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Bangladesh’s now-postponed repatriation would have turned the plight of Rohingya refugees from bad to worse · Global Voices
Shafiur Rahman

Lombasia, a section of Kutupalong refugee camp. Image from Instagram by the author.
The year of 2018 has witnessed some excoriating developments in the ongoing Rohingya crisis. In March, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar described the crisis as bearing the “hallmarks of genocide”. Five months later, the International Independent Fact-Finding Mission accused Myanmar of having “genocidal intent” and of having committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. And then in October came another blow for Myanmar when the International Criminal Court decided it had jurisdiction over the crime of deportation of Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
Rohingya advocacy groups were buoyant and dared to allow themselves to think that these developments were an indication of progress. Then suddenly, within the space of a month, the outlook for the 1.1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh changed. Out of the blue, though not unexpectedly in an election year, the Bangladesh government decided to enforce the agreement on repatriation they had signed with Myanmar in January 2018.
The original plan to begin repatriating Rohingya refugees on Thursday 15 November was reportedly postponed after protests by refugees at a camp near the border between Bangladesh and Myanmar. But there has been widespread anxiety and consternation in the camps as the refugees face the possibility of forcible return to Myanmar amidst reports that Myanmar is not yet ready to receive them. The decision has been described as dangerous by both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a number of aid organisations helping the refugees.
Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner has said two transit camps have been created in Kerontali and in Ghumdum, Naingkongchori, in preparation for the repatriation of #Rohingyahttps://t.co/XjVt2svPCU#nonrefoulement #RRRC pic.twitter.com/CbEq5oPSZA
— Shafiur Rahman (@shafiur) November 10, 2018
Before repatriation #Rohingya, Security of life,citizenships right,human rights and other basic rights must be ensured pic.twitter.com/FBK665mMUm
— Mohammed Zakaria (@zakariaqc25) November 11, 2018
The United Nations’ refugee agency will not provide humanitarian assistance to #Rohingya Muslims who return to Myanmar if they are interned in camps, according to an internal position paper circulated days before the initial repatriation is due to start.https://t.co/LuQqOt1e2f
— Ro Nay San Lwin (@nslwin) November 13, 2018
This is not the first time that involuntary repatriation has been contemplated and implemented and in a context where conditions in Rakhine state, from where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled last year, are not favourable. This article takes a brief transect walk through the four-decade-long histories.
Walking around Kutupalong refugee camp, you might get an urge to dismantle the set of institutions, practices, and relationships that have created the place, because you will find it impossible to understand how people tolerate the kind of incoherence and injustice you see all around you. If you are Bangladeshi and you realise that this is part of your country, you will find it hard to conceive of the incentives or inducements that led the powers that be and various other forces to create and maintain such a place. Even if you view Kutupalong as a stage the drama of recent history is played out, you will question the sense of such repetitious and costly productions.
Pools of fetid, stagnant water dot the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. Image from Instagram by the author.
Myanmar's crimes against humanity and crimes against peace may have not yet been deliberated upon properly in international fora. But who will take into account and argue that the crimes perpetrated by Myanmar are compounded in places like Kutawpalong—a place that is supposed to provide refuge for vulnerable people?
Here in Bangladesh, there is an amazing capacity for forgetting, ignoring or bypassing what is unpleasant or inconvenient—indeed, for anything that goes against the basic tenets of humanity and international law. Let us begin with the late 70s and the first mass exodus of more than 200,000 Rohingya refugees. This is what Human Rights Watch stated in their 1996 report:
Expecting to find protection, these refugees only found further persecution by a (Bangladeshi) government that was as keen to see the back of them as their own. Over 12,000 refugees starved to death as the Bangladesh government reduced food rations in the camps in order to force them back, and following a bilateral agreement between the two governments, the majority of refugees were repatriated less than 16 months after their arrival.
You are looking at a refugee camp, at poverty, at statelessness, racism, self-interest, criminalization, exclusion, racialization, contradiction. And denial. Image via Instagram by the author.
Another big exodus from Myanmar happened in 1991. And another set of forced repatriations took place in 1992 and 1993 that were equally merciless. There were clashes between refugees and Bangladeshi authorities, and there were fatalities. Those repatriated, some 50,000, could not be traced by the UNHCR three years later. A little over a decade later, in November of 2004, a number of Rohingya refugees died and scores were injured during another episode of forced repatriation from the camps of Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh government's first defence of this action to the public and to the world at large was that Bangladesh was a poor country and could not possibly cope with such large numbers of refugees. And while the political hue of the government has since changed, the quality of discourse, reflection and policy pronouncements has not shifted in four decades. The Bangladeshi government has a single-minded resolve to return all the Rohingya refugees. Over the years, it has managed to rope UNHCR into doing its bidding by categorizing Rohingya as “economic migrants”, not asylum seekers. And so it follows that the needs and vulnerabilities of those in the camps are not of concern. These people need only be returned.
15 #Rohingya who left from #Sittwe were arrested in Ann Tsp by authorities while they were traveling to #Yangon on 12 Nov 2018. Source-https://t.co/39XMAm5Rpq #Bangladesh govt must stop the repatriation of #Rohingyas back to #Myanmar because nothing has changed in Rakhine state. pic.twitter.com/5d7FSXOYVd
— Soe Thu Moe (@Sthumoe) November 13, 2018
time nd time again we have seen how repatriating the Rohingya has never worked nd yet in 48 hours the #Rohingya repatriation from bangladesh starts.wen repatriation is forced nd not voluntary, it's no longer repatriation. It's refoulement. It's illegal nd a crime against humanity pic.twitter.com/ojB2qjJyh9
— ☔ (@brownaandlovely) November 14, 2018
Surely the inability to promote an awareness of the shortcomings of this approach this stands as one of the signal under-achievements in the annals of refugee history. How, in 2018, can we still see repatriation as an objective, when all the evidence points to the fact that these cyclical influxes into Bangladesh are rooted in Myanmar's pernicious persecution and denial of citizenship to Rohingya, although they have lived in the country for generations? If returned, Rohingya refugees will again endure the cycle of murder, rape, physical torture, forced relocation, herding into camps, land and property confiscation, compulsory labour, limitations on access to education, employment, and public services, restrictions on marriage, limitation on the practise of religion, destruction of mosques, et cetera.
Skipping at dusk. There is a playing field at an elevated level in #Kutupalong #refugee camp. It is always full of activity. Lined on one side with small shops selling fizzy drinks, snacks, ciggies and paan. Image from Instagram by the author.
In the meantime, generations of stateless children are growing up in the camps in poverty, without opportunities, without any possibility of social mobility, and in conditions, no image will be able to convey. One really needs to visit the place to get a proper feel.
There is a difference between mourning and melancholia. Mourning is when one accepts one's loss and moves on. In melancholia, one does not accept the loss, which then becomes incorporated into one's being to the point where one continually remembers it.
Walking around Kutupalong, one feels melancholy, because the Bangladesh government won't have it any other way.
A #refugee camp is no place to bring up a child. In the #Rohingya camps, things are very difficult. For any age of person. The root of cyclical influxes into #Bangladesh is the denial of citizenship to Rohingya in Myanmar and the relentless persecution meted out to them. Image via Instagram by the author.

author: Shafiur Rahman


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Mozambique’s new China-funded Maputo-KaTembe bridge, the longest in Africa, comes with high tolls · Global Voices
Alexandre Nhampossa

The Maputo-KaTembe bridge. Photo by Alexandre Nhampossa, used with permission.
On November 10, Mozambique inaugurated the Maputo-KaTembe Bridge, a four kilometer- long piece of infrastructure connecting the center of the capital Maputo with the KaTembe district on the south side of the bay.
It's the largest suspension bridge in Africa and one of the 60 longest in the world, as well as a symbol of Chinese investment in Mozambique.
The bridge was built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation at a cost of 785 million US dollars, making it the most expensive infrastructure project undertaken in Mozambique since the country's independence in 1975. It was 95 percent funded by loans from China's EXIM bank, to be paid by the Mozambique state in 20 years time at a four percent interest (the remaining five percent came directly from the public coffers).
The construction affected around 900 families, who had to be rehoused. Authorities say the relocation process contributed to delaying the bridge's inauguration, originally scheduled for June 25, the date Mozambique celebrates its independence.
The government hopes that the Bridge will serve the hundreds of residents of the KaTembe district who commute by small boats and ferry boats to the center of Maputo for work and study.
KaTembe is officially part of the metropolitan area of Maputo, but both regions are very different: the northern half of Maputo is a highly-urbanized center, with a population of around two million, while KaTembe lacks infrastructure and still has plenty of unused lands.
Authorities also hope to boost trade and tourism from South Africa — the driving time between its east coast border and Maputo will now take around 90 minutes instead of the previous six hours.
The bridge, which has no pedestrian lane, will be tolled from 160 to 1200 Meticais (2.60 to 20 USD). Frequent users will have an up to 75 percent discount. Currently, boat-crossing of Maputo costs between 10 and 1050 meticais (0.16 and 17.24 USD).
The inauguration ceremony of the Maputo-KaTembe bridge. Photo by Alexandre Nhampossa, used with permission.
However, the bridge has faced criticism from Mozambicans for the high costs of the loans that permitted its construction — as well as the toll charges that will help service them.
University student Sérgio Wiliamo said on Facebook:
Há aqui uma grande falha do governo na determinação das tarifas a serem aplicadas. Neste tipo de empreendimentos as tarifas aplicadas não visam recuperação do investimento, mas a sua manutenção para conferir-se-lhes longevidade. Ao que me parece, e tendo em conta os valores altos que vi, há ganhos que se pretendem obter acima da simples operacionalização e manutenção da infraestrutura.
There is here a failure of the government when determining such fees. In projects like those, the fees do not aim to recover the initial investment, but to upkeep the infrastructure. It seems to me, and taking into account the high values I have seen, there are gains that are expected to be obtained above the simple operationalization and maintenance of the infrastructure
Also commenting on the fees, philosopher and professor of Eduardo Mondlane University, Ergimino Mucale, wrote on Facebook:
A essência de uma ponte é ligar, unir, (r)estabelecer contacto. Moçambique apresenta-se, desde já, como o primeiro país, na história, a falsear o sentido tradicional do conceito ponte. É que a bela e das maiores pontes suspensas de África, Maputo-KaTembe, nasceu para estabelecer ou desvelar, dolorosamente, fosso entre os endinheirados e os miseráveis de uma mesma nação. Já não são as poucas milhas que separam os munícipes de Maputo entre os de cá e os de lá, são os muitos meticais de tarifa das futuras portagens.
The essence of a bridge is to connect, to unify, to (re-)establish contact. Mozambique is now the first country in history to distort the traditional meaning of the concept of the bridge. The beautiful and one of the largest suspended bridges of Africa, Maputo-KaTembe, was born to establish or unveil, painfully, the gap between the wealthy and the wretched of one same nation. It is no longer the few miles separating the Maputo residents from here and there, but the many meticais of the coming tolls.
The inauguration ceremony of the Maputo-KaTembe bridge. Photo by Alexandre Nhampossa, used with permission.
A contributor of World Vision, a development organization, Elvino Dias expects the bridge to be a relief for the citizens of KaTembe, but also has reservations regarding the toll:
Quando todos aplaudíamos que a ponte Maputo KaTembe marcava o fim do sofrimento dos munícipes daquela parcela de Maputo, bem assim seria de todos, nunca imaginei que seria o início de mais uma escravatura, e desta vez, sem um fim à vista.
Não me importa saber de onde veio o dinheiro para a construção da ponte ou estrada, porque sei que pago impostos que supostamente deviam construir tais infraestruturas. Por isso mesmo, por vezes me questiono para onde vai o dinheiro dos nossos impostos. Caros Irmãos, se eles persistirem em tais preços, temos que dizer não à elitização de um bem público.
When we applauded that the Maputo KaTembe Bridge marked the end of the suffering of the citizens of that part of Maputo, I didn't imagine that it would be the beginning of another form of slavery, and this time without an end in sight.
I do not care where the money came for the construction of the bridge or road came from, because I know I've paid taxes that supposedly were for building such infrastructures. That's why I sometimes wonder where taxpayer's money goes to. Dear brothers, if they persist with such prices, we must say no to the eliticization of a public good.
Mozambican authorities are expecting the bridge to sustain a daily average traffic of over four thousand vehicles, a significant increase of the average of 200 vehicles that cross the bay by boat today.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Alexandre Nhampossa


