'No place to go': Refugees risk freezing to death to flee from Syrian army

Refugees in Latakia say they will pitch tents in countryside amid fears advancing government forces will show 'no mercy' to those who stay



Refugees load firewood and bedding onto a truck as they prepare to leave Yamadi (Bilal Abdul Kareem)

Bilal Abdul Kareem-Friday 29 January 2016

YAMADI, Syria - Refugees fleeing a Syrian government offensive in Latakia province say they would rather pitch tents in the freezing countryside than risk being caught by advancing soldiers or endure further shelling or Russian air strikes.

Hundreds of people at the refugee camp at Yamadi, close to the border with Turkey, are loading their belongings onto trucks and heading deeper into rebel-held territory after pro-government forces regained control of a series of strategically placed towns. Army commanders said they expected the entire province of Latakia to be back under government control within weeks.

But among refugees already facing a constant threat of Russian air strikes there are few prepared to sit and wait for the arrival of pro-government forces, some of whom are now less than 20km away following the capture earlier this month of the previously rebel-held towns of Salma and Rabia.

“We don’t want to live under the rule of the government for a minute. They have no mercy on us. If they catch you then it’s the end for you,” Umm Asim told Middle East Eye as she prepared to flee with her family amid fears that one or two more nights of heavy fighting could bring Syrian army tanks rolling down the road.

“We are trying to leave because the government is getting closer and the Russians have done nothing good. We get shelled from one side and bombed on the other side and we are afraid. My little son doesn’t eat and he doesn't move because he is so afraid.”

“I’m afraid for my children,” added Umm Marwan. “We are leaving because of the planes and because the children are so afraid. The army is getting closer and the planes are constantly shelling us. We want to leave and find a new place to stay.”

Russia is accused of killing hundreds of civilians since intervening in Syria last September on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by launching air strikes in rebel-held territory.

In November, Russian jets bombed camps including Yamadi in the Turkmen Mountain region of northern Latakia that had become refuges for Syrians fleeing from war-shattered cities, including long-besieged Homs and Aleppo, and Ariha in Idlib province.

The bombardment came after a Russian jet crashed in the area after being shot down by Turkey for reportedly violating Turkish air space, with local rebels accusing Moscow of taking revenge.

“The Russians came to kill the Syrian people. It’s a massacre, they use planes, tanks and missiles,” said Umm Asim. “Where do we go? If we go to the villages they bomb us, if we go elsewhere… where do we go?”

Images and video footage published by activists following MEE's visit to Yamadi showed burnt-out tents and smoke rising from a similar camp in the same area which they said had been shelled by pro-government forces.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that Russia carried out more than 500 air strikes in northeastern Latakia during a two-week period of January and says that Russian military officers are directing the offensive there.

Until last year the nearby Turkish border had been accessible to refugees, with thousands of members of the local Turkmen community crossing eastwards to camps in Turkey’s neighbouring Hatay province.

But the border is now considered too dangerous for many to risk the crossing, amid reports of Turkish border guards shooting at refugees trying to reach the country.

“All countries are against us. None of them have stood with us. If they want to help us then let them help us with the planes, not with food and drink but help us with the planes,” said Umm Asim

Just weeks ago, the camp at Yamadi was a desperate but bustling and sprawling place that had become a temporary home to thousands of people.

Now many of the tents stand empty and abandoned, with trucks laden with bedding and firewood, a highly valued commodity, setting off regularly inland in the direction of rebel-held territory in neighbouring Idlib province.

Some hope to reach other refugee camps, rather than returning to homes already destroyed. But with nearby camps already overflowing, most expect to set up tents in the countryside, where freezing night-time temperatures pose a further threat to life.

Others, with children who are too sick or who lack the resources to pack up and leave, have no choice but to stay put and take their chances. Few of the children left have adequate clothing for the harsh mountain conditions, with some wearing just slippers on their bare feet.

“They have no place to go,” Abu Ali told MEE. “If they can find a place in another camp that’s good, but if not they will pitch a tent in the middle of nowhere and do the best they can.”

Zika virus: World Health Organisation declares public health emergency

UN body acts over mosquito-borne virus linked to serious birth defects which is ‘spreading explosively’ across the Americas

 Nadja Cristina Gomes Bezerra holds her three-month-old daughter, Alice Vitoria, who has microcephaly. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Monday 1 February 2016

The World Health Organisation has declared a “public health emergency of international concern” due to the apparent link of the Zika virus to a surge in serious birth defects in South America.

