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Undertones: Nicaragua’s “sham” elections have cold shower effect on media · Global Voices
Civic Media Observatory

Daniel Ortega (right), President, and Rosario Murillo (left), his wife and Vice-President of Nicaragua. Photo by Ricardo Patiño/Wikimedia commons.
There are two competing narratives underlying stories about Nicaragua's elections.
For Nicaragua's government and allies, Daniel Ortega's recent electoral victory has consolidated the narrative of anti-imperialism. For US and European governments and pro-democracy observers, the elections have been a sham.
Complicating these narratives, however, is the fact that Nicaragua's own press is in shambles. There are also Ortega-friendly foreign cheerleaders who promote pro-Ortega narratives for their own purposes.
WHY CARE?
State authorities have cut access to foreign journalists, raided national media offices, and detained opponents. Media sources and journalists are afraid to speak and report. Journalists, in Nicaragua or in exile, practice self-censorship, with propaganda channels dominating attention and little independent oversight over public matters.
On Sunday, November 7, Daniel Ortega won a fourth consecutive term as president of Nicaragua with 75% of the vote, but with an average of 81% abstentionism, according to independent data. Since Ortega returned to power in 2007, nearly 30 years after the Sandinista Revolution, his grip on power has  intensified. Journalists — many of whom are in exile — have increasingly faced obstacles to reporting, and many will no longer sign their stories out of fear of repercussions. News media's access to information sources in Nicaragua is functionally clandestine.
For journalists, the overarching narrative is that “There is no press freedom in Nicaragua.” Journalists worry that press freedom is limited or nonexistent in Nicaragua due to state repression. In August 2021, 80 attacks were reported against media workers. In August, the offices of the Nicaraguan daily La Prensa were raided by the police and their print edition stopped. Their general manager Juan Lorenzo Holmann is in jail.
For the media this threat is unequivocal. “It’s a state of terror” in Nicaragua, says high-profile Nicaraguan journalist Carlos F. Chamorro in a CNN interview with Christiane Amanpour, which she shared on her Facebook page. Chamorro explains how sources are not willing to give their name on the record as political and social leaders are jailed or forced into exile. Explore that story here.
“People are talking without giving names. Almost all journalists are quoting anonymous sources and the media is publishing without the name of the journalist. There is no signature, no name at the end. It's been bad for a while, but it may become worse because now [the government] can claim that they are legitimate,” our researcher on Nicaragua explains.*
Journalists from independent media sources, such as Confidencial, Nicaragua Investiga, Divergentes, and La Prensa, have stopped signing their stories.
On the other side of the spectrum, the discourse is vastly different.
Any negative news about Nicaragua's government is part of an unfair campaign to discredit its representatives and their achievements, according to Nicaraguan ambassadors to the OAS, United Nations’ Human Rights Council, and Community of Latin American and Caribbean countries (CELAC). This narrative, which we have summarized as “Any criticism of the Ortega administration is part of a smear campaign against the government,” serves as a pro-government attempt to reject debate or the opposition.
This narrative seeps into the media in ways often difficult to read, and, sometimes painfully blunt.
On the blunt side, a recently victorious Daniel Ortega insulted his political opponents, many of whom were detained earlier this year. This follows the narrative that “members of the opposition are traitors to the fatherland.” More analysis here.
But there are less obvious stories. In a video by the pro-socialist Bolivian media outlet Kawsachun, shared on their Twitter account and aimed at an English-speaking audience, young scholars from the United States speak about a visit to Nicaragua to witness firsthand the “socialist revolution.” These scholars are allowed to visit Nicaragua and witness the electoral process, while international journalists from the US, Spain, and other international outlets are forbidden to enter the country.
Young people from across the United States will be in Nicaragua as elections take place on Sunday. Here's why they decided to come. ?? pic.twitter.com/2OOCUUUKiv
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) November 3, 2021
By allowing only handpicked witnesses into the country, the government aims to control the narrative and present the elections as a success, especially after Nicaragua’s 2018 anti-government protests and subsequent state massacre of students. More analysis here.
*Researchers are kept anonymous to protect their safety.
Undertones is the Civic Media Observatory's newsletter, created collaboratively by the Observatory's researchers, coordinating editors, and project writer. Find out more about our mission, methodology, and publicly available data.


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‘Bitcoin City’ in El Salvador seen through local memes · Global Voices
Melissa Vida

Screenshot from Euronews/Youtube video on Bitcoin City's announcement.
With true showmanship, President Nayib Bukele arrived on stage on November 20 to announce the creation of Bitcoin City in El Salvador as AC/DC music blared in the background with accompanying lights and firework displays.
“It will have zero income tax forever, zero capital gains tax. Invest here and make all the money you want. We're fine,” Bukele said.
This announcement closed “Bitcoin Week,” a large Bitcoin conference that drew hundreds of foreign investors. The tax-free, “techy,” and ecological Bitcoin City — the first of its kind — will be funded by Bitcoin bonds and powered by geothermal energy from a nearby volcano. Crypto mining, the process of creating new bitcoin through intensive cryptographic puzzles, is a notoriously energy-intensive process that has been criticized for increasing global emission rates in vulnerable areas.
According to Bukele, Bitcoin City will have a municipality, housing, bars, restaurants, sustainable transportation, a port, a railway, an airport, digital and tech education services, sports, and plenty of cultural attractions. The goal is to attract digital companies and foreign investors. In the center of the circular city, there will be a “beautiful, colored stone [in the shape of Bitcoin's logo], that will last for thousands of years,” Bukele said.
On September 7, El Salvador became the first country to make Bitcoin a legal tender. The nation will begin issuing bitcoin bonds to build the city in 2022. Bitcoin City has been compared to other tax-free economic zones in the region, which have been widely criticized for removing decision-making power from citizens and for operating with a lack of transparency.
When searching for the hashtag #BitcoinCity, the most popular tweets come from Nayib Bukele's political allies and tech fans abroad. The news has generally been hailed as a beacon of modernity and audacity, especially for a country perceived to be dependent on foreign loans. Nine out of ten Salvadorans, however, prefer using the US dollar, albeit 35 percent of the population is in favor of adopting Bitcoin as a currency.
On Facebook, one of the most popular Salvadoran posts about Bitcoin City is a video from Salvadoran YouTuber, “Cinco Zavala,” ridiculing local critics and claiming that Bitcoin City will give a lot of employment to local people catering to foreign investors. Other videos use the same discourse.
However, negative memes created by Salvadorans have also been circulating online.
Most memes highlight the stark contrast between the government's over-the-top efforts to attract foreign investors and its limited investment in lowering crime rates. El Salvador had one of the highest homicide rates in the world until recently, but the country is not stable yet as its crime rates can abruptly ebb and flow.
El prezi, con los mochileros pic.twitter.com/tzCc3r0NzQ
— Cholo ?? (@Cholo070) November 20, 2021
Our Presi, supporting the backpackers.
In the first image: Supporting the families of those gone missing.
In the second image: Inviting European backpackers so they invest in Bitcoin and pay them to have a beach party.
Blogger Roberto Dubon questioned whether the money used for the Bitcoin City announcement could have been used to help families of people gone missing. The Human Rights Observatory of El Salvador's Central American University (UCA) reported that the percentage of people who remain missing rose by 40 percent in the first half of 2021.
$75,000.00 por la presentación de la copia de #TonyStark
Se imaginan utilizar ese dinero para apoyar a las familias de los #DesaparecidosSV pic.twitter.com/8ET3GjGBX3
— Roberto Dubon (@Roberto_Dubon) November 21, 2021
$75,000.00 for the performance of #TonyStark's copy.
Can you imagine using that money to support the families of the #MissingSV
Earlier this month, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urged El Salvador to address the problem of forced disappearances, a crime that has seen a “considerable increase” in the last few years, according to Salvadoran human rights organizations.
Human rights organizations are also worried about recent raids on their offices and a new “Foreign Agents” law proposal that would tax their international donations by 40 percent, among other concerns for the country's democracy.
Salvadoran artist Lucrecia Chinchilla shared an image and asked the following question: “Do we laugh, cry or protest?” as she deems that Bitcoin City is a façade hiding the rising cases of missing persons and the government's inaction to find them.
¿Reímos, lloramos o protestamos? pic.twitter.com/VnLkE20ToE
— Lu (@Lalu_quepinta) November 21, 2021
Do we laugh, cry or protest?
The meme below was one of the most widely shared on social media. It shows a mother who cares for a child, “the bitcoin bros,” while her other children, the local economy, and those forcibly disappeared, are drowning. The Chivo Wallet is an electronic wallet created by the Government of El Salvador to make payments in dollars or Bitcoin.
¿Ya revisaron su Chivo Wallet? pic.twitter.com/Ra78mPqNKy
— Chucho Amarillo (@re_basado) November 21, 2021
Did you already check your Chivo Wallet?
With a meme, political commentator Antonio Salazar intends to show how Bitcoin City may exacerbate the country's inequalities, with one side, crime, poverty, and pollution, and the other, luxury.
El resto de El Salvador // Bitcoin City pic.twitter.com/4SZ3UzYDtL
— Antonio Salazar (@antoasb) November 21, 2021
The rest of El Salvador // Bitcoin City