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Netizen Report: Tanzania’s crackdown on free speech targets media advocates from CPJ · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

A newsstand advertising The Citizen, an independent newspaper in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Photo by Adam Jones via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The Advox Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world. This report covers news and events from November 1-15, 2018.
Two media freedom advocates from the Committee to Protect Journalists were detained and interrogated by plainclothes officers in Tanzania, while they were visiting the country as part of a fact-finding mission.
CPJ staffers Angela Quintal and Muthoki Mumo were coerced to leave their hotel and were detained for several hours at a private home by plainclothes officers. The officers also seized and attempted to search their electronic devices.
In a written account of the experience for South Africa’s The Daily Maverick, Quintal described how the officers treated both her and Mumo, who is Kenyan.
We were alone at the mercy of a posse of men, some of whom were very abusive and hostile….An intelligence agent was particularly abusive towards Muthoki. He even slapped and shoved her. I tried to intervene and was told to back off. I was terrified that Muthoki would be sexually assaulted and I would be powerless to stop them.
Quintal and Mumo were in Tanzania to meet with journalists and media freedom advocates who have seen a rise in repression of media workers in recent years, under the administration of President John Magufuli.
Alongside extralegal threats against media workers, measures like the country’s 2016 Cybercrime Law and the 2018 “blogger tax” licensing scheme have created new ways for authorities to target free expression and silence their critics. The Cybercrime Law has been used to arrest multiple individuals for non-violent political opinions expressed on Facebook and in WhatsApp groups. Authorities have also used it in their case against Maxence Melo, the prominent founder and owner of Jamii Forums, which has been dubbed both the “Tanzanian Reddit” and “Swahili Wikileaks”. Melo was prosecuted after refusing to disclose user data to state authorities.
Human rights defender Turki Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Jasser was once a prominent voice in Saudi Arabia, where he used an anonymous Twitter account to report human rights abuses in the kingdom and helped lead ALQST (Advocating for Human Rights in Saudi Arabia), one of few local human rights groups. But this came to an end in March 2018 when he was abducted by authorities who traced the anonymous Twitter account back to Al-Jasser. This week, Al-Jasser died after being tortured in a Saudi prison.
Multiple media sources including The New York Times have speculated that Saudi government agents could have obtained this information from inside Twitter, through an informant employed at the company’s UAE office, where the company handles issues related to Saudi users. But this has not been confirmed. Although it remains unclear precisely how Al-Jasser’s identity was determined, some of his supporters are holding Twitter responsible.
An investigation by Hong Kong Free Press showed that the names of some Chinese state leaders and activists have been deemed “inappropriate words” and censored from the latest versions of a device-engraving service offered for the iPad, iPod Touch and Apple Pencil. If a customer types “Xi Jinping” (the name of China's president) in Chinese characters, the following warning appears: “Inappropriate words are not allowed.” References to political dissidents, Hong Kong and Taiwan independence, and the Falun Gong generate similar results.
China’s social media platform Weibo (similar to but larger than Twitter) is giving Chinese government actors and select media outlets the power to flag Weibo posts as “rumors”, as part of an effort to identify fake news online. In China, any information that comes into conflict with official narratives and party politics can be considered a rumor.
Scholar and feminist activist Stella Nyanzi was arrested at Makerere University on November 2 and charged under the 2011 Computer Misuse Act for using “electronic communication to disturb or attempts to disturb the peace, quiet or right of privacy of any person with no purpose of legitimate communication.” Nyanzi was arrested on similar charges in 2017, after she compared president Museveni to a “pair of buttocks” on her Facebook page.
Abdou Semmar, the editor-in-chief of Algérie Part and a former Global Voices contributor, and fellow journalist Merouane Boudiab were released from detention on November 8, after spending more than two weeks behind bars. They were arrested in response to defamation complaints filed by Anis Rahmani, the director of the privately-owned Ennahar TV, and the governor of Algiers, Abdelkader Zoukh.
Algérie Part has done extensive coverage of allegations of corruption against Zoukh. They have also been critical of Rahmani and his media group, reporting that Ennahar TV has been spreading lies and rumours. Neither of the plaintiffs have said publicly what they find defamatory in Algérie Part's reporting. The journalists are now awaiting trial.
Bashir Khadda, a 32-year-old media activist from Western Sahara who has been in jail since 2010, suspended a 45-day hunger strike at the urging of his family members. Khadda worked primarily with Equipe Media documenting human rights abuses and protests in the disputed north African territory before he was arrested in 2010 and convicted of “complicity in violence” against security forces in 2013, after being forced to sign a pre-written confession while blindfolded.
Despite his medically fragile state — he is now unable to walk or talk — he remains in solitary confinement in Morocco's Talfit prison.
Afef Abrougui, Eduardo Avila, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Nwachukwu Egbunike, Mohamed ElGohary, Elizabeth Rivera, Juke Carolina Rumuat, Laura Vidal contributed to this report.

author: Netizen Report Team


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One year on, Brazil’s ‘unrestricted outsourcing’ law fails to create jobs · Global Voices
John Razen

Photo by Agência Brasil, used with permission
Volkswagen has employees working up to 30 days without a break. Banks and telemarketing operators clock employees’ bathroom time. Big retailers found to employ slave labor. Those are some of the headlines that made the news in Brazil over the past several months — and the underlying story in all of them is the country's new, more flexible labor regulations.
In November 2017, Brazil's president Michel Temer sanctioned a law allowing companies to outsource all of its activities, including core ones. In August 2018, the Supreme Court confirmed the constitutionality of the law. The government hoped that loosing up employment regulation would help boost the job market as Brazil endured an economic recession — its GDP receded 3.5 percent in 2016, the worst downturn since the 1980s. Pick up has been slow since.
Schools are now allowed to outsource its teachers, with a private contract signed between the two parties replacing the standard employment relationship, and therefore skipping a regular monthly wage, benefits, and social security.
Before the law was approved, the understanding of Brazil's Superior Labor Court, the highest appellate court for labor issues, was that companies could only outsource support activities, such as cleaning, security, and maintenance.
The National Association of Labor Magistrates (Anamatra) criticized the Supreme Court's decision, stating that judges should exercise caution before embracing the new rules:
Restará agora aos juízes do Trabalho avaliar concretamente, caso a caso, se o modelo adotado frustrará os direitos sociais, em detrimento das garantias constitucionais e legais do trabalhador.
All that is left is for labor judges to evaluate, case by case, if the new model will affect social rights as well as constitutional and legal guarantees of workers.
In 2015, a report by the International Labor Organization revealed that 66 percent of Brazilian workers didn't have a permanent contract. In developed countries, that rate is of 15 percent. Although the legalization of outsourcing was only beginning to be discussed at that time, the report includes a warning that it could “jeopardize labor rights” in Brazil.
In an interview with magazine Carta Capital, sociology professor Ricardo Antunes, from the University of Campinas, says that while “slave labor was bought, outsourcing labor is rented.”
É evidente que não estamos voltando ao trabalho escravo de 1500, estamos falando de uma escravidão inclusive digital, do trabalho terceirizado, precarizado, informal, do trabalho sem direitos, de uma dependência do sistema perverso de metas, que tem levado a suicídios e adoecimentos do trabalho.
It's obvious that we are not returning to the slavery from the 1500s, but we're entering an era of digital slavery, which includes outsourced, precarious, informal work, [an era of] work with the absence of rights, and a dependence to a goal-oriented system, which has led to suicide and work-related ill health.
Brazil's labor relations are regulated by the Consolidation of Labor Laws (which locally are called by its acronym “CLT”), which is a set of measures approved by ex-president Getúlio Vargas in 1943. They were established to lower the tension between Brazil's growing union movements and its industrial entrepreneurship, which were increasingly important for the country's economy.
Over the past 70 years, the Consolidation of Labor Laws has changed multiple times, but never as radically as the 2017 reform. Besides legalizing outsourcing, the new CLT revoked mandatory union contribution, allowed individual bagaining to overrule over any general regulation, and introduced new hiring regimes, such as the so-called zero-hour contracts, which are common in the United Kingdom in which the employer is not obliged to provide a minimum income.
The government argued that the reform was necessary to increase the number of jobs in the context of the recession.It hoped that it would create two million new vacancies in the following two years. But ten months have passed and there is still no sign of recovery. In the second quarter of 2018, the unemployment rate dropped from 12.9 percent to only 12.4 percent.
Specialists state this drop is due to a growth in the informal market and the number of people who have given up finding a job. There are 65 million Brazilians who are neither working or looking for a job according to Brazil's National Institute of Statistics.
Brazil seem to be following the same path as the Spanish 2012 labor reform. Research indicates an increase in job offer in the past five years in Spain, but a decrease in general wage and worsened working conditions, leading to an spike in social inequality.
Professor Marcio Pochmann from the Institute of Economics of Unicamp, in an interview to the newspaper Nexo, said that lack of job safety as well as precarious work conditions may have a negative impact on family income and in turn jeopardise the overall recovery of Brazil's economy:
The labor reform introduces a contract that overhauls the right to a monthly income, something that experts call precarization of the work conditions. It increases instability by removing the predictability of income. So it was a structural change that brought about recession and then precarious work conditions. The situation won't be resolved until there is a revision of the form of formalization of the job market. The reform impedes a sustainability of jobs.

