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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Iranian MPs criticise Saudi role in Yemen, Bahrain


They criticised what they called Saudi Arabia’s “role” in suppressing protests in Bahrain and Yemen, the parliament’s website reported. “The killing of innocent people in these two countries, in light of Saudi Arabia’s role, shows the weakness of the governments,” in Manama and Sanaa, said the statement signed by 210 MPs of the 290-seat parliament. The statement called on the United Nations to send a delegation and investigate the human rights situation and to “stop Saudi Arabia’s interference in the internal affairs” of the two countries. The lawmakers also denounced “the West’s silence” in the face of “savage suppression.” Iran has vocally supported most uprisings in the Arab world, with the exception of the revolt in its regional ally Syria, where it backs the regime of President Bashar al-Assad while advocating reforms. Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia rose sharply in March when Saudi troops intervened in Bahrain to help the Gulf kingdom’s Sunni ruling family suppress month-long protests led by its Shiite majority community. The Saudi intervention triggered angry protests from Tehran, also heightening tensions with other Gulf monarchies. Iran has also slammed the Riyadh-backed crackdown on protesters in Yemen.

Sluggish donor response another disaster


Oxfam regretted the slow response to UN appeal for flood affectees of Sindh and Balochistan. Oxfam called the Government of Pakistan and the international donor community to dig deep into their resources and rapidly increase their funding to prevent the disaster from deteriorating further. The agency warns that the situation of millions of people in Sindh and Balochistan will worsen unless more aid arrives. According to the latest figures, more than 8.8 million people in Sindh and 14,000 people in Balochistan so far have been affected by the 2011 monsoon rains. The human impact of this disaster in terms of the number of people affected is more than the combined impact of the Haiti earthquake and the Pakistan earthquake of 2005. Reported losses are being estimated at $215 million, and that number is likely to increase as some areas are inaccessible, and the impact of the floods cannot be assessed. This is a cruel repeat of last year. Again funding is too little and far too slow. Donors must recognise the gravity of the situation. Millions of innocent people, the majority of which are women and children, are in desperate need of the basics: food, water, sanitation, healthcare and shelter. If assistance does not come quickly, then a second emergency of rising malnutrition and rising water-borne diseases risks making a public health disaster a reality. There is no time to waste. We must all act now, said Neva Khan, Country Director of Oxfam in Pakistan. Approximately 6.8 million acres of land have been damaged by the floods - an area nearly as large as Haiti. According to the UN, the floods have wiped out 73 percent of standing crops, 36 percent of livestock and 67 percent of food stocks in the 13 worst affected districts of Sindh. In a province where already 72 percent of the population is acutely short of food, this loss of crops means hundreds of thousands more people do not have enough to eat. Approximately 97 percent of the UN’s $357 million appeal remains unfunded. So far only $11.5 million has been committed by donors. This pales in comparison with the amounts committed to other crises. Within the first 10 days of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, which left some 3.5 million people homeless, the international community had committed $247 million and pledged $45 million. This works out to $70 committed per person, during that time period. Likewise, some $742 million was committed to Haiti 10 days after the quake and $920 million pledged. Some 1.5 million were directly affected by the quake, which works out at $495 per person in the first 10 days.