‘Tightening their stranglehold’: COVID-19 crackdown in MENA

The coronavirus pandemic has amplified dangers for probably the most susceptible within the Middle East and North Africa area (MENA), in response to a brand new report by Amnesty International.

Already present inequalities and discrimination have left some individuals – together with prisoners, refugees, migrants and minorities – disproportionately affected by the pandemic, stated the report by the human rights watchdog revealed on Wednesday.

In an instance of institutionalised discrimination, Israeli authorities didn’t present COVID-19 vaccinations to 5 million Palestinians within the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip when Israel’s vaccination drive started in December 2020.

“This move flagrantly violated Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under international law,” the report stated.

The pandemic additionally worsened the scenario for migrant staff tied to the “abusive” kafala sponsorship system in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the rights watchdog stated.

While some Gulf international locations waived penalties for overstaying visas, many migrant staff additionally confronted arbitrary dismissal from their jobs and weren’t paid for months.

Migrant staff had been additionally at an elevated danger of COVID-19 due to unsanitary circumstances and overcrowding in camps or shelters.

In Jordan, hundreds of migrant staff who misplaced their jobs hardly ever had entry to social safety or different employment.

In Libya, minorities together with the Tabus and Touaregs, who’re from traditionally uncared for areas, had been denied sufficient healthcare both due to inaccessible hospitals managed by rival armed teams, or at instances a scarcity of official paperwork, the report stated.

In a number of international locations, prisoners had been at an elevated danger of contracting COVID-19 attributable to overcrowding, insanitary circumstances and poor air flow, the report discovered.

Overcrowding is frequent attributable to arbitrary detention practices, together with extended pre-trial detention with out efficient attraction, as in Egypt, or administrative detention in Israel, the rights watchdog stated.

Heba Morayef, regional director for MENA at Amnesty International known as 2020 “a catastrophic year” for these already marginalised, because the pandemic made their scenario “more precarious than ever”.

“The pandemic has amplified divisions, discrimination and inequalities that already exist in the region. Governments must prioritise the provision of adequate medical care in prisons and to alleviate overcrowding; all those who have been arbitrarily detained must be released,” Morayef stated.

“It is crucial that governments in MENA ensure the healthcare they provide, including vaccines, is delivered without discrimination.”

Health staff unprotected

Health staff throughout the area suffered due to “willfully neglected health systems and pitiful social protection measures”, the report stated.

In Egypt, not less than 9 well being staff who expressed security considerations or criticised the federal government’s dealing with of the pandemic had been detained, pending investigations into “terrorism-related” prices and “spreading false news”.

Workers in Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia weren’t supplied with sufficient private protecting tools (PPE).

“The courage shown by health workers who have put their lives on the line despite tremendous risks must be recognised. With slow vaccination efforts and the pandemic showing no sign of abating in MENA, it is crucial that authorities ensure health workers are adequately protected,” Morayef stated.

A weaponised pandemic

Across the Gulf in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE authorities used the pandemic as a pretext to additional suppress the appropriate to freedom of expression, together with by prosecuting people who posted crucial feedback on social media about authorities responses to the pandemic, the rights group discovered.

Authorities in Algeria, Jordan and Morocco declared a state of emergency and punished criticism with arrests or prosecutions.

In Morocco, a brand new well being emergency legislation was used to prosecute human rights activists and citizen journalists for criticising the federal government’s dealing with of the pandemic, Amnesty stated.

In Egypt and Iran, journalists and social media customers confronted harassment or arrest for crucial feedback and protection. In Tunisia, activists confronted prison prices for his or her criticism of native authorities’ distribution of help in the course of the nationwide lockdown.

In Israel, authorities resorted to raids, judicial harassment, and journey bans to intimidate peaceable critics – together with Amnesty International’s campaigner Laith Abu Zeyad who continues to face a journey ban.

Demonstrators protest to mark the anniversary of a outstanding activist’s loss of life and in opposition to allegations of police abuse, in Tunis, Tunisia February 6, 2021 [File: Zoubeir Souissi/REUTERS]

Protests to demand rights proceed

In Lebanon, simply days after the Beirut Port explosion on August 4, safety forces cracked down on unarmed protesters calling for justice for the victims with illegal power, firing tear fuel, rubber bullets, and pellets at unarmed demonstrators wounding greater than 230 individuals, Amnesty stated.

In Tunisia, protests in opposition to financial hardship befell after months of lockdowns and had been met with disproportionate illegal power and arrests.

“As leaders across MENA exploited the pandemic to tighten their stranglehold on freedom of expression, the people in the region have continued to show that they will not remain silent in the face of oppression and injustice,” Morayef stated.

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