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Syria refugees see no end to their exile as strikes loom
Syria refugees see no end to their exile as strikes loom (AFP) / 6 September 2013 Eyes glued to a television news report on Syria in a Jordan refugee camp, Said Salem has lost hope of returning home, where the 30-month war has forced two million to flee abroad. “The conflict has lasted too long, there is only death and destruction and the world is watching on as a spectator. It must end,” says Salem. Syrian refugees arrive at the Turkish Cilvegozu gate border. – AP file Salem is originally from the southern Syrian province of Daraa like most of the refugees in Jordan’s Zaatari camp which stretches into the desert as far as the eye can see. “We spend most of our time watching the news. It breaks our hearts to see Syria ruined and sinking into a civil war while the world sits still,” says the father of 11. As talk of possible US strikes on targets in Syria grows louder, Salem, who lost his right hand in an army raid a year ago, says that he wants an end to the suffering. “There is no light at the end of the tunnel,” he laments. US President Barack Obama says he is confident he will win congressional approval, as early as next week, for strikes on Syria in response to alleged chemical attacks by the regime on August 21. “The question that always comes up as I talk with my husband is: are we going to return to our country?” asks Hanan, a mother of four daughters. “Our children do not go to school, we no longer have a source of income and nobody is helping us,” the 38-year-old complains. Some refugees managed to flee Syria with money, while others subside on handouts from relatives who work abroad. But many are totally destitute. Opened one year ago to house Syrians fleeing the war, the Zaatari camp today has some 130,000 residents, living in extremely tough conditions. Over the months it has become Jordan’s fifth-biggest city in terms of population. Most of its residents originally come from Daraa, the town in southern Syria where protests against President Bashar Al Assad broke out in March 2011, before morphing into a bloody civil war that has killed more than 110,000 people. On Tuesday, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said the number of Syria refugees had already topped two million. “There are no words to express… this tragedy,” Guterres told reporters in Geneva, adding that the exodus showed no sign of abating and risked destabilising the region. In addition to refugees who have fled to Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran and Egypt, the fighting has also displaced more than six million people, over one quarter of Syria’s population of 22 million. “What is the world waiting for to act?” asks Ali Salman, 38, taking a drag on his cigarette. His five children, who seem weakened, are playing nearby. “We are eating very badly, we are drinking dirty water and there is no care when we get ill. “Why is the world watching the massacres without taking action? Why are they not doing anything for us and our children? More than 100,000 people have died, is that not enough for the world to intervene.” Hassan Nashwa was able to open a store to support the needs of his large family, but says that he cannot see any future for his children, who do not have any education. “The only solution is to return to Syria, because this camp is nothing but a huge prison”. “My main hope is to find my house, my school and my friends again,” adds Mahmud Jamal, 12, who does odd jobs to help the eight members of his family in the camp, including his sick father and a brother wounded by shrapnel. The Jordanian government puts the number of refugees currently in the kingdom at 550,000. But their numbers could rise again as the violence in Syria rages, stretching Jordan’s limited water resources and threatening its fragile social makeup. “Life is difficult in the camp,” says Mohammed Al Darawi. “We are in the middle of a desert… without work of money and our problems are only growing.” Continue reading
Indian rupee, stocks jump on new bank chief’s plans
Indian rupee, stocks jump on new bank chief’s plans (AFP) / 5 September 2013 India’s rupee strengthened and stocks jumped on Thursday after new central bank governor Raghuram Rajan outlined a reform plan aimed at boosting investor confidence and stabilising the ailing currency. Raghuram Rajan, second left, the newly appointed governor of Reserve Bank of India, is received by its Deputy Governor Kamalesh Chandra Chakrabarty, second right, and others as he arrives at the RBI headquarters in Mumbai, India. AP The rupee climbed to 65.75 against the dollar, gaining nearly two percent from its previous close, on investor hopes the worst could be over for the currency, the worst performing in Asia this year. Indian shares jumped as much as 2.96 percent at the open, led by banking stocks, after Rajan took over Wednesday from Duvvuri Subbarao as head of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). In the afternoon stocks were up 1.51 percent. Rajan sought to reassure rattled markets with his first speech in the post, outlining a fresh approach to the currency crisis and warning that he may have to take unpopular steps to get Asia’s third largest economy back on track. Sonal Varma, an economist at Nomura Securities, said Rajan had made “an impressive start” but she stressed that a weak growth outlook was still a “major concern”. “In our view, amid the current gloom, the new RBI governor has infused a sense of optimism that he is in charge and that the RBI under him will unleash more financial sector reforms, a medium-term positive for the economy,” she said. Rajan, a former IMF chief economist, emphasised the importance of transparency and consistency in the bank’s actions, after the RBI spent weeks trying to stabilise the rupee with a range of measures. He stressed he would hew to the RBI’s mandate of “securing monetary stability” and sustaining confidence in the value of the country’s money. “This means low and stable expectations of inflation, whether that inflation stems from domestic sources or from changes in the value of the currency, from supply constraints or demand pressures,” he said. India faces its worst financial crisis in decades, as the once-booming economy grapples with sharply slowing growth, high inflation and a record current account deficit. Some analysts fear the economy could be heading for a meltdown with the rupee down around 22 percent against the dollar this year. Rajan’s bold entry to the job, which included financial deregulatory measures such as opening up the country’s banking sector, received rave reviews from economists and the local media. “This was easily the most substantive speech by a Reserve Bank governor on his first day in office,” financial daily Business Standard said on Thursday. With a mock photograph of Rajan in a James Bond-style pose on its front page, The Economic Times newspaper said he had “gotten off to a good start, radiating brisk purpose and optimism”. Rajan, famed for forecasting the 2008 global financial crisis, left his post as a professor at the prestigious University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and returned to India last year before taking up the new job. Continue reading
UAE, Gulf markets remain bearish on Syria flare-up
UAE, Gulf markets remain bearish on Syria flare-up Issac John / 5 September 2013 Stock markets in the UAE and other Gulf countries continued to plunge on fears of an imminent attack on Syria. Dubai’s benchmark DFM index tumbled to an eight-week low of 3.7 per cent to close at 2,397 points, its lowest finish since July 11, as retail investors cut risk after the United States moved a step closer to launching military action against Syria. Across the Gulf, markets declined in volatile trading as investors opted for short-term trades amid mounting tensions. Abu Dhabi’s benchmark fell 2.3 per cent to 3,648 points, Kuwait’s bourse declined 2.6 per cent to 7,268 points and Qatar’s measure slipped two per cent to 9,348 points. Saudi Arabia’s index was 1.7 per cent lower at 7,697 points. Crude oil held above $115 a barrel on Wednesday as US lawmakers’ support for military action against Syria revived concerns that Middle East oil supplies might be disrupted if the conflict widens. While Syria is not a big oil producer, investors are worried that a strike by Western forces against the country could spread unrest in the Middle East and disrupt supply from the region that pumps a third of the world’s crude. Shares in Emaar fall 3.2 per cent to Dh5.3 although small and mid-cap stocks were among the biggest fallers on Wednesday. Air Arabia and Dubai Financial Market slumped 6.2 per cent, with Arabtec Holdings and Dubai Investments down 5.6 and 5.3 per cent respectively. issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
