On Syria: Germany stands out, stands up
Joyce Karam/Al Arabiya/August 27/15
They’re calling her “Mama Merkel,” sending her love messages on twitter and showing gratitude unseen recently for a Syrian or Arab leader. Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel is being celebrated by many Syrians this week, for defying EU rules and showing compassion to a refugee population that’s been let down all too often in the last four years. With more than four million refugees since 2011 and with Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon reaching full capacity in hosting those fleeing the Syrian war, the international community is dragging its feet in the face of the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Discrimination, hate crimes, and sheer catastrophes in the Mediterranean are encountering Syrians escaping on foot or by water to European shores. Barbed wires, and refugee-profiling awaits across the continent while some countries like Poland and Slovakia have made no secret that they would only take Syrian Christian refugees.
Germany stands out
Merkel might not be the most charismatic leader or orator on the global stage, but this week, Germany’s Chancellor has shown both the audacity and the empathy in addressing the Syrian refugee problem. On Tuesday, Berlin announced its intention to welcome all Syrian asylum seekers to stay in the country, disregarding Europe’s Dublin protocol and enraging the far right groups in the process. Merkel called for restoring European values in tackling the humanitarian problem, for “sharing the burden” dismissing the far right attacks as “disgusting, how right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis are trying to preach dull hate messages.” Merkel also vowed ”there will be no tolerance of those who question the dignity of other people.”Merkel’s words are not to be dismissed as political posturing for the simple reason that they have been matched with superior record from Germany among Western countries in dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis
Merkel’s words are not to be dismissed as political posturing for the simple reason that they have been matched with superior record from Germany among Western countries in dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis in the last four years. According to Amnesty International, “Germany has pledged 30,000 places for Syrian refugees through its humanitarian admission program” that’s almost half the global total of resettlement and humanitarian admission program and 82 per cent of Europe’s total. Germany and Sweden rank highest among Western countries in receiving asylum cases for Syrian refugees. Germany also comes second after Turkey as a non-Arab with most number of refugees (over 100,000), and with more than 44,417 Syrians applying for asylum this year.
Comparing numbers
Germany’s embrace of thousands of Syrian asylum seekers exposes how little have other countries done on this issue. Amnesty points out that “excluding Germany and Sweden, the remaining 26 EU countries have pledged a mere 5,105 resettlement places, or 0.13 per cent of Syrian refugees in the main host countries.” Ironically, the countries that are most involved militarily in the Syrian war and with the exception of Turkey, are the ones doing the least on the refugee issue. In that regard, both France and the United States have accepted almost 1000 asylum seeker, while the United Kingdom taken few hundreds. Russia and Iran have not reported settling of Syrian refugees and their priorities have been in keeping Assad afloat before anything else. The GCC countries have also shied away from resettling Syrian refugees, leaving the Arab burden solely on Jordan and Lebanon (2.5 million almost) and to a lesser extent Egypt and Iraq (almost half a million).
Politically, unlike France, the UK and the United States, Germany has not been vocal in supporting or funding the rebel groups. And unlike Russia, and Iran, it has not bankrolled the Assad regime, which is at the heart of displacement and destruction of Syrians, followed by ISIS. Merkel’s focus has been humanitarian, while emphasizing Assad’s loss of legitimacy and the need for him to exit the political scene.
With no end in sight for the Syrian war, however, and with militias multiplying in numbers and nefariousness, the Syrian refugee crisis is only expected to intensify in the coming period. For Germany’s Chancellor who is being called by some activists as “Merkel of Abyssinia” in reference to the Muslim migration to Ethiopia in the seventh century, this will boost Berlin’s credibility in the Middle East as an impartial problem solver, helping alleviate the suffering as many who directly contribute to it choose to ignore it.
Swiss envoy: Invest in Iran, Middle East’s ‘pole of stability’
Reuters/J.Post/August 27/15/ZURICH – Switzerland’s ambassador to Iran on Thursday called Iran a “pole of stability” in the Middle East and urged companies to make the most of a lucrative market about to re-open after years of crippling sanctions. Ambassador Giulio Haas was addressing some 500 Swiss business people as Europeans race back to Iran, whose markets and oil will be much easier to tap once sanctions are lifted, under a global deal struck last month. “Iran seems still for a lot of people to be bearded, elderly gentlemen with turbans. You see them, but you see not a lot of them, especially when you’re dealing with business,” Haas said. Iran’s adversaries in the Middle East, particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia, oppose the deal Tehran struck with world powers, limiting its nuclear work in return for sanctions relief.In the United States where Iran has long been seen as a regional menace, the US Congress has until Sept. 17 to vote on the deal backed by President Barack Obama but opposed by many Republicans. Haas said his nearly two years in Tehran had convinced him Western perceptions of Iran as the world’s most-aggressive nation were about to change. “Iran at the moment is most probably the pole of stability in a very, very unsafe region,” he told the conference. Britain reopened its embassy in Tehran on Sunday, catching up with rival European powers that have rushed to tell Iran their companies are ready to restart business. France’s foreign minister visited Tehran just two weeks after the nuclear deal was agreed on July 14. Iran’s financial sy stem should escape crippling restrictions next year, leaving foreign companies contemplating 80 million consumers, $35 trillion worth of petroleum reserves and deep infrastructure needs. Companies including engineering group ABB Ltd bank UBS and agriculture equipment maker Bucher Industries AG attended the event in a Zurich hotel hosted by a Swiss export-promotion group.
“BE BRAVE”
Swiss exports to Iran have fallen more than half to less than 400 million Swiss francs ($415 million)since 2008 as tightened UN and EU sanctions forced many companies to cut ties with the country. “It’s very important for us that the stream of money in Iran reopens,” said Christian Wuerzer, managing director at insurer SwissCare, whose products cover expatriates and diplomats. Marzban Mortaz, director of a Tehran-based juice and milk packager, said access to Swiss financiers is essential if the country’s economy is to double or triple post sanctions. “With that size of economy, everyone has expansion plans,” he told Reuters. “Companies in Iran are cash-strapped.” Experts cautioned that Iran remains a difficult market, telling the conference that bureaucracy, nepotism and corruption were common, as were the threat from product piracy and legal unpredictability. “The corruption is still at unbelievable rates,” said Sharif Nezam-Mafi, chairman of the Iran-Switzerland Chamber of Commerce and Eurasia region director of Swiss mill-maker Buehler AG. Nevertheless, speakers described Iran as a “virgin market” of sophisticated consumers ready for business with the West. “Be brave,” urged Ali Amiri of ACL Asset Management, an Iran-focused investment firm. “You’ve been to wilder places: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, South Africa, Nigeria. If you can bear those places, Iran is a walk in the park.”