author: John Razen


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Dissident novelist’s close call casts a shadow on Hong Kong’s once-vibrant cultural scene · Global Voices
James Durston

Ma Jian speaking to reporters after arriving at the Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: RTHK screenshot via HKFP.
Attempts to block a controversial Chinese novelist from speaking at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival last weekend raised fears about the future of artistic expression in Hong Kong.
Ma Jian, whose books have been banned in mainland China since 1987, and who has been living in exile in the UK since 2011, was due to appear on November 10 to take part in one debate about Hong Kong literature, and in another to discuss his latest novel China Dream.
The novel takes a political swing at Chinese president Xi Jinping and was described by publisher Penguin Books as “a biting satire of totalitarianism that reveals what happens to a nation when it is blinded by materialism and governed by violence and lies.” The book's Chinese version will be published in Taiwan in 2019.
Ma has not found a publisher in Hong Kong, but this comes as no surprise. In 2015, five Hong Kong booksellers vanished and were revealed to have been detained by Chinese authorities. One of those booksellers is still being held, according to Amnesty International. All five were known for carrying books that covered politically sensitive topics.
Two days before Ma was due to speak in Hong Kong, the event venue Tai Kwun, a newly renovated art and culture hub, reneged on the booking, and asked the festival organizers to relocate Ma’s talks.
Though the decision to cancel was eventually reversed after an international furore, the attempt to sideline Ma from Hong Kong’s biggest literary event has caused many people to question what the future holds for culture and literature in Hong Kong.
The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s biggest English language broadsheet, published an op-ed in which it labelled the venue's behavior an “act of self-censorship”:
“…it appears to be an example of venue operators second-guessing where Beijing’s red lines may lie – and getting it wrong. Such actions pose a serious threat to artistic freedom”.
On the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s 1997 return to China (from British rule), President Xi Jinping declared a “red line” barring suggestions of independence for Hong Kong. This “red line” now appears to bar any references to Hong Kong self-determination.
Even the hosting of a talk about Hong Kong independence by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club has been viewed as crossing the line. Victor Mallet, FCC's deputy director, subsequently had his working visa denied and was banned from entering Hong Kong as a tourist.
Amy Qin, who reports from Hong Kong for The New York Times, tweeted: “It seems like not a day goes by now without some new evidence of Hong Kong's fast-shrinking protections for freedom of speech.”
And Ma Jian himself tweeted extensively about the incident:
Good to be back in London. But Hong Kong is my second home. It was my refuge for 10 years after my books were banned in China. The freedoms once enjoyed there allowed me to develop as a writer. I will continue to speak out whenever those precious freedoms are under threat.
— 马建 Ma Jian (@majian53) November 13, 2018
Hong Kong has long been a refuge to exiled mainland Chinese writers. After the Chinese Communist Party won the Civil War and established the People's Republic of China in 1949, a large number of writers escaped to Hong Kong and settled in the colony. They started the city's proud “exile literature” tradition, which is a distinctive part of Hong Kong's cultural identity.
Novelist Louis Cha and film producer Raymond Chow — two Hong Kong cultural icons who died in the past two weeks — are two eminent examples: they have shined a light on the freedoms Hong Kong has enjoyed, in contrast with the mainland. Cha moved to Hong Kong in 1949 to escape communist attacks in China, and was able to flourish in the relative freedoms enjoyed here. Similarly, Chow moved to Hong Kong in the early 1950s and brought the likes of Bruce Lee to the world.
With this backdrop, a cancellation of such an event points to shifting winds in Hong Kong's artistic climate. Chinese-Australian cartoonist Badiucao, whose work explores abuses of power and whose real identity is kept secret, canceled his debut solo exhibition in Hong Kong earlier in November after what he claims were “threats” from China.
“I really admire artists and dissidents who are brave enough to do it openly. I see myself as a coward,” he told Hong Kong Free Press a week before the exhibition's cancellation. He also expressed concerns about how the city is failing to protect its controversial artists: “I think we are witnessing the dying of Hong Kong.”
These new ‘rules’ of Hong Kong art etiquette even extend to the commercial film and music industries as well. Movies critical of communist rule have vanished from theaters despite healthy box office sales, while others have been banned in mainland China.
Meanwhile, Canto-pop singer Denise Ho lost a sponsorship deal with Lancome after reportedly supporting the 2014 Umbrella Revolution, a student-led protest movement in which tens of thousands of demonstrators occupied Hong Kong’s main roads for months, demanding genuine democratic elections.
While there are few written rules about what the Chinese authorities will and will not condone in Hong Kong’s art, one artist and lecturer thinks that’s deliberate.
“There is a lot of speculation about what is allowed and what’s not. It is more of a psychological red line to create fear, so that you self-censor,” Sampson Wong, artist and lecturer at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, told Quartz.
Past events suggest this is an approved, long-term strategy by China’s ruling party.

author: James Durston


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Former Macedonian strongman’s escape to Hungary triggers a flood of disinformation · Global Voices
Goran Rizaov

This image mashup by Macedonian satirist Alekandar Dojranliev depicting former anti-migrant prime minister Nikola Gruevski dressed like as a refugee at the Hungarian border became a popular meme. Republished with permission.
By publishing unconfirmed, unchecked and misleading information about former Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski's flight to Hungary to avoid a 2-year prison sentence, many Balkan media outlets have helped create confusion and mistrust among the general public. The main source of the confusion was the re-publishing articles back and forth between Macedonian, Hungarian, Serbian and Albanian media without basic journalistic verification.
According to Balkan Insight, it is now known that Gruevski passed illegally from Macedonia into Albania, and was then transported in diplomatic vehicles through Montenegro and Serbia to Hungary by staff from the Hungarian embassies in those countries.
One of the most influential pieces of disinformation came from the formerly reputable Serbian newspaper Politika, which on November 15 published an article claiming Gruevski had “escaped” on a Malév Hungarian Airlines flight from Tirana, Albania's capital, to Budapest. Conveniently for the Serbian government, which has close ties to the Macedonian and Hungarian populists involved in the operation, the Politika story conveniently omitted Serbia from its description of the route taken by the fugitive.
While many Balkan media republished the story unmodified, some took the exceptional step of assessing and debunking the information within. Macedonia's Meta News agency pointed out, for instance, that Malev Hungarian Airlines had ceased operations back in 2012.
Illustration of the fact-check of Politika's article “Exclusive: Gruevski escaped via Albania” by Raskrikavanje.rs, used with permission. It combined true (he indeed was in Albania) and false claims (he flew instead of passing by car through Serbia) to throw off the public off the scent.
Serbian media fact-checking site Raskrikavanje.rs further debunked the Politika article by reporting that the only flight from Tirana to Budapest on any airline on November 13 was late in the evening, and the airline was the low-budget Wizz Air. As Gruevski had announced on Facebook that he was in Budapest at around 13:10 hrs that day, it would have been impossible for him to have taken the Wizz Air flight, or any flight from Tirana.
The article in question was removed from Politika's website without explanation. However, the Macedonian website Critical Thinking for Mediawise Citizens  – CriThink retained a screenshot of the page as part of their fact-checking. Besides analyzing the information in the story, CritThink pointed out that the anonymous author of the misleading article had not cited any sources to support their claims.
За ниедна информација во написот, или за ниедно тврдење нема наведено од каде тие потекнуваат и кој ги дал информациите. Нема ни повикување на анонимни извори – било официјални или неофицијални, што, исто така, дополнително го зголемува сомневањето дека она што е објавено е, всушност, невистина.
For not a single piece of information in the article, for not a single claim there is no source where it emerges from or who gave the information. They are not even stating that there were anonymous sources – unofficial or official, which additionally raises the doubts on whether what was published was actually true.
Another popular item of misinformation was the widely republished claim that Gruevski crossed borders dressed as a woman. This claim inspired numerous memes, possibly in retaliation for his regime's weaponization of misogyny and homophobia and use of anti-LGBTI propaganda to mobilize support.
Made in #Hungary .Mr. #ж Николас Дрпам Бегам pic.twitter.com/WhRVgBxHVR
— King Of North (@DupniMandalo) November 15, 2018
Made in Hungary? Mr. Nikolas Steal and Run.
The source for this claim was a November 14 interview by well-known Macedonian law professor Vlado Kambovski on the reputable website SDK.mk. At a time when the details of the incident were still unknown, Kambovski speculated that anything was possible, even something as outrageous as the macho conservative politician donning women's clothing in order to evade the law.
Големиот херој и патриот Никола Груевски, кој можеби и во женски алишта се скри и побегна од Македонија, стори двоен прекршок покрај кривичното дело за кое е осуден на двегодишна затворска казна која требаше да ја издржува… Тој со бегството си ја зацементира вината.
The [self declared] big hero and patriot Nikola Gruevski, who possibly disguised himself in woman's clothes and escaped Macedonia, did a double offense in addition to the crime for which he was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison that he was supposed to serve… By escaping he provided rock-solid evidence of his guilt.
Several Hungarian media took this offhand remark literally and published articles with sensationalist headlines claiming that Gruevski had actually crossed the borders dressed as a woman, citing SDK as the source of the information.
To complicate matters further, some Macedonian media amplified the disinformation from these sources with headlines such as “Hungarian media: Gruevski crossed the border dressed as a woman.” These media leaned so heavily on these third-hand sources that they failed to realize that the rumor had, in fact, originated in their own country.
Gruevski's regime, which ruled Macedonia from 2006 to 2017, invested heavily in propaganda and disinformation. Much of their infrastructure, including some of their media allies, is still in place and continues to manipulate information that often increases in sensationalism and inaccuracy as it travels back and forth across the region's borders.
Journalists and fact-checking projects may be working hard to debunk them, but the flood of false claims and counterclaims within the general media sphere erodes trust in journalism as a pillar of democracy among the public, sinking them further into political apathy.