WHO chief Margaret Chan said the link between the Zika virus and microcephaly was “strongly suspected but not yet scientifically proven.”

“After a review of the evidence, the committee advised that the clusters of microcephaly and other neurological complications constitute an extraordinary event and public health threat to other parts of the world,” Chan said.

She said an international coordinated response was necessary, although there was no reason to introduce restrictions on travel or trade. Mosquito control was the top concern, she said.

The designation was recommended by a committee of independent experts, and should help fast-track international action and research priorities.

Chan advised pregnant women to take measures to protect themselves.

“If you can delay travel and it does not affect your other family commitments, it is something they can consider,” she said. “If they need to travel, they can get advice from their physician and take personal protective measures, like wearing long sleeves and shirts and pants and use mosquito repellent.”

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U.K. Approves First Studies of New Gene Editing Technique CRISPR on Human Embryos

The new technique offers hope for victims of genetic condition and infertility but also raises major ethical issues

Alice Park @aliceparkny-Feb 1, 2016

A U.K. researcher will be the first to use a precise but controversial new gene-editing technology called CRISPR to alter the genes in a human embryo.

In a nondescript office in London, a small group of experts and patient advocates have made a momentous decision that could forever change the human condition.

The U.K.’s Human Fertilization and Embryo Authority (HFEA) decided to approve a researcher’s request to use CRISPR to permanently change DNA in a human embryo.

It’s the first time the technology, which has taken the medical world by storm, has been sanctioned for use on human embryos. The team of scientists led by Kathy Niakan, a biologist at Francis Crick Institute, will attempt to edit out bits of DNA that prevent an embryo from developing properly—which may answer important questions about infertility. The embryo would not be allowed to survive beyond 14 days—meaning they wouldn’t be implanted into a woman’s womb and grown into live babies.

“I promise you she has no intention of the embryos ever being put back into a woman for development,” Robin Lovell-Badge, group leader at the Crick Institute, told TIME. “That wouldn’t be the point. The point is to understand things about basic human biology. We know lots about how the early mouse embryo develops in terms of how various cell lineages give rise to the embryo or to [other] tissue that make up the placenta. But we know very little about how this happens in the human embryo.”

Still, the experiment raises serious questions about how the powerful technique should be used. CRISPR opens the door to an unprecedented level of control over the human genome. Older techniques for editing DNA have been blunt and unreliable at best; CRISPR, on the other hand, is quickly emerging as the precision blade to those butter-knife approaches.

CRISPR allows scientists to precisely snip out and replace genes, and for the first time, the newly green-lit experiment will apply this to the so-called germline cells in an embryo—the DNA in an embryo so early in its development that all of its resulting cells will carry the change—and pass it on to the next generation. Monday’s decision has been eagerly anticipated by scientists around the world.

In the United States, federal laws prohibit the National Institutes of Health from funding human-embryo-based research that uses CRISPR, and leading scientists have called for a moratorium on the use of the technology on human embryos.               Full Story>>>

TNA Demand for Federalism is Reasonable

There should be political commitment on the part of the leaders to take Sri Lanka in a new non-antagonistic direction. People have suffered enough. There should be measures and efforts for public awareness and education, both in the South and in the North on these and related matters. After all, the demand for federalism on the part of the TNA or any other is not a monster or ‘Gona Billa.’

by Laksiri Fernando

( January 31, 2016, Sydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) The demand for federalism coming from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is reasonable. The question is how best to accommodate it within the existing realities. In my view, it could best be accommodated within the rubric of devolution.  

It is not only from the Tamil community that the demand has come from. The first to demand federalism was the Kandyan Association in 1927. The founder of the SLFP, SWRD Bandaranaike was a firm advocate of federalism in the 1930s. There were more specific reasons for the founder of the Federal Party (FP), SJV Chelvanayakam, to demand federalism in 1949.

Some Reasons

With the deprivation of citizenship and franchise of the plantation Tamil community in 1949, a threat was perceived to the Tamil community in general. That was the genesis of the federal demand today, and the perception was not incorrect judging by the experiences of the 1950s and thereafter.  

The demand for a separate state is a different one although the ‘federalists’ capitulated to that extremist demand under the heat of the events or circumstances. Otherwise, the demand for federalism cannot be considered an extremist demand. As separatism is now defeated, it is reasonable to consider the demand for federalism in an amicable manner.

