Day: June 21, 2022

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Analysts say the African Union (AU) is unlikely to offer Ukraine much support against Russia despite a passionate address Monday by Ukraine’s president. Many African nations have historical ties to Russia and have refused to condemn its invasion of Ukraine.

In his speech to the African Union Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of holding Africa hostage by not allowing Ukrainian grain exports to reach the continent unless Western sanctions are lifted.

Zelenskyy, speaking via videolink, also reminded AU leaders about Africa’s history of being colonized and said the continent should never support any attempt by one nation to colonize another.

Abdi Rashid, chief Horn of Africa analyst for Sahan Research, a Nairobi-based research group, said that while many Africans have expressed support toward Russia because of the former Soviet Union’s backing of liberation movements against colonial powers and apartheid, Russia has changed.

“And I think Africans probably have not come to grips with the reality of modern Russia,” he said. “So, we need to modernize our views of Russia and understand that today’s Russia is essentially an imperial power, which is weakened and which wants to get back the kind of clout and supremacy it had.”

After the address, Moussa Fakit Mahamat, chairperson of the African Union Commission, tweeted that the African Union “reiterates its position of the urgent need for dialogue to end the conflict [in Ukraine] to allow peace to return to the region and to restore global stability.”

Hassan Khannenje, director of the Horn International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the response by the African Union was short of what Zelenskyy expected.

Taking sides with Ukraine, Khannenje argues, would be seen very negatively by China, which has close relations with Moscow. He said Africa’s geopolitical calculations and relative power in the international system doesn’t allow it to make a decisive turn toward one of the two warring parties.

“Because remember, there’s a question of Taiwan, which of course, the West supports Taiwan,” he said. “And so, in an event of a conflict, if you’re going to side with Ukraine today, it’s going to send a message — that in situations of conflict with Taiwan you’re going to take the side of the West – [for] which China might decide to turn off the taps of investment for you, because you’re not a reliable partner.”

Even though African countries are struggling with high inflation and the effects of drought and lack of Ukrainian imports, China has made it clear it will provide support to the continent only if Africa pushes back against what Beijing calls Western interference in the war, especially the sanctions aimed at the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Source: Voice of America

Botswana’s Minister of Mineral Resources, Lefoko Moagi, says the meeting in the resort town of Kasane needs to candidly discuss issues affecting the diamond industry.

He says those include the Kimberley Process, a system that monitors the sale of “conflict diamonds” — diamonds used to fund armed groups and wars.

“I am hopeful that this inter-sessional meeting will implore you to delve into the rough diamonds related matters, engage and discuss even the most uncomfortable Kimberley Process issues with the sole objective of ensuring that the Kimberley Process remains fit for purpose in these evolving times, whilst maintaining the original mandate of this entity as espoused in the United Nations general resolution.”

Abu Brima is a member of the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition, a group which monitors the diamond body.

He tells VOA the Kimberley Process is losing its relevance and the Coalition made its position known at the meeting.

“All the principles, all the procedures will have to be revised, especially to create a proper agenda for reform, to reform those aspects that make KP an impediment to achieve its own agenda. The whole question of conflict diamonds will have to be opened up and broadened.”

Russia would have been on the agenda at the Botswana meeting only if there was a consensus from all the 85 participating countries.

But Brima says such an arrangement no longer serves its purpose and needs to be revisited.

“The consensus decision making process would veto power by any individual country that is not comfortable with any decision. That does not help KP to move forward. That needs to be changed.”

Despite the criticism, Minister Moagi says the Kimberley Process remains relevant to the global diamond trade.

“Through the KP, in spite of challenges and shortcomings, we continue to give our many stakeholders reasonable assurance that as an industry, we value peace and security. Moreover, we equally recognize the need to ensure that the rough diamond trade optimally contributes to sustainable development.”

Russia’s continued trade in the stones has come under global scrutiny with concerns diamond revenue could be funding the invasion of Ukraine.

Source: Voice of America

GENEVA — The U.N. refugee agency projects more than 2 million refugees will need to be resettled in third countries of asylum in 2023, a 36% increase over this year’s 1.47 million.

All of the more than 27 million refugees in the world have fled war, violence, conflict, or persecution and need international protection. But some refugees are particularly vulnerable. They include people who cannot return to their home countries, live safely in neighboring countries, or have special needs and disabilities.

U.N. refugee spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo says resettlement is a lifesaving tool to protect some refugees, who are most at risk or have special needs that cannot be met in their countries of asylum.

“Of all refugees submitted by UNHCR for resettlement last year, 37% were for those with legal and physical protection needs, 32% were for survivors of violence and/or torture and 17% were for women, adolescents and children at risk,” she said.

The UNHCR reports the most needs in 2023 will be from countries of asylum across the African continent, closely followed by the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

Mantoo says Syria, with nearly 778,000 refugees, represents the population with highest global resettlement needs, followed by refugees from Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Myanmar, which has more than 114,000 largely stateless Rohingya.

She says the substantial jump in the number of refugees needing resettlement next year is based on several factors.

“The humanitarian impact, the protection impacts of the pandemic, which have exacerbated vulnerability. The protracted nature of a number of these refugee situations in which more people are displaced or they are spending longer times in displacement, and also the emergence of new humanitarian crises and displacement situations,” she said.

Mantoo warns resettlement needs will continue to grow in the absence of peace and prospects for the voluntary return of refugees.

The UNHCR is appealing for predictable, multi-year resettlement commitments from states. It also is calling on states to speed up resettlement processing and departure arrangements, so refugees do not have to continue languishing in countries of asylum with no end in sight to their ordeal.

Source: Voice of America