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Melissa Vida


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Myanmar rappers express rage and resistance against the military regime · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The cover of the album produced by Rap Against Junta from Twitter. Used with permission.
Myanmar rappers have found ways to use their art to protest the oppressive military junta, which grabbed power in February 2021. Aside from joining rallies, rappers have penned songs condemning the atrocities of the junta. They banded together and formed the Rap Against Junta as the “Myanmar Hip-Hop scene's creative resistance against the Junta that staged illegitimate coup.” This alliance involved rappers, producers, disc jockeys, sound engineers, promoters, organizers, dancers, and graffiti artists. This is their defiant manifesto:
We are all leaders using Hip-Hop elements to reject military coup. We could be shot in the head or brutalized if arrested but, fuck it, we would rather die than to live in fear.
- to express our rage against Junta's ruthless crimes in Myanmar
– to bring down the dictatorship and battle for federal democracy
– to use Hip-Hop as a creative means to bring unity, justice and peace
WE ARE ALL LEADERS.
JUNTA MUST FAIL.
Their collaboration produced an album which was launched in October. Titled DickCouncil [ဒစ်ကောင်စီ], a wordplay on the Burmese term for “Military Council,” the album featured 11 songs by 15 rappers. This is an excerpt from a statement they released during the album launch:
The artists use their unique perspectives and critical voices to be heard across the world, using hip hop as a powerful communication tool. Myanmar hip hop will never be silenced. We come together, not because we are the same but because we are united as one.
Writer Roger Yiu reviewed the album:
Despite its political nature, DickCouncil is a hidden gem for those who have limited knowledge of Myanmar. Written in the Burmese language, the album ranges from robust Gangsta Rap, Punk Rap, Rock Rap, to playful Funky Trap and even soft electronic beats. Hip Hop has always been the tool of the unheard, and Rap Against Junta is here to put their perspectives in raps and to tell the world the people of Myanmar will not stop fighting for democracy.
A member of the Rap Against Junta told Global Voices in an interview that it took them three months to compile the songs in the album. They also clarified that they do not simply want to challenge the junta but to destroy it.
We had a hard time during the collection of music because of COVID-19 third wave (in Myanmar). We are not challenging them… We tearing them apart… We use HipHop as a medium to connect all the people and battle towards junta regime.
The album was praised by rappers from other countries who are also standing up against the anti-democratic policies of their respective governments.
Below are some of the songs produced by Myanmar's anti-junta rappers:

author: Mong Palatino


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Press freedom and the Indian judiciary · Global Voices
Unbias The News

Illustration by Moshtari Hilal. Via Unbias The News. Used with permission.
This article was originally written by Ankita Anand and  published in Unbias The News. An edited version is republished by Global Voices as part of a content sharing agreement.
Article 19 of the Indian Constitution ensures the right to freedom of opinion and expression for every citizen. But threats to the press continue despite this constitutional guarantee.
India ranks 142 out of 180 on the Press Freedom Index. Threats to press freedom can come from many quarters: they could be from politicians or businesses; they could come in the form of police cases or as defamation lawsuits asking for damages worth millions.
Journalists have been unfairly charged with defamation, sedition, publishing fake news, and “acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different groups.” Oftentimes the charges are ultimately disproved, but with aspects like detainment, interrogation and raids, even the process becomes the punishment.
In conflict areas, these problems get multiplied. Safina Nabi, a journalist in Kashmir shared: “Earlier there was some leniency. Everybody knew we were journalists and we were supposed to do our job. We were allowed to move around in sensitive places. After 2019 [when Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gave the state special status was abrogated], the whole scenario changed.”
All this makes it seem that the fight for press freedom is doomed from the start. But before the media gives in to that sense of resignation, it has to remember that over the years there have been victories for media persons in India as well. Courts have played a significant part in this. While the judiciary has also imposed restrictions on press freedom, there are multiple cases when it upheld the right to speech and freedom of expression.
As early as 1972, the Supreme Court of India announced:
It is indisputable that by freedom of the press is meant the right of all citizens to speak, publish and express their views. The freedom of the press embodies the right of the people to read.
The context was the media group Bennett Coleman & Co. challenging the government’s limitations on the import of newsprint. The case was especially significant because, in 1971, India had been in a state of emergency, with the president having the power to suspend fundamental rights, during the Indo-Pakistan war. In 1975, the country was to be in a similar situation when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed an emergency again and the press faced censorship.
Quoting the landmark judgment, lawyer-researcher Praavita Kashyap remarked:
It was a judgement – during a time of intense oppression or attempts at oppression – that really upheld the right of the press and said how important it was to our society, and that restrictions on it were violative of the Constitution.
Press Freedom. Illustration via Wikimedia Commons by The-movement-2000. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sometimes protecting this freedom has entailed the higher judiciary overturning the judgements of lower courts. In March 2021, a city civil court stopped over forty media houses from publishing allegedly defamatory statements about a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party.
But the high court of the state of Karnataka went in the opposing direction, reinforcing the voters’ rights to have complete information about their candidates. The bench comprising two judges stated:
The defendants (media outlets) are not prevented from publishing or telecasting any news item which is not defamatory in their opinion. In case the plaintiff (Tejasvi Surya) is aggrieved by any such publication or telecast of any news item he may approach the Election Commission of India.
The Bombay High Court also underlined public interest in 2018 when rejecting a 2017 lower court order that asked the media not to report on a case because it was “sensational.”
The principles . . . show a citizen has a right to criticise or comment upon the measures undertaken by the government and its functionaries . . .
This remark was part of the court order that the Supreme Court, the highest court in India, issued in June 2021 when saying a journalist cannot be arrested on sedition charges for criticism of the government.
Sedition laws also still exist in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Sudan, Senegal and Turkey. The UK, which brought this law to India during colonisation, has dropped it, as have Scotland, South Korea and Indonesia.
When two television channels had to fight sedition charges filed by the police, the Supreme Court stood in favour of the media, saying, in May 2021: “It is time we define the limits of sedition.” The judges saw the imposed charges as an attempt to “muzzle media freedom.”
Such judgments reinforced the rights of reporters during the pandemic, when India saw the highest number of press freedom violations in the world under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The press was attacked legally, verbally and physically for reporting on the establishment’s culpability during COVID-19.
The judiciary also protected press freedom when one publication attacked another. A leading media group in India, Dainik Jagran, attacked fact-checking organisation Alt News for publishing the article “Dainik Jagaran’s misleading reports portray mass burials in Prayagaraj haven’t risen due to COVID.” The court expressed, in November 2021:
In such a case . . . there is no reason for the Court to intervene at such an initial stage and stifle the ever-widening contours of free speech, as developed by the Higher Courts. Freedom of speech becomes all the more significant when the subject matter is a matter of larger public concern.
The protection of the press is not limited to reporters but also the sources that help them get the story. In October 2021, with respect to the spyware Pegasus, the court said:
Protection of journalistic sources is one of the basic conditions for the freedom of the press. Without such protection, sources may be deterred from assisting the press in informing the public on matters of public interest.
The court also linked privacy concerns with freedom of the press.
The ease — and the cost — of running a media group or a publication also determines how free a country’s media is. The apex court took this into account in 1985 when it ruled that, though the state has the right to levy taxes on publications, they must be within reasonable limits. It went on to add: “The authors of the articles which are published in newspapers have to be critical of the actions of Government in order to expose its weaknesses… Governments naturally take recourse to suppress newspapers publishing such articles in different ways.”
These instances go on to show that, no matter how hard the fight for press freedom might be, one cannot give up because, even in the toughest of times, there have been wins for journalists and publications in India.
The court judgements above are testament to the fact that the judiciary recognises the role the media plays in keeping a democracy afloat. The Indian media needs to remember these precedents and stand together whenever there is an onslaught even against a single journalist. Like Nobel Prize winning journalist Maria Ressa states:
We need to seriously come together and fight because an attack on one is an attack on all . . . Power and bullies will never stop if you give in to them.

author: Unbias The News


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‘Unfit for military service’: How Azerbaijan stigmatizes LGBTQ+ military personnel · Global Voices
Asli Ismayilzade