Can there be risks? There can be risks but those can be minimized or shielded. This is where compromises are necessary.

There are ‘thousands’ of reasons why separation should be avoided in Sri Lanka. It is purely unnecessary. It will be a disaster for all communities. As human beings, the Sinhalese, the Tamils and the Muslims should be able to live amicably. But it should not be under the rule or hegemony of the majority Sinhalese. The fact that the Sinhalese are the majority in the country is a reality. That should not be misused. With that majority status, the Sinhalese have more responsibilities. The rights of the minorities should be safeguarded.

The Sinhalese should not have a ‘minority fear’ just because there are more Tamils in South India or elsewhere. Terrorism undoubtedly was a threat. This is something that the Tamils also should understand. If not for terrorism, reconciliation could have been easier.  

Human rights awareness in the country appears to be quite low. That is one reason for the hostile and antagonistic situation. Human rights awareness allows people to shed their narrow tribal or ethnic feelings. Awareness of human rights motivates people to respect others equally without discrimination or distinction.

Federalism is not a monster or a ‘Gona Billa.’ It is basically a constitutional system. There is no single form of federalism. There are many forms. It is not about the name, it is about the structure and the system of governance. It is akin to our ancient system of ‘Manda-la,’ – within an overall system with a centre (‘Manda’), the existence of different units (‘La’).   

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Dismal failure of the judiciary ends up with people’s demand for hybrid justice mechanism    

Featured image courtesy AsianTribune

• by Nagananda Kodituwakku 
• - on 01/31/2016 

In the co-sponsored UN Resolution (A/HRC/RES/30/1) adopted on 01st October 2015, the government conceded that that people of Sri Lanka have no trust and confidence in the justice system and was compelled to agree for a hybrid justice system with an international dimension, to try alleged serious crimes committed against humanity.

However at a recent BBC interview President Sirisena vehemently refused to set up such a hybrid system and now the former Justice Minster GL Peiris says that the President Sirisena has not been properly briefed on the content of the Geneva Resolution. This is a baseless argument, that effectively undermines President Sirisena’s ‘wisdom and knowledge’ as the executive head of the State.

Then Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, in a damage-minimising exercise, conceded to BBC Channel 4 that the government would respect its obligations under the Geneva Resolution.

However, the Daily Mirror on 28th Jan 2016 reported a contradictory speech made by the Prime Minister in the parliament, which states as follows, “… He had stated that he had never told such a thing during the interview he gave to Channel Four…” exposing the total lack of integrity in the government business and raising concerns in the international community.

Rights groups express concerns

In this backdrop Prof. Savitri Gunasekera, representing the Friday Forum, a pressure group, issued a statement on 29th Jan 2016, justifying an independent and credible inquiry process, and stressing that ‘the joint resolution is a reminder that truth-seeking and justice, however complex, ensure social integration, and that their absence is detrimental to civic order and the rule of law and that the citizens must support efforts to establish an impartial inquiry process, to probe the events’.

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A Defence Of War Crimes And War Criminals?

Yasmin Sooka

by Emil van der Poorten-Sunday, January 31, 2016

The fact that the hounds from hell are baying for the blood of South African Yasmin Sooka should surprise no one given the fact that this same bunch accused two other South Africans with similar credentials, the late Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu, of being “Tiger collaborators!”

It is not a matter for any surprise that the very same people who are organizing a thinly-disguised “Super Race” project called “Sinha Le,” continue their support of the Bodhu Bala Sena’s well-financed project which had seemingly run out of steam. The surprise is that a government allegedly committed to stopping Nazi projects continues to turn a blind eye to the reality that the vast majority of Sri Lankans recognize, if not oppose wholeheartedly. What are we waiting for? Another Black July or a Sri Lankan Kristallnacht?

The attack on Sooka, whose early history is with Mandela and Tutu, is only a part of the “philosophy” practised by the lumpen of this country, tacitly supported by those up to Cabinet rank and even higher, it seems, within the Ohey Palayang government.

There is an old chestnut about living with the dividends of history unobserved and the geniuses who claim to represent “Sri Lankan interests” are pushing the envelope in the matter of achieving that fate. That may well constitute poetic justice. However, if we let greedy morons take us down that path, we will have no one to blame but ourselves for the fate that ultimately befalls us all: “governance” that makes the Rajapaksa regime’s excesses look like a Sunday School Picnic!

