text:
Amazon Prime TV series dangerously misrepresents Eelam Tamil narratives and histories · Global Voices
Keerthana Ram

Screenshot from a YouTube Video by user “Soch by Mohak Mangal” explaining why some Tamils are boycotting Family Man Season 2.
An Indian action thriller TV show, The Family Man, launched its second season on Amazon Prime in May 2021 and has landed deep in controversy for portraying the Eelam Tamils (Lankan Tamils) in a highly colourist and problematic manner. The ruling DMK government and other political outfits demanded a ban on the TV show.
In September 2019, OTT platform Amazon Prime released The Family Man — an Indian espionage series capturing the journey of a beguiling middle-class man from Mumbai who moonlights as a secret agent while navigating a stormy personal life.
The first season of the series demonstrated layered storytelling as it traced deep-seated fears, simmering tensions, hidden desires, and freewheeling adventures alongside political commentary — all delivered with a dramatic punch. The narrative largely revolved around the geopolitical conflict in Kashmir, tying in violent extremist groups alongside absurdist humour — making the show a runaway summer hit whilst sparking conversation about hypernationalism and minority group stereotyping.
The season two trailer was released on May 19, 2021, and frames the native people of Tamil Eelam as terrorists who join hands with ISIS and hatch destructive plans for personal gain. This drew immediate backlash from people within the Tamil community across India and Sri Lanka on social media for the incendiary, tone-deaf rhetorical script. Which many say oversimplified politics between the two countries.
Nearly four weeks after the premiere, the series continues to draw strongly mixed reactions globally for labelling Eelam Tamils and their Tamil Nadu supporters as terrorists, fundamentally discrediting the Eelam Tamil movement and normalising an anti-Tamil narrative in the process.
Rajmohan Arumugam, a YouTuber with a significant Tamil digital media presence, critiqued the show in a recent YouTube video:
Translated excerpts from the video: Why are the words “Tamil Eelam” met with disgust and contempt? Why do these filmmakers fail to speak of the Official Language Act, 1956 also known as the Sinhala Only Act — which was imposed in Sri Lanka? Singapore’s Founding Father Lee Kuan Yew committed to keeping Tamil Language as an official Language as a dedication to the hardworking Tamils who built that nation. However, in Sri Lanka, a land where the Tamil people have historically been living together with the Sinhalese people — exclusionary policies were brought in to decimate — no one seems to bother recording any of these incidents in their celluloid fantasies.
Audiences also questioned the mental health, gendered and socio-political impacts of the television show. Rajesh Rajamani, a film critic focused on Tamil cinema, reflects in an analysis of the series on Twitter:
While the lives of Eelam Tamil refugees in India is already a struggle because of how the Indian Government controls their movement & how it affects their livelihood measures, the series makes their lives worse by portraying them as potential ‘militants’ or ‘terrorists’ .
— Rajesh Rajamani (@rajamanirajesh) June 9, 2021
(Read the entire thread here.)
The makers have also been accused of blithely indulging in divisive characterisations and formulaic creative decisions which are deeply disrespectful of those traversing inter-generational struggles for liberation, recovery and survival in contemporary times. For example, Samantha Akkineni, a fair-skinned South Indian actor plays the role of Raji (a female Eelam soldier) with brown-face makeup “to authentically portray the character”. This disgracefully peddles racist undertones and anti-black narratives and is rooted in racism.
Twitter user @ridspids complained about the blatant colourism online:
alright here's the deal : i am watching The Family Man s02. However, they had literally to darken Samantha Akkineni's skin to fit the character. Like bro just hire someone with a darker skin, it is not that hard
— rids (@ridspids) June 8, 2021
Other reviews make important observations about how the series could add to the burden of already persecuted communities. Journalist @Bala_G tweets:
The entire Family Man series is very problematic. Blatant Islamophobia. While they do try to make it ‘neutral’, it still is uncomfortable to watch. And that goes for the latest sequel as well. Samantha doing the ‘brown face’ was the least of the problems. And she's terrible tbh.
— Bala (@Bala__G) June 6, 2021
For some fans, however, the criticisms seemed far-fetched and exaggerated. Many were taken with superficial markers of depiction associated with old-school Bollywood style and satisfied with middling efforts made. Others also seem to relish the various typified tropes they are tediously saddled with as noted in a review on The Pensive Mind, a blog by Sradhanjalli Patra:
[..] creators have taken local actors speaking in their native language in the show. It provides a realistic take rather than casting people from other regions and dubbing their voices or continuing with the stereotypes that exist till now. [..] It shows the authenticity of the Tamil Community.
Whether this can be validated and centred by those who do not have the diverse lived experiences of Tamil war refugees and the Tamil people is a thought that continues to linger.
Areas in India and Sri Lanka where Tamil is spoken. Image via Wikipedia by Planemad. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Sri Lanka is an ethnically diverse country whose geography has been mired in post-colonial conflicts between the majority Sinhalese and the indigenous Tamil minority. A newly decolonised Sri Lanka enforced discriminatory laws and policies which formally made Buddhism the country's primary religion and Sinhalese the official language, disenfranchising native Tamils and scaling back their livelihoods. This led to ethnic tensions as a number of fringe Tamil groups emerged in the mid-1970s, seeking a sovereign independent country. The resultant personal sufferings framed the pathway and further entrenched the dream of an independent homeland (or Eelam). These inflated linguistic, political, cultural and economic tensions between the two groups have led to a long-standing civil war.
The tussle for power lasted almost three decades and ended in May 2009, in favour of the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government. The Eelam Tamil community is currently navigating post-war trauma.
Popular media in India and overseas are rife with problematic representations of Tamil people. Filmmakers have been accused of mindlessly dabbling in one-sided Eelam and Tamil characters and “presenting their lives as caricatured props to further their own narratives,” according to film critic Rajesh Rajamani.
Demands for the show to be recalled resonated worldwide among the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora. Tamil Rights Activists Chennai based Mohan Keech and Cuddalore based Tamizh Seelan opined on Twitter:
India portraying Tamil Tigers linked with ISIS to the world. #Familyman2 Should be banned permanently. We don't appreciate it and request the distributors to not screen the film in the state.@Samanthaprabhu2 – Shame on you Samantha. #Familyman2_Against_Tamils pic.twitter.com/NS4uMV8zYc
— மோகன் தமிழன் (@mohankeech) May 19, 2021
It was a freedom struggle which had happened in Srilanka between oppressive Srilankan government and Tamil Tigers. Stop slandering our freedom struggle@rajndk #FamilyMan2_against_Tamils
— ஞானசீலன் சிவகங்கை வாழையார்.திரு (@ThamizhSeelan) May 20, 2021
Despite this, the makers released an official statement assuring that they have taken pains to ensure a “sensitive, balanced, and riveting story” and released the series as planned.