Screenshot from Baku Media Center video on the military parade held in Baku on December 10, 2020.
This story was published in collaboration with QueerRadar.
Three years ago, Alp Aliyev, received a notification from the State Service for Mobilization and Conscription that he was required to enlist the army. Alp did not think he would fit into the military culture given his fluid gender identity and lifestyle. He also faced pressure from his relatives. He was told that until he completes the mandatory military service, they would not accept him as a man.
Azerbaijan implements mandatory conscription for all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 35. The compulsory service normally lasts 18 months. According to existing national legislation, alternative service on religious grounds is also possible however Azerbaijan has yet to adopt a law on alternative civilian service or outline the process. Temporary deferrals can also be granted.
When it was finally time for Alp to enlist, he visited the Commission on Preliminary Military Registration and told them he was queer. His service was deferred based on Article 18, paragraph b of the Regulation on Military Medical Examinations, which states a person is considered unfit or partially fit for military service on the basis of personality disorders. In Azerbaijan, this is how those who identify as LGBTQ+ are exempted from compulsory military service.
In addition to Article 18/b, LGBTQ+ enlistees are also categorized under Article 17/b, which indicates reactive psychoses and neurotic disorders.
For gender expert Leyla Hasanova, deferring LGBTQ+ citizens under these Articles during conscription indicates deep homophobia within the government. “Labeling them as such, lifts the government obligation to provide queer citizens with jobs and legitimizes its policies towards queer citizens already ignored by the government.”
The practice of using these two articles also violates the state constitution as well as the country’s obligations under international human rights treaties, explains lawyer Samed Rahimli. According to Rahimli, if that specific paragraph (Article 18/b) is used for its intended purposes, accompanied by individual medical assessments, then it is not inherently discriminatory. “However, in practice, when the paragraph is systematically used in the context LGBTIQ+ based on their sexual orientation and gender identity, it is discriminatory.”
The World Health Organisation officially declassified homosexuality as a mental illness in 1994. “In Azerbaijan, although homosexually is not considered a disease in any of the legal documents, when it comes to military service, it is registered and documented as either neurological/psychological or personality disorder,” explains lawyer Ruslan Aliyev.
For Alp, he felt discriminated against from the moment he informed the Commission on Preliminary Military Registration of his gender identity. Following a medical examination, he was referred to a psychology dispensary in Baku. “When they asked me questions, I joked when responding. At the end, the doctor asked me, ‘do you know why you are here?’ I told him, ‘I did not.’ ‘Because you are crazy’ he told me, ‘this is why they have sent you here.’ I laughed at this too,” said Alp, adding, “it was a strange experience. You were basically labeled crazy just like that.” Even after obtaining a deferral, potential conscripts must revisit the commission every three years until they turn 35.
According to the Democratic Initiatives Institute's 2019 report on the state of LGBTQ+ rights, anyone labeled under Articles 18/b and 17/b can be denied equal employment opportunities especially within government institutions. The report concludes that when homosexual men are dismissed from the service under Articles 17 and 18, “they are effectively deprived from equal employment opportunities.”
The report also explains that in practice, those who identify as LGBTQ+ are free from military service. However, in the absence of any legal protections for sexual orientation or gender, community members are often unaware of how to navigate military conscription. In fact, many LGBTQ+  people are afraid of telling their families about their orientation and hesitant to out themselves to the military commission as well.
Lawyer Samed Rahimli says it is not uncommon for employers to require a military ID during the hiring process. In such circumstances, employers learn about potential employees’ sexual orientation regardless of the employee’s wishes. Rahimli explains:
This can create problems finding jobs for those who identify as LGBTIQ+. In addition, the registration of those who are deferred from the conscription based on paragraph 18b remains in the database of mobilization structures. This information could then be used by the government structures and institutions to prepare lists (blacklist) of those who identify as LGBTIQ+. And whether this information is then shared with other government institutions, we do not know.
Natig Salimov (not his real name), who works as a business consultant in the capital Baku was troubled by this: “It did not matter to me whether it said psychological disorder. What concerned me more, was the employment within a government position if such an opportunity came my way.” To avoid this stigma, his family deferred Natig’s military service by obtaining a fake medical report that diagnosed Ruslan with a “kidney or thyroid problem.”
Natig was also concerned about the treatment he might face in the military as a queer person. “The military system is totally different from civilian life. There, it is the physical strength that matters. The strongest example of patriarchy is there. The environment there is distant to gender and sexual identity issues,” explains Natig.
Emil Huseynov, 21, also feared he would face discrimination in the military for identifying as LGBTQ+ and therefore, wanted to avoid military conscription. The first time he was conscripted was in 2018. At the time, due to active military operations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, his family did not want him to go. Unaware of his sexual identity, his family was able to secure a medical report that concluded Emil suffered from spinal curvature. He was labeled unfit as a result.
In recent years, the Azerbaijan government intensified crackdowns against the LGBTQ+ community. In 2017, at least 83 people were detained by the police for being gay or transgender. The detainees reported being tortured and blackmailed. The same year, at least four Azerbaijani citizens who identified as LGBTQ+ committed suicide.
In 2018, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Azerbaijan government was using Israel’s Verint Systems surveillance equipment and software to identify citizens’ sexual orientation through Facebook.
More than a dozen LGBTQ+ people were arrested in 2019, most of whom were transgender sex workers who were solicited and then arrested according to Meydan TV and Minority Magazine reporting.
In March 2021, Minority Magazine reported a new movement calling itself “Pure Blood” which was mobilizing via Telegram to target  LGBTQ+ people in Azerbaijan.
Then in the summer of 2021, during PRIDE month, Minority Magazine documented more attacks against LGBTQ people.
In its most recent Rainbow Map ranking by Europe's International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association's (ILGA Europe), Azerbaijan, ranked last. ILGA has been surveying the LGBTQ+ people in 49 European countries since 2009 through their Rainbow Map and Index.
Military expert Uzeyir Jafarzade argues that if LGBTQ+ people are recruited for military service, then there must be a range of mechanisms in place to protect them. “Special attention must be given to their treatment with weapons as well as the relationship between them and other conscripts. For this, all institutions must work together,” explained Jafarzade.

author: Asli Ismayilzade


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Cambodian rapper vows to continue writing critical songs after a year in jail for incitement · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Kea Sokun. Source: Facebook
Cambodian rapper Kea Sokun spent a year in jail after being found guilty of “incitement to commit a felony” for two songs he wrote and posted on YouTube.
Sokun was arrested in September 2020 after the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts filed a police complaint against the 22-year-old rapper for posting two songs on social media that allegedly incited people to overthrow the government. Sokun contested the charge but the court convicted him in December 2020, and he was released nine months later.
At a young age, Sokun was forced to drop out from school in order to earn a living and help his family as an amateur photographer. He set up a YouTube channel in 2015 and started to post songs which appealed to fellow young Cambodians. His channel contains almost 35 songs and has more than 200,000 subscribers.
Sokun’s songs often explored his Cambodian identity and opinions about his nation’s struggles. In the song “Sad Race” Sokun touches on the disparity between the rich and the poor. In his viral song ‘Khmer Land’ he bemoans the displacement of Cambodians from their land. Below is a snippet of an unofficial translation of the song:
I was born in a poor territory, with a transparent heart.
I’m opposed to the dictator and attacks on our heritage,
And opposed to oppression,
And I help the nation through singing this song.
When we lost all our land, we were busy drinking.
Watch out: Our map is in someone else’s hands.
While the other race is encroaching —
While we are breaking up —
They will encroach on it.
As of this writing, the video has garnered more than four million views.
In an interview with VOD, a Cambodian news agency, after his release, Sokun explained the song’s meaning:
In [the song] Khmer Land, I wanted to talk about the ancient times. And it is about how every citizen should wake up to love their society, religion and nation.
But authorities insisted that the song's lyrics might incite people to commit crimes. During the trial, no evidence was presented that linked the song to a criminal act.
Am Sam Ath, monitoring manager for rights group Licadho, summed up the arguments of Sokun’s lawyer:
There were a lot of challenges [made] — the key thing that the lawyer raised about this was the freedom of expression of people, including composing songs and singing songs, and that there was no intention to incite chaos in society or serve anybody’s interest. His intention was to earn money on YouTube.
The prosecutor still kept their stance that the song has an inciting nature and is a crime. As civil society, we do not see it as a crime as charged. But we see that he has talent in composing songs and expressing his views.
Having met with family of jailed young rapper Kea Sokun at Siem Reap province. He was offered a service to shoot a wedding but instead that was the plot to transport him to police station and he was arrested & charged of incitement. His conviction was appealed in January 2021. pic.twitter.com/npCbAa8Tzc
— Sopheap Chak (@sopheapfocus) February 10, 2021
Sokun's arrest and conviction is part of an alarming pattern that points to the diminishing space for freedom of expression in Cambodia, under the government of Hun Sen who has been in power for almost four decades. Citing pandemic emergency regulations, authorities have ordered the arrest of scores of citizens, including journalists and artists, for speaking out against governmental policies.
Sokun was urged to apologize in order to receive a lenient ruling but he refused and asserted that he did not do anything wrong. He reiterated this stance after his release from jail. He told the media that
Going back, I would not have said sorry. Because I believe that I did not do [incitement] like what they said.
Kea Sokun was released from Siem Reap prison this afternoon. The Cambodian rapper was arrested in September last year and convicted of incitement over his lyrics. For background info: https://t.co/dnddBFiAWZ pic.twitter.com/f33XgsZ6Bl
— LICADHO | លីកាដូ (@licadho) September 3, 2021
He vowed to release new songs after spending time with his family:
I will not stop writing and singing my songs about my country. I will continue to educate the people through my songs and keep the patriotic spirit going.
Sokun’s ordeal is the subject of a short film released in November 2021. Titled “Not Love Songs” the film by Cambodia-based journalist Jackson Brook highlighted the impact of Sokun’s arrest on his family and how they “came together to speak out against the rapper’s arrest and found their own voices to deal with this injustice.”


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France complicit in heinous crimes committed by Egyptian state, website reveals · Global Voices
Global Voices MENA