author: Goran Rizaov


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From prime minister to escaped convict: Macedonia’s ex-leader Nikola Gruevski flees to Hungary · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

While in power, Nikola Gruevski’s cabinet commissioned this portrait of himself which still hangs in the seat of Government of the Republic of Macedonia, alongside somewhat smaller paintings of other former prime ministers. PHOTO: Public domain.
Evading a two-year prison sentence for corruption, Nikola Gruevski, the former prime minister of Macedonia, has sought refuge in Hungary.
Gruevski went missing on Thursday 8 November, when the six bodyguards he had hand-picked from the Ministry of Interior allegedly last had contact with him. Gruevski had been involved in protracted legal procedures to delay serving a two-year prison sentence in a case code-named Tank that charged him with abuse of office. His lawyers filed numerous appeals after the Supreme Court confirmed his verdict in October.
Gruevski was supposed to have reported to prison by Monday 12 November. On Tuesday 13 November, however, he announced on Facebook that he had relocated to Budapest as he had been receiving threats. He has applied for political asylum in Hungary.
The escape has caused an uproar in Macedonia and the region, as the public demands answers about how and why the former strongman managed to pull it off.
While Gruevski's escape was unprecedented in Macedonian history, his choice of destination wasn’t too surprising. Over a year ago, Global Voices reported that Gruevski may have made a deal with Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban for Hungary to provide refuge for fugitives connected to abuses of power by Gruevski's regime.
Gruevski and Orban have a history of cooperation. Hungarian banks have been involved in corrupt deals for siphoning Macedonian taxpayers’ money. The two leaders exploited the 2015 refugee crisis to create xenophobic hysteria for joint political gains, waged coordinated campaigns against civil society, and engaged in financial machinations related to funding party propaganda.
“As prime minister, I stole, cheated and lied, this is why I'm being persecuted in my country. Will you take me in?”
“We are always happy to welcome those who share our culture!”
HVG cartoonist Marabu on Nikola Gruevski seeking asylum in Hungary.#Hungary #Macedonia pic.twitter.com/xq8MGfD4L7
— Florian Bieber (@fbieber) November 14, 2018
At European Union level, the two leaders’ populist parties, VMRO-DPMNE and Fidesz, have a history of using their membership in the European People’s Party (EPP), a pan-European association of right-wing political parties, to minimize or delay international community response to abuses within their countries.
These escapes to Hungary have been enabled by the Macedonian judiciary, which decided against detaining suspects in many ongoing corruption cases. Over the last several years, European Union reports have indicated that Gruevski’s party had been undermining the independence of the courts by filling them with regime loyalists.
In a country which has been steeped in conspiracy theories for decades, many have wondered if the current government had made some sort of deal to let Gruevski go, in exchange for his party's support in parliament on name issue agreement with Greece, a matter that has been the subject of media speculation for several months.
Eerie!
Fokus weekly cover from 23. August 2018.
The title of the cover article reads (in #Macedonian):
“Will the Government Allow Gruevski to Escape into Hungary if VMRO MP's Support the Name Agreement?”
They did and he did!
As I say – eerie!#Macedoniahttps://t.co/1lc3A7uTdK pic.twitter.com/qBc8stnSa8
— Vladimir Petreski (@VPetreski) November 13, 2018
On Wednesday 14 November, however, Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev vehemently denied the allegations of a political deal with Gruevski.
Other citizens, including legal and human rights experts, have demanded that the government assume responsibility for the embarrassing scandal, and have expressed disappointment with the government they had voted into power on the promise of a return to the rule of law.
МВР чека види каде е Груевски.
Министерство за надворешни работи чека МВР да потврди дека Груевски е надвор од МК.
Судот чека барање од ЈО за притвор на обвинетите со Груевски.
СЈО чека информација од МВР дека Груевски е избеган.
ПА ИМА ЛИ НЕКОЈ ШТО НЕ ЧЕКА НЕШТО ВО ДРЖАВАВА?
— Dimko (@ddimkooooo) November 13, 2018
Ministry of Interior (MOI) waits to see where Gruevski is.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs waits for MOI to confirm Gruevski is outside of Macedonia.
The Court waits for request by Public Prosecutor to issue detention warrant for Gruevski's suspected accomplices.
Speacial Prosecutors Office wait for information from MOI about Gruevski's escape.
IS THERE ANYONE IN THIS COUNTRY WHO DOESN'T WAIT FOR SOMETHING?
Several leading civil society organizations strongly condemned the “omissions, gross negligence and disrespect of provisions contained in the Law on Execution of Sanctions and the Rulebook on Performance of Police Work, on the part of the Basic Court Skopje 1 and the Ministry of Interior” that resulted in the escape of the convicted felon.
A number of issues related to the case remain unclear. Considering the close ties of both Gruevski and Orban with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, whose SPS party is also an EPP member, many supposed that Gruevski had passed through Serbia. Many have speculated on the ironic possibility that he might have used the Balkan Route taken by refugees he derided in the past.
The latest official information indicates that Gruevski escaped via Albania, passing through Montenegro, with help from the Hungarian diplomats, but details of his full itinerary are still unknown to the public.
Official statement by State Police of #Albania:
Gruevski left AL 11-NOV 19:01 crossing to ME via Hani Hotit with diplomatic car CD1013A owned by Hungarian Embassy in Tirana.
Interpol Skopje informed Interpol Tirana on 13-NOV 19:35 that he is wanted.https://t.co/S2zN7aTDlR pic.twitter.com/L20wz7R0LN
— izenku? (@izenku) November 15, 2018
At the moment, Gruevski’s request for asylum is being handled by Hungarian authorities. Another point of irony is the fact that in recent years, the Hungarian ruling party has changed the laws in order to make it harder for asylum seekers to remain in the country.
Macedonia is considered a safe country of origin under Hungarian law. Hence an asylum application will not be considered on its merits unless claimant can show country of origin is unsafe for him.
— Márta Pardavi (@martapardavi) November 13, 2018
A professor at Central European University, which has been forced to phase out its operations in Budapest because of pressure from Orban’s regime, decided to make the most of Gruevski presence in town and issued an open invitation for him to take part in a public event.
Dear @GruevskiNikola, I hereby invite you as a guest to my class on Transitional Justice on Wednesday 5 December at @CEUHungary #Budapest. We are the place for open debates, in the spirit of an #OpenSociety. #RefugeesWelcome #IstandwithCEU @DimitarBechev pic.twitter.com/IGoJy9hGmu
— Daniel Bochsler (@dbchslr) November 13, 2018
Macedonian authorities have announced they will file an extradition request.

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Guyana’s transgender community celebrates the overturning of an archaic cross-dressing law · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

