Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni urged EU leaders on Thursday to explore strategies to enable the return of Syrian refugees, as they discussed tightening migration rules at a summit in Brussels.
Ms Meloni, a far-right leader aiming to assert herself as a key player on migration and international affairs within the bloc, is set to travel to Jordan and Lebanon on Friday.
Italy has been pushing the EU to review its policy on Syria, driven by growing frustration over the unresolved Syrian civil war, which started in 2011 and has claimed more than 500,000 lives and displaced more than 12 million people.
The issue of Syrian refugees is closely linked to continuing discussions on migration due to the high number of Syrians who fled the civil war to live in Europe – with roughly one million in Germany alone.
This week, the European Commission signalled a shift in its approach, announcing plans to consider the creation of “return hubs” in non-EU countries for migrants who have no legal right to remain in Europe.
Ms Meloni held a separate meeting on Thursday with like-minded EU countries and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss Syria and broader migration issues. “What was mainly discussed today is that we have to see the elephant in the room: Syria,” a diplomat from one of the countries represented in the meeting told The National. “Syria is an issue that we have to address.”
The EU has a constant need to prioritise preventing migration, but re-assessing its position on Syria couldn't come at a worse time
ECFR researcher Kelly Petillo
The other countries present were Hungary, Cyprus, Greece, Austria, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Denmark and the Netherlands. Ms Meloni's office said that the discussion focused on return hubs and on “the concept of safe third country” in view of the implementation of the bloc's migration and asylum pact.
Speaking ahead of the Brussels meeting, Ms Meloni told the Italian Senate: “It is necessary to review the European Union strategy for Syria and to work with all actors, to create the conditions for Syrian refugees to return to their homeland in a voluntary, safe and sustainable way.”
“We must invest in early recovery, so that refugees who decide to return find conditions that allow them to reintegrate into Syria,” added Ms Meloni. “In this regard, we support above all the efforts being made by the UNHCR, but we have also decided to strengthen our diplomatic presence in Damascus.”
Deals to stop arrivals
Ms Meloni had raised similar issues last week in Cyprus at a meeting of nine Mediterranean countries week with King Abdullah of Jordan, Ms von der Leyen, and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
Though most fighting in Syria has died down, more than 90 per cent of its population lives under the poverty line, and there is a dire lack of essential services including water and electricity.
The situation has been compounded by Israeli bombing which has pushed 400,000 people to flee Lebanon by land to Syria. Finding a solution to the Syrian refugee crisis is “even more pressing today” given regional developments, Italian sources said.
The latest UN Syrian refugee survey shows that only about one per cent of respondents said they intended to return to Syria in the next year. Returnees run the risk of being forcefully enrolled in the army or of being arbitrarily jailed.
Syrians living in Lebanon, where they are increasingly unwelcome, keep trying to get to Cyprus by boat. A deal struck in May by the EU with Lebanon to stop them from leaving has succeeded in almost stopping arrivals altogether. The EU has signed similar deals to keep migrants at bay in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
Italy is frustrated by the little progress made by Europe's policy towards Syria, Kelly Petillo, programme manager for the Middle East and North Africa at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The National.
The bloc, which has cut diplomatic ties with Damascus, has as policy of three “nos” on Syria: no normalisation of relations, no reconstruction, no lifting of sanctions. Yet President Bashar Al Assad remains in power and has now normalised ties with the Arab League.
“Italy is saying: can we create some space to secure humanitarian gains on the ground?” said Ms Petillo.
Such efforts are closely linked to efforts to establish safe zones in Syria – a place where Syrians could be sent back to without fearing government persecution. Leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday did not go into that level of detail, sources said.
Those who back such efforts say that they would work closely with UNHCR to ensure returns are safe, yet the UN agency has consistently maintained that no area in Syria is safe for return.
Sawsan Abu Zeinedin, chief executive at the Madaniya network, warned that Italy's work on Syria might backfire on Syrians.
“In leading the efforts of EU states to reconsider the EU strategy to Syria, Italy works to normalise the status quo in Syria under the guise of pragmatism,” Ms Abu Zeinedin told The National.
“Such actions risk undermining the political process, jeopardising peace and security, and worsening the refugee crisis. Refugees are increasingly becoming the targets of xenophobia, discrimination, and violent assaults as political discourse shifts toward rapprochement with Assad,” she said.
In May, eight EU countries, including Italy, met in Cyprus to reassess the situation of Syrian refugees. Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou had previously said that talks to establish safe zones in Syria were “gaining ground”.
The National revealed in June that Cyprus had accepted an offer by the Czech Republic to join a fact-finding mission on the ground in Syria to establish safe zones.
In July, eight EU nations, including Italy, asked the EU's external action service to “initiate a strategic discussion on Syria” to strengthen the “results-oriented delivery of our Syria policy”.
But Josep Borrell, head of the external action service, expressed little interest in the request. In an August 28 response, quoted by Politico, Mr Borrell wrote: “How the Syrian regime has been operating for decades is well known and documented, including with the direct support of both Russia and Iran.”
The push to encourage voluntary returns ignores the reality on the ground, which is that very few Syrians want to return to government-controlled areas, said Ms Petillo.
Most Syrians fleeing Israel's bombing of Lebanon by crossing back into Syria have told UNHCR that their intended destination was in the north-east, which is under Kurdish control, or the north-west, under Turkish control.
“The EU has a constant need to prioritise preventing migration, but reassessing its position on Syria couldn't come at a worse time,” said Ms Petillo.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Major honours
ARSENAL
BARCELONA
- La Liga - 2013
- Copa del Rey - 2012
- Fifa Club World Cup - 2011
CHELSEA
- Premier League - 2015, 2017
- FA Cup - 2018
- League Cup - 2015
SPAIN
- World Cup - 2010
- European Championship - 2008, 2012
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
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Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sean%20Durkin%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zac%20Efron%2C%20Jeremy%20Allen%20White%2C%20Harris%20Dickinson%2C%20Maura%20Tierney%2C%20Holt%20McCallany%2C%20Lily%20James%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Total eligible population
About 57.5 million people
51.1 million received a jab
6.4 million have not
Where are the unvaccinated?
England 11%
Scotland 9%
Wales 10%
Northern Ireland 14%
Sting & Shaggy
44/876
(Interscope)
The%20specs
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The biog
Family: He is the youngest of five brothers, of whom two are dentists.
Celebrities he worked on: Fabio Canavaro, Lojain Omran, RedOne, Saber Al Rabai.
Where he works: Liberty Dental Clinic
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
The First Monday in May
Director: Andrew Rossi
Starring: Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld, John Paul Gaultier, Rihanna
Three stars
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How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
Barbie
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Kandahar%20
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Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
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Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