author: Keerthana Ram


text:
Myanmar journalists endure attacks for reporting the coup · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Media reporters and citizen journalists have been consistently covering anti-coup protests despite rising cases of attacks targeting them. Photo of a Yangon protest shared by a citizen journalist to Global Voices
Around 87 journalists have been arrested since the February coup in Myanmar as of June 17 . Most journalists have fled their homes, and some even managed to escape to neighboring countries. Meanwhile, banned independent media outlets were forced to go underground in order to continue their work.
Phil Thornton, a journalist and senior adviser to the International Federation of Journalists in Southeast Asia, talked to several Myanmar-based journalists about their experience during the early weeks of the coup:
They have started to remove their identification badges. Our PRESS logo is now a target. Not knowing where snipers are is a huge fear, we now need protection from bullets.
I’m not the only journalist, many of us are now in deep hiding. It’s dangerous on the ground now. We can’t use our name on our stories. It’s getting difficult to survive as we aren’t being paid. Most of us are struggling and our families are suffering…the pressure is massive.
Some journalists had to access the internet in hotels owned by associates of military officials. Thornton shared this quote from a journalist he interviewed:
Mobile data has been cut, it’s difficult to get ADSL connected, getting caught with a pocket Wi-Fi will get you arrested. I try to hook into established Wi-Fi at hotels owned by the military’s cronies.
Freelance journalist Thin Lei Win, who founded the news website Myanmar Now, acknowledged the role of citizen journalists in providing helpful information about the situation on the ground:
Career journalists are getting a lot of help from ordinary people. It’s amazing how these citizen journalists just with mobile phones have started documenting everything that’s been happening and passing it on to professional journalists. These citizen journalists are informing us — everybody outside the country and inside the country — of what’s happening. In fact, the trust between media outlets and the public is why news outlets like Myanmar NOW and others are able to do some of their reporting.
As anti-coup protests intensified, military authorities published ‘wanted list’ posters that included numerous journalists.
?? Over the week-end, two reporters were added on #Myanmar junta’s wanted list, and #Japan‘s freelancer Yuki Kitazumi was arrested. @RSF_inter denounces this blatant persecution of journalists, 19 of whom can be detained anytime!#WhatsHappeningInMyanmarhttps://t.co/KOFEAqVJOF
— RSF (@RSF_inter) April 19, 2021
Han Kha-yar, a university student in Shan State, wrote about the inadequate protection offered to freelance journalists like her:
Many news organisations do not provide media identification cards to reporters, let alone have ready protection mechanisms for their journalists in dangerous situations.
This lack of safety-related support made me feel somewhat hopeless, and in despair, about my role as a journalist and my future as one.
Nevertheless, she is determined to pursue journalism in order to expose the ‘military’s wrongdoings’:
My own people, I thought, need someone like me, who is a local, to expose the military’s wrongdoings. For this reason, I have decided to drop my retirement plan. I am determined to carry on journalistic work – as long as I do not get arrested by the police or soldiers.
Foreign journalists were among those arrested by the junta. Japanese journalist Yuki Kitazumi was arrested on April 18 on suspicion of spreading ‘fake news’ and was detained for nearly four weeks before he was released and deported to Japan. After his arrival in Japan, he talked about the plight of tortured political prisoners. He also narrated his prison ordeal:
Even though I wasn't subjected to violence, an interrogator banged the desk hard when I refused to sign a statement containing things I had no recollection of saying. That frightened me.
When operations of security forces also targeted the media, many journalists sought protection in other countries. Aye Min That, who worked as a reporter for Reuters in Myanmar, fled to Thailand in March. She told the International Press Institute about the circumstances that led her to decide to leave Myanmar:
I decided to leave because of the increasing threats, particularly police forces coming to journalists’ homes to arrest them.
I have had a few scary experiences. One of which was that while I was not at home, someone was standing in front of my apartment. They were about five people who came to my apartment and banged on my door for a while. A friend was in my flat at the time, she didn’t open the door but heard them saying my name and address. After a while, they left, but at that point I said to myself, no matter who these people are, I should probably leave.
Not all those who went to Thailand were able to immediately continue their work. Several Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reporters were arrested by Thai authorities for ‘illegal entry’. After global media groups campaigned for their release, DVB said the arrested journalists are now “safe in a third country”.
Some journalists like Mratt Kyaw Thu were able to seek asylum in other countries. After arriving in Madrid, Thu told AFP about his experience while evading security forces in Myanmar:
We're all just waiting for the knock on the door. Sometimes you hear footsteps on the stairs, and it's like they're coming for you: you have this feeling all the time.
Even heavy rain can make people fearful because it sometimes sounds like gunfire.
He added that he felt guilt for leaving Myanmar but at the same time he also recognized the duty that journalists have to fulfill:
My friends and some doctors and teachers joined the people's defence forces to fight against the military while I'm here, and that kind of makes me feel guilty.
But on the other hand, if all the journalists are fighting against the military, who will write the news?
The intermittent blocking of the internet and the suspension of licenses of independent media outlets had deprived citizens of vital information about the pandemic and the coup. This inspired some concerned citizens to print news pamphlets and secretly distribute copies in public places. Two examples of these underground papers are The Voice of Spring and Molotov Bulletin.
The Voice Of Spring with
The Voice of Strike in Kalay.
Thanks to everyone who join us.
We must win this time !!! ✊✊✊#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #June4Coup pic.twitter.com/MP4UDyEofx
— The Voice Of Spring Daily (@NewsPamphlet) June 4, 2021
The Southeast Asia Globe asked the person behind the Molotov about their intention in publishing the newsletter:
We noticed when the internet is shut off, the back-and-forth information disappears and people in their homes do not know what is happening on the streets, and that makes them fear more. To fight that back, we created Molotov.
The anti-junta bulletin Molotov was distributed in Shwepyithar, Yangon today (Apr 9). Cover features a hard hat-wearing Thagyamin, highest-ranking nat who is believed to visit the earth on 1st day of #Thingyan (new year festival) which starts next week. #WhatsHappenigInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/rhxav1mRT1
— Myanmar Now (@Myanmar_Now_Eng) April 9, 2021
Despite the revocation of their media license, Mizzima continued their essential work in providing people with news. This short video documentary details how Mizzima journalists, editors and other staff have been working diligently despite threats of arrest and incarceration:
In the last part of the video, Mizzima staff make a pledge to continue working toward an independent media and express their hope that they might someday meet in their former office in Yangon City.
We will always stand together with Myanmar people.
We will never forget the sacrifice of Mizzima media staff who have been detained by the military junta.
We will always stand as an independent media.
We all will meet again in Yangon.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Hong Kong digital news outlet Stand News removes articles and suspends subscriptions following Apple Daily closure · Global Voices
Hong Kong Free Press

A screen capture from the Stand News.
The following post was written by Selina Cheng and published by Hong Kong Free Press on June 28, 2021. It is republished on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement.
Pro-democracy digital news outlet Stand News has announced it will remove opinion articles and columns it published before May and stop accepting donations in order to reduce its risks under the national security law. The announcement was made following reports of anonymous threats to some media outlets in Hong Kong.
The reader-funded Stand News stated on June 27 that it would remove all articles published by its regular contributors and columnists and other opinion articles published before May. The blog held scores of articles by news and political commentators in the city.
The developments came after the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper and other independent news outlets in the city were reportedly sent anonymous messages containing threats and full lists of their full and part-time staff.
The pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily, established in 1995, stopped printing on June 24 after five of its executives and an editorial writer were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security. Another editorial writer was arrested on June 27 at the airport.
Authorities also froze 18 million HK dollars (2.3 million US dollars) in funds from the newspaper’s parent companies, making it impossible for them to pay staff wages.
Stand News, an independent online media outlet founded in 2014, has mainly focused on political and court news in the wake of the 2019 protests.
To avoid further financial losses should its accounts be frozen, the media outlet said it would stop accepting new donations and suspend payments from regular donors. The company said it has enough resources to operate for the next 9–12 months.
Six of its company directors including Margaret Ng and pro-democracy celebrity Denise Ho have stepped down from the company, leaving Editor-in-Chief Chung Pui-kuen and co-founder Choi Tung-ho at the helm.
The company also terminated the employment contracts of staff who had been with the company for over six months in order to clear their bonuses, and re-employed most of them under a new contract in May.
Apple Daily and other independent news outlets have reported receiving anonymous threatening messages over the past few days, said veteran independent journalist and Global Voices East Asia editor Oiwan Lam on her Patreon page. One message contained a full list naming all directors and staffers employed at the company, including those working part-time. Lam wrote:
While it is comparatively easy to dig up the list of a company’s board of directors through the company registry, to obtain the list of a company’s staff members, one needs to get access to either the tax authorities or the Mandatory Provident Fund.
She added:
I believe Stand News took the risk control measures against such threats — to minimize the collateral damage to individuals and the financial loss once the security police takes action against it.
In response to the changes at Stand News, the Hong Kong Journalists Association said in a statement:
That yet another media restricts its operations under the national security law reflects that Hong Kong’s news industry is facing increasingly severe circumstances. Hongkongers are entitled to the right to freedom of the press and of expression under the Basic Law. HKJA urges the government to take the lead in defending such rights.

author: Hong Kong Free Press


text:
Istanbul: divided on two fronts · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

Istanbul Pride March by Lubunya licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
As President Erdogan was delivering a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for Turkey's controversial mega-development project Canal Istanbul, scores of Istanbul residents, were inhaling tear gas and being hit with rubber bullets while celebrating Pride on Saturday, June 26. According to some reports, 25 people were detained and several journalists reportedly faced police violence. One resident was detained after complaining to the police that a child was sleeping inside, as they threw sound bombs.
The weekend's incidents demonstrate the stark divisions within Istanbul. While the new Canal pitted scores of residents, opposition politicians, and experts opposing the plan against a government determined to pursue its project; the Pride march too was a division between a society embracing LGBTQI+ equality versus the police, ordered to prevent it at all costs per the government's orders.
With the Canal Istanbul project, Turkey plans to create a massive man-made canal connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. The groundbreaking kicked off the multi-part project, which will begin with the construction of the Sazlidere Bridge that will cross over the planned waterway.
Despite mounting criticisms against the construction of the Canal Istanbul due to potential environmental and political issues, on June 26, Erdogan, the President and Chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said, “Today we are laying the foundations of one of the exemplary canals in the world.” The project will be completed by 2027 said the President and will “save the future of Istanbul to ensure the safety of life and property of Istanbul’s Bosporus and the citizens around it.”
The President's speech, however, was not just about the bright future awaiting Istanbul and its residents. He also derided the main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), for opposing the project in the first place. “Yes, the CHP. They have blocked every step […] And those supporting them? They are all trying to think of ways to block things,” said Erdogan, while attributing the construction and development projects carried out in recent years as a result of AKP's leadership including the new airport and a third bridge connecting Istanbul's two continents. “I put aside their ineptitude in politics, and in producing projects, they say whatever comes to their mind, ignoring state morals […] These are rookies in the truest sense. They have no idea how to manage a government.”
CHP's Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu described the ceremony as an “illusion” comparing the Sazlidere Bridge groundbreaking ceremony to a highway project unrelated to Canal Istanbul that's been slow to materialize due to Turkey's economic troubles. “The construction of a bridge here has nothing to do with the canal project. It’s something to do with the road hub,” he said at a news conference on Thursday.
On the other side of the city, Istanbul's Pride march this Saturday was very different to that in New York, Berlin, Paris, and elsewhere in Europe. Here, there was no room for rainbows or celebration. Instead, police rounded up the Pride march participants with unmatched force and disdain.
Police use force to break up banned Gay Pride rally in Istanbul https://t.co/m728pRmZYn pic.twitter.com/zx0Otj09WX
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) June 27, 2021
One man, standing in front of the police, begged the police to answer why he was not allowed to march in his own country. “Move, let us pass. Why can't I walk in my own country? Why? We are not doing anything to you! We are not harming anyone!” he said.
The American pop star Madonna noted the excessive police presence on Saturday on her Instagram stories:
A screenshot from Madonna's Instagram stories.
Among those who were battered by the police, was photojournalist Bulent Kilic who was forcefully pressed against the ground, with police pushing down on his neck. Kilic, desperate for air, was screaming, “I can't breathe!”
The Deputy Minister of the Interior, Mehmet Ersoy, dismissed the journalist's claims of violence:
İzinsiz gösteri sırasında polise direnenleri gözaltına almak zorbalık değildir…
Esas zorbalık, toplumda iktidara tepki uyandırmak adına, hiçbir sınır tanımadan kurumlarımıza fütursuzca, her türlü yalana sarılarak saldırıp sonrasında özür dileyecek erdemi gösterememektir. pic.twitter.com/nmfWfLHZPu
— Mehmet Ersoy (@mehmetersoy57) June 27, 2021
It is not violence to detain those who resist the police during an unauthorized demonstration. The real violence is recklessly attacking our institutions, with lies, for the sake of provoking anti-government sentiments, and lack the merit to apologize later.
Kilic is determined to seek justice in his case.
Meanwhile, despite police violence, Istanbul did end up celebrating Pride:
19. İstanbul Onur Yürüyüşü 26 Haziran günü gerçekleşti. Polisin bütün baskısına rağmen, gaz bombalarına dans ederek cevap veren, İstanbul sokaklarını renkleri ile boyayan ve onur, eşitlik için mücadele eden tüm Lübunya’lara selam olsun #Pride2021 #lubunyasokakta #onurhaftasi pic.twitter.com/60HbFds71R
— reflekt (@reflekttv) June 27, 2021
Istanbul's 19th Pride march took place on June 26. Greetings to all Lubanyas [a slang word used for gay men] who despite all the police pressure, responded to tear gas with dance, painting the streets of Istanbul into the rainbow colors, and fighting for equality.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


text:
Top Belarusian media website removes social media posts to protect employees · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