The rainbow flag represents the LGBTQ community in Guyana and many places around the world. Image via Flickr user torbakhopper, Creative Commons BY-ND 2.0.
Transgender activists around the Caribbean have something to celebrate for 2018's Trans Awareness Week.  On November 13, the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) overturned an archaic law in Guyana that made it a criminal offence for a man (or woman) to dress — “for an improper purpose” — in clothes typically used by the opposite gender. CCJ ruled the law unconstitutional.
At the hearing, which was live-streamed on its website, the court also awarded costs to the appellants.
The law, initially intended to curb disorder, loitering and vagrancy, dates back to 1893 when Guyana was a colony known as British Guiana. The country gained Independence in 1966 and is one of only four nations in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) that have joined the CCJ as a final appellate court.
In its judgment, prefaced by the comment “Difference is as natural as breathing”, the CCJ noted that the law was unconstitutionally vague and criminalised the appellants’ gender expression and gender identity, adding, “The law is dynamic, not static.”
The Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD), which had spearheaded a legal challenge against the law, celebrated the CCJ decision on social media:
VICTORY FOR THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY IN GUYANA!
The CCJ has deemed the cross-dressing laws of Guyana unconstitutional and ordered that Section 153(1)(xlvii) be struck from the laws of Guyana. #GTU #SASOD #Guyana #Right2WearGY #McEwanV592ag #transrights #F… https://t.co/tkhdgMVMWu pic.twitter.com/QwH96B6Yvc
— SASOD Guyana (@SASODGuyana) November 13, 2018
Transgender activists began their campaign in earnest after four Guyanese transgender women were arrested and taken to court in February 2009 and fined under the Victorian-era law.
The police held the four women in custody over an entire weekend without giving a reason for their detention. They denied them phone calls, legal counsel and medical assistance. The detainees learned of their charges — loitering and wearing female attire in a public place for an “improper purpose” — when they first appeared in the Magistrate's Court in Georgetown, the country's capital.
At the time, the magistrate told the accused that they should go to church.
Another transgender woman, who had been violently attacked nearly a decade ago and was subsequently denied entry to her court hearing because of “inappropriate dress,” founded Guyana Trans United (GTU) and joined forces with SASOD and the University of the West Indies’ Rights Advocacy Project (U-RAP) in the 2010 legal challenge against the cross-dressing law, which was heard in Guyana's Supreme Court.
In 2013, then Chief Justice of Guyana, Ian Chang, ruled that although cross-dressing is not a crime, it should not be for an “improper purpose”. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal denied the constitutional challenges, whereupon the appellants took their case to the CCJ.
The CCJ, in its ruling, also stood up for religious freedom, and rebuked the Guyanese magistrate by stating, “Secularism is one of the cornerstones upon which the Republic of Guyana rests.”
Human rights groups and other organisations across the region that had supported SASOD's campaign welcomed the CCJ decision:
Now on https://t.co/4eHzOueopY: PLEASE RETWEET. PANCAP Director reacts to ruling by the @CaribbeanCourt Read the details of the ruling here: https://t.co/GmKjg3JrK5 @CARICOMorg @UNAIDSCaribbean @EdwardGreene1 @GuyanaTrans pic.twitter.com/R3F70pjWxp
— PANCAP (@pancaporg) November 13, 2018
Congrats to @GuyanaTrans, @SASODGuyana and #URAP on successfully challenging Guyana's colonial era cross-dressing law.
Let's continue the dialogue about upholding the #HumanRights of all, including the marginalized and disadvantaged. #right2wearGYhttps://t.co/gl27a10enS
— UNAIDS Caribbean (@UNAIDSCaribbean) November 13, 2018
Award-winning Jamaican human rights activist Carolyn Gomes was among the first to offer congratulations. The Kingston-based Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), formerly headed by Dr. Gomes, added:
Congratulations to the team in Guyana for successfully challenging the country's unconstitutional cross dressing law. CVC is pleased to have supported this challenge from the beginning and welcomes the judgment. #DareToStandUp Read more on the ruling here: https://t.co/AnWjVMQmLJ
— CVC Coalition (@cvccoalition) November 13, 2018
At a press conference following the CCJ ruling, SASOD called the judgment “a clarion call to engage state actors on how the law engenders social and economic exclusion of disadvantaged groups”. The group explained:
Trans persons remain vulnerable to arrest for small crimes like loitering in Guyana. Colonial vagrancy laws are still on the statute books…it is a victory for human rights and justice in the Caribbean.
As many Lesbian Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) rights activists would agree, the struggle for rights in the Caribbean may be taking place incrementally — but it is moving forward.

author: Emma Lewis


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How do non-native residents of the Netherlands view Zwarte Piet, St. Nicholas’ blackface servant? · Global Voices
Tori Egherman

Zwarte Piet, Sinterklaas’ helping hand, is a fixture in the Netherlands’ St. Nicholas’ Day celebrations on December 6. PHOTO: Hans Pama (CC BY 2.0)
The first time I celebrated Sinterklaasdag – Saint Nicholas Day – with Dutch friends was when I was a student in New York. There were clever poems, riddles, gag gifts, and goofy customs. I was charmed. What a wonderful celebration it was.
What was missing from the celebration was Zwarte Piet (Black Pete), Saint Nick’s blackface servant. That wouldn’t have gone down well in Brooklyn, and no one seemed to miss him. When I first saw Zwarte Piet in the Netherlands in 2002, I expressed outrage at the blackface figure throwing out candy to cheering crowds. I was immediately told that I was “too sensitive,” “too politically correct,” and “too American.”
It turns out I wasn’t the first or the last American to be shocked by the minstrel figure. In 1944, Black American soldiers stationed in Limburg protested Zwarte Piet. The townspeople had to explain that it was all a joke. It wasn’t one that the soldiers found funny, according to the retelling of the incident in Geschiedenis van de Zwarte Piet-kritiek by Jop Euwijk and Frank Rensen:
Men moest den protesteerenden [de zwarte Amerikaanse soldaten] duidelijk maken, dat Pietermanknecht een hoogst onschuldige grap is. Men moest Nederlanders uitleggen, dat er grapjes zijn, die anderen met den besten wil van de wereld niet onschuldig kunnen opvatten, hoe goed ook bedoeld.
They explained to the protesters [Black American soldiers] that the blackfaced Piet servants were all an innocent joke. In return, the Dutch were told that there are jokes that cannot be made innocent, no matter how good the intentions.
In recent years, the protest against Zwarte Piet has taken on a renewed urgency.  People have taken to the streets. In 2016, around 200 people were arrested, most of them black. Activists have been the targets of harassment and death threats. Artist and activist Naomi Pieter describes that day as one of the most traumatic of her life:
The police surrounded us, they caged us. And then they pulled black people into our circle, even those who were not part of our group. That’s what happened to Jerry [Jerry King Luther Afriyie]. He wasn’t part of our group…First they [the police] singled him out. He was standing across the street. Then they loaded him onto the arrest bus. Then they pulled him out. Then they beat him…It was the most traumatic experience of my life.…
If you want to understand the Netherlands, look at who has the right to demonstrate. Nazis, Pegida [right wing political group from Germany]…Instead of blocking Nazis, you block people struggling for inclusive societies. We receive threats of violence from the right and the police shut down our march and let the Nazis march. They give them the whole stage.
This image compares the image of Jim Crow with the image of Zwarte Piet. The translated text is from a 1945 article in a Dutch newspaper.
For this article, I talked to over thirty people non-native residents of the Netherlands about their first impressions of Zwarte Piet, and how those impressions have changed. Like most of the respondents, Karl Webster was “freaked out and confused” the first time he came across Zwarte Piet. Many people couldn’t believe their eyes, describing it as a dream, a mirage, silly, and racist. Others described being horrified and angry.
Respondents came primarily from English speaking countries.
Here's a selection of the responses.
Shawna Snow:
Our first experience was coming outside seeing the parade of when Saint Nicholas coming to Spain. I was with my five kids and my mother-in-law and we had no idea what was going on. We’re walking around going, what is going on. And then we see these white people in black faces throwing cookies with this really pious and sad looking Santa Claus on this white horse. And they’re screaming and the cookies are flying, and I’m thinking: this would never fly in the States…
“My mom was an antique collector, so I recognized the blackface, the mammy faces, from turn of the century [early 1900s] Vaudeville, and I knew this was a really racist presentation.
Anne-Marie Roche was confused the first time she saw Zwarte Piet in Amsterdam:
I was taking my baby daughter to creche on one of the coldest mornings I have ever experienced in Amsterdam and I spotted some people who appeared to have painted their faces black running around with sacks. It felt more like a strange dream. A few years later I attended my first Sinterklaas intocht [welcoming ceremony] and realised it was not a dream. This really happened in Holland.
A 25-year-old respondent discussed her discomfort with a tradition she first came across as a child:
I couldn't understand why white people, especially adults, would purposefully paint themselves fully black with exaggerated red lips, wear big afros, and then pretend that this happened to the piets going down the chimney (while sinterklaas was white as can be), who prior to that were fully white people with blond hair. I recall white kids (and through their silence, white parents) wickedly “joking around” that Black and Brown classmates were piets who should stick to helping (read serving) and picking up after Sint (read white people).
Zwarte Piet is often described as a servant, in Dutch a “knecht”
Like many of the other respondents, Faten Bushehri’s partner is Dutch. The first time she saw Zwarte Piet cookies for sale, she announced her intention to boycott the bakery.
I had a good conversation with my Dutch fiance about it, and he also heard many other perspectives of some of my friends. I heard the Dutch arguments about preserving culture and traditions, and my response was, if your tradition is to be racist you should change your tradition. Children don't care whether Piet is black or green or white, they are not going to miss it. Get rid of racist nostalgia that does not fit our modern time.
Lara sees the whole thing as “nothing more than when seeing Santa's elves. A cultural phenomenon. I have to say I heard about the whole debate before Sinterklaas.”
And a 66-year-old respondent first came across the tradition in 1985:
I first saw Zwarte Piet thru the eyes of 3-year-old twins, so a naive sense of wonder and joy overrode my own thoughts. However, I’d heard a story about how he beat bad children with sticks and whisked them off to Spain in a sack. This created an unsettling ambivalence. Foreshadowing?
Now he wonders how those twins present the Sinterklaas tradition to their own children.
A 37-year-old respondent remembered the first time he saw the Zwarte Piet figures:
I thought it was a racist stereotype. I'm from the US (Texas) and the first time I saw a Piet was in Utrecht, in the centrum [center]. There were a few Pieten hanging in the window of a shop and because I had never heard of this I actually stood outside the show for ten minutes waiting for someone to react to what I thought was a reference to lynching and blackface.
Several of the respondents considered the impact on their own children or future children. Chris Saxe’s children are growing up in two cultures: the US and the Netherlands:
Maybe because I have children now, but I’m even more aware of its continued – and more muscular – prevalence. I don't want my kids to accept something so toxic as normal – and not just because my children have their feet in two cultures (USA & NL). That there are lots of white Dutch willing to defend Zwarte Piet with the arguments (“Heritage! Tradition!”), vitriol, and suppression of dissent that the American South uses to defend the Confederate flag and statuary comes as no surprise at all.
Holly echoes Chris’s point:
My child went to a Dutch school when we first arrived in the country and he came home confused and we had to undo that damage – seeing blackface being normalised… I am so disappointed that there is any one arguing to retain this ritualistic humiliation of people of colour. I'm angry enough that my kids have been exposed to stereotypical images and black caricatures but then I speak to black friends whose children are hurt by this every year, and my having to undo damage to my (white) children is nothing to what they put up with. I'm also appalled at the police brutality wrought on protesters last year, that's not the country to which I thought I was moving. And then after all this, seeing the willful denial and ignorance of those defending Zwarte Piet is a horror show of white privilege in action. It's a huge scar on the character of my adopted country.
Faten says, “If this holiday is about glorifying colonialism and slavery, then we should rethink the whole thing.” She wonders why not use a different character altogether? Why not a rabbit?
My partner is Dutch, I’m going to make sure my kids don’t participate in this phenomena, I’m not going to send them black man cookies. I’m not going to dress them up as Zwarte Piet.
Isn’t this a time of joy and inclusiveness? For some kids this is the most stressful time of the year. That’s not fun.
Many defend Zwarte Piet with the comment, “Think of the kids.” Tammy Sheldon reminds us that children won’t notice if the tradition is changed:
Kids have a supple imagination; the fun will not be lost. I mean, K3 (the very popular children’s pop group) has changed its lineup several times over the years, with no harm done to its fans. I mention this as the constant refrain of objection is “think of the kids!” Obviously, different folks have different rationales for not changing. At the end of the day however, what is being asked is on every level reasonable, and does not take away from a kid’s party, nor from the foundational culture of a society. The vibrancy and dynamism of any culture are reflected in its capacity for inclusivity.
Screenshot from the documentary Zwarte is Roet (Black is Soot) by Sunny Bergman.
An Australian respondent states:
After the Dutch were told repeatedly that this was a racist caricature some rethought the story. I loved the multi colored piets that came into being — but many Dutch complained at the loss of their heritage and persisted with Blackface Piet and sooty Piet. That means I can no longer think they are casual racists who don’t know better. Now I know that they put their racist childhood fantasy traditions ahead of respect and empathy. And I am ashamed of myself if I go into a shop with a Piet doll. It’s awful.
Elena studied nationalism and invented traditions and saw the arguments for keeping Zwarte Piet as “a classical case-study of constructed identity, that at the beginning I could simply not justify such a short-sighted position as those looking at Zwarte Piet as a non-negotiable trait of their being.”
She adds:
Then I explained it to my parents, who are politically engaged and highly educated people, and they said: ‘aren’t you exaggerating? It's just a tradition’. That made me think of when I had first come to the Netherlands and not given attention at first to its real meaning. Compassion for me and them and everyone else, you can say. And I got the idea we need to talk more with each other, listening to each other’s stories, in order to go beyond a pointless polarisation.”
A 56-year old woman from the UK describes it as “a harmless, very nice tradition that is being turned into a racial question by some people with a political agenda.”
A respondent originally from San Francisco writes:
As an American, I find the blackface tradition tone deaf to the horrors of Dutch colonialism (slavery). Yet everyone around me, both native Dutch and Dutch people with immigrant backgrounds, all love Black Pete.
Like many, Eric Asp’s first response was one of shock. Over time he developed a more nuanced understanding:
I think I developed a deeper understanding for how most Dutch people experience the various festivities surrounding Sinterklaas and all the warm memories they attach to their traditions (including Zwarte Piet) — but the American side of me always recognized an element of racism with Zwarte Piet, and I learned to more gently push back against that particular tradition.
Ben Falkenmire agrees:
“I understand Dutch affection for Zwarte Piet is born out of a warm, and well-meaning Christmas tradition. But I cannot excuse it. The very sight of Zwarte Piet I still find offensive because implicit in his appearance and his duties to Saint Nik is the historical unjust treatment and exploitation of people of colour.”
The last word goes to the activist Jerry King Luther Afriyie from an interview with the Dutch newspaper Het Parool:
De intocht. Wat is daarmee? Als je nu nog aankomt met Zwarte Piet, ben je zelf de demonstrant. Dan wil je ons kennelijk duidelijk maken dat zwarte mensen hier niet thuishoren.
The welcoming ceremony? Well, what of it? If you still come as Black Pete, then you are the demonstrator. You are letting us know that black people don’t belong here.

