Fortress Europe
EUROPE cannot hope to participate in a debate on morality anytime soon. This became abundantly clear when the EU decided to rework its asylum system and migration policies, ending in a political agreement between the European Parliament and Council — the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration. This will entail detention centres and rapid deportations. Racist and xenophobic, it has been labelled “dangerous” by migrant charities and has triggered disquiet regarding asylum-seekers and vulnerable people among human rights groups. The settlement stands on five crucial proposals: screening regulation, Eurodac regulation, asylum procedures regulation, asylum migration management regulation and crisis and force majeure regulation. They prescribe heightened security in the Schengen region, the detection of illegal activity, “making asylum, return and border procedures more effective”, a “solidarity mechanism between member states”, and EU’s preparedness for crises, including the inflow of migrants.
These terms form a watertight case for ethnic ‘supremacy’ that is carefully worded as ‘economic drain’; a reason disproved by surveys that show economic progress led by migrants. Therefore, we are left with the million-euro question: will the pact also apply to white asylum-seekers? Clearly, the idea of an inclusive European civilisation with laws that assure parity is a castle in Spain. As the accord puts finishing touches to Fortress Europe, the underprivileged world must not allow the EU to forget that the refugees it wants to keep out were spawned by Europe and its policy of abandonment. Many belong to conflict zones such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. Finally, the EU has betrayed its own so-called core values by plugging borders and forsaking people fleeing turmoil, hunger, war and persecution. While the refugee problem cannot be refuted, the solution lies within these barriers: a return to last century’s empathy so that more lives are not lost to human trafficking.
Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2023
Nawaz’s dilemma
TO paraphrase a quote, the welcome rain leaves behind mud that sticks. The PML-N received the ‘rain’ it wanted but its leadership must now contend with its unpleasant residue.
On the one hand, in several districts, the party has to choose between two or more aspirants for its ticket from the same constituency for the upcoming elections, and on the other, it is expected by the powers that be to accommodate the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party.
The IPP, a group of national and provincial lawmakers from Punjab who deserted the PTI to side with the PDM to oust their own party’s governments in Islamabad and Punjab or broke away from it in the aftermath of the May 9 events, has sought ‘seat adjustments’ with the PML-N on 110 national and provincial constituencies.
This is a big ask from the PML-N, which is already contending with a rebellion-like situation in various constituencies due to internal discord over the award of party tickets.
It is clear to many that the refusal to ‘adequately accommodate’ the IPP would dent PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif’s relations with the powers that be and divide pro-establishment voters between the two parties. By accommodating the IPP, he risks further alienating anti-establishment group within his party.
That is not all Mr Sharif has to tackle — and soon — if he wants to see his party return to power for a fourth term; a tougher challenge stems from the differences within his family. In some constituencies, there have been divisions between the ‘favourites’ of party president Shehbaz Sharif and chief organiser Maryam Nawaz.
So far, there are a few signs of Mr Sharif being able to perform a balancing act between competing interests within the party, and handle pressure coming from multiple outside sources. Hence, there is a long wait in the finalisation of party candidates and the issuance of tickets. But before Mr Sharif can tackle internal conflicts, he will need to sort out the IPP dilemma.
Unless there is clarity on the PML-N’s future relationship with what is widely seen as the king’s party, he will not be able to tackle internal party disputes over nominations.
How smooth the path to his party’s electoral victory will be depends on how sagaciously the PML-N supremo overcomes these challenges without antagonising those demanding their pound of flesh from him.
Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2023
Gaza bloodbath
WHILE other news, both domestic and foreign, compete for people’s attention, we should not forget that one of the most brutal massacres of the modern age, perpetrated by one of the world’s most powerful military machines, continues in the Gaza Strip against a starved and terrorised civilian population. Since Oct 7, Israel has been doing in Gaza what it has always been doing to the Palestinian people since the Nakba, but in more concentrated fashion. The torture, murder, humiliation and pillage the Arabs of Palestine have faced since 1948 — and even before, since the Zionist encroachment of Arab land began in the early 20th century — can be seen in condensed form in what the Israeli state has unleashed over the past 80 days or so in the forsaken Strip. Gaza has become an emblem for the hypocrisy of the ‘international community’, and the complete lack of empathy many of the self-professed global champions of human rights are capable of. They play politics to protect Israel at all costs as Palestinian children cry out in unbearable pain.
Some of this hypocrisy was on display at the UN Security Council, when the world body passed a resolution on Friday that called for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, yet remained silent on stopping state-sponsored Israeli violence. As many global bodies observed, the resolution is meaningless: aid will be of little use as Tel Aviv continues to bomb Gaza. This pointless resolution is the result of much hard work by the US, which did all it could to prevent calls for a meaningful ceasefire, and abstained at the time of voting. True to form, Israel dismissed even this watered-down text, reflecting what it really thinks of world opinion. Meanwhile, famine-like conditions loom in Gaza, with the UN’s World Food Programme saying the Strip faces “catastrophic conditions” as its people confront starvation. This is another war crime to be added to the many Israel has already committed against the Palestinians.
Unfortunately, those who are trying to tell Gaza’s story continue to be exterminated; the Committee to Protect Journalists recently said 68 journalists and media workers have been killed since hostilities began. The vast majority of fatalities (61) are Palestinian. Moreover, Tel Aviv has told foreign wire services that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists in Gaza. The message is clear: whoever dares to report on the misery in Gaza could themselves become a target of Israeli bombs. Yet even the death of 20,000 Palestinians — most of them women and children — has been unable to shake the world’s conscience. The bravery and steadfastness of the Palestinian people can only be commended, while their killers and tormentors have shown they are capable of truly bestial violence.
Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2023