Southeast Asia

Rohingya refugees face forced repatriation

Bangladesh and Burma agreed to complete the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees within two years, establishing a system of camps and "reception centers" along the border zone to facilitate their transfer. But humanitarian and human rights organizations are warning that this time frame is insufficient to guarantee a safe and voluntary return. A representative of the Burma Campaign UK stated: "Bangladesh and Burma are effectively playing ping-pong with the Rohingya, while the rest of the international community stands by. They will be returned to giant prison camps, have no rights, and be at constant risk of further attacks by the Burmese military." (Photo: European Commission via Flickr)

North Africa

Algeria, Libya mark Berber new year —at last

In a victory for Berber activists, Algeria officially celebrated Yennayer, the new year holiday of the Amazigh people, for the first time. The move is part of a general effort by Algeria's government to permit greater expression of Amazigh (Berber) culture in order to head off a separatist movement. Neighboring Libya also saw its first official Yennayer celebrations, although not on a national scale. The locally ruling Amazigh Supreme Council declared the holiday within the Berber self-governing zone in the country's western mountains. But elsewhere in the country there are signs of backsliding toward the intolerant stance of the Qaddafi dictatorship, when any expression of Amazigh language or culture had been strictly banned. A Berber activist in Benghazi, Rabee al-Jayash, was detained by forces of the city's reigning warlord, Khalifa Haftar, for public speaking and writing in the Amazigh tongue. (Photo: Amazigh World News)

Syria

Will US betray Rojava Kurds —or NATO ally Turkey?

The Kurdish question in northern Syria has really put US imperialism in a bind—its most effective anti-ISIS allies on the ground are the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), regarded as “terrorists” by longtime NATO ally Turkey. Now, just weeks after the White House announced it would be demanding back the weapons it has supplied to the SDF to fight ISIS, comes the news that the Pentagon intends to train SDF fighters as a special force to control the northern border zone. Ankara reacted angrily, threatening to attack SDF-held territory. If it comes to open war between Turkey and the SDF, the US will have to stop equivocating and throw its lot in with either one or the other. (Photo: SDF fighters via CentCom)

Planet Watch

Podcast: Anti-austerity and the utopian moment

Protests against austerity and the lords of capital are erupting simultaneously in Iran, Tunisia, Sudan, Morocco, China, Peru, Honduras, Argentina and Ecuador, recalling the international protest wave of 2011. Such moments open windows of utopian possibility, but those windows inevitably seem to close as protest movements are manipulated by Great Power intrigues or derailed into ethnic or sectarian scapegoating. What can we do to keep the revolutionary flame alive, build solidarity across borders, and resist the exploitation and diversion of protest movements? Bill Weinberg explores this question on Episode One of the long-awaited CounterVortex podcast. You can listen on SoundCloud.

Iran

Middle East socialists support Iran protests

The Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists issued a statement in support the popular protests in Iran, and calling on progressives in the region and throughout the world to stand in solidarity with them as well. The statement expressed hope that the current protests will force the Iranian regime to withdraw its military and financial support for the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and to end its reactionary interventions in the region. It also voiced hope that the efforts by some elements to inject anti-Arab chauvinism into the movement will be rejected, in order for the protesters to effectively reach out to grassroots struggles across the Middle East region. (Photo: Center for Human Rights in Iran)

Watching the Shadows

Gitmo habeas claim charges Trump discrimination

Eleven Guantánamo inmates filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, claiming their indefinite detention is due to President Trump's anti-Muslim bias. The inmates argue they can only be legally kept at Guantánamo if their individual circumstances show they would otherwise return to the battlefield. The suit claims that Trump's declaration that all Guantánamo inmates will remain at the prison camp does not take into account circumstances, but is based on Trump's antipathy toward Muslims. (Photo: Wikimedia)

North America
Otay Mesa

Trump’s vision for USA: shithole of racism

With his "shithole" comment, Trump makes clear he would bring the United States back nearly a century to the 1920s, when immigration "quotas" were imposed for countries whose inhabitants were deemed undersirable, essentially cutting off immigration of Jews, Italians and Slavs. But deepening the insult, today Haitians and Salvadorans are being driven from their homelands by poverty and instability which is itself the bitter fruit of "free trade" policies foisted upon their governments by pressure from Washington. (Photo: Homeland Security's Otay Mesa Detention Center, BBC World Service via Flickr)

North Africa
Tunisian Jews

Tunisian Jews scapegoated in anti-austerity revolt?

A Jewish school on the Tunisian island of Djerba, home to one of North Africa's ancient Jewish communities, was attacked as anti-government protests raged around the country. Days earlier, synagogues in the Iranian city of Shiraz were similarly vandalized amid nationwide protests over austerity measures. Are indigenous Jews of the Middle East and North Africa being scapegoated amid the renewed protests over economic agony? (Photo: Rabbis at Djerba synagogue, 1940 via Beit Hatfutsot)

Africa

Social progress in ‘unrecognized’ Somaliland

The unrecognized but de facto independent republic of Somaliland made rare headlines when its parliament voted to instate criminal penalties for rape—actually a groundbreaking move in the region. The "official" government of Somalia still has no law against rape. And while Somaliland just elected a new president by popular vote, Somalila's president was chosen by parliament. Regular elections are impossible in Somalia due to the fact that the government has no effective control of its own territory—despite military support of an Ethiopia-led "peacekeeping" force.

North Africa

Anti-austerity protests rock Tunisia

At least one is reported dead as angry protests have spread across Tunisia in response to an austerity package imposed by the government under pressure from the International Monetary Fund. Under the new budget, which took effect Jan. 1, fuel prices are hiked, and new taxes imposed on housing, cars, phone calls, Internet services, and several other items. Hamma Hammami, leader of the opposition Popular Front, pledged to keep up the pressure, telling reporters: "We will stay on the street and we will increase the pace of the protests until the unjust financial law is dropped." (Photo: North Africa Post)

Africa

Harsh repression as bread riots rock Sudan

Sudanese authorities carried out mass arrests and confiscated newspapers as protests exploded over rising bread prices and severe economic austerity. One student was killed amid demonstrations in Geneina, capital of West Darfur state. Protests were also reported from the cities of Nyala, al-Damazin and the capital Khartoum. The unrest broke out as bakeries doubled the price of bread following a government decision to increase the price of flour nearly fourfold. The decision was part of a package of austerity measures issued under the country's 2018 budget, seeking to address the spiralling inflation rate.