author: Tori Egherman


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Saudi Arabia’s execution of another migrant worker angers Indonesians and strains an already fraught diplomatic relationship · Global Voices
Juke Carolina

Activists carrying posters, inlcuding one with a photo of Tuty Tursilawati, who was executed in Saudi Arabia on on October 29, 2018. Photo courtesy of Migrant Care. Used with permission.
On October 29, 2018, the Saudi Arabian government executed Tuty Tursilawati, an Indonesian overseas worker, without sending a consular notification to inform the Indonesian government of its intention.
According to the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, which has been investigating her case since 2010, Tursilawati was imprisoned after she murdered her employer's father, whom she alleged had sexually abused her. At the time, she has been working with the family for eight months, but had only received a salary for the first two months of employment.
After committing the murder, Tursilawati fled to Mecca with some stolen jewelry and money. En route, she told the NGO that assisted her, she was gang-raped and robbed by nine men.
The nonprofit organization Migrant Care broke the news on social media:
Kabar duka kembali datang dari Arab Saudi. Tuty Tursilawati, pekerja migran Indonesia asal Majalengka, dieksekusi mati pada 29 Oktober 2018 kemarin.
.
Eksekusi hukuman mati ini lagi-lagi dilakukan tanpa ada notifikasi kepada Pemerintah Indonesia.#RIPTuty #stophukumanmati pic.twitter.com/pg5i52IY2Y
— Migrant CARE (@migrantcare) October 30, 2018
Sad news once again arrived from Saudi Arabia. Tuty Tursilawati, Indonesian migrant worker from Majalengka, was executed on October 29, 2018. The execution was carried out without prior notification to the Indonesian government. #RIPTuty #stophukumanmati [stop the death penalty]
Indonesians protesters barricaded the Saudi Arabian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, to protest the execution of Tuty. Indonesian netizens also expressed their outrage on social media.
Turut mengecam eksekusi mati terhadap Tuty Tursilawati. Tidak hanya karena pemerintah Saudi tidak memberi notifikasi, namun juga karena hukuman mati termasuk hukuman yang diragukan kemampuannya mencegah kejahatan.
Pertanyaan lainnya, apakah beliau mendapatkan fair trial? pic.twitter.com/2RFeKH0eEY
— Iqrak Sulhin (@iqraks) October 30, 2018
I condemn the execution of Tuty Tursilawati. Not only the Saudi government failed to notify [our consulate], but also because capital punishment doubtfully would prevent crime. My other question is, did she get a fair trial?
On Facebook, Musliha Rofik wrote:
Tidak ada seorangpun yg niat bekerja diluar negeri bertujuan mencelakakan majikan. Apalagi melakukan kekerasan, kalau tidak mempertahankan diri, demi kehormatan dan kehidupannya. Tuty Tursilawati, bagiku pahlawan yang memperjuangkan nasib diri dan keluarganya. Sama dengan almarhumah Siti Zaenab yg juga bermimpi agar anak-anak dan keluarganya hidup berkecukupan tak kekurangan biaya hidup.Arab Saudi kapan belajar menghormati kemanusiaan…. membunuh itu adalah pelanggaran hak hidup seseorang. Sedih dan marah campur aduk, karena di negeriku sendiri hukuman mati masih ada. #stophukumanmati
Anyone who's willing to work overseas doesn't want to hurt their master. [Nobody wants] to act violently, if it's not for self defense, to defend their honor, and life. To me, Tuty is a hero who struggled for her destiny and her family's. Just like the late Siti Zaenab's [another Indonesian migrant worker who was executed in 2015] who dreamt to make ends meet for her children and family. When will Saudi Arabia learn to respect humanity … killing means violating someone's right to live. [I'm] saddened and angered, because capital punishment is still implemented in my country.  #stopcapitalpunishment
And Lexy Rambadeta said:
Selamat jalan Tuti. Apa yang bisa dilakukan secara efektif agar hal ini tak terulang lagi? Dan apakah pemerintah Indonesia atau siapa saja bisa melakukan apa pun (mungkin semacam gugatan) yang bener-bener serius, agar kematian Tuti tidak sia-sia?
Farewell, Tuti. What would be the most effective way to stop this from repeating? And could the Indonesian government or anyone do something serious [such as a strong demand], so that her death will not be in vain?
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly executed Indonesian overseas workers in recent years. According to the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, around 103 Indonesians were handed death sentences in Saudi Arabia between 2011 and 2018.
Tuty was not the first Indonesian migrant worker to be executed by the Saudi government in 2018. Earlier this year, the Kingdom also executed Muhammad Zaini Masrin, an Indonesian man who said he was forced to sign a confession saying he had killed his employer. Sentenced in 2004, he spent 14 years in jail before being executed. The Indonesian consulate in Jeddah learned about Masrin's ordeal only after his sentence was announced.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he regretted Tuty Tursilawati's death. Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister, Retno Marsudi, expressed his displeasure by summoning the ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Indonesia, Osama bin Mohammed Abdullah Al Shuaibi, to a meeting.
At a press conference, Al Shuaibi offered a tone-deaf explanation, suggesting that Tuty's execution was intended to absolve her of the sin she committed. The ambassador also dismissed claims that Tuty acted in self-defence, saying that the person she murdered was an elder. He also pointed out that Tuty's crime was a “had ghilah”, or pre-meditated, so releasing her would not have been possible, even if the murdered man's family had agreed to forgive her.
In 2015, Indonesia stopped sending migrant workers to Saudi Arabia in light of the reported abuses against domestic helpers, but the official moratorium didn't stop illegal traffickers from sending undocumented workers or workers with false identification documents. Indonesian Minister of Manpower Hanif Dhakiri said recently that the moratorium is still in effect and Jakarta has no plans to lift the ban.
Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi minister of foreign affairs, had visited Jakarta for a meeting with his counterpart, Minister Retno Marsudi, one week before the execution. But it is unclear whether Tuty's execution and the cases of other Indonesian migrant workers were discussed during the meeting.
In the wake of condemnations of Tuty's execution, Indonesia wants Saudi Arabia to sign a mandatory consular notification (MCN) agreement. This would allow Indonesia to be informed of citizens needing legal assistance in Saudi Arabia. Currently, only three countries have signed MCN agreements with Indonesia — Australia, Philippines and Brunei.
Global human rights defenders have criticized the Kafala (sponsorship) system as a “gateway to slavery”. Kafala is practiced in the Arab Gulf countries as well as in Lebanon and Jordan.
According to journalist Mona Eltawahy, Kafala systematically entraps women migrant workers:
I often talk about #Saudi repression of women’s rights which I call gender apartheid, enforced by guardianship system. It’s even worse for domestic workers who are doubly marginalized as women & as migrant workers effectively trapped by the kafala/sponsorship employment system.
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) October 30, 2018
Under the Kafala system, employers and recruitment agencies have the right to confiscate the passports of workers and make decisions that deeply affect their workers’ fates and well-being.

