World

Syrian refugees return home as anti-refugee sentiment intensifies in Lebanon

Published

2 months ago

May 14, 2024

Syrian refugees return home as anti-refugee sentiment intensifies in Lebanon

More than 300 Syrian refugees returned to Syria from two remote northeastern towns in crisis-stricken Lebanon on Tuesday.
Lebanese officials have been urging the international community to either resettle refugees or facilitate their return to Syria.
Lebanon, with a population of 6 million, hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and many more unregistered ones.

More than 300 Syrian refugees headed back home to Syria in a convoy on Tuesday, leaving two remote northeastern towns in crisis-stricken Lebanon where anti-refugee sentiment has been surging in recent months.

Lebanese officials have long urged the international community to either resettle the refugees in other countries or help them return to Syria. Over the past months, leading Lebanese political parties have become increasingly vocal, demanding that Syrian refugees go back.

A country of about 6 million people, Lebanon hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands who are unregistered — the world’s highest refugee population per capita.

VIOLENCE IN SYRIA RISES, AID DRIES UP AS CIVIL WAR BEGINS 14TH YEAR

In the northeastern town of Arsal, Syrian refugees piled their belongings onto the back of trucks and cars on Tuesday as Lebanese security officers collected their U.N. refugee agency cards and other paperwork before clearing them to leave.

A Syrian refugee woman carries her child as she prepares to go back home to Syria as part of a voluntary return, in the eastern Lebanese border town of Arsal, on May 14, 2024. More than 300 Syrian refugees headed back home to Syria in a convoy on Tuesday, leaving two remote northeastern towns in crisis-stricken Lebanon where anti-refugee sentiment has been surging in recent months. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

As the trucks pulled away, the refugees waved to friends and relatives staying behind, heading to an uncertain future in Syria.

Ahmad al-Rifai, on his way to the Qalamoun Mountains after over a decade in Lebanon, said that whatever the situation was in Syria, “it’s better to live in a house than in a tent.”

Lebanese security forces this year stepped up deportations of Syrians, although nowhere near the level threatened two years ago when the Lebanese government announced a plan to deport some 15,000 Syrians every month, to what they dubbed ” safe areas,” in cooperation with the government in Damascus.

AIRSTRIKES IN SYRIA KILL AN IRANIAN ADVISER AND A MEMBER OF A WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION TEAM

Tuesday’s convoy from the mountainous towns of Arsal and Qaa consisted of only 330 refugees who had signed up for repatriation, the first such “voluntary return” return organized by Lebanese security forces since late 2022.

“Nobody can not be happy to return to their home,” Ahmad Durro told The Associated Press while waiting in his truck. “I signed up a year ago to be in the convoy.”

But many other Syrians — especially young men facing compulsory military service or political opponents of the government of President Bashar Assad — say it’s unsafe to return.

Others see no future in Syria, where in many parts the fighting may have died down but an economic crisis has pulled millions into poverty.

An increasing number of refugees in Lebanon have taken to the sea in an attempt to reach Europe.

The UNHCR has said it only supports voluntary returns of Syrians based on informed consent. Yet, major human rights organizations remain skeptical of the voluntary nature of these returns amid anti-refugee hostility in Lebanon.

“Syrian refugees are, targeted by both geo sources and host communities. They are subjected to violence, insults and other degrading treatment,” Amnesty International’s deputy Middle East and North Africa Regional Director Aya Majzoub told the AP, also decrying curfews and other restrictions imposed on refugees by a handful of Lebanese municipalities.

“So our assessment is that in these conditions, it is very difficult for refugees to make free and informed decisions about returning to Syria.”

Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have documented cases of refugees detained and tortured by Syrian security agencies upon their return.

The UNHCR says nine out of 10 Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in extreme poverty and need humanitarian aid to survive. That aid has declined amid donor fatigue and as international attention shifted to other crises.

Many increasingly impoverished Lebanese have accused Syrian refugees of benefitting from the aid while beating Lebanese to jobs by accepting lower pay. Lebanon’s ruling political parties and leadership claim that most Syrians living in the tiny Mediterranean country are economic migrants rather than refugees escaping the war at home, now in its 13th year. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, a top ally of Assad, has made such an allegation.

“They have dollars and they are sending those dollars to relatives in Syria,” Nasrallah said in a speech on Monday.

Lebanese security agents have in the past weeks raided shops and other businesses employing undocumented Syrian workers, and shut them down.

The European Union this month announced an aid package worth about $1.06 billion of which about 200 million euros would go to security and border control, in an apparent bid to curb migration from Lebanon to Cyprus, Italy, and other parts of Europe.

While Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati welcomed the aid, other officials described it as a bribe for tiny Lebanon to keep the refugees.

Parliament is to discuss the EU package on Wednesday, with lawmakers from the entire political spectrum expected to ramp up anti-refugee sentiment and call for more refugee returns and crackdowns.

World

Continued rain postpones skateboarding, delays tennis at Paris Olympics

Published

1 hour ago

July 27, 2024

Press Room

Continued rain postpones skateboarding, delays tennis at Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — Rain that fell throughout the opening ceremony continued on Saturday, leading to postponements and delays at the Paris Olympics.

The first event of the skateboarding competition, men’s street skateboarding, was postponed from Saturday until Monday because of the showers. The women’s event is scheduled for Sunday.

Skateboarding is held at the outdoor venue of La Concorde Urban Park in Paris. World Skate, the sport’s governing body, cited adverse weather conditions for the move.

Rain has been one of the big stories early in the Games after constant showers and occasional downpours served as the backdrop for the opening ceremony. As of 10 a.m. CEST (4 a.m. ET), much of the rain had cleared from the area.

