Khalidi, the governor of Qatif province, as
saying contracts had been signed "for a number of furnished apartments
in the city of Dammam to shelter those interested in leaving
neighbourhoods near Almosara".
However, according to social media reports and activists, many of those displaced have yet to be rehoused.
"What I see from the first day there is a collective punishment... there
is a plan for forced displacement," said Ameen Nemer, a Saudi activist
originally from Awamiya.
"It doesn't matter where these people will end up."
He told MEE that the depopulation and destruction of the town was
ultimately politically motivated, rather than driven by development or
terrorism.
"It has nothing to do with Almosara and development, it has to do with
punishing this town for being vocal for calling for rights, calling for
reforms since 2011."
Firing randomly
Confirming precise details about the situation in Qatif has long been
difficult due to tight controls over media scrutiny imposed by the Saudi
authorities.
Reuters reported earlier this year that foreign media could visit the
area only if they accompanied by government officials, purportedly for
safety reasons.
Information has largely come from either Saudi government press releases, local activists, or Shia-focused news sites.
Local activists accuse security forces of driving residents out of
Awamiya by firing randomly towards homes and cars as they confront armed
men in the area, charges Saudi Arabia denies.
They said several houses and shops have been burned or damaged by the fighting.
Video posted online appears to shown much of the city reduced to rubble.
Much of the city has been left without electricity, water, rubbish
collection or fire services. Private generators have been badly damaged
by shooting and those remaining in the city face intense summer heat
without air conditioning.
Although local committees have been set up to try to maintain some
services, it is becoming increasing difficult for many residents to stay
in the city.
Andrew Hammond, a consultant on Middle East politics, said that the
emptying of Awamiya could be part of a strategy to enact demographic
change in the disruptive Shia region of Saudi Arabia.
"It fits that pattern," he told MEE. "It's something that's happened in
the Gulf, in Bahrain, it's something that's happened outside the Gulf in
Israel-Palestine.
"I think it would make sense to analyse it in that way."
He added that the fighting also worked as a "useful diversion" from the
political unrest in the Saudi palace following the supplanting of former
crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef with the current king's youthful son
Mohammed bin Salman.
"That's been more complex than I think they would have hoped for - I
think there's been some resistance to it, there's nervousness about how
much irritation there is with what happened to the extent that [bin
Nayef] didn't leave the country in recent weeks when he was meant to
leave the country," he explained.
"So I think there's this political tension in the country at the moment,
and it's always this fight with the Shia that functions usefully for
them in that sense."
Foreign arms controversy
Last week, Canada announced it would be investigating possible use of
its equipment in the operations in Qatif, following a report in the
Globe and Mail that light armoured vehicles sold by Canada to Saudi
Arabia had been involved in the clashes.
A spokesman indicated that the Canadian foreign minister, Chrystia
Freeland, was "deeply concerned about this situation and has asked
officials to review it immediately".
"If it is found that Canadian exports have been used to commit serious
violations of human rights, the minister will take action," said
spokesman John Babcock.
The controversial $13bn contract to supply Riyadh with light armoured
vehicles was struck by the previous Conservative government in Canada.
Trudeau's Liberal government has had to defend this contract against
criticism that it may have violated Canada's export control rules that
bar arms exports to countries with a poor human rights record and that
prohibit using these weapons against civilians.
Shia
women hold placards bearing pictures of cleric Nimr al-Nimr during a
protest on 8 January, 2016 in the eastern coastal city of Qatif (AFP)
Other governments, including the UK and US, have yet to comment on the situation in Qatif.
The UK government, one of Saudi's closest allies, has approved at least
194 export licences for arms and related equipment to Saudi Arabia since
March 2015, worth more than $4.3bn. Among the products bought are guns,
crowd control and anti-riot equipment.
The British Foreign Office refused to answer questions about the
situation in Awamiya and whether there was any investigation into the
use of British equipment.
A spokesman said: "The UK operates one of the most robust export control
regimes in the world and we keep our defence exports to Saudi Arabia
under careful and continual review."