author: Juke Carolina


text:
Cultural activist from Guyana’s Wapishana tribe tries to revive a near-extinct language · Global Voices
Atiba Rogers

The first graduating class (2011) of Wapishana teachers after receiving their certificates to return to their villages to teach Wapishana literacy to others. Photo courtesy Adrian Gomes, used with permission.
In the midst of Guyana's lush rainforests, nestled between the Rupununi River and Brazilian border, dwells the Indigenous Wapishana tribe. Linguist and cultural activist Adrian Gomes hails from an isolated Wapishana village, yet, he speaks less Wapishana — an Indigenous Arawakan language spoken in Guyana and Brazil —than English.
Now, he's trying to revive the dying language.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, more than 40 percent of the world’s languages are endangered. In 1997, concerned about the dwindling number of Wapishana-literate adults, Gomes formed the Wapichan Wadauniinao Ati’o (WWA, meaning “Wapishana for our Descendants”), to help revive the Wapishana language.
In 2011, the WWA embarked on a four-year Wapishana Adult Literacy Programme to preserve the community's language, culture and land resources, in keeping with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples recommendations. Gomes says that by preserving endangered languages, people access their stories in their own tongue, thereby retaining strong roots.
Language is about communication — but it's also an instrument of knowledge and power.
Gomes maintains:
In our part of the world of formerly colonised countries, ‘true decolonisation’ is still lacking, for there is still the continuation of colonial structures and mentalities in the context of the independent nations.
Global Voices corresponded with Gomes via email about his vision for the Wapishana language.
Linguist and cultural activist Adrian Gomes in Leiden, The Netherlands, where he teaches at the university. Photo courtesy Gomes, used with permission.
Global Voices (GV): What inspired you to want to preserve this language and how do you see it making a difference?
Adrian Gomes (AD): I realised that I did not know my own cultural heritage or background very well, despite being able to speak the language. It’s not that the knowledge was hidden, but due to my exposure to mainstream culture, I had not been actively involved in the activities of my culture. I missed out on a lot on trips to the deep forest and the wide-ranging savannah … and the practical lessons passed on by our elders through on-the-spot occurrences … I felt incomplete when it came to knowing my roots — I missed a sense of belonging — of being Wapishana. I wanted to do something about it.
Guyana's 9,000-strong Wapishana population was no longer equivalent to the number of speakers (around 5,000 or less). As people favoured the national language, English, as well as Creole and even Portuguese, our Indigenous language was no longer being passed on to the next generation. There is a growing number of young adults who speak only English.
The WWA's literacy programme has revitalised the language in 17 villages in south Rupununi by increasing literacy at the grassroots level. This … gave people a sense of pride and expanded their self-esteem. There are now approximately 1,000 Wapishana-literate people.
GV: What other activities does the WWA undertake?
AG: At the WWA centre, we archive language data, strengthen the capacity of local WWA tutors to train others, promote the language through reading and spelling competitions, and collaborate with like-minded partners. People have even been inspired to produce their own reading materials. The WWA is recognised as the local authority for the translation of certain documents, and we have got approval from the Ministry of Education for a Wapishana/English pilot project in three villages …
GV: What have been some of the challenges?
AG: Through the literacy courses, we have managed to preserve the language to a large extent; However, participation dwindled toward the end of the four-year programme. Part of the struggle was that we also needed a more advanced level programme. A considerable number of youth were not motivated enough to participate … English tends to be promoted, celebrated and exalted at the expense of native languages, which are seen as old fashioned.
The WWA has to create programmes that span generations … [to]  ‘create space’ for the Wapishana language in modern technology …
Students learning to read and write in the Wapishana language. Photo courtesy Adrian Gomes, used with permission.
GV: Do technological tools benefit language preservation?
AG: Digital media and technology have helped in archiving materials … at the disposal of younger Wapishana who want to get connected with their cultural heritage. The community radio station facilitates programmes and songs in Wapishana, as well as storytelling and literacy lessons. It sends the message that our Indigenous language is affirmed and valued.
In principle, there is no reason why we cannot have access to digital tools such as WhatsApp or Facebook. Like the Wayana community in Suriname, we can use the Wapishana language to send messages to one another via these networking platforms to increase our reach.
Adrian Gomes at Leiden University in The Netherlands, where he is a scholar. Photo courtesy Gomes, used with permission.
GV: How do you attract learners?
AG: By incorporating Wapishana reading and writing into friendly competitions at the district and regional levels of the annual Indigenous Heritage celebrations, we promote the idea that language literacy can be fun. And by translating Wapishana stories into English, we have paved the way for the possibility of the production of bilingual (diglot) booklets … We're trying to design a special introductory course at the University of Guyana for non-Wapishana speaking students. My work at Leiden University has enabled me to build a network with other Indigenous scholars working on new methodologies …
The Ministry of Culture had asked for English translations of a number of our Wapishana stories … The Amerindian Research Unit of the University of Guyana also approached us regarding an introductory course on the Wapishana language. I am regularly asked to give guest lectures and seminars there, and train students to embrace new methodologies in working with Indigenous peoples [at Leiden University].
GV: Have there been any efforts to integrate non-Wapishana speakers with those who do speak the language?
AG: … [T]wo leaders of the Macushi, another Indigenous group, asked us to share our experiences to help them start their own local language literacy programmes. So, while the languages are distinctly different, groups might benefit from working on common strategies to teach our languages to our own peoples and also to non-Indigenous groups.
… Well-planned multilingual education places value on the national community. Being aware of differences does not equate to feeling estranged from those who are different; bilingual education can increase pride in diversity and strengthen national unity. If we weaken Indigenous culture, we weaken an integral part of Guyanese culture.
GV: Does the remoteness of the Rupununi restrict your efforts?
AG: One of the main constraints is a lack of internet access and telecommunications in most villages, including Maruranau, where the WWA centre is located. We are still waiting for mobile internet. An unreliable postal system in the Rupununi also hinders communication and prevents timely access to information.
Adrian Gomes and his wife, who he says has supported him in his mission of reviving the Wapishana language. Photo courtesy Gomes, used with permission.
GV: What do you make of linguist Noam Chomsky's theory that children only need to learn certain parochial features of their native language?
AG: A similar view that places less importance on Indigenous language was revealed by Lightbown and Spada, who noted that most teachers working in Inuit Indigenous communities believed that the mother tongue is important mainly for use outside of school. This suggests that it’s not important in school and that for language preservation, external use of it would suffice …There can be just as much lack of understanding with Wapishana parents and teachers; in fact, some are opposed to the bilingual pilot programme.
In addressing this, I share the academic, cognitive and social benefits children have as a result of being literate both in their native and majority languages. Past bilingual education efforts in Wapishana communities have shown a significant improvement in children’s performance. With a more sustained programme, we can expect even greater levels of achievement.
GV: Any plans for new projects?
AG: … Guyana will host an interpreting and translation workshop in the early part of next year, which other Indigenous organisations in both Guyana and Suriname have already signalled their interest in attending. We feel good about expanding our network; bringing communities with similar challenges together to look for solutions.

author: Atiba Rogers


text:
‘I am prepared to go to jail’: Founder of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement offers hope ahead of trial · Global Voices
Guest Contributor