Egypt's President Abdelfattah El-Sisi, whose reign is described as Egypt's worst in recent history in terms of human rights violations and censorship, has found a strong ally in France which has proven to provide technology, intelligence and manpower to spy on, and kill, civilians. Image published under license CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.
France has provided Egypt with intelligence and technologies that enabled the North African state to commit crimes and severe human rights violations under the guise of fighting terrorism, the French independent investigative website, Disclose, has revealed.
Based on hundreds of secret documents that are circulated at the highest levels of the French state, Disclose ran a week-long series of investigative reports that began on Sunday November 21, showing “responsibility of France in crimes committed by the dictatorship of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt,” including aerial strikes against civilians,
Following the July 2013 military takeover of power in Egypt and the uprooting of the country's first-democratically elected president, the European Union's Affairs Council had declared on August 21 that its member states “have decided to suspend export licenses to Egypt for any equipment that could be used for domestic repression”. However, a 2018 report by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said that “at least eight French companies –  encouraged by one government after another – have nevertheless profited from this repression to reap record profits. Between 2010 and 2016 French arms deliveries to Egypt increased from EUR 39.6 million to EUR 1.3 billion.”
According to Disclose, the French presidential palaces, whether under Francois Hollande or Emmanuel Macron, were well informed of the role France played in these violations, but took no action to stop it.
One of Disclose's reports showed that an intelligence mission which began in February 2016 under the name Operation Sirli to combat terrorism was derailed into a campaign of arbitrary executions. The mission, according to Disclose, was discussed in 2015 by the two countries’ top military and intelligence chiefs and revolved around securing Egypt's borders with Libya, a country torn by civil war. Cairo officials expressed concern over terrorist activities in its western deserts, which France was happy to assist with as the latter had just completed the purchase of 24 Rafale fighter jets and two multi-purpose frigates (FREMMs) for a total value of 5.6 billion euros.
A 10-member French team deployed to Egypt for this mission was equipped with Merlin III, a light aircraft for surveillance and reconnaissance, which would serve as the team's ears and eyes. However, in the absence of a cooperation agreement that explicitly defines the purpose and framework of the mission, Egyptian authorities quickly strayed away from the theoretical aim of the mission – identifying terrorist threats.
Disclose wrote:
But very soon, the French team came to realise that they were being used to facilitate the murders of civilians who were suspected of smuggling activity. The team informed their hierarchy of this at regular intervals – over one year, and then two and, finally, three years – but in vain.
For the population of Egypt's Western Deserts, the majority of whom live under poverty lines, smuggling cigarettes, drugs or weapons, as well as petrol rice, cereals and cosmetic products, provides much-needed income that is too irresistible despite the risks associated with it.
During the duration of the mission, the French state had accepted an Egyptian demand to create “a short loop for information transmission” from the plane to the base, the aim of which, Disclose said, was to allow the Egyptian air force to fly to the zone to “treat” the target as quickly as possible.
As a result of this “short loop”, the French forces may have been involved in at least 19 bombings of civilians between 2016 and 2018, according to the classified documents obtained by Disclose. The report said:
The strikes often destroyed several vehicles, and the number of victims could be as many as several hundred. According to the criteria of United Nations General Assembly resolution 56/83, the complicity of France in these illegal executions could be established.
Among the innocent civilians killed as a result of these raids, Disclose said, was Ahmed El-Fiky, an engineer, and two of his colleagues, whose pick-up truck was targeted as they worked on the paving of a road close to the oasis town of Al-Bahariya, which has a population of around 32,000. The family of the slain father of three were pressured into conceding that the reason behind his death is unknown, the report stated.
Repeated secret military reports were filed by members of the mission to the Elysee Palace, stressing the need for a cooperation agreement to restore the priority of the mission as fighting terrorism, and pointing out that fighting terrorism comes in third place in Egyptians’ goals – after  trafficking and illegal immigration. Concerns voiced in one such report, issued on November 23, 2017, included:
Through a lack of means of surveillance, the identification of pick-ups cannot be made without a separate element of surveillance other than the initial overflight of which they were the subject. Also, the identification of certain vehicles and the denying strikes that lead from this could be placed in question.
However, French president Macron continues to support the mission, which remains deployed in Egypt.
Among Disclose's revelations is how the little-known, Luxembourg-based company CAE Aviation, has provided employees – pilots, analysts and technicians – to serve as part of the French team in the Sirli Operation. The company was authorized by its contract with the French intelligence, to provide a light plane for surveillance and reconnaissance – or ALSR – along with an operating team of six, made up of two pilots and four technicians. The company's contract with the French intelligence is protected by French defence secrecy laws.
The website revealed that two CAE Aviation pilots and technical experts accompany regular military personnel during the missions, which can last for between five and six hours. The two other CAE technicians remain at base, to centralise the information sent back to them from the plane, before they're transmitted to the Egyptians. Disclose noted:
This precious aid provided in controlling the desert region would make them direct witnesses of repeated strikes by the Egyptian military against civilians.
Furthermore, the website also showed that three French companies – Nexa Technologies, Ercom-Suneris, Dassault Systèmes – have provided Egypt with a massive cyber-surveillance system which was used against NGOs, journalists, activists and many others whose phones and laptops were tapped by the state.
Following the publication of Disclose's reports, the website was added to hundreds of other websites which Egypt has blocked.
#EgyptPapers Our website @Disclose_ngo has been blocked in Egypt after our revelation about French operation supporting Egyptian bombings
Not surprising, Sisi regime is familiar with online&media censorship in the name of so-called counterterrorism
You can use a VPN/Tor.
— Ariane Lavrilleux (@AriaLavrilleux) November 23, 2021
The reports sparked a rich input from commentators online, presenting analysis to the security, political and human rights situation in Egypt, and criticizing Paris’ support of violations committed against civilians.
- This level of operational integration with a foreign nation is something we haven't really seen since the expulsion of the Soviets from Egypt.
Not only tolerating foreign presence (as it always has to some degree) but welcoming foreign mil/int ops in country. Where else? pic.twitter.com/KWadj4pVVZ
— Egypt Defence Review (@EgyptDefReview) November 23, 2021
Other analysts also highlighted the importance of the information that was revealed for the first time in the investigative series:
There's no way that France was unaware of all this. The fact both sides maintained enough trust and willingness to run these surveillance operations is quite a revelation indeed; plus, the papers are the first time to see Egypt's priorities on the border so clearly documented.
— Allison L McManus (@AllisonLMcManus) November 22, 2021

author: Global Voices MENA


text:
Human-elephant conflict could lead to the extinction of elephants in Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Asian Elephant in Inani, Cox's Bazar. Image via Wikipedia by Syedabbas321. CC BY-SA 4.0.
Asian wild elephants have roamed Bangladesh for over a thousand years but their numbers are dwindling due to a growing human-elephant conflict in the country. Around three dozen resident and migrant elephants were killed in different parts of Bangladesh since January 2020, seven were killed in November 2021 alone.
Environmental Journalist Rafiqul Montu tweeted:
Seven elephants have died in Bangladesh in the last two weeks. Wildlife experts say that if the death of elephants continues like this, this endangered animal could become extinct in Bangladesh very quickly. pic.twitter.com/0BwOr4vgi9
— Rafiqul Montu (@ri_montu) November 20, 2021
The wild elephant population has come down below 300 as their habitat is getting smaller due to the increase in human settlements in forests and hills.
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the elephant has become a critically endangered species in Bangladesh. Only a century ago, they were abundant in different forests of Bangladesh. During the British colonial period, elephants were captured for training before sending them for duty to Zamindars or to join the troops. At present, there are dozens of captive elephants mostly used in the timber industry for timber carrying and some in circuses.
There are three types of elephants found in Bangladesh, namely captive, resident and migratory. The migratory elephants are found in forests near the Indian borders in Sherpur, Netrokona, Kurigram, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, and Myanmar borders in Bandarban and Cox’s Bazar regions.
Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Its increasing human settlements have encroached into forests and hills which diminished the spaces for wild animals, especially the elephant.
Shahriar Shakir mentions in a video report on Bangla online portal NewsBangla24.com:
শেরপুরের সীমান্তবর্তী গারো পাহাড় একসময় বিরাট এলাকাজুড়ে বিস্তৃত ছিল। ধীরে ধীরে তা সংকুচিত হয়ে এসেছে। পাহাড়ে আদিবাসীদের বসবাস থাকলেও নানা জায়গা থেকে মানুষ পাহাড় কেটে বসতবাড়ি গড়ে তুলছেন। বর্তমানে বন বিভাগের শত শত একর জমি দখলের কবলে।
একাধিক প্রজাতির হাতির দল বাংলাদেশ ও ভারতের পাহাড়ি এলাকায় বিচরণ করে। কিন্তু বাংলাদেশ অংশে হাতির আবাসস্থল মানুষের দখলে থাকায় নিরাপদে থাকতে পারছে না হাতি। স্থানীয় লোকজন হাতিকে নানাভাবে বিরক্ত করছেন। এতে নিরাপত্তাহীনতায় ভুগছে হাতি।
The Garo hills in Sherpur district bordering India once was very large. Gradually, it has shrunk as people from elsewhere created settlements there besides the local indigenous people. These intruders are cutting down the hills and building houses. Currently, hundreds of acres of land of the forest department are illegally occupied by them.
Multiple species of elephants roam the hilly areas and migrate between the borders of Bangladesh and India. But the elephant habitat in Bangladesh is shrinking due to increased human settlements. The settlers are harassing the elephants and their spaces in various ways leaving them insecure.
Meanwhile, the settlements of Rohingya refugees after 2016 have severely disrupted the two major corridors for the elephants in Bandarban and Cox's Bazar at the borders with Myanmar leaving them in danger.
Human settlement in the spaces originally inhabited by elephants has increased the human-elephant conflict in the country. The elephants want food while people want to protect their crops and houses.
Elephants are coming down to the human habitats due to the food crisis in the hills. They are causing damages to various agricultural crops and human homes. People are sometimes terrified of the elephant movements.
Each year, a number of people are killed in Bangladesh due to attacks by the elephant herds. The movements of wild elephants near human habitats create fear among locals. Over a dozen elephants are also killed each year as a result of human intervention, as they are shot, electrocuted or chased away.
On November 6, 2021, a herd of 18 wild elephants stormed into human habitats in south Mithachari in Cox's Bazar district on the South and five people including forest officials were injured while chasing them back to the forests. In Sherpur district in north Bangladesh, villagers are spending sleepless nights to protect their lives and property. They keep the elephants away by beating drums, blowing firecrackers and lighting torches; but these are not enough to stop the hungry elephants in the hills from coming down at night.
Earlier in November 2021, a total of 7 elephants were killed in Bangladesh, five of them were electrocuted and one was shot. Journalist Mostafa Yousuf tweeted:
Hello, wildlife and animal lovers.
Today another young elephant calf was killed in Cox's Bazar, southern part of ??. I am traumatized and tired to see the decimation of gentle giant. The forest dept, govt all turned spectators. pic.twitter.com/w4XycNdnyc
— Mostafa Yousuf (@mostafayousuf6) November 21, 2021
A number of protests were organised across the country demanding to stop the killings. Save the Nature of Bangladesh, tweeted:
Part of a protest rally organized by Save The Nature Of Bangladesh at the premises of Sreevardi Upazila in Sherpur district to protest against the brutal killing of 6 wild elephants in Bangladesh in one week. pic.twitter.com/5sXxeH54xW
— Save The Nature Of Bangladesh (@SaveTheNatureBD) November 16, 2021
On November 21, 2021, the Bangladesh High Court directed the concerned authorities to take swift action to stop the killings of elephants. The court was acting on the writ petition filed by three wildlife activists to end the elephant killing in Cox’s bazar, Chittagong, Sherpur and other areas in the country.
Mi Thu, a Facebook user commented:
বন্যপ্রাণীরা কখনও মানুষের জায়গা দখল করেনা। মানুষ বন্যপ্রাণীর জায়গা দখল করে তাদের হত্যা করে। মানুষ পৃথিবীতে সবচেয়ে অসভ্য জীব।
Animals never seize human habitats. Humans occupy animal habitats and kill them. Humans are the most uncivilized creatures on earth.
Mostofa Firoz, a professor at the Jahangir Nagar University and a member of the Asian Elephants Specialist group mentioned in an interview with Daily Kaler Kontho that the laws in the land are sufficient to protect the elephants. However, it is important to enforce these laws.
হাতি রক্ষায় আমাদের যে আইন আছে তা কিন্তু যথেষ্ট। কেউ হাতির আঘাতে মারা গেলে রাষ্ট্র তিন লাখ টাকা অর্থ সহায়তা দেয়। কেউ হাতি হত্যা করলে সর্বোচ্চ যাবজ্জীবন কারাদণ্ডের বিধান রয়েছে। এটি খুবই ভালো আইন।
The laws we have to protect elephants are adequate. If someone dies from an attack by elephants, the state provides financial assistance of 300,000 Bangladeshi Taka (US$ 3490). There is even a provision of maximum life imprisonment for killing an elephant. These are good laws.
According to Firoz, human encroachment on elephant habitats and systematic aggression must be stopped. Also, a lot needs to be done to make people aware. He also suggested the creation of special teams of volunteers composed of forest officials and local residents to play a role in keeping the people of the affected villages calm and ensure that the movement of elephants remains uninterrupted.