TUT.BY Portal logo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Remixed by Tanya Lokot.
Tut.by, a popular independent news website in Belarus, has reportedly removed all of its social media posts for the past 18 months to protect its staff and readers from the ongoing state crackdown on independent media.
The Tut.by editors removed virtually all of the content published on most of their social media channels in 2020 and the first half of 2021, at the height of the post-election protests. They said the archives were still in their possession and were simply “hidden” from “public view”.
Tut.by is currently under investigation after a mid-June request by the Interior Ministry officials to recognize the news portal and its social media accounts as “extremist.” The initial hearing at a Minsk court, scheduled for June 24, has been postponed to a later date.
The newsroom also removed the log-in verification option from its Telegram channel so as to be able to rename the channel on short notice in case the news outlet or its Telegram channel is officially labeled as “extremist” by Belarusian courts. “We wouldn't be able to do this immediately after the court verdict, so we decided to prepare in advance”, said the editors in a Telegram post.
Though some of the channel's followers were concerned the channel, which has over half a million subscribers, was hacked or co-opted by thew authorities, Tut.by reassured readers by confirming to the Belarusian Association of Journalists that the channel was still in their hands.
Рэдактары TUT.BY пацвердзілі Беларускай асацыяцыі журналістаў, што тэлеграм-канал партала @tutby_official дакладна знаходзіцца пад кантролем рэдакцыі. Калегі просяць не хвалявацца, ніякіх узломаў не было. TUT.BY па-ранейшаму з намі, а мы – з TUT.BY!
The Tut.by editors have confirmed to the Belarusian Association of Journalists that the portal's Telegram channel @tutby_official remains under the control of the newsroom. Colleagues are asking you not to worry, no one was hacked. Tut.by is still with us, and we are with Tut.by!
Tut.by's main website was blocked in Belarus on May 18, 2021, while the media organisation's bank accounts were frozen following accusations of tax fraud. A criminal investigation was launched against the media outlet's managers, and 15 employees were detained. Many of them, including editor-in-chief Marina Zolotova, remain behind bars.
In December 2020, Belarusian authorities withdrew Tut.by's media license on foot of warnings the portal had received for ongoing coverage of the state crackdown on protests that erupted after a disputed presidential election in August 2020.
In May, Belarusian authorities adopted a number of amendments to existing laws regulating journalistic activity, media coverage of protests, and criminal liability of journalists. The amendments were criticised by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Teresa Ribeiro, who said that the recently adopted laws “seriously contradict international human rights standards on freedom of expression and freedom of the media”.
In its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders designated Belarus as “the most dangerous country in Europe for journalists” and said “journalists were subjected to an unprecedented crackdown in an attempt to cover up the massive street protests”. According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, 25 reporters remain behind bars today, with 77 detentions or arrests since the start of 2021.

author: Tanya Lokot


text:
Cheap materials raise questions over Kazakhstan’s expensive new urban development · Global Voices
Paolo Sorbello

Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkistan. Photo by Ken and Nyetta, Wikimedia Commons, CC 2.0.
The city of Turkistan, in southern Kazakhstan, was named “the spiritual capital of the Turkic world” by the Turkic Council, an international organization comprising Turkey, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan at the end of March 2021.
Prime minister Askar Mamin inaugurated Karavansaray, one of the city's new flagship construction projects just ten days later.
But, less than three months after its opening, Karavansaray showed the first signs of decay.
In mid-June, a video emerged across social media showing a child detaching a piece of wall from the Karavansaray complex with his bare hands. The video revealed that the wall was made of polystyrene, a type of styrofoam commonly used in packaging and building insulation.
Chingiz Lepizbayev, project manager at Qorgau, a government-affiliated human rights organization, said on Facebook that the new complex in Turkistan (also spelled Turkestan) would wear down in just two years, as it is unlikely to weather more than a few winters.
I saw with my own eyes that Karavansaray, the main new attraction of Turkestan, (which our ancestors built 1200 years ago) […] was built not from dung and sticks, but from foam and plaster.
Facebook user Ilyas Mynzhasarov joked that the potential savings from building Karavansaray with cheap materials could be a graft scheme, referencing “Money Heist,” a Spanish TV series (the Spanish title, “La casa de papel,” which translates to “the paper house”).
Money Heist — Shukeyev original series
“We will extract money from there undetected.”
“How exactly?”
“We will build a football pitch and a building out of polystyrene”
“And we call this ‘Operation Turkistan'”
Turkistan became the capital of the newly-renamed Turkistan region three years ago, after former president Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree upgrading Shymkent, the former capital of the then-South Kazakhstan region, to a metropolis with its own governor.
Since then, the authorities have rushed to develop the city's infrastructure, which hosts a UNESCO-listed heritage site, the 14th-century mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, a 12th-century Sufi master.
The construction spree changed the urban landscape, which developed exponentially. Residents now refer to the “old city” and “new city” when discussing Turkistan. In fact, the city has seen sharp demographic growth, as its population increased to 200,000 in May 2021, compared to 160,000 in 2018.
In the heart of the old city, Karavansaray was built to resemble an ancient settlement, a crossroads along the Silk Road.
The new Karavansaray complex was inaugurated on April 10, 2021. Photo by Paolo Sorbello (May 29, 2021), used with permission
According to the governor of the Turkistan region, Umirzak Shukeyev, since 2018, the government and private investors have poured around 1.5 billion US dollars into projects in the city, including an ice rink, an arena for equestrian sports, and a futuristic theater.
For Karavansaray, architects and designers from Chris Lange Creative Studio Berlin were in charge of drafting the layout.
The construction project was set up by Turkistan Silk Way Harbor LLP, which is owned by two investors: the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund (KIDF) and FTG Development, a Turkish real estate company. KIDF is owned by the ministry of finance and has invested around 1 billion US dollars into projects outside of the extractive sector.
FTG is a long-time partner of Kazakhstan, having built several hotels and the Kazakhstan pavilion at the 2017 EXPO, a futuristic sphere that Foreign Policy dubbed “The Death Star” in one article.
Keeping up with the over-the-top projects, the developers built a system of waterways across the Karavansaray complex, which tourists called “Kazakhstan’s Venice.”
A tourist filming a fountain show along the Karavansaray waterway. Photo by Paolo Sorbello (May 29, 2021), used with permission.
To build the waterways, investors spent 87 billion tenge (around 203 million US dollars). Turkistan Silk Way Harbor invested 47 billion tenge (about 110 million US dollars), while the Development Bank of Kazakhstan provided a loan for an additional 40 billion tenge (93 million US dollars).
The scandal erupted just one week after a new city mayor was appointed. Nurbol Turashbekov, a long-time bureaucrat in regional cadastral offices, replaced Rashid Ayupov, who became the mayor of Turkistan as it gained the status of the regional capital.
Citizens are angered and dismayed that such a sum resulted in poor quality construction and materials. One Facebook user, Dmitry Popoff, shared concerns about Turkistan, asking whether President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has his finger on the country's pulse.
Turkistan made of polystyrene, a phony car industry, carrots for 700 tenge, disappearing rivers, lack of water for irrigation, queues at empty gas stations – where is Tokayev's reaction? Is he aware of what is happening in the country?
After the video and the ensuing criticism from social media users became viral, Shukeyev dismissed it as much ado about nothing.
“In the modern world, everything is made of plastic: The chair you sit on, this pen, this microphone. They made such a hype from nothing.”
Notably, in 2018, Kazakhstan’s government designated several areas of the city of Turkistan and its surroundings as a Special Economic Zone, a classification that grants tax breaks and incentives to companies willing to invest.
As developers and businesses flock to Turkistan to seize the opportunity of tax-free investment, residents and tourists continue to ask themselves whether this boom would be as fragile as the styrofoam walls of Karavansaray.