Benny Tai, Chan Kin-man and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming. Photo: Ezra Cheung via Hong Kong Free Press with content partnership agreement.
This post was contributed by a group of sociology graduates from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The three founders of Hong Kong's ‘Occupy Central’ movement, more popularly known as the ‘Umbrella Movement’, will stand trial on Monday, November 19, 2018 for the charges of conspiracy to commit public nuisance, and incitement to commit public nuisance. If found guilty, sociology professor Chan Kin Man, law professor Benny Tai, Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, along with six other pro-democracy activists could face a maximum of seven-year jail sentence.
The ‘Umbrella Movement’ was a massive protest that took place between September to December 2014 that pushed for the right of Hong Kong citizens to nominate the city's top leader. However, the Hong Kong government ended up deploying tear gas against the peaceful protesters who then dispersed and ‘occupied’ three major downtown areas near Central, Causeway Bay and Mongkok.
The unprecedented sit-in protest ended in December after clashes with the police. Since then, over a thousand activists have been arrested for participating in the protests, more than 220 were prosecuted and about 81 have been convicted to jail sentences.
Ahead of his upcoming trial, professor Chan delivered a lecture at the Chinese University on November 14 with Benny Tai, Chu Yiu-ming and six other co-defendants. The three-hour talk, entitled “Tribute to the Enlighteners”, was attended by more than 600 people who were mostly Chan's former students and pro-democracy activists.
The 59-year-old sociology professor explained that as he anticipated a possible jail sentence, he had applied for early retirement this year.
To encourage the young generation to stand up to defend what they believe, he said,
I am prepared to go to jail… So long as we are not crushed by the trial and the prison sentence, and we do not become depressed or angered, then we will come out stronger.
He emphasized that he is not pessimistic about the future and he has no anger or sadness, only gratitude. He said he was moved by the support he and others received:
It makes me believe in the goodness in people – it is our hope. I hope you do not give up – “we can only see the stars in the darkest hours.”
Chan recounted his activist journey back in 1977 when he was invited by a senior student to a protest concerning the mismanagement of Jubilee Secondary School. After the protest, he chose sociology as his major at the Chinese University.
During his university years, former China top leader Deng Xiaoping had adopted an open door policy. However, economic liberalization did not lead to a more open political environment. Chan was inspired by mainland Chinese activist Wei Jingsheng who was jailed for 15 years for writing a long piece on “the fifth modernization”, i.e the political modernization in 1978. Chan also admired Hu Ping, a Beijing university undergraduate in 1979, who wrote for an underground journal on the value of free speech and asserted that “if a person has lost one's will to express his views and rights, the person will become a slave and a [political] tool.”
At that time, Taiwan was under martial law and the dictatorship of Kuomingtang. Many young people there also stood up for democracy, inspiring other Chinese communities in Asia, including Hong Kong. He still remembers the smile on Taiwan political activist Shih Ming-teh when he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1979.
In the early 1980s, the British and Chinese governments had started diplomatic negotiations on the future of Hong Kong. There was also a vigorous debate in Hong Kong during that time with Chan and the student union of the Chinese University supporting a ‘democratic return’ to China.
Chan went to Yale University in the United States for his doctoral studies. There, he was influenced by Spanish scholar Professor Juan J. Linz, whose political theory is linked to the democratization movement in countries like Brazil.
When Chan returned to Hong Kong from Yale in 1992, he decided to promote the development of civil society in mainland China. At the same time, he joined the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. Even during that time, he asserted how Hong Kong fulfilled all the prerequisites for democracy – a robust civil society, the rule of law, and the existence of a political opposition.
However, under the current political environment and the suppression of the Umbrella Movement, how can Hong Kong people move on? Chan referred to the lifelong struggles of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He believes that Nelson Mandela's detention gave the civil disobedience movement an adequate moral strength and inspiration to challenge the ruling party.
Chan revealed that he had attempted to communicate with Beijing before he chose to take an active role in the civil disobedience movement. But the communication failed and he realized that Beijing would not grant genuine democracy to the people of Hong Kong. Coincidentally, Benny Tai wrote a newspaper piece on civil disobedience and approached him about initiating an “Occupy Central” action. Chan believed that the success rate was just 5 percent, “but if the cause is right, why not take the 5 percent chance?”
He ended his lecture with a quote from Irving Stone's Lust for Life – which is a fictional biography of Vincent van Gogh:
You cannot be firmly certain about anything. You can only have enough courage and strength to do what you consider to be right. Maybe it turns out that was wrong, but still you would have done this, and it is most important.
And his advice to students:
I want you to follow your nature, create truth, goodness, beauty, I want you to feel your life is worthy.
During the open forum he was asked about how he communicates with the new generation of radical young activists who believe in Hong Kong independence. This was Chan's reply:
Although I don’t agree with independence nor violence, I understand they are doing what they could to find a way out for Hong Kong, and are searching for a new discourse of democracy. They argue intensely with me, or outrightly ignore me, but at least they haven’t given up, and still hope to find a way. It is a chaotic situation, no one would be entitled to say that he/she knows best. I could only offer them some insight about potential problems, to the best of my experience and knowledge.
He was glad that people had been reflecting upon their political stance and strategy after the Umbrella Movement. Chan referred to Edward Leung as an example. The 27-year-old pro-Hong Kong independence activist was sentenced to six years imprisonment for taking part in a riot in Mongkok in 2016:
I could see it on Edward Leung, that he did a lot of reflection… He remarked, ‘Independence might not be the only way,’ and [now] he’d talk about this sort of things. I could also see it on other senior democrats, as they start to understand the frustration behind the slogan ‘I am Hongkonger, not Chinese’. I hope such kind of empathy would be a starting point for mutual understanding.

author: Guest Contributor


text:
Netizens reflect on 100th anniversary of Czechoslovakia · Global Voices
Tibor Blazko

Photo from the promotional Facebook page Czech and Slovak Century, operated by CzechTourism Agency, funded by the Czech Ministry of Regional Development.
October 2018 marked 100 years since Czechoslovakia declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was formally established as a sovereign state. Although almost 75 years later Czechoslovakia peacefully divided into the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia, netizens from Slovakia are marking the centennial with online discussions about the state that once unified them.
For many of its citizens and their descendants who have now come of age, Czechoslovakia meant the basis of democracy and prosperity, while others considered it a smaller ‘Prison of nations’ — a version of the nickname given to the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
While the Czech Republic embraced the anniversary and celebrates it as the “Czech and Slovak Century,” opinions in Slovakia are more divided. Slovak Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini initiated an official celebration, but instead of the traditional Czechoslovak October 28 which was celebrated in the Czech Republic capital of Prague, he moved the Bratislava festivities to October 30. The date marks the anniversary of the Martin Declaration which essentially put the focus on the Slovak movement.
One of the people who expressed dislike for this step was Slovak Member of Parliament Miroslav Sopko who wrote a blog post titled “A hundred years have passed”:
Vôbec sme sa za tak dlhý čas nenaučili byť hrdí na spoločnú republiku, ktorá bola v medzivojnom období ostrovom demokracie v strednej Európe, nachádzala sa v prvej desiatke najvyspelejších krajín sveta, bolo v nej od začiatku uzákonené volebné právo žien, otvorili sa nám dvere do Európy, naštartoval sa vzdelanostný a kultúrny rast. … Preto sme doteraz nenašli silu pre uznanie štátneho sviatku a miesto toho sme si prijali jednorázovu nálepku pre naše svedomie na 30. októbra.
We have not, for so long, learned to be proud of the common republic, which was in the inter-war period island of democracy in central Europe, was in the top ten of the most advanced countries in the world, where from the beginning women had enacted voting right, the doors to Europe were opened for us, educational and cultural growth has begun. … Therefore, we have not yet found the power to recognize the state holiday and instead we have adopted a one-time sticker for our conscience on October 30th.
Positive memories clearly dominated in blogs affiliated with major newspapers. Jakub Tinak, a holder of both Czech and Slovak passports and speaker of Czech, Slovak and Hungarian, summed up his impressions about the former state and contrasted it with the violent breakup of the Balkan federation of Yugoslavia:
Som veľmi šťastný, že naše národy vedeli spoločný štát stvoriť a tiež, že sa vedeli v mieri rozísť.
I am very happy that our nations knew how to create a common state and that they also knew how to peacefully split.
Radoslav Hodor opined that Czechoslovakia fulfilled its historical role as a force for good:
Preto bez ohľadu na všetko zlé bolo Československo pre oba národy dobrý projekt. Čechom umožnilo nadviazať na svoju štátnosť zo stredovekých českých kráľovstiev a Slovákom vytvoriť si vlastnú. Iný štátny útvar by im takú možnosť neposkytol.
Therefore, regardless of all wrong what was, Czechoslovakia was a good project for both nations. He allowed Czechs to connect to their own statehood from medieval Czech kingdoms and to Slovaks to create their own. Another state formation would not give them such a chance.
Stanislav41 pointed out that the foundations of democracy in Slovakia were established by the declaration of the republic hundred years ago:
storočnica bude mať aj vojenskú parádu – samozrejme v Prahe, … a ak sa budete dobre pozerať, naša účasť bude potvrdením, … že nám to samostatne ide vari ešte lepšie …
the centenary will also have a military parade – of course in Prague, … and if you will look well, our participation will be a confirmation that … independently it goes well for us even better …
A participant of the Prague celebration. Photo from the promotional Facebook page Czech and Slovak Century, operated by CzechTourism Agency, funded by Czech Ministry of Regional Development.
The two countries continue to have strong ties, with many students choosing to continue their university education across the border ‘in the other part of former Czechoslovakia”. In 2013, the biggest group of Czechs studying abroad was in Slovakia, while in 2016, 8.9% of university students in the Czech Republic were Slovaks.
Patrik Ölvecký felt that even though the official celebrations were on different days, the Slovaks and Czech people remain close as “brothers”.
Dokonca aj pre mňa, človeka, čo spoločné Československo nezažil, … ja som za posledných päť rokov štúdia v Prahe zistil, že ten náš vzťah je úžasný. Že mať tak blízko k inému národu je nesmierne krásne.
Even for me, a person who has not experienced Czechoslovakia … in the last five years of my studies in Prague I have found out that our relationship is amazing. Being so close to another nation is immensely beautiful.
Student Lukáš Račko also wrote about the special common features of “a country I never lived in, but it will always be my home”.
Niečo, tak jedinečné, že si to málokto na svete dokáže predstaviť. Veď, len si predstavte, že by zaviala Srbská vlajka nad Kosovským národným múzeom alebo naopak.
Pretože presne toto sa práve dnes deje v Prahe, kde je pri novootvorenej historickej budove národného múzea vyvesená aj Slovenská zástava.
Something, so unique, that just few people in the world can imagine. Just imagine that the Serbian flag will be flooded over the Kosovo National Museum or vice versa.
Because this is exactly what is happening today in Prague, where at the newly opened historical building of the National Museum is displayed also Slovak flag.
Writing in the Czech language on a Slovak blog platform, Michal Ruman shared that for the people who had both Czech and Slovak parents like him, nothing has changed since the split — they just had to carry their passports to travel from one end to another. He ended on a very personal note:
27. 10., v předvečer výročí vzniku společného státu … má naše dcera v českém kalendáři svátek. Naše Češkoslovenka. Pokračovatelka jednoho krásného spojení dvou svérázných etnik. … Všechno nejlepší, Zoe!
October 27, on the eve of the anniversary of the creation of the common state … our daughter has a names-day in the Czech calendar. Our Czechoslovak [girl]. A sequel to one beautiful union of two peculiar ethnicities. … All the best, Zoe!

author: Tibor Blazko