I have said it before and I will say it again: the only way that we will see an objective analysis of what happened during the violent ethnic conflict that ended in 2009 will be if an international tribunal of committed and skilled people conduct such an examination and analysis. And let me be clear about any such initiative, the Desmond de Silvas, even if the third generation of self-promoting figures with their primary loyalty to those in their family circle, have no place in any such plan.  To expect justice from a local panel, including hangers-on from this dispensation or its predecessor, is not only pushing credulity to the edge of the precipice of doom and gloom but giving it that final shove into the abyss. Those that pass for “practitioners of the law” in Sri Lanka have proven totally incapable of delivering on their local responsibilities in the day to day lives of our citizens, leave alone apply fairness and justice to a far bigger task. To expect them to deal fairly and within the bounds of universally-accepted norms is nothing short of ludicrous.  Without an objective analysis and the determinations that flow from it, we are doomed insofar as any pretensions to civilized behaviour are concerned. After all, human rights and crimes against humanity are now within an internationally-accepted framework and even the most repressive regimes in the world pay lip service to those precepts, no matter how hypocritically. There Is Absolutely No Evidence To So Much As Suggest That A “Made-In-Sri-Lanka” solution can come even close to delivering. And please do not drag into this debate any of the Sri Lankans who are considered jurists of international repute. One in particular, who was the recipient, not incidentally, of some national honour from our Monarch-recently-deposed, displayed what can only be described as deafening silence as far as condemnation of the rampant abuse of human rights conducted, literally, under his very nose. If that individual (and his kin) were silent then, how in heaven’s name can you expect those at the lower levels of his particular totem pole to deliver in circumstances which could be, to put it mildly, fraught with political and personal risk?       

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A Defence Of War Crimes & War Criminals?

By Emil van der Poorten –January 31, 2016

Emil van der Poorten

The fact that the hounds from hell are baying for the blood of South AfricanYasmin Sooka should surprise no one given the fact that this same bunch accused two other South Africans with similar credentials, the late Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu, of being “Tiger collaborators!”

It is not a matter for any surprise that the very same people who are organizing a thinly-disguised “Super Race” project called “Sinha Le,” continue their support of the Bodu Bala Sena’s well-financed project which had seemingly run out of steam. The surprise is that a government allegedly committed to stopping Nazi projects continues to turn a blind eye to the reality that the vast majority of Sri Lankans recognize, if not oppose wholeheartedly. What are we waiting for? Another Black July or a Sri Lankan Kristallnacht?

The attack on Sooka, whose early history is with Mandela and Tutu, is only a part of the “philosophy” practiced by the lumpen of this country, tacitly supported by those up to Cabinet rank and even higher, it seems, within the Ohey Palayang government.

There is an old chestnut about living with the dividends of history unobserved and the geniuses who claim to represent “Sri Lankan interests” are pushing the envelope in the matter of achieving that fate. That may well constitute poetic justice. However, if we let greedy morons take us down that path, we will have no one to blame but ourselves for the fate that ultimately befalls us all: “governance” that makes the Rajapaksa regime’s excesses look like a Sunday School Picnic!

                                                                       Read More

Domestic war crimes probe: Lack of clarity as Government tries balancing act

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe talking to Jon Snow (not seen) in the video grab taken from Channel 4 footage

By Our Political Editor-Sunday, January 31, 2016

• President tells BBC no foreign judges will be allowed, but PM speaks of foreign participation
• Fonseka likely to enter Parliament and get portfolio as part of the battle against Rajapaksa-linked group
• One stand for local polls and another for world community could put Sri Lanka in political quagmire again

With local council elections only six months away, according to his own agenda, President Maithripala Sirisena dropped a bombshell last week.

Sirisena was perhaps trying to nip in the bud a possible campaign at the polls by the opposition, backed by his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa, about troops being tried by foreign judges. Leave alone a foreign judge, the very fact that they are being tried even by a local court is such a sensitive issue particularly in rural areas. It could be projected as the troops being punished for defeating the guerrillas. Sirisena told BBC’s Sinhala service Sandeshaya that neither the judges nor foreign prosecutors should be involved in an investigation into alleged war crimes. However, the remarks set off anger among local and overseas Tamil groups. The foreign offices of some western governments were livid. United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein who arrives in Colombo on Friday night, a UN source in Geneva said, would raise issue with President Sirisena.He declared that foreign judges and prosecutors should not be involved in investigations into allegations of war crimes by troops and Tiger guerrillas. It was only a week earlier he declared that local polls would be held in July. There is still some doubt on the date. The Delimitation Commission would have to first re-define boundaries of some local bodies. Thereafter, several amendments to local government laws will have to be passed by Parliament. One such amendment is to make provision for an increase in representation of women.