author: Paolo Sorbello


text:
Will a free vaccine program boost India’s COVID-19 vaccination rate? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich from Pexels. Used under a Pexels license.
India has launched the latest phase of its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, offering free vaccinations to everyone in India —around 940 million adults. However, the question remains about how this drive can reach its intended population amidst emerging challenges. Since its June 21 start date, the program has been marred by controversies like the use of digital apps, websites and high costs that excluded the digitally deprived and rural poor.
The current COVID-19 vaccination program is the largest of any adult vaccination effort in India's history. To date, the country has administered 315 million vaccine doses, with approximately 4 percent of the population receiving both doses so far.
Population vaccinated with 1st dose:
▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 17.71%
Population vaccinated with 2nd dose:
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 3.76%
As of 23/6/2021 | 6:50PM#VaccineForAll #vaccination #India #vaccine #Vaccination #Cowin #DeltaPlusVariant
— India Vaccine Tracker (@IndiaVaccineTr) June 23, 2021
The first phase of the massive vaccination rollout started on January 16, 2021, and targeted mainly frontline workers and people aged 60 and over.
By March, the second wave of COVID-19 hit India with rising death and infection rates, devastating India's healthcare system. Demands for expanding the vaccination drive forced the Indian government to suspend the foreign export of COVID-19 vaccines to address the shortages.
On April 1, the second phase of vaccinations launched for those over 45 years old. The government faced vaccine shortages despite the export ban as the country struggled to vaccinate its 1.3 billion people.
In the third phase, starting May 1, the program was extended to anyone over the age of 18. On May 18, India recorded the highest number of coronavirus deaths reported in a single day, with 4,529 deaths in addition to 267,122 new cases.
The online registration for the COVID-19 vaccination started on March 1, 2021, via the app Aarogya Setu. Eventually, other resources including the “Winning over COVID-19″ or Co-WIN website and the Umang App were also opened for registration. Some of these websites crashed because they could not handle the spike in registrations after the vaccine opened for those over 18 years old on April 28.
India’s digital-centric approach to vaccine registration has excluded many people in rural areas, especially the digitally deprived. To register for a vaccine, citizens needed an active mobile number with SMS capabilities, an internet connection and a government ID — which created barriers for many low-income, rural and disadvantaged communities.
A recent report from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India estimated that only about one-third of the rural population has internet access and many do not know how to access the vaccine apps and portals.
Anshuraj Maria, a Video Volunteers Community Correspondent published a video highlighting the disparity:
Amit Kumar, a Dalit activist and Community Correspondent from Haryana discusses the video:
A significant part of rural India is still illiterate and COVID-19 lockdowns have further affected the education system of India. In such a scenario, the government assumes every citizen of India owns a digital device (smartphone/laptop) and will register for their COVID-19 vaccine slots online themselves.
However, many don't own a smartphone and have no idea how to use one.
“If the government sets up a camp here we will take the jab,” said one of the other villagers she spoke to. People are facing problems registering for their slots online. This is because people generally rely on designated stores that charge a small fee to do work online. This could be everything from applying to a government job, PAN card registration, or even music downloads on your phone. But since these shops are closed due to the lockdown, the local people don't know how to navigate the online world and register for their vaccine slots.
Even for those able to register for the vaccine, getting a vaccine appointment proved difficult. Some vaccination centres cancelled appointments at the last minute as they ran out of vaccines. To solve the problem, Indian tech startups and developers have stepped up and launched several sites to alert people about available appointments near them.
A screenshot from the website getjab.in
So far, the Indian federal government has provided free shots only to front-line workers and those above 45 years old. With some exceptions, Indians between 18–45 years old have had to purchase vaccines in private facilities. Although the government tried to cap the price of the vaccines, people often paid more in private markets — from 3 US dollars to 17 US dollars, depending on the type of vaccine and the centre. The cost of the Covishield vaccine is almost 12 US dollars and the Covaxin is 17 US dollars — some of the highest COVID vaccine prices in the world. This has deprived many poor people who could not afford the price and spurred a movement calling for free vaccines for all.
On June 7, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India will provide free vaccines for all starting June 21. The federal government will procure 75 percent of all vaccines and provide them to states for free, while the remaining 25 percent will be procured and sold in the private sector.
It's important to highlight that prior registration on Co-WIN website is not mandatory in this new program, as citizens are allowed to register in person.
From June 21–26, India recorded its highest weekly vaccination rates as over 33 million vaccination doses were administered in just five days. On June 21, the Indian government claimed that a record 8.6 million vaccines were administered across India; a spike in number, which many called falsely “engineered data“.
Reddit user Purtiram comments on the news of the highest vaccination on June 21st:
To people ascribing the prolonged vaccination fiasco to our large population, this is what India's vaccination infrastructure is when adequate vaccines are made available.
It remains to be seen whether this campaign can boost vaccination numbers as there are other challenges ahead including a lack of vaccine supply and vaccine hesitancy.

author: Rezwan


text:
Access denied: the social and economic costs of Nigeria’s Twitter blackout  · Global Voices
Olusegun Akinfenwa

Young Nigerians discussing the contents of a web page opened on a smartphone. Image by James Moore200 via Wikimedia Commons, March 27, 2021, (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Many Nigerians are deeply feeling the loss of Twitter weeks into its shutdown by the government. Aside from the obvious violation of online freedom of expression of its users, the suspension also hurts Nigerians who use the platform for commercial and social activities.
On June 4, 2021, the Nigerian government announced it was suspending Twitter from operating in the country after the company deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari. In the tweet, Buhari threatened pro-Biafra activists from the southeastern part of the country of a repeat of the 1967-1970 Biafra Civil War, which killed an estimated 500,000 to 2 million civilians.
“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Biafra war. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” Buhari wrote in the now-deleted Tweet.
The microblogging platform flagged and deleted the tweet as a violation of its “abusive behaviour” policy.
Angered by Twitter’s action, the government responded with an indefinite ban over “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
On June 5, 2021, the suspension took effect. The government asked all network service providers in the country to restrict access to Twitter.
More than 120 million Nigerians have access to the internet, and about 40 million of them have a Twitter account — 20% of the population — according to the Lagos-based research firm NOI Polls.
For many of these users, mostly youths, Twitter has greatly affected their lives. It forms a huge part of their social lives and supports their businesses, as a platform for advertising. Household items, electronics, clothes, and other items are commonly advertised and sold on the platform. Twitter has helped many connect with buyers and clients who would ordinarily have been out of reach.
“We should also remember that Twitter has gone beyond a source of communication for many of our hardworking youths in Nigeria. It has become a source of livelihood for many, irrespective of their political affiliations or religious leanings. Nigerian youths and digital communications organizations earn a living from being able to use the platform to post communications on behalf of their clients,” Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State in southwestern Nigeria tweeted.
NetBlocks, a global internet monitor, told the BBC that Nigeria is losing about 250,000 United States dollars for each hour that the suspension is in place. SMEs who built their businesses around the platform, including social media influencers, freelancers, and startups, expressed a significant dip in sales since the ban.
Apart from economic opportunities, the platform has also provided various social benefits to Nigerians. It has been used to raise funds for the sick and vulnerable, locate missing persons, and call ambulances. For instance, in May, Twitter was instrumental in unraveling the kidnapping and murder of a jobseeker in the south part of the county.
Though the deleted tweet has been at the centre of the whole suspension matter, it is only the final straw of a long-term running battle between the Buhari administration and Twitter.
During the October 2020 #EndSARS protests by young Nigerians against police brutality, Twitter was the major focal point for organizers and demonstrators who used the platform to galvanize support for the movement that argues for the dismantling of an elite Nigerian police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Twitter's CEO, Jack Dorsey, also supported the protests, calling for donations for the movement. Twitter also made a special emoji for the protest.
Twitter has also given Nigerian young people a voice on burning social and political matters affecting the country. Separatist campaigners like Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho, as well as activists like Omoyele Sowore also use the platform to organize protests and raise awareness about their movements. This has rattled the government, which has in turn considered regulating social media since the beginning of its administration in 2015.
“Twitter has consistently made its platform available to those who are threatening Nigeria's corporate existence; that is the reason for suspending their operations in Nigeria,” Information Minister Lai Mohammed said a week after the suspension.
Meanwhile, the issue has generated reactions from both local and international stakeholders, with many condemning the government’s action. The diplomatic missions of the European Union, United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland and Canada, in a joint statement affirmed that “the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world.” The diplomats expressed their displeasure over the Twitter suspension, asserting that “these rights apply online as well as offline.”
The Biden administration also condemned “the ongoing suspension of Twitter by the Nigerian government and subsequent threats to arrest and prosecute Nigerians who use Twitter,” in a statement on June 10, 2021.
Meanwhile, as the suspension enters weeks without a resolution, more Nigerians are finding alternative paths to access the microblogging service after major telecom providers blocked access. Many are using Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to bypass the blockage.
In reaction to their defiance, the Nigerian government, through the justice minister Abubakar Malami, threatened to prosecute people using VPN to access Twitter.
Malami's threat was met with a backlash, with many saying they were not aware of any law that makes it illegal to use Twitter. Those who called out Malami include a former minister of education, Oby Ezekwesili.
How many fellow Nigerians presently on @Twitter are happy to be prosecuted by @NigeriaGov for exercising your constitutionally guaranteed right to speech and association?
Please join me and joyfully ??♀??♂your hands so @MalamiSan can find us quickly and take to court.#KeepitOn
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) June 5, 2021
There are also reports that the government is in talks with China to build an internet firewall, which will block Nigerians from accessing Twitter via VPN. China’s Great Firewall restricts access to Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, and similar platforms in the country.
In its bid to find a replacement for Twitter, the government has been considering promoting a different microblogging platform named Koo and has since created an account on the Indian-owned social media platform. Some government officials have also registered on the platform.
Both Twitter and the Nigerian government may soon commence talks to resolve the issue. A resolution to the conflict will bring a sigh of relief to many Nigerians who have been affected by the suspension.