author: Rezwan


text:
Afghan women: Finally a book that speaks from inside its society · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

Kabul, Afghanistan, 2004. © Ivan Sigal, used with permission.
Khojasta Sameyee is a young Afghan woman writer who just released a book called “The Mountains Have Witnessed: The Story of a Girl Who Dared for More.” The novel, which she co-wrote in English with her brother, tells the story of an Afghan village girl who is more than determined to go to school and get an education. While there have been many descriptions of the lives of Afghan women by foreigners that project external views, and often carry distortions, this book offers a truly Afghan view on the topic. Global Voices interviewed Sameyee by email to ask about her experience and views.
Khojasta Sameyee (KS):  Afghan women and girls witnessed improvements regarding their living situations when the international community returned to Afghanistan after 2002,  yet these changes did not reach all parts of the country. In rural areas, there is less access to schools for women and girls, mostly because of security as many schools have been destroyed, burned and closed by the Taliban and other groups. The general perception in rural communities is that women were created to remain at home, so there is no use for education or developing an independent personality. Most families in villages are ashamed of having girls.
GV:
KS: Many families living in rural communities have a negative view about girls’ education. They allow girls to go to school and learn up to the sixth or seventh grades, but not any further, because according to their perceptions, a girl's place is at home. Very often, older women in the family, the grandmothers, are the most opposed: they challenge their sons to make sure young daughters do not tarnish the reputation of the family by being outside of the home while being educated. Alas, this is a form of violence against women carried out by other women.
KS: As a girl, I was raised in an educated family where my parents always encouraged me to do whatever I wanted. It is thanks to their encouragement that I am who I am today. But the larger environment was not as supportive: many relatives tried to tell my parents to prevent me to be so engaged socially. Both my parents were educated abroad, they have themselves struggled against old-aged customs within their own community and have fought for their own rights. They are the real heroes for us, their children.
KS: Unfortunately, some of the existing customs have prevented female Afghan literature [from developing] fully, yet there are traces of women engaged in literature going back to the fourth century. Rabia Balkhi, who lived in the 10th century, is considered the first woman poet and as such is a symbol of female literature. Some women had to write using pseudonyms, such as Makhfi Badakhshi, who was born in the late 19th century. She was an influential writer and poet, despite being unable to use her real name of Seyedeh Begum to publish her poetry. Other great female poets and writers of the same period include Mahjoubeh Heravi and Forough Farrokhzad. More contemporary names include  Ziba Al-Nisa, Goharshad Begum, Mahjoubeh Heravi, Leila Sarahat Roshani, Nadia Anjoman, and Homeira Neghat Dastgirzadeh. By the 1970s, this very promising generation completely disappeared following the Soviet invasion and the arrival of the Taliban. Today, Humaira Qaderi is one of the famous and rare female poets who can still make her voice heard.
KS: The main concern is that Afghan women will lose 20 years of hard-earned achievements. The living standards of Afghan women in urban centers have gradually changed. They now have their own voice, make their own choices, and have their own personalities. But in rural contexts the women's place in society remains unchanged. Our country needed another 20 years of democracy for these changes to become institutionalized in the rural level and our Afghan women in districts and villages were also able to benefit. After the latest political transition, I am concerned that the women's achievements will roll back 20 years. They will not be allowed to go to schools and universities. The new government will not give them a role for the development of the country. Plus, their economic independence is in danger.
Now we see that the women are protesting against the Taliban in Herat and Kabul and they want their rights and want to have equal opportunities and an equal share in government as men. This is all because of the 20 years of struggles. According to the Taliban, the schools should be opened only for girls from 1 to 6th grade, while older girls should stay home. For universities, they announced that all female students should wear long and black clothes and their faces should be covered. The Taliban are seeking out and killing female civil society activists, police officers, women rights activists, and the other women who had a positive role in the former government. The Taliban have not planned to give women any role in the government. They also discouraged female state employees from going to their offices until further notice. Afghan women are poised to experience another dark period and again they will deprived of their rights.
KS: The main reason that pushed us to write in English was to be able to spread information about the the conditions of the Afghan people, particularly women and girls, all over the world. By writing this book in English, a global language, we aim to remind people around the globe to be thankful for what they have in their lives, their opportunities, their rights. Because in Afghanistan most people are deprived of their basic rights: going to school, having a voice, the right to vote, and ultimately, being your own person.

author: Filip Noubel


text:
An interview with media scholar Rose Luqiu about WeChat and techno-nationalism · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

