Global Scholar's Blog 2022-2023
Image sourced from: Reuters "Greece boat disaster: A Pakistani father's anguish over his missing son" Pakistan is mourning after hundreds die in Greece migrant boat disaster. The country is holding a national day of mourning after the shipwreck of a migrant ship killed at least 78 people with hundreds missing. The boat sank off the coast of Southern Greece in one of the world's worst disasters of its kind. Around 750 people were onboard traveling from Syria, Egypt, the Palestinian territories, and Pakistan trying to get to Europe. Pulled from the water, 170 people survived the event; however, 78 bodies were also recovered. Hundreds more are thought to have died from the capsizing on June 14th. Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has ordered a crackdown on human traffickers in the country with authorities having arrested 10 people after the incident. However, questions have been raised about the Greek Coast Guard's role in responding to the disaster, despite defensible pushback from the authorities.
Tragically, it has taken this massively catastrophic event for governmental figures to feel pressure to enact change. The refugee crisis in the seas of the European Union has been an ongoing issue that migrants risk to escape war, poverty, and persecution. Speculation that the boat capsized due to the Greek intervention has stemmed from survivors accounts. In a interview with CNN, Tarek Aldroobi, a man who had three relatives on board, told the news outlet that "Their boat was in a good condition and the Greek navy tried towing them to the beach but the ropes were tied in the wrong places,” and “When the Greek navy tried pulling them it caused the boat to capsize.” Sources:
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In Saqqez, Western Iran, perpetrators attacked the tombstone of Mahsa Amini which cracked the protective glass covering her grave. Mahsa Amini's brother Ashkan wrote on his Instagram that "even the glass of your tombstone bother them," and said "No matter how many times they break it, we will fix it. Let's see who gets tired first." Interestingly but not surprising, Iranian authorities had tried to prevent a local welder from building a protective case around the tombstone by threatening to shut down his business.
Mahsa Amini was a 22-year-old Iranian woman who died on Sept. 16 in the custody of the morality police in Tehran. She was detained for allegedly violating the compulsory hijab laws. Amini’s death fueled the ongoing protests over the past three months, with women leading and voicing their anger about discriminatory laws. Besides the compulsory hijab laws which force all women over 7 years old to wear a hijab, women in Iran are treated as second-class citizens in all spheres of life. For example, women cannot participate in politics. Iran is also gender-segregated, containing areas off limits to women and “women only” areas. In addition, men can legally sexually abuse their wives. Women’s rights in Iran have gained widespread awareness recently, and the protestors’ push toward gender equality has been among the largest current social justice focal points. Amini's death in police custody was the catalyst for Iran's anti-government protests; however, despite the persistence to vandalize her grave, the movement for women's rights is still strong. According to the BBC, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands more have been detained in a violent crackdown by security forces, which have portrayed the protests as foreign-instigated "riots". The Iranian dictatorship has stuck to their tactics of brutal fear and violence to silence the youth but Iranians aren't giving up. |
Natalie VArchives
May 2024
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