author: Olusegun Akinfenwa


text:
Austrian player Arnautović sparks racism controversy in Euro 2020 football game against North Macedonia · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Collectible stickers featuring footballers Ezgjan Alioski (North Macedonia) and Marko Arnautović (Austria) from the Euro 2020 sticker album. Photo by Filip Stojanovski, CC BY.
Austrian football player Marko Arnautović caused a scandal on June 13, when he decided to “celebrate” scoring a goal against North Macedonia during a UEFA Euro 2020 championship match in Bucharest, by shouting vulgar anti-Albanian insults in Serbian at a member of the opposing team.
People from the Western Balkans generally understand such insults, as most of the inhabitants of successor countries of Yugoslavia, regardless of ethnic origin, have at least a basic understanding of Serbian or Croatian. Arnautović also made a gesture associated with “white power” groups in the US, which can also be interpreted as lewd in the Balkans.
The target of the verbal attack, Ezgjan Alioski, is an ethnic Albanian who plays for the UK Premier League club Leeds United. He didn't respond to the provocations.
This wasn't Alioski's first encounter with anti-Albanian discrimination. In June 2019 his family was denied service in a restaurant in his native town of Prilep for speaking Albanian. The restaurant staff later tried to apologize after they realized they had insulted a member of the national football team.
Ethnic Albanians comprise around a quarter of the population of North Macedonia and are the second most numerous ethnic group, after ethnic Macedonians.
Arnautović's rant was interrupted by the Austrian national team captain David Alaba, who had to physically grab him to make him stop taunting the opposing players.
maximum respect to David Alaba. For context, this is Austria's captain physically intervening on his own striker, Marco Arnautovic, who was celebrating scoring the winner with a racist rant against the Macedonian players. Goodbye Arnautovic. Kick racism out of football pic.twitter.com/RGrPdBpkm1
— ཊལབསརངཧ (@David_Rudnick) June 14, 202
The incident triggered widespread debate in the Balkans. Many pointed out that ironically, Marko Arnautović's  surname, indicates that he might be of Albanian descent, since the term Arnaut in Ottoman Turkish literally means “Albanian.”
His surname is Arnautovic, “arnaut” in Turkish is an ethnonym for Albanians. So his surname is “the son of an Albanian” lol still racist
— irmchek (@irmchek) June 17, 2021
Arnautović's father is ethnically Serbian, and his mother is Austrian. He was born in Floridsdorf, a district in the northern part of Vienna.
Others pointed to the hypocrisy of some viewers’ reactions. Ethnic Albanian columnist from North Macedonia, Erol Shaqiri pointed that many of the supposedly outraged individuals are known to regularly use hate speech and derogatory terms when referring to other ethnic groups.
The Football Federation of North Macedonia (FFM) condemned Marko Arnautović's use of hate speech and informed the public via a Facebook post that it submitted an official complaint to UEFA requesting Arnautović be punished.
Како “Куќа на фудбалот” секогаш сме против национализам, дискриминација и сите други форми на навреди и испади кои не се во духот на фудбалот и вредностите за кои сите заедно се залагаме. Секогаш ќе застанеме и ќе ги браниме интересите и достоинството на македонските репрезентативци каде и да настапуваат.
As the “House of Football,” we are always against nationalism, discrimination, and all other forms of insults and attacks that are not in the spirit of the game and the values we all strive for. We shall always stand and defend the interests and the dignity of the Macedonian national football team players wherever they might be playing.
A screen capture of Arnautović's Instagram post.
Arnautović apologized for the incident on his Instagram profile, claiming it was not rooted in racism, and adding the terms of apology in both Macedonian and Albanian at the end of the post.
There were some heated words yesterday in the emotions of the game for which I would like to APOLOGIZE – especially to my friends from North Macedonia and Albania.
I would like to say this one thing very clearly: I AM NOT A RACIST! I have friends in almost every country an I stand for diversity. Everyone who knows me is aware of that.
Извинете [Excuse  me!]
Më falni [Excuse me!]
However, since then and up to the time of publishing of this article, Arnautović's Instagram account has not been accessible to the public, and the information on the site notes that it has been made “private” with the posts available only to approved followers.
After the Football Association of Macedonia filed an official complaint, on June 16, the UEFA announced their decision to sanction Arnautović for his rant against Alioski. The UEFA Appeals Body decided to suspend Arnautović for one game.
Some football fans criticized the levity of the sanction:
Oh come on, Arnautovic wasn't suspended because of an “over aggressive goal celebration.” It was because he spewed hideous, sectarian and racist abuse at Albanian supporters and Alioski. Don't sanitize it. #UKRAUT
— Paul Dawkins (@Paul__Dawkins) June 21, 2021
Consequently, the Austrians had to play without Arnautović against the Netherlands on June 17 in Amsterdam. Twitter users pointed that rather than condemning his behavior, the Austrian national team used his image in their social media announcement for the match.
So the Austrian FA (@oefb1904) have chosen #Arnautovic as their lucky charm using his picture on their official starting 11 graphic, after he was give a one-match ban for using a racist slur directed at a player of Albanian descent who represents North Macedonia. https://t.co/gglEbcoEcc
— Qëndrim Fazliu (@Qefaz) June 17, 2021
The Netherlands won the match (2–0). Still, Austria managed to advance to the Knockout Phase, where it was eliminated by Italy (2–1) in London on June 26.
Some of the debate around the incident and the UEFA's ruling centers around cultural differences related to hate speech and defining racism.
Arnautović used a particularly grave insult of personal and collective honor to taunt Alioski, using swear words implying rape of his Albanian mother, paired with the use of a derogatory ethnic slur.
The slur term ‘Šiptar,’ which Arnautović used in his rant, is considered a contemptuous term maliciously derived through mispronunciation of the Albanian term of self-designation Shqiptar. In North Macedonia, the use of this word is generally considered a form of hate speech.
On the other hand, the Ottoman Turkish term Arnaut, or its modern version Arnavut, generally carries no negative connotation.
Incidents such as this are often denoted as chauvinistic nationalism in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, rather than racism. As such they are often relativized as less grave than racism based on people's skin color. Scottish columnist Colin Sweeny pointed that his might have been the case with the Arnautović scandal and might be the reason behind the relatively light sanction from the UEFA.

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
Hong Kong promotes two former police officers to lead the government · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

From right to left: John Lee, Carrie Lam and Chris Tang. Image from the Stand News. Used with permission.
Hong Kong security secretary, John Lee, who is the key person responsible for the implementation of the national security law (NSL) since its enactment on June 30, 2020, was promoted to the position of Chief Secretary on June 25, 2021 — one day after the shutdown of Apple Daily News.
The position of security secretary is succeeded by police commissioner Chris Tang, who is famous for his hardline stance against anti-China extradition protesters in 2019 and in the suppression of political dissents. The NSL, imposed by Beijing in 2020, vaguely defines state subversion crimes, terrorism and foreign collusion which has allowed the ruling party to easily prosecute pro-democracy dissidents.
It is the first time since Hong Kong was reunified with China in 1997 that a former police officer was appointed as chief secretary, the second-highest-ranking public official in Hong Kong who formulates and implements government policy, gives advice to the Chief Executive and manages the Government’s relationship with the Legislative Council.
It is customary that the chief secretary position is filled by an administration official who has rich experience working in a wide variety of posts in government bureaus and departments. In contrast, John Lee served on the police force for 35 years until he was appointed to the office of the security secretary in 2012 by former chief executive Leung Chun-ying.
As both John Lee and Chris Tang are considered hardliners in suppressing dissents, the pro-democracy sector anticipates the current political crackdown will continue. Catrina Ko, a human rights activist commented on Twitter:
And HK will be made even more truly and effective a police state than it already is. Those who crack down violently and militantly on the originally vibrant HK civil society and our protesters young or old would be ruling *by law* and force over the population. https://t.co/rCa8elpIf2
— Catrina Ko (@dr_CatKo) June 25, 2021
When asked of her view on comments about Hong Kong having been turned into a police state, pro-Beijing lawmaker Alice Mak, said there was nothing wrong with being a police state:
Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Alice Mak says: “If it’s a police state, why not? I don’t think there’s any problem with a police state.” She says it’s unfair to judge John Lee and Chris Tang because of their background. https://t.co/yitVZOEfYL pic.twitter.com/5aTfTPmNyK
— Timmy Sung ? (@timmysung) June 25, 2021
Mak later withdrew her comments and Stanley Ng, Hong Kong representative of the National People Congress blamed the journalist who raised the question for misleading public opinion.
The term “police state” describes a state where police forces play a significant role in government institutions and suppress civil liberties.
A Human Rights Watch assessment of the human rights situation in Hong Kong one year after the passage of National Security Law indicates that many civil liberties have been dismantled by China:
Beijing is systematically erasing the civil and political rights people long enjoyed, including freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, access to information, and academic freedom. Citizens no longer have the right to participate in free and fair elections and to run for office. The authorities are shutting down the free media, cutting off funding for the pro-democracy movement, and depriving those accused of political crimes of their fair trial rights. Impunity for police abuse is expanding.
Mary Hui, a reporter from Quartz, argues Beijing has relied on police forces to exercise its control — thus transforming the city into a police state. Her first graph shows how the city’s national security expenses soared in the past two years:
Meanwhile, the govt budget earmarked HK$8B ($1B) for national security, but says spending details are “war secrets.” The police chief is the new security chief. A lawmaker is proud that HK is now a police state. Everything is policing. National security is everything. pic.twitter.com/AElp544x3b
— Mary Hui (@maryhui) June 25, 2021
Among the 61 individuals who have been charged under the National Security Law as of June 25, 2021, only one case involves violence, all the other cases are related to speech and elections:
The crimes that the prosecuted indvs have allegedly committed are all vaguely defined & infinitely malleable. ‘Subversion’ is anything deemed to oppose the govt. Criticising the govt can be ‘seditious.’ Newspaper articles about foreign sanctions could be ‘foreign collusion.’ pic.twitter.com/HoHsoKTPv4
— Mary Hui (@maryhui) June 25, 2021
To date, 47 pro-democracy activists have been charged with subversion for participating in the primary elections of the 2020 Legislative Council elections. The speech-related charges vary greatly, for instance, there is the case of Tang Ying Kit who was charged on July 1, 2020, for displaying the slogans “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of time” and more recelty Jimmy Lai who was charged with foreign collusion for publishing commentary supporting foreign sanctions of Hong Kong.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam flew to Beijing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party and the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong handover to China on July 1 2021, making John Lee the current acting Chief Executive.
Benedict Rogers from London-based Hong Kong Watch is terrified that John Lee might eventually become the highest government authority — as before Carrie Lam became the Chief Executive, she was also the Chief Secretary:
John Lee “acting Chief Executive”. A terrifying thought.#HongKong is now a full police state. https://t.co/y8gIhWjHkI
— Benedict Rogers 羅傑斯 (@benedictrogers) June 27, 202