“He will ascertain whether the Sri Lanka Government is going back on the commitment made when it co-sponsored the US-backed resolution,” the source who did not wish to be identified said. On Saturday, Zaid will fly to Jaffna for a meeting with Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and others. Upon his return, he is due to meet President Sirisena, Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe and Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera. Thereafter, the Human Rights High Commissioner is to have a detailed meeting in Colombo with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs on the basis they are key stakeholders.

Sandeshaya interview

The BBC Sandeshaya report, later widely reported by its English channel, said: “The President of Sri Lanka has said foreign judges and prosecutors should not be involved in an investigation into allegations of war crimes. In a BBC interview, President Maithripala Sirisena said the country did not need to ‘import’ specialists. Both the army and Tamil Tiger rebels are accused of atrocities in the civil war that ended in 2009.

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Media Bashing Begins: The Honeymoon with New Govt. Ends

31/01/2016

Any journalist worth his salt knows only too well, the media is the darling of politicians only when they are out of power. When in power, unless one is absolutely willing to toe their line, journalists soon becomefoes from being friends.

Hence, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe‘s outburst against journalists and several media organisations is not something to be surprised about, as the honeymoon between a new government in power and the media is almost always short lived.

Of course, for those who had great expectations that the new yahapalanaya government would usher in an era when media personnel can have their say without getting thrashed by politicians, it is no doubt cause for great disappointment.

The Prime Minister’s remarks against media personnel on Thursday came during an adjournment debate moved by the JVP on the “Conduct of the Police in the recent past”. While many were expecting to hear more about the recent high profile crime cases including the Seya murder case and the death of a young man at Embilipitiya, in which the Police acted in a highly questionable manner, what followed was a lot of media bashing. The Prime Minister turned his guns on the media, accusing them of going on a witch-hunt against the police, referring in particular to the cases where the notebook of a reporter was forcibly taken away by police, while court hearings into the Embilipitiya case were under way.

The Prime Minister was irked that media groups and journalists have been selective in reporting on attacks on their colleagues and organisations during the former regime. “We do not need a media that applauds the Embilipitiya court and goes on a hunt at Homagama court. Have you been able to write a single editorial on what happened at Homagama court? What is your position with regard to Homagama incident? Do you approve the manner in which Eknaligoda’s wife was spoken to at court? We know you are trying to stir up racism. We will not allow that,” the Prime Minister said.                                           Read More

Those Who Killed Media Freedom Still At Large

Lasantha Wickrematunge and Thevis Guruge and Premakeerthi de Alwis and Richard de Zoysa and Mylvaganam Nimalarajan and Atputharajah Nadarajah

by Ashanthi  Warunasuriya-Sunday, January 31, 2016

We have been talking about media freedom for a long time now. Many a time, those in power had tried to intimidate journalists through abducting them, and by killing them. Some journalists escaped from this merciless treatment, fled the country seeking refuge overseas leaving their loved ones in Sri Lanka. They sacrificed their whole lives for the fight against injustice.

Freedom of the press in Sri Lanka is guaranteed by the Article 14(1) (a) of the Constitution, which gives every citizen “freedom of speech and expression and publication”. Despite this constitutional assurance, widespread suppression of media, particularly of those who are critical of the government is quite evident in the country. Of the 180 countries listed in the 2014 Press Freedom Index issued from the Reporters Without Borders, Sri Lanka is at 165th position.

According to Freedom House, during the civil war in the island, Sri Lankan journalists had no freedom at all to expose the true situation of the country let alone expressing their opinions. They had also reported at that time that Sri Lanka was one of the most dangerous destinations for a journalist to function. During this period, many journalists were killed, assaulted and made to disappear. Between 1999 and 2011, 25 journalists had been killed in the island. No accurate reports are available regarding murders, assaults and other forms of intimidation against the media during the war period in Sri Lanka. However some of them are as follows:

Thevis Guruge, the Chairman of the State-owned Independent Television Network (ITN), was killed on July 23, 1989. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was blamed for the murder.

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