WeChat censorship. Image created by Oiwan Lam.
Rose Luqiu Luwei, a veteran journalist and director of the International Journalism Studies Master's program at the Baptist University of Hong Kong, recently published a research paper, analyzing how WeChat is used in Chinese government censorship campaigns. The paper, entitled “Loyalty to WeChat beyond national borders: a perspective of media system dependency theory on techno-nationalism” provides a multi-disciplinary analysis on why the Chinese diaspora is loyal to WeChat — a key arm in the Chinese censorship system.
Co-authored by professor Kang Yi, a political scientist, the research addresses how the Chinese government’s policies and WeChat, the most influential new media and communication tool used among mainland and overseas Chinese communities, mediate the Chinese diaspora’s interaction with the local and settlement in host societies. The researchers refer to such overarching techno-political force as “techno-nationalism” which often influences users’ habits, opinions, and behaviors.
Global Voices East Asia editor, Oiwan Lam, interviewed Rose Luqiu on her five-year-long research process and the challenges of techno-nationalism. The interview was conducted in Cantonese via video chat and transcribed into English.
OL: Oiwan Lam
Luqiu: Rose Luqiu Luwei
OL: When did you start your research and how did you come up with this research idea?
Luqiu: I started this research back in 2016 during the US presidential elections. I was doing my Ph.D. in the US, and I joined several Chinese diaspora chat groups on WeChat.
The first incident that caught my attention was a campaign supporting a Chinese ethnic candidate Lindy Li in Pennsylvania. The mobilization, such as crowdfunding, via the WeChat groups, was very effective. The political rhetoric for the mobilization was that Chinese people had to support her because she was born in Sichuan, China, and thus could represent Chinese voices in Congress.
The second incident was mobilization supporting an ethnic Chinese police officer, Peter Liang, concerning his appeal on the charge of manslaughtering Akai Gurley. Through WeChat, the Chinese diaspora organized rallies in major cities in the US. I went to one of the biggest rallies in Philadelphia and observed that some Fujianese kinship groups led the protests. I started feeling that the mobilization was not that spontaneous as overseas Chinese kinship groups often have some sort of association with the Chinese embassy and consulates.
Then came the presidential elections. All the WeChat groups I joined were contained themes against Hilary Clinton in support of Trump. Hilary Clinton is more firm in human rights issues, and the Chinese authorities did not want to see her win. As for Donald Trump, people had little knowledge about his political orientation at that time. There were a lot of interesting election discussions on these WeChat groups, and Trump supporters were able to dominate the debates.
After I returned to Hong Kong, I included the mainland Chinese diaspora groups in my research.
OL: What explains the Chinese diaspora’s loyalty to WeChat? And how do Chinese media policies and techno-nationalism attain a global reach through WeChat?
Luqiu: A major factor is censorship or “coerced loyalty.” As other communication tools like Facebook and Twitter are unavailable in China. WeChat has a very special [monopoly] status in China. Regardless of your whereabouts, if you want to stay in contact with your friends and relatives in mainland China, WeChat remains their only choice. Also, if you have to do business or travel in China, you can't avoid using the tool. WeChat is a tech business. Yet, because of the censorship policy in China, when you have discussions on WeChat, you would be constantly reminded by other users to avoid raising sensitive topics, or else the group would be deleted, and the group administrator would get in trouble. So to protect your friends who are in mainland China and avoid future problems when traveling back to China, you will practice self-censorship.
The second factor is inertia or “habitual loyalty.” Understandably, language is a barrier in the host country. While the public channels on WeChat offer very rich information concerning the host country without such barriers, they become the key sources of information for the diaspora. WeChat has tens of millions of public channels, but they are all subjected to the content framework set by the Chinese government. Although public channels that distribute news and commentary seem to be owned and managed by individuals or private companies, many are still affiliated with state-owned media outlets or funded by the red capital.
Luqiu: WeChat has set up a dual system in 2014: Weixin and WeChat. The latter is to serve the global market. The information flow between the two systems is asymmetrical as public channels registered under Weixin are accessible globally and within mainland China. In contrast, if registered under WeChat, the content would not be accessible within China. Seemingly independent public channels such as Gangpiaoquan 港漂圈 and North American Overseas Students Daily 北美留學生日報 are registered under Weixin in mainland China with mainland Chinese phone numbers even though their target audiences are outside of China. They are very influential and have a massive number of followers. However, there is a trade-off under the Weixin system as they have to abide by the mainland Chinese censorship system.
Even in more private communication channels such as group chat, sensitive messages sent by overseas Chinese are hidden from other mainland Chinese group members. With zero feedback, users would develop a habit of avoiding political discussion on WeChat.
Although the research studied three different groups of WeChat users in other countries, their user habits, particularly self-censorship practice, are identical.
OL: What are the impacts of such techno-loyalty on the user and the host countries?
Luqiu: It affects the integration of the Chinese diaspora with the society of the host countries. Although they have settled down, they are somehow segregated from the mainstream culture as they maintain their original social network and don't need to interact with the locals. They have all the information resources they need on WeChat, and as the diaspora circle keeps expanding, they also develop a strong sense of Chinese diaspora identity.
OL: In the introduction of your research paper, you mentioned Donald Trump’s executive order in 2019 that banned WeChat on security and privacy grounds. What’s your opinion on this kind of policy?
Luqiu: According to news reports, the decision is related to the presidential elections. The controversy touches upon the nature of WeChat, whether one considers it a foreign agent or a tool. People in an open society should have the confidence to compete with WeChat on the user market and gradually change their users’ behavior. However, I can also see that an open society can be very fragile as there are some rules that you have to follow while others can take advantage of these rules. The competition is therefore not that equal nor fair. In principle, we should all uphold freedom of speech and should accept all kinds of content platforms. But on the other hand, the other side practices strict censorship while taking advantage of open societies.
OL: People from host societies are getting more anxious about WeChat. In countries like Canada, Australia, and the US, some are worried that the mobilization on WeChat would result in election mongering or interference in local policies. Do you have any suggestions for handling such anxiety?
Luqiu: I think we have to take political participation as a positive development among the Chinese diaspora as this is a way for them to interact with and integrate into local societies. People have free will and they do appreciate core values in open societies. The issue at stake is the systematic exploitation of the tool that instrumentalizes the users for the purpose of achieving certain political agendas. A policy level approach, such as anti-monopoly, to create an equal and fair ground in the new media market would be more appropriate.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Barbados forges a digital path by becoming the first country to establish an embassy in the metaverse · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Metaverse image by Ian Hughes on Flickr (CC BY 2.0), and Barbados flag image by Steve Conover on Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Barbados has been making many bold moves in the past few years. In 2018, the island, long regarded as one of the most conservative in the Caribbean, held its first public Pride Parade. In 2019, it announced its intention to do away with the controversial Common Entrance exam, a secondary school placement test that many, region-wide, consider classist and inequitable. In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, it removed from public display a statue of Horatio Nelson, citing his role in the transatlantic slave trade, and in 2021, elected its first local head of state. Now, the tiny island nation has become the first sovereign state with a digital embassy in the metaverse.
#Barbados is about to become the first country in the meta-universe to have an embassy. #metaverse pic.twitter.com/M1vpIkTOyx
— TRT World Forum (@trtworldforum) November 22, 2021
On November 14, Barbados’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade signed an agreement with Decentraland, one of the largest and most popular decentralised virtual reality platforms, comprising over 90,000 parcels of land which can be purchased with cryptocurrency. However, the country is also in discussions with other metaverse platforms. As Gabriel Abed, the cryptocurrency entrepreneur who founded bitt and Barbados’ ambassador to the United Arab Emirates—who brokered the deal with Decentraland—explained, “The country intends to expand aggressively beyond this initial effort to build structures and purchase digital land in a variety of virtual worlds … the metaverse is still very young and new, and we want to make sure what we build is transferable.”
So how does this work, exactly? After the country purchases the land and builds its virtual embassy, the aim is to outfit it to provide services like “e-visas,” and design mechanisms through which users’ avatars will be able to travel. Once the embassy is launched, possibly by January 2022, Barbados will become the first country in the world to formally recognise digital sovereign land.
Check out today's splainer for more #HeadlinesThatMatter#Barbados #Metaverse #Crypto #Embassy #VirtualTravel pic.twitter.com/0yOKcYxtNy
— Splainer (@splainerin) November 22, 2021
The move is not a complete surprise. Barbados is known for being cryptocurrency-friendly. Its Central Bank has been quite open to the possibilities of bitcoin (BTC) and has been updating its legislation to encompass digital currencies.
Could the establishment of an embassy in the metaverse be the first step in the country's move towards more serious economic interaction and investment in digital worlds? Some netizens were excited about the potential, with tech-savvy Twitter user Mario Nawfal asking:
Imagine if the leaders of every nation were this visionary… innovation would be much faster and exciting
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 18, 2021
Others applauded the “historic” move:
#Barbados is extending its diplomatic outreach via the #Metaverse! 1st sovereign country to do so. A bold, historic & visionary move. https://t.co/x0xh5QASwR via @CoinDesk #Diplomacy #DigitalDiplomacy #TechPlomacy #HybridDiplomacy #GabrielAbed #Abed @SirBitt @meta #AI pic.twitter.com/qgE4BO61zI
— Euripides L Evriviades ???? (@eevriviades) November 16, 2021
Some, however, weren't completely convinced. This CoinDesk opinion piece initially questioned what the point was:
If Barbados is trying to digitally solve some problem – such as how to make issuing visas and permits more efficient – why use a blockchain when a simple e-government services website would suffice? The metaverse part seemed like a gimmick.
Will Gottsegen, CoinDesk's media and culture reporter, added:
[W]hat does a metaverse embassy look like, in practice? And what “e-consular services” could a metaverse embassy provide that a real embassy couldn’t? […] Are “e-visas” for travel within the metaverse or will they apply to the real Barbados? Who needs one, and who gets one?
Not everything needs to be on the blockchain – in the absence of clarity, the metaverse embassy just feels like an empty ad campaign from a government official with a stake in the crypto industry.
Twitter user S71 was also not convinced, dismissing the Decentraland platform as a clone of Second Life:
All this #metaverse blubber gives me a #DejaVu. As a veteran using @SecondLife for tourism marketing, reading that #Barbados created a virtual embassy in @decentraland made me curious. I hopped on Decentraland and honestly, that's it? Complete SL clone. It ain't gonna work.
— S71 (@S71) November 23, 2021
However, Michael J. Casey, CoinDesk's Chief Content Officer, conceded that Barbados’ decision to open the virtual embassy “raises some pretty interesting questions about how sovereignty is exercised in the digital age” and “has the potential to be quite disruptive.” In other words, Barbados may well be anticipating how digital property rights and other virtual innovations like non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may evolve—and ensuring that they get in on the action early.
Professor Avinash Persaud, special envoy on investment and financial services to Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, explained via email that “the channels through which trade and transactions take place are changing”:
We believe that if we are to best position our people for these changes, we have to understand them and to do that, we need to be early but limited participants in new channels, even before it is clear how and which will evolve most fully.
We cannot understand these new channels of economic activity from the sidelines. In this spirit, with eyes wide open and limited exposure, we established the first official Embassy or lookout post in the Metaverse. I will let you know what we have learned in twelve months’ time.
The region—and the rest of the world—will no doubt be interested in finding out.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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In Azerbaijan, bullying in schools is still a problem · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

“Anti-bullying Respect Tour 2009″ by Working Word is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Ali Malikov is in his final year of high school in Baku. He is also bisexual. For years he has been bullied at school. Now in his senior year, Malikov is boycotting his school and refusing to attend classes after the lack of action from the school administration and the Ministry of Education, according to the personal account he shared on Facebook.
The testimony Malikov wrote on his personal Facebook profile details how, since grade 8, he has faced harassment and abuse at the hands of his classmates and teachers and how, despite his numerous complaints to the school principal, he was told off.
It was in 8th grade when somehow students in my school learned about my sexual orientation. They would call me names in the hallways of the school. Later, someone shared pictures of me wearing make up on social media, revealing my home address and the school I was studying at. I was receiving threats. I spent my time at school in constant fear. My physics teacher would tear down my notebooks, and my necklace. In 10th grade, because of the pandemic, we switched to e-learning. The same time, a trans fried was stoned a street and was told that together with me, we were a disgrace.
According to Mikroskop Media, Malikov has also complained to the Ministry of Interior. On November 26, he was invited to a police station to discuss the situation. Meanwhile, Hüseynağa Hüseynov, a representative for Məktəblinin Dostu (Pupil's Friend), a Ministry of Education project that strives to create a safe environment at schools between teachers and students and provide medical and psychological assistance in case of an emergency, told Mikroskop Media in an interview that he has advised Malikov to censor himself when at school:
We can't just approach every single student at the school to stop harassing Ali. We have talked to every student Ali has complained to us about. But what Ali demands is that we remove students who harass him. There is no such law in the legislation. I have told Ali personally, that he should self-censor himself when at school. Instead, Ali took off his rainbow colored mask, and told me that if he is not wearing this mask, then he is already self censoring himself enough. I think, Ali is still a child, and is simply under the influence of certain groups.
The 17-year-old disagrees. In his response, Malikov wrote on Facebook that one of the people instigating the attacks is Hüseynov himself. “I was informed that one of the people forcing my classmates to write posts against me, is this friend of student.” One of the posts Malikov is referring to claims that the school is doing everything it can to protect Malikov and that, instead, Malikov is disgracing the school name. “By using minors as a tool in your games, you are disgracing yourself. If those who have to fight bullying do the exact opposite today, so be it. I will continue,” wrote Malikov in his most recent post as a response to the ongoing situation with other students at the school.
“Today I learned that the Russian language teacher at my school showed my pictures to students telling them that I was gay and that I was ruining the image of our school and education. The students are liking posts that are humiliating and threatening me. Some are even accusing me of being a rapist and being a bully myself,” wrote Malikov on his social media account.
“I am ashamed of the school's administrative staff.”
In 2019, the story of a Elina Hajiyeva, a teen who died from suicide jumping from the third floor of her school building, sent shockwaves across Azerbaijan. It also sparked a social media campaign against bullying in a country where the topic is rarely discussed. In Elina's case too, despite her numerous complaints to the school principal, no action was taken.
In Azerbaijan, where there is no official documentation of cases of bullying, the lack of response of the school administration is not surprising wrote researcher Lala Mahmudova in her piece on bullying at Azerbaijani schools in 2019.
In Azerbaijan, one of the countries where homophobia is most prevalent, it is very common among students to insult each other with homophobic epithets and obscenities.
Due to the scarcity of statistical data on Azerbaijan, it is not possible to study the extent to which conditions which contradict the principles of social justice, such as bullying, homophobia, sexism, and hate speech, are prevalent in schools today.
According to a 2019 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “in Baku (Azerbaijan), 36% of students reported being bullied at least a few times a month, compared to 23% on average across OECD countries.”
Azerbaijan does not have any anti-bullying laws. At the time of Elina Hajiyeva's suicide, recommendations to develop a bill felt through. Instead, some schools started removing window handles and installing metal bars to prevent their students from similar attempts. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education released a promo video about bullying, encouraging students, parents and teachers to speak up.
The video received mixed responses. According to reporting by Jam-News, some users applauded the ministry for the initiative, while others accused the ministry for avoiding responsibility.
Malikov is calling on relevant government institutions to take responsibility for what is happening at his school, including the school administration. In an interview with OC Media, Malikov said that, until the school takes appropriate measures and prevents bullying and abuse not only against him but also other students, he is boycotting the school.