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Roma musicians discuss inclusion in larger Czech community · Global Voices
Elmira Lyapina

Roma music band Bengas. Photo by Jiří Bernovský, used with permission granted by Migel Milan Horvát.
While Roma people are the largest ethnic minority in Czechia, comprising about 2.2 percent of its population, they are considered one of the most stigmatized and discriminated minorities in the nation. But even with the discrimination and undue stereotypes, the Roma people continue to have a huge social impact and are extremely prominent in Czechia's music scene.
This author conversed with representatives of Czechia's Roma music community about the prejudge and discrimination they face, the latest news of Roma oppression, and the borderless nature of music.
Anti-Roma discrimination was brought to the forefront last month after a Romany man was killed by the police on June 19. The death triggered a wave of turmoil and protests within the Roma community as some Roma media compared the conflict to the George Floyd murder in the United States. Although it was determined by forensic autopsy examination that the police were not responsible for the man's death, the case drew attention to tensions between the Czech majority and Roma national and ethnic minority.
These tensions are nothing new, particularly when it comes to Czechia's social and cultural dynamics. For instance, the Council of Europe (COE) recently noted, that many European school programs fail to acknowledge the Roma people in their curricula and many historical accounts related to the Roma are unobjective or incomplete and fall prey to stereotyping.
In its 2020 report, the COE recommended Czechia address the ongoing discrimination and prejudice against the Roma people by including their history in school textbooks and addressing the issue of propaganda and false information about Roma people on the internet and social media. They also warned Czechia regarding the lack of advancement on its Roma language programs, where elementary and high schools were supposed to offer Roma language classes. These initiatives are part of a 20-year plan to protect Roma people and Travellers and fight against racism, intolerance, and social exclusion.
Results of a June 2021 poll showed that 70 percent of respondents in Czechia expressed antipathy toward the Roma.
Roma music band Kale. Photo used with permission granted by Emil “Pupa” Miko.
Despite the unpopularity and social exclusion of Roma as people, prevailing public opinion considers them a very musical nation.
Migel Milan Horvát from the band Bengas explains:
We are six musicians. We have no problem with fusion, the whole family plays some instrument. We play not only Romani-Gypsy folklore, but also a lot of Latin music, Balkan music (Kusturica or Bregovič), Russian Gypsy music, Polish songs, funk, soul, and of course such evergreens as Bésame Mucho.
Roma music is favorite among the general public, and world-famous Czech classical composers like Karel Bendl or Antonín Dvořák often included Roma melodies in their work. In recent years, Roma music can be found on almost every radio station, due to the popularity of the French Gypsy Kings or Czech-US band N.O.H.A., which are famous for their Roma-Latin style.
In the Czech pop music scene, there are a solid number of musicians of Roma origin, but they mostly sing mainstream melodies.
Horvát explains:
Czechs are a rock nation. Chinaski, Kabát — these are the leading Czech musicians, which is listened to by almost every Czech. Jan Bendig, musician of Roma origin, is probably the only one who has established himself out of many Roma people.
Emil “Pupa” Miko, a Roma musician and long-term member of the bands Věra Bílá and Kale disagrees:
…on the Czech scene you can hear and see musicians of Roma origin, but they do not sing Roma music, but they rather are musically assimilated with Czech music or taste.
While live festivals throughout the country often feature Roma or Gypsy musicians, they are not included in many mainstream media channels.
Miko reflected on the issue:
We have been officially playing since 1996, when we released our first CD. Since then, we have played not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad, we have toured 36-37 countries. We play our universal music, it's Roma music, positive, dance, that everyone likes.
Czechs perceive our songs positively, they even sing our songs along with us in our concerts…
However, when we tried to promote our music on radio, even through commercial channels, they refused to play “black music”, due the fear of losing their listeners… In fact, since then did not changed much, they play old songs, for example of Antonin Gondola, or our old songs only if there is some “great” occasion.
Horvát expressed similar opinion:
The Roma are a musical nation, we have a musical tradition for centuries… Our group is called Bengas, translated from Romani as “devils”, since we play such energetic things and as fast as devils…
Czech people invite us a lot, but privately, to their celebrations. We also play a lot at festivals. The Czechs like the way we play, it won't take even 5 minutes before someone dances. Although, we are called as the “band on which you dance”, however, on the Czech market, in larger scale it is hard to get, and I know it is on the basis of the nationality. Couple of times we were giving an interview to the Czech TV and radio, but none released our music, and they didn't want to promote us in any way…
Both address the issue of such phenomenon as Gypsy World Music, noting that the recent peak of acceptance and recognition of Roma music in Czechia was around 2004, which was connected with the world-famous band Gypsy Kings visit the country.
Horvát recalled that his band performed as the opening act on the Gypsy Kings concert in the T-Mobile arena in Prague:
We also travel a lot in Europe. There are only 4–5 of us such Roma bands that travel around Europe. We lived in France for a while. Although, we try to avoid the negative thoughts, but when we compare the attitude, in Czechia, at the official level, there is a different relationship with the Roma than, for example, in France or even in neighboring Slovakia. Privately, Czechs, individuals, love us. But political discourse does not always benefit society.
While both musicians shared largely positive experiences of acceptance by the Czech people individually, they both agree that on a wider level discrimination exists, including media discrimination, prejudices, and difficulty finding housing for themselves or work for relatives.
When asked what Roma musicians need to gain to have equality in Czechia, Emil “Pupa” Miko replied:
I think it would take time to change that mood, the mentality and the way people with different skin colors are perceived, as it is in the USA now.
Migel Milan Horvát concluded:
I believe, the future is in the hands of children… What I am most interested in, when we play, is the reactions of the children. If the child is interested in something, it is immediately recognizable. Adults can lie, but children will not. I know that. We played for over 10 years in orphanages. Plus, we're all in the band around 50 years old now. It is important to stay positive, and Roma music is positive.

author: Elmira Lyapina


text:
Guinea remains closed to neighbors on African Day of Borders · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

A screenshot from a  CGTN video  of transportation issues on the Guinean border.
While the African continent just celebrated the Day of Borders, Guinea is keeping two of its borders closed in what appears to be heightened political isolationism; exacerbating its economic crisis in the process.
June 7 is African Day of Borders (Border Day), following a decision adopted by the African Union (AU) in 2010. Each various activities and events are held across the continent all relating to a specific theme. The theme the AU has chosen for 2021 is, “art, culture, and heritage: tools for building the Africa we want.”
Guinea shares land borders with six countries: the Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. With its closure, it limited its participation in this international day to Mali alone.
Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, General Bouréma Condé, described the activities organized for the country on this day:
The 11th celebration of the African Day of Borders is recognized this year in Guinea through artistic, socio-cultural, and sports activities between Guineans and Malians in the sub prefecture of Doko, prefecture of Seguiri, in strict compliance with public health and security guidelines. These activities mark both the willingness of the Guinean and Malian governments to work together to strengthen African Unity by promoting local cooperation through cross-border collaboration and to create a space without the distinction of sex, religion, race, or ethnicity.
The Guinean government closed its borders with certain neighboring countries in September 2020, as explained on agenceecofins.com, a Pan-African news site:
On September 27, 2020, before the presidential election (Oct. 18th), chief of state Alpha Condé ordered the closure of borders with three of its six neighbors: Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and Senegal — where the largest Guinean diaspora resides. On reasons for this decision, he put forth issues of security.
The border with Sierra Leone was in fact reopened on February 18, 2021, following an official visit from Sierra Leonian president Julius Maada Bio. However, the real question is: what motivates this isolationist policy? The answer most likely lies with Alpha Condé, President of the Republic of Guinea, who has been in power since 2010 when he altered the constitution to secure a third term in office.
Guinea and Mali both contain large populations of ethnic Mandinka, who make up the electoral stronghold of Rassemblement du Peuple de Guinée (RPG) — the ruling party. This could explain why Mali is the only country involved with Guinea's celebrations.
On the other hand, the border region between Guinea and Senegal, Fouta Djallon, is inhabited mostly by the ethnic Fulani who are found in two other countries, indigenously or via immigration.
In fact, Cellou Dalhein Diallo, leader of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), the primary Guinean opposition party, has support from the upper-level government of several neighboring countries. The presidents of Senegal, Macky Sall and Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, as well as the vice-president of Sierra-Leone, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, are all Fulani.
Certain observers argue the decision to close the three borders was explained by Alpha Condé's desire to prevent Guineans living in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau from returning to the country in order to vote in presidential elections.
There is another explanation offered which concerns Senegal. According to Senegalese journalist Sadih Top of seneweb.com :
This is due to political conflict. Cellou Dalhein Diallo produced four hundred thousand t-shirts in Senegal. These shirts were distributed in 5 trucks. So, to prevent his opponent from obtaining these shirts, Alpha closed the overland border.
This prolonged border closure comes at a high economic cost. An agricultural rehabilitation project in Fouta Djallon was able to develop several agricultural sectors; the raising of livestock and distribution of improved fruiting plants. These products are typically sold in Senegal and Guinea Bissau because the road leading from Fouta Djallon to Guinea's capital Conakry —where there is the greatest concentration of consumers — is in poor condition.
On January 8, 2021, Chérif Mohamed Abdallah Haïdara, president of the Guinean section of Organized Pan African Businessmen, published a report which noted that:
All along these borders, hundreds of trucks are parked here and there without knowing when their ordeal will end. With this prolonged border closure, Alpha Conde and his government are endangering traders and transporters and compromising the already precarious situation due to the political climate.
Ange Gabriel Haba, executive secretary of the National Council of Guinean Civil Society Organizations published a petition on June 3, 2021, which declared:
Since September 27 2021 Guinean authorities have closed borders with three neighboring countries including Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Guinea Bissau. Eight months later, the prolonged closures have rendered enormous consequences on the lives of these people. These consequences are all the more serious given that they came in a time where citizens were already more affected by the devastating effects of Covid-19.
Alaidhy Sow, a Guineenews correspondent based in the regional capital, Labé, and the regional director of the radio station Espace Foutah, is the spokesperson for farmers in Mali Yembering, an area located next to the border with Senegal.
Prolonged land border closures in Guinea: Cabbage producers in Mali Yembering (Labè) lose 4 675 600 000 gnf [sic]. They are helplessly watching their produce rot. No answer from the state. #kibaro @LamineGUIRASSY #Guinee #guineevote2020 pic.twitter.com/p0VnrGqiZn
— Alaidhy Sow (@Alaidhyso) November 17, 2020
Merchants and transporters are not the only ones suffering from these closures, the Guinean state is paying for the closure as well. Fodé Baldé, manager of the digital communication unit of the opposition party, the Republican Union Forces (UFR), and member of the communication coordination of the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (FNDC), discussed the nation's treasury bills — some with interest rates as high as 13 percent:
#Guinée : It is established that the @GouvGN has issued treasury bonds with an unimaginable interest rate which could surpass 13% and this, to balance the budget deficit born of the poor economic and financial policies of this administration. With the border closures also !#Kibaro
— Fodé BALDE (@FodBALDE2) March 14, 2021
By comparison, the maximum interest rate for treasury bonds issue by Senegal is 3.43 percent.
This prolonged border closure violates a number of international provisions, including the May 29, 1979 Protocol from the Economic Community of West African States, which guarantees the free movement of people and a right to residence and establishment, of which Guinea is a signatory. In fact, this judiciary tool grants all citizens of these 15 states the right to entry and establishment.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Second Skopje Pride Parade celebrates diversity in North Macedonia · Global Voices
Metamorphosis Foundation