The start of play in the scheduled tennis matches on the 10 smaller courts at Roland Garros was delayed because of rain, but action was able to get going in the two main stadiums, which both have retractable roofs. That included the match at Court Philippe Chatrier between No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland – who has won four of the past five French Open titles at the same site being used for the Olympics – and Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania.

Sunny skies are expected to return to the area Sunday, but the rain could have a lasting impact on the Paris Games.

The rain could threaten the water quality for swimming in the Seine when the triathlon begins Tuesday. Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris 2024 organizers, addressed the situation at the daily press briefing.

“We are still looking at the forecast for the coming days,” Estanguet said. “They expect that it will rain till 5 p.m. today and then it should be fine.

“The team is very confident that it will be possible to have the (triathlon) swimming part in the Seine.”

The triathlon begins with the men’s event Tuesday, swimming from 8 a.m. CEST (2 a.m. ET) at the Alexander III bridge next to Grand Palais.

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AP Sports Writers Graham Dunbar and Steve Whyno and AP Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich contributed to this story.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

World

Australian surfer saved by off-duty police officer after shark ripped off leg, doctors hope to reattach it

Published

2 hours ago

July 27, 2024

Press Room

Australian surfer saved by off-duty police officer after shark ripped off leg, doctors hope to reattach it

Kai McKenzie, 23, was surfing off New South Wales in Australia when he was attacked by a shark, New South Wales police said.

“Clinging to life, he was able to catch a wave back to the beach,” a fundraising site set up for McKenzie said. “A retired police officer used his dog’s lead as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding before the victim could be airlifted to hospital.”

Amazingly, McKenzie’s leg washed up on the beach after the attack and doctors are hoping to be able to reattach it.

McKenzie has undergone surgery and remains in critical but stable condition, according to ABC News Australia and the fundraising site.

MASSIVE BULL SHARK WEIGHING NEARLY 500 POUNDS CAUGHT AT ALABAMA FISHING TOURNAMENT

Kai McKenzie, 23, was surfing off New South Wales in Australia when he was attacked by a shark, New South Wales police said. (NSW Police)

Luke Short, who makes McKenzie’s surfboards, told ABC they had all hoped “we heard it wrong.”

“It’s amazing that he’s survived,” he added.

His surf team RAGE called McKenzie the “toughest person we know.”

“Sending love to @kai_mckenzie the youngest RAGE boy on the team and the toughest person that we know,” the team wrote on Instagram this week. “Yesterday he was attacked by a shark and has lost his leg while surfing in Port Macquarie. He has been through a lot breaking his back last year, he never once complained always just got on with doing what he loved as soon as possible. He is an inspiring person. The whole rage gang loves you man and we will see you soon.”

SHARK BITE REPORTED AT HILTON HEAD ISLAND RESORT IS FIRST REPORTED SHARK BI OF YEAR ON ISLAND

Kirran Mowbray of NSW Ambulance called McKenzie “courageous” during a 7News Sydney on-air broadcast. “He turned around, caught a wave into shore.”

She added that the off-duty officer “used the lead off a dog as a tourniquet to wrap around the young man’s leg and essentially saved his life.”

Kevin Young, vice president of Bite Club, a shark attack survivors club, told the broadcast: “And I know he lost a leg and they packed it with ice and they’re going down to try to reattach it. That just blows my brain that that might be possible.”

Mid North Coast Police Chief Insp. Stuart Campbell said they would be working to try to find out what type of shark bit McKenzie.

Port Macquarie Hastings Lifeguards later reported the beach had reopened after the attack.

World

Italy's Via Appia enters the Unesco World Heritage List

Published

2 hours ago

July 27, 2024

Press Room

Italy's Via Appia enters the Unesco World Heritage List

This article was originally published in Italian

With sixty recognised sites, Italy is the country with the highest number of UNESCO heritage sites.

Italy is at the top of the Unesco World Heritage list. The World Heritage Committee, meeting in New Delhi at its 46th session, has decided to add the ‘Via Appia Regina Viarum’ on the World Heritage List- becoming the 60th Italian site to be recognised.

The list also includes the Ensemble Schwerin residence in Germany, the Niah National Park in Malaysia, the archaeological area of Al-Faw in Saudi Arabia, Constantin Brâncuși’s sculptural ensemble in Târgu Jiu and the Frontiers of the Roman Empire in Dacia, both in Romania.

Candidature of the Via Appia promoted by the Ministry of Culture

The candidature was promoted for the first time directly by the Ministry of Culture, which coordinated all the stages of the process and prepared the necessary documentation for the application.

The history of the Via Appia

About 650 kilometres long, the ancient Via Appia goes through central and southern Italy. It was the first of Rome ‘s great roads built using innovative techniques; true masterpieces of civil engineering that complemented the natural roads and are the most enduring monuments of Roman civilisation.

The route was inaugurated in 312 B.C. by the censor Appius Claudius Blind to connect Rome to Capua. It was later extended to Benevento, Venosa, Taranto and Brindisi.

Conceived for military needs, the Via Appia immediately became the road of great commercial communications and primary cultural transmissions. Over time, it became the model for all subsequent Roman public roads.

“UNESCO has grasped the exceptional universal value of an extraordinary engineering work that over the centuries has been essential for trade, social and cultural exchanges with the Mediterranean and the East,” said Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.

“This recognition adds to the extraordinary success achieved less than a year ago by Italian opera,” commented Undersecretary for Culture with responsibility for UNESCO, Gianmarco Mazzi.