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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‘In my country, I feared the war. But here I feared the Home Office’: Asylum seekers speak on the UK refugee process · Global Voices
Sabrina Velandia

“Refugees Are Human Beings” by FreedomHouse is marked with CC PDM 1.0
Content notice: this article contains mention of sexual assault and suicide, which some readers may find disturbing.
Over 100 stories of women who sought asylum in the UK only to face more hardship have been compiled in a report published in 2020 by Women for Refugee Women (WRW) — a UK-based organization aimed at empowering women refugees.
The WRW determined that 44 percent of asylum-seeking women face homelessness, 95 percent face hunger, and many are vulnerable to abuse in the UK. More specifically, 32 of 106 women said they had been sexually assaulted both in their country of origin, and again in the UK. At the same time, 95 percent felt depressed, and around 33 percent had attempted suicide.
Among the examples compiled by WRW include the stories of Amina and Jemima (not their real names, to protect their privacy).
Amina escaped the war in Somalia twice. The first time was in the 1990s, after militiamen broke into her home, raped her and her daughter, and killed her daughter and brother. Amina fled to a refugee camp in Kenya, where she stayed for some years before returning to Somalia.
The second time, in 2008, when the war broke out in Kismayo — her hometown — and Amina lost two more sons after militiamen kidnapped them. She explained to WRW that her people have been persecuted for a long time by the bigger clans.
We’re very poor — we fish for a living — but the majority clans have better jobs. They've treated us like slaves.
Amina arranged safe passage to England through an agent who, on arrival in London, abandoned her at a supermarket. She found herself alone in a completely strange city, unable to communicate in English.
Though Amina was able to claim asylum the next day, she had to wait 10 years to be granted refugee status — yet, the official Home Office website, the UK department that handles asylum seekers, states the wait is only six months.
Along with other hardships she had to endure — isolation, relying on charities for food and shelter, and shifting from hostel to hostel — Amina developed depression.
In Somalia, I had family. I was sharing the pain. There were a lot of us suffering, speaking the same language. But here I couldn’t share it with anybody. The pain became so much more. In my country, I feared the war. But here I feared the Home Office. I have been tortured every day.
Jemima has been living in the UK even longer — for 19 years. In Uganda, Jemima was tortured and raped while in prison custody. Her so-called crime? Being a lesbian in a country where homosexuality is illegal.
Instead of marrying the man her guardian had arranged for her, Jemima was sent to the UK. She was not aware that she was entitled to request asylum or how the system worked. After holding cleaning jobs for years, immigration officers arrived one day and took her to a removal centre.
While in detention, all the trauma she experienced in Uganda rushed back, impacting what she decided to tell the authorities. Out of fear, she lied about her sexual orientation.
After being released, she was taken to a migrant centre in London, where she finally came out to a gay volunteer. She then received support from the Rainbow Sisters group for LGBT refugees.
I’m a gay woman, but all my life I’ve been lying. No matter if they deport me. I’ve found my people … my family. It’s a type of joy.
Despite making a new asylum claim, Jemima is destitute. Though she told WRW that she feels safer in the UK, she doesn't feel free because she doesn't have a recognized legal status or reliable income.
I’d love to work. Pay for my own house. Sit on my own toilet. You know how happy I would be to have my own toilet? That is my dream.
Tragically, the stories of Amina and Jemima are not rare: this is the reality for hundreds of refugee women in the UK. While the UK has some of the highest living standards in the world, financial resources and legal guarantees are scarce for the most vulnerable people.
After more than 40 years of working in the UK, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) has listed the many challenges faced by asylum seekers in the country, starting with an unfair asylum determination system. This is because the Home Office's approach is based on disbelieving people since ‘they always think that refugees are not telling the truth.’ They said:
The UK is a hostile environment for asylum seekers. That’s not an accident. Home Office policies deliberately set out to frustrate asylum seekers so that they leave the United Kingdom.
The JRS added that some Home Office caseworkers are insufficiently trained to handle asylum cases and make biased decisions ignoring essential information — for instance, a gay refugee was going to be deported back to Cameroon, a country that doesn't tolerate homosexuality.
Although working would allow asylum seekers to meet their basic needs and improve their mental health, they are not allowed to and end up financially excluded. Access to basic rights is highly limited — including healthcare and education — either because asylum seekers are barred from the system or can not afford them. On top of that, asylum seekers may be detained for long periods.
JRS has warned that all these obstacles can seriously impact refugees physical and mental health, lasting even after refugee status has been granted. The longer the process takes, the more significant a toll it will take on them.
Statistics from the House of Commons, as of June 2021, determined that more than 30 percent of asylum applicants were subject to removal — some, after a five-year delay. This figure represents hundreds of asylum seekers at risk of living in the streets, exposed to poverty, trafficking and exploitation.
To make matters worse, since April this year, the Home Office resumed evicting asylum seekers ‘with immediate effect’ after a brief moratorium due to COVID-19. Though the government has stated its intention to treat refugees fairly, its policies do not reflect this. In May 2021, the UK House overhauled its immigration systems and implemented the New Plan for Immigration which is expected to worsen an already precarious situation. The new plan would allow the government to send asylum seekers out of the country while their cases are reviewed, bar refugees from accessing public services and make it even more challenging to apply for asylum status in the UK.
Many human rights groups have criticized this plan and said it violates the 1951 refugee convention. Rossella Pagliuchi-Lor of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) said in a press release:
This Bill would undermine, not promote, the Government’s stated goal of improving  protection for those at risk of persecution. It seems to be aimed at deterring refugees, but  there’s no evidence that would be the result.

author: Sabrina Velandia


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In Turkey women faced rubber bullets, tear gas from police as they marched to end gender-based violence · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

A screenshot from a video shared by DW journalist Julia Hahn.
Hundreds of women took the streets in Istanbul to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25. However, protestors were met with police violence, including tear gas and rubber bullets, as they tried to break through barricades to march on a busy pedestrian street. Similar protests took place across other cities, including the capital Ankara.
Kadınlar umutlarıyla, heyecanlarıyla, kararlılıklarıyla, coşkularıyla umut olmayı sürdürüyor. İstiklal Caddesi’nde geceyi gündüze çevirdiler!. pic.twitter.com/19nWKd371V
— hilmi hacaloğlu (@hilmihacaloglu) November 25, 2021
Women continue to be the hope, with their hopes, excitement, determination and enthusiasm. They have turned night into day on Istiklal Avenue.
Susmuyoruz, korkmuyoruz, itaat etmiyoruz???⚧ pic.twitter.com/a4TrHQB7yT
— ?Willow (@burcin_ttk) November 25, 2021
We are not staying silent, we are not afraid, we are not obeying.
The women groups were also joined by the LGBTQ+ activists:
Women and the LGBTIQ+ activists organized a protest in Istanbul, Turkey on November 25, 2021 for International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. pic.twitter.com/s22vPkt5nc
— Cansu (@CansuYildirann) November 26, 2021
The main demand on the streets was for Turkey to rejoin the Istanbul Convention — a legally-binding human rights treaty created by the Council of Europe pledging to prevent, prosecute, and eliminate domestic violence and promote gender equality. Turkey announced its decision to withdraw from the international treaty in March of this year. In July, women across the country protested the official withdrawal.
Away from the busy street of Istiklal, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was also marking the day, promising to someday eliminate violence against women. “I hope we eliminate violence against women by strengthening our human and moral values. We are determined.”
But women's rights groups say words aren't enough, as Turkey continues to see increasing femicide rates. According to We Will Stop Femicide, a local platform documenting violence against women, a total of 225 women were killed between January and October 2021. A separate tracker documenting the names of women killed as a result of violence puts the number of victims at 353 in total for 2021. One of the most recent victims was 28-year-old Basak Cengiz, who was stabbed by a man who later confessed he did it out of boredom. The killer was charged with aggravated murder.
Cengiz's murder renewed the calls for Turkey to rejoin the international convention; however, authorities — including Erdoğan — continue to insist the domestic legislation is enough. “To us, women are the holiest creature. We will never allow their holiness to be tainted,” the president said reportedly last week, adding, “Thus, there's no need for the Istanbul Convention.”
The government's “Action Plan for Combating Violence against Women” was announced in July 2021 and includes goals such as reviewing judicial processes, improving protection services, and gathering data on violence. So far, it has proven futile. “The current laws are not adequate. We hear about women being killed every day, because the existing structure, both legally and implementation wise, is not adequate,” Ayşe Faride Acar, a Turkish academic overseeing the implementation of the Istanbul Convention between 2015 – 2019 told AlJazeera in an interview.
And the numbers speak for themselves. Berrin Sonmez of the Women's Platform for Equality recently told AFP that ever since the country withdrew from the convention in March, the sense of impunity has only risen. She said, “180 women were murdered between March and July 2021, and besides that, there have been 171 suspicious deaths. This is not a justifiable number.”
Erdoğan first expressed interest in leaving the convention in 2020. The final decision came after the president unveiled a human rights plan he says would “improve rights and freedoms in Turkey and help the country meet EU standards.”