Skopje Pride on June 26, 2021. Photo by Goshe Nikolov/Meta.mk, used with permission.
This story was originally published by Meta.mk. An edited version is republished here via a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation.
The second Pride Parade in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, took place on the 26th of June, under the motto “Beyond the Walls.”
After a one-year pause due to the pandemic, over a thousand supporters gathered in the city center this year and, in their own words, protested oppressive policies, homophobia and transphobia, but, at the same time, celebrated the hope for a society with greater solidarity and justice.
“We won't give up our adjectives” banner at Skopje Pride 2021. Photo by Goshe Nikolov/Meta.mk, used with permission.
The high temperatures didn’t prevent the the LGBTQI+ community and their allies from coming out and raising their voices in celebration of differences, love, equality, and freedom.
With flags, banners and music, the Pride Parade started at 10 o’clock at the Zhena Borec Park in front of the Parliament, and, from there, the attendees marched through the city center toward the City Park, where the later the festivities (an open air party with a concert and dancing) took place.
The Skopje Pride March passing in front of the seat of Government of the Republic of North Macedonia. Photo by Goshe Nikolov/Meta.mk, used with permission.
The supporters sent the message through their banners that, among other things, there will be “no more hiding” and that “beauty is in the diversity.”
This year, the Skopje Pride Parade was attended by President Stevo Pendarovski and ministers Radmila Shekerinska, Jagoda Shahpaska, Irena Stefoska and Mila Carovska.
Let us not stigmatize and isolate people because of their sexual orientation. Everyone has the right to choose. #BeyondTheWalls @SkopjePride pic.twitter.com/pZt4ovK5i2
— Stevo Pendarovski (@SPendarovski) June 26, 2021
The Parade’s organizers stressed that the pandemic has shown everyone what it’s like to be living within four walls and that everyone has learned how the LGBTQI+ community has been closed in and forced to live behind walls, but not by their own choice.
“Be yourselves, be honest, full of love and energy and there won't be any walls,” said Vasil Garvanliev, Macedonian representative to Eurovision Song Contest 2021, who opened the entertainment part of Skopje Pride 2021. Photo: Goshe Nikolov/Meta.mk, used with permission.
For years, members of the LGBTQI+ community have been physically attacked, and been victims of domestic violence, hate speech and threats, but the public prosecutors, the police and other institutions kept silent, said Elena Petrovska of the Coalition Margins, which is part of the Skopje Pride’s organizing board.
This silence wants to erase us and is inspiring violence against us and that is why we are demanding a substantial change in the procedures for these acts and prosecution for them, just like for any other citizen. We are not citizens of a lower rank. The Pride Month is returning us a little bit in the past, it makes us see what we have achieved, the advancement, and how to continue onward.
She stated that the Gender Recognition Act must be urgently adopted because “the human rights aren’t debatable and no one is obliged to prove their own humanity in order to be protected by the system.”
Petrovska also addressed  right-wing policies and the propaganda spreading false information, which, she said, want to twist the image of the members of the LGBTQI+ community in  society and to present them as pests. She stressed:
The bigger and stronger this propaganda and attacks are, the more our resistance will grow stronger. None of us mustn’t be reduced to ideology, we are human beings that deserve equality and respect. No one and nothing will prevent us in our fight, will not take away our energy and derail us from the road to our freedom, as we have love and power.
“Love deserves justice” and “Beauty is in the diversity” banners at Skopje Pride 2021. Photo by Goshe Nikolov/Meta.mk, used with permission.
“It is absurd in the 21st century to deny the rights to a normal and dignified life to a citizen,” stated Maja Morachanin, MP, the coordinator of the Inter-partisan Parliamentary Group for Promoting the Rights of the LGBTI People.
“This is why the message we are sending during the Skopje Pride is to stop the discrimination of the LGBTI people, the hate speech, the hate violence, stigmatization,” said Morachanin.
Skopje Pride 2021. Photo by Goshe Nikolov/Meta.mk, used with permission.
At Shkolka Stage in the City Park, Marija Kostadinovska, the parent of an LGBTQI+ daughter, introduced herself as “Ana’s mother,” and addressed the attendees and stated that, for children to come out of the closet, their parents must also help. She appealed:
As the poet Mika Antic once has said, love your children even when they are guilty, because life will punish them even when they are not. They are allegedly guilty because they are true to themselves, for being so much independent, because they know who to love and we as parents must allow that for them in order to live this life as they should.
A family with a “Love is Love” placard written in Albanian, Macedonian and English attending Skopje Pride in City Park on June 26, 2021. Photo by Goshe Nikolov/Meta.mk, used with permission.
The Skopje Pride Parade, which took place in Skopje for the first time in 2019, was organized by the National Network Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

author: Metamorphosis Foundation


text:
Founder of Egypt’s Speak Up: ‘Sexual harassment is a daily fight, but change is happening’ · Global Voices
Dahlia Kholaif

Sexual harassment has become too common in Egypt — so common in fact that its unlikely that a woman could spend a day outdoors without being hissed at, catcalled, or worse. A 2013 poll showed that 99 percent of Egyptian women have been subjected to one form or the other of sexual harassment and a 2017 Thomson Reuters survey ranked Cairo as the world's most dangerous megacity for women. The Arab world's most populous country has often made international headlines in recent years for mob sexual assaults against women.
To counter this epidemic, which activists describe as “horrifying,” the state issued its first law to criminalize sexual harassment in 2014. Seen as weak by many, the law failed to bring much change as victims rarely report assaults. Many women face such violence so often that they've learned to live with it and ignore it. Others, subjected to more aggressive forms of sexual violence like rape or molestation, are more likely to drown in shame, avoiding reports to the police in fear of the associated stigma, social pressure from perpetrators and their families, or a lack of trust in the process itself.
More recently, a law was passed in August 2020 to protect the identities of the women who report such crimes, to encourage them to come forward, and, currently, a law is being debated to impose harsher penalties for sexual crimes. These laws came in response to a series of initiatives on social media that have taken it upon themselves to break the silence around sexual harassment, support the victims of such crimes, and turn the subject from a taboo into a topic of household discussion that raises necessary alarm in the public.
Speak Up, one such initiative, has garnered much traction despite being founded only a year ago. Exposing sexual molesters, rapists and culprits of other such crimes, the initiative encourages victims to speak out, and provides legal and emotional support when needed. “Girls Support Girls” is the motto of the initiative, which has drawn over 250,000 followers on Facebook, and more than 97,000 followers on Instagram.
Gehad Hamdy, 26-year-old dentist, is the founder of the initiative. Global Voices interviewed her via email, to know more.
GV: What is “Speak Up”?
Gehad Hamdy (GH): A feminist initiative that support victims of violence in all its forms.
GV: How and when did Speak Up come about? What was the trigger?
GH: Back to 6 July when people (mostly men) started talking about the connection between harassment and clothes, I wrote a post on my private Facebook account asking people to share their experiences with sexual harassment to prove the failure of that theory. I received a lot of messages and comments in response — more than 8000 in two days. Most of them felt better by sharing their stories, but others needed psychological support or legal assistance or both, so I asked my friends to help and initiated the page to help any violence victim.
GV: How would you describe the problem of sexual harassment which women face in Egypt?
GH: Its an ongoing fight that we have to confront every single day, because of the normalisation of the idea that a woman’s body in a public/private place is simply public property and young women just have to put up with it. Every time a woman chooses to get out her home, this means she will mostly have to face some kind of harassment. We choose to stand against this everyday to protect ourselves and change the picture.
GV: What is the goal of Speak Up? Can it bring about a change in the prevailing situation of sexual harassment in the country?
GH: It's to give a safe place for survivors and victims to share their stories in person or anonymously without being shamed or abused. No one is allowed to judge; we support all victims. Also helping any victim by providing legal/psychological support. And to spread awareness.
GV: How has people's reaction been to your initiative? Has it all been positive?
GH: Absolutely not, we receive threats and hate speech every day. But also, to be honest, there are a lot of supporters.
GV: What key cases have you taken on?
There've been several. For instance, the case of Michael Fahmy and his wife Sally Adel, who are accused of being serial rapists who used the church as a cover for their crime for more than 20 years. Michael impersonated a psychiatrist and a priest, and wrote a book for high school kids which was available at churches he was serving at. The book was used as a trap: its last page included a mental test without a result, but with a line that guided those who wanted to know the result to call a certain number, and he therefore managed to lure minors, anally raping them with the help of his wife. We got to know about the case when a girl contacted me telling me about him, then I also asked on my personal account if there are any victims for this man. I received over 70 cases who were raped by him.
There is also the story of Victor Sorrentino. A month ago, two Brazilian girls contacted us saying there is a sexual abuser who harassed an Egyptian girl while in Egypt, and that they have already exposed him in Brazil but wanted to take a further step. They translated everything he had said in Portuguese to the in girl, which he had filmed and shared on his account of the incident. We took a day to make sure of all the details, and during this day we received more messages from Brazilian girls. Then we posted it with Arabic, English and Portuguese translation. He was arrested in less than 24 hours.
Another incident is that which has become known as the “bus harasser.” The man was filmed masturbating in a public bus by a girl who sent the video to us, and we reposted it. Afterwards, authorities asked to contact the girl, and the man got arrested.
GV: How do you verify the reports you receive? How do you make sure they're credible?
GH: We spend hours talking to victims, hearing them out and checking whatever evidence they have. We also check with lawyers to make sure of the credibility of any case.
GV: How do you choose which reports to support? What kind of support do you provide?
GH: We support all victims by providing them with legal support. However, posting about any case depends on many things, such as the relevance of social media for each particular case and the impact of the case itself.
GV: What forces Speak Up not to support a specific victim/story?
GH: Till now that never happened, and I wish we never pass through this. [could we change the second line to “I wish we never have to”?]
GV: In the case of the Brazilian harasser, how did the process of translation take place? How did you make sure the intent behind his words was not taken lightly? My understanding is that, in Brazil, it may have been dismissed as a stupid remark, rather than harassment.
GH: The Brazilian girls did that first, then we asked a Portuguese personal friend to make sure of their translation. Same girl confirmed that he meant something sexual, and it was a harassment.
GV: How do you see this whole episode, and the Egyptian authorities’ handling of it? As well as the impact the campaign had?
GH: More than perfect. Arresting him in less than 24 hours somehow empowers girls and encourages them to speak up and take legal action.
GV: Since the launch of Speak Up, did it receive any support or backing from the government?
GH: No.
GV: Is there any collaboration between Speak Up and other pan-Arab initiatives of similar nature?
GH: No, but we are in contact with some initiatives, and sometimes work together on campaigns.
GV: Did you have to seek psychological support yourself since launching Speak Up?
GH: Certainly. The stories and their volume are so traumatizing.
GV: How do you see the public's handling of sexual harassment has changed since you launched Speak Up a year ago? Has it changed?
GH: Comparing with a year ago, there is a significant change in women's responses to harassment, and society blames victims less than it previously did.

author: Dahlia Kholaif


text:
North Macedonia creates a new national park occupying 2% of its territory · Global Voices
Metamorphosis Foundation

A Shar Mountain vista. Photo by Jovan Božinoski, used with permission from the Macedonian Ecological Society.
This story is based on reporting by Meta.mk and PortAlb.mk. An edited version is republished here through a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation.
On June 30, 2021, the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia adopted a law proclaiming part of the Shar Mountains a national park, making the area the fourth national park in the country, but also the first to be so designated since the country’s independence in 1991.
The Shar Mountains stretch from Kosovo and northwestern North Macedonia to the northeast of Albania and represent 2% of North Macedonia's land mass. The area's designation as a national park increases the percentage of protected areas in North Macedonia to 11% of the total land mass.
The Shar Mountains encompass 28 lakes and many other natural resources. Its population of 26,000 is spread across 30 villages, and many hope that the area's new national park status will help revitalize the local economy through eco-tourism.
A Big glorious day today 4 ??! The #beautiful #SharMountain, a treasury of #biodiversity in ?? officially is ?? newest #NationalPark #NatureBeauty #beauty #GenerationRestoration #NaturalBeauty #shar #PopovaShapka #environment #nature #naturemk #prirodamk #животнасредина #природа pic.twitter.com/6ywu7WybrL
— MOEPP (@MOEPPMKD) June 30, 2021
After 66 out of 120 MPs voted in favor of adopting the law, Minister of Environment Naser Nuredini stressed that this act opens a new chapter and possibilities not only for the protection of the country's natural heritage and environment, but also for sustainable socioeconomic development, wider cross-border cooperation, and new economic possibilities such as the development of brands and various forms of tourism. Nuredini said that:
By declaring the Shar Mountains a protected area, it is put under protection, and it allows for the establishment of a system for sustainable management of an area that is considered a treasure trove of biodiversity, a home to two-thirds of all plant species in North Macedonia and rich and endemic plant and animal life. It contains exceptional natural beauty, geological diversity, hydrological characteristics, landscape and cultural values.
Preparations for the draft law began at the start of September 2020, following the government’s decision on May 5 to accept a proposal from the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning to declare the area a national park. The ministry was tasked with organizing a public debate and preparing the draft law.
The Macedonian Ecological Society (MES) and the Friends of Shara Platform saluted the passing of the law. Their statement recognized all stakeholders involved in making the proclamation—a painstaking process that took 27 years—possible.
Robertina Brajanoska, executive director of MES, observed that:
“Shar Mountain area holds tremendous values in terms of biodiversity, but also significant are its cultural values and the traditional resource use practices. In fact, this is what makes Shara a unique mountain. Its legal protection presents great success and a step forward to overcoming the pressures it is facing, but there still remains a bigger task – undertaking efficient measures to conserve and manage this important area.”
MES’ president, Slavcho Hristovski, noted the proclamation's historic nature, as the last time a protected area was designated was the creation of Galichica National Park in 1958.
The proclamation of the North Macedonia section of the Shar Mountains as a national park represents the missing piece in the regional jigsaw, resulting in a trans-border protected area with a total area of 244,617 hectares. There has been a national park in Kosovo since 1986, and Albania's Korab-Koritnik Nature Park was established in 2011. These two areas are adjacent to the Macedonian Mavrovo National Park, ensuring integral protection for the area and its extraordinary biological and aesthetic value.
One of the endangered species found in this area is the elusive Balkans lynx, of which around only forty survive.
A Shar Mountain fox. Photo by Toni Stojanovski, used with permission of the Macedonian Ecological Society.
Activists warn, however, that declaring the Shar Mountains a national park will not stop hydroelectric development in the area.
The natural environment across the Balkans is under serious threat from a boom in hydroelectric development—the construction of over 2,700 small hydro plants has been subsidized by respective states. Critics say governments are rushing into construction without properly assessing its environmental impact, and that the projects are mired in corruption.
Hisen Xhemaili, director of the Environmental Protection Administration, told Portalb.mk that seven such hydro power plants are currently under construction in the Shar Mountains.
The construction of small hydro plants on Shar Mountain had started. Photo by Portalb.mk, used with permission.
According to activist Sadik Abdirahimi, the hydroelectric plants are being built by tycoons connected with the ruling parties. He says that rivers and streams in the Shar Mountains have already been destroyed by the construction works.
Abdirahimi, who is also a member of the hiking association Peaktrip, said that:
…we're seeing mass destruction of the development potential for ecotourism and the alternative tourism in the mountainous villages and the surroundings of Tetovo. We are witnesses to this catastrophe, but, unfortunately, we are not strong enough to implement justice against the tycoons close to the parties in power that are deciding the “bright future” of the new generations, directing them to look to the West as a place to live.
The Leshnica valley is another area that has been despoiled by the hydroelectric development. Leshnica's springs are the main source of drinking water for Tetovo, the biggest city in the Polog Region, which lies at the foot of the Shar Mountains. The area has also been a popular destination for hikers.
But with the construction of the power plant, notes Abdirahimi, that popularity is declining. “Last year, our hiking club organized 3 hikes to Leshnica with 300 people in total and each weekend before the start of the construction of the hydro power plant, this location was visited by many foreign tourists,” he said.
A year ago, the Director of the State Environmental Inspectorate, Ana Petrovska, warned of the dangers the hydroelectric plants being built in the Shar Mountains posed to Tetovo's water supply. Director of the Environmental Protection Administration, Hisen Xhemaili, however, denied that the plants posed no danger to the area's potable water supply, and that before granting the approvals for these plants, several institutions were consulted. Xhemaili told Portalb.mk that the plants currently under construction were at an advanced stage and that once done, no further power plants would be built in the Shar Mountains.
The declaration of national park status for the Shar Mountains has been debated for years, but the process was sped up in the last several months. In April and May the draft law passed two readings in Parliament and was eventually approved with a majority of votes.
According to Metin Muharemi, president of the Friends of Shara platform, the biggest challenge will be the preparation of a management plan for the next three years. He invited all local citizens to participate in the process of the preparation of this plan.
Shar Mountain. Photo by Aleksandar Donev, used with permission of the Macedonian Ecological Society.
And besides the power plants, the natural environment of the Shar Mountains is still threatened by other factors, such as illegal logging, poaching, and ongoing urbanization through the illegal construction of buildings, new roads, and land conversion.
According to the Macedonian Ecological Society, the proclamation of the area as a national park and the management plan should put an end to these issues, but the future management authority will also need to work hard on monitoring illegal activity, educating the locals and creating activities and incentives that will allow the country to reap real benefits from the protection of this area and its precious ecosystem.