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Jamaica officially recognises the life and legacy of iconic wartime nurse, Mary Seacole · Global Voices
Emma Lewis

Mary Seacole Memorial by Martin Jennings, 2016, outside St Thomas’ Hospital, London. Seacole (1805–1881) was a Jamaican nurse who helped treat the wounded and save lives in the Crimean War (1853–1856). The memorial is believed to be the first statue in the UK dedicated to a named Black woman. Photo by Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The government of Jamaica has proclaimed November 23, 2021, as Mary Seacole Day, in memory of Mary Jane Seacole (1805–1881), an extraordinary Jamaica-born nurse and entrepreneur who travelled extensively and nursed soldiers during the Crimean War while enduring considerable discrimination.
The United Kingdom-based Mary Seacole Trust tweeted the news, with a copy of Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen’s proclamation:
Special Announcement .The Governor-General of Jamaica has proclaimed November 23rd 2021 “Mary Seacole Day”
Congratulations to the Mary Seacole Foundation in Jamaica whose efforts brought about the proclamation. pic.twitter.com/b8WqCVw2Uk
— Mary Seacole Trust (@seacolestatue) November 22, 2021
The Mary Seacole Foundation, which was re-launched in Jamaica in 2020, works to increase awareness of Seacole’s achievements.
On the special day—which was marked by representatives from the Nurses Association of Jamaica, national librarian Beverley Lashley, and executive director of the Institute of Jamaica, Vivian Crawford—Foundation members Anna Perkins, Hilary Hickling, and Sonia Mills laid a tribute of flowers at the National Library of Jamaica in downtown Kingston, near the site of Seacole's birthplace, a boarding house named Blundell Hall. At the ceremony, Perkins read out the proclamation, which noted:
“whereas this, the time of COVID-19 outbreak when healthcare professionals have been similarly challenged by a pandemic, it is an appropriate time to mark her birth, life, legacy and example…”
Hickling, meanwhile, pointed to the use of indigenous plants in the tribute, noting the decision to “use our own to support our own.” Seacole would have been familiar with many of the flowers used in her honour, including the endemic Portlandia grandiflora and Thrinax parviflora (Broom Thatch).
Mills added that Mary Seacole’s statue, “standing very proudly on the grounds of St. Thomas Hospital,” is the only statue of a named Black woman in the UK, where much has been done to memorialise her. This year, on November 23, a large portrait of Seacole was unveiled at Guy’s Hospital in London.
Chair of the Mary Seacole Trust tweeted:
A truly inspirational and proud day at Guys hospital for the Mary Seacole Trust, presenting a portrait of Mary Seacole which hangs in atrium 2. The power of Mary in symbolising diversity was palpable. Thanks to everyone involved #MarySeacoleDay pic.twitter.com/JCG2KItAWI
— Trevorsterling (@trevorsterl) November 23, 2021
Dr. Elizabeth N. Anionwu, Professor Emeritus of Nursing at the University of West London, has contributed much to a deeper understanding of the life and times of Mary Seacole, refuting some of the myths and misunderstandings about her, including the incorrect perceptions that she wasn't recognised as a nurse, wasn't as decorated as she, in fact, was and wasn't worthy of being dubbed a “black historical figure.”
Back in Jamaica, the Mary Seacole Foundation's Anna Perkins told Global Voices via a WhatsApp note:
It's really exciting and gratifying to have Mary Seacole's life and legacy be given national recognition! She is a potent presence, whose adventurous, caring and entrepreneurial spirit can continue to inspire us, if we let it. We want to make her story known far and wide so that many, especially our youth, may be inspired.
She added that while the COVID-19 pandemic had interrupted some of the Foundation’s planned programmes, it is working on providing scholarships for two Jamaican nursing students in order to continue Seacole's work and legacy.
Although the UK has adopted Mary Seacole as a “great Black Briton” (she was the daughter of a “free” Jamaican woman and a Scottish army officer), it seems that she is finally coming into her own in the island of her birth, which she left for a life of adventure so long ago.

author: Emma Lewis


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Making Turkish music in Hungary: Can this be a ‘Nasip Kısmet’ moment? · Global Voices
Elmira Lyapina

Turkish-Hungarian music band Nasip Kismet. Photo by Elmira Lyapina, used with permission.
Nasip Kısmet is a term used by Turkish people to describe the idea that “what is meant to happen will happen,” or “destiny.” This is the term a group of Turkish-Hungarian musicians in Budapest chose for their band, one that reflects the link between the two cultures. How fortunate they are to play Turkish folk songs in the jazzy-rock arrangement in Hungary, especially in light of recent developments — the Organization of Turkic states reforms on one side and the right-wing political discourse of the Hungarian prime minister, Victor Orbán, on the other?
Arif Erdem Ocak, the founder, and soloist of Nasip Kısmet, who has lived in Hungary since 2010, and has been playing Turkish music there since 2015, answered my question about whether he faced mistreatment because of his Turkish origin, by saying:
It is a tough question, of course, it is seen and felt, a lot of stereotypes, especially regarding the Kebab shops, although there are not that many Turkish people, as in western Europe… The mistreatment and racist attitude could be felt, but I cannot blame the whole nation, because this kind of attitude is all over the world, and I don’t want to blame the whole nation, just because of a couple of intolerant people.
Arif's words were confirmed by one of the Hungarian listeners at a Nasip Kısmet concert. One, a historian by education, said that there was a disdainful attitude towards the Turks, whom some consider “second-hand, second-level” citizens, or “just kebab-makers,” the result of a kind of symbiosis of the history of the Ottoman period and anti-Islamic propaganda.
Ties between the two countries are centuries-old. There are monuments of the heritage of the Ottoman period, such as the famous Gul Baba Tomb in Budapest, or minarets in different Hungarian cities, such as Eger, Érd, or Yakovalı Hasan Paşa Mosque. Nowadays, countries are cooperating, not only in the economic sphere, but also in the field of culture, and through mutual “soft power” institutions, for example, the Hungarian Culture Institute in Istanbul, which has been operating since 2014, and the Yunus Emre Institute in Budapest (2013). This can also be seen in museums and exhibitions, and names, such as the square called “Yunus Emre,” after the 13th-century Turkish poet and Sufi mystic.
In 2018, the Turkish Ambassador to Budapest, Ahmet Okif Aktay, even said that Turkish-Hungarian relations were “in a golden era,” notwithstanding the populistic rhetoric of the Hungarian prime minister, Victor Orbán, who is widely known for his far-right vision, as well as Christian, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim populism in the country. However, the anti-Ottoman rhetoric of Orbán is not that simple, since he has also started the so-called “sanitization” of Ottoman heritage in Hungary.
In comparison with many other European Union states, especially Central Eastern Europe, Hungary, and the Balkan countries have deeper historical and cultural ties not only with Turkey (including Ottoman Turkey) but also with Turkic nations.
Although, according to the scientific data, Hungarians have no kinship with the Turkic peoples, the concept of Hungarian Turanism was popular from the 19th century up to the end of World War II, bringing up the idea of somewhat superiority over the other nations.  Some people still believe in the common genetic roots of Hungarian and Turkic people or use them as a reason to tighten relations between the countries.
The specific closeness of Hungarians to the Turkic people or even the Turkic world remains. Since 2010 a popular festival, the Great Kurultáj, is held in Hungary that promotes the common heritage of nomadic people in most of Central Asia.
Hungary has been an observer in the Organization of Turkic States (formerly the “Turkic Council,” founded in 2009) since 2018, as the only non-Turkic and European country, and actively participates in the meetings. In 2019, a representative office was opened in Budapest.
However, Hungary possesses the closest relations out of all Turkic states with Turkey. Starting from the 16 century and the Battle of Mohacs in 1526. Then, the victory of the Ottoman Empire over the Kingdom of Hungary led to the partition of Hungary, the creation of Ottoman Hungary, influencing the history, creating the cultural and architectural legacies, and on the other hand, specific anti-Ottoman rhetoric, which is still relevant after half a millennium.
It is surprising that with such a common history and strong cultural and economic-political ties, there are not so many Turkish people in Hungary. They are not even included in the number of national minorities, among which are representatives of the Balkan and neighboring countries, as well as Roma, and Turks also do not constitute a large part of immigrants, who are from Ukraine (15.41 per cent), Romania (11 per cent), Germany (9.14 per cent) and Slovakia (5.2 per cent).  As of 2019, a little over 3,200 Turks are living in Hungary, almost 1,000 more than in 2016.
What is the attitude of Hungarians towards the Turks? Added to political propaganda, anti-Islamic sentiment has increased because of the refugee crisis in 2015 and subsequent years.
The skeptical attitude of the authorities towards asylum-seekers, especially those from countries with a Muslim majority continues, yet the attitude of Hungarians towards the Turks is not univocal.
Although some Hungarians are following the mainstream channels with that particular discourse, xenophobic views are not widely spread among the nation in general.
However, the people I interviewed agreed that the cultural ties are still strong, for example, the Hungarian chef Agnes Toth introduces Turkish cuisine to the world, praising the rich culinary culture of Turkey.
Or the example of Hungarian academic musician Dániel Mester from Nasim Kısmet, who lived and worked in Amsterdam for eight years, and was also a band member of Dutch-Turkish singer Karsu Dönmez and a Rast trio in the Netherlands.
When I asked if he noticed a racist attitude, he answered:
As a Hungarian, I haven’t seen that. Maybe because Turkish music is not so common in Hungary compared to the Netherlands for instance, it is still counted as exotic music, so music-lovers are super positive about that, they refer to Turkish music as snake-charmer or belly-dance music
Is Turkish music just “exotic” to a Hungarian, or there are more common elements?
I asked this question to Ocak and Mester, and both remember the famous Hungarian composer and ethnomusicologist Béla Bartók, who collected and made analytical studies of Turkish folk music in the 1930s. Mester added:
Common elements have been discovered in musical research carried out by Bartók, but also by János Sipos. But that refers to a small segment of Turkish and Hungarian folk music (If I am correct, vocal folk music, namely laments). Still, it feels like a new genre for me. The ornaments and the intonation are the biggest challenges for me.
Although confirming the similarities in motives of Hungarian and Turkish folk music, Ocak mentions the different approaches of Hungarian people playing Turkish music:
The band consists of musicians with academic musical education, most of them are of Hungarian origin, except me and my sister, who is also singing. I love to play with Hungarian musicians because they bring a new flavor, a new interpretation, or an approach to Turkish music…
Which of their songs is the most popular among Nasip Kismet's wide spectrum of listeners? The musicians disagree, with Ocak saying Barış Manço’s song “Hal-hal,” while Mester sees a sudden reaction when they start playing “Büklüm Büklüm.”
Nasip Kısmet means fate or fortune in English, a phrase saying that you can't control what's happening, and you'll accept whatever comes your way; good or bad. It has a deep meaning and philosophy behind it. Indeed, if it was meant to interconnect Hungarian and Turkish culture, then it has come to life and enriched it.

author: Elmira Lyapina