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NL Growing drug problem in Jordan and Lebanon
The drug captagon is causing a major problem in the Middle East. The drug emerged in the early 2000s when IS distributed it to its warriors, but soon spread to the rest of the population. It has become the drug of choice for young people in the Middle East and North Africa. The growing demand has led to a booming [...]
"They rightly feel abandoned": One week after earthquake, northwest Syria still awaits international aid
After the devastating earthquake, rebel-controlled areas in northwestern Syria are still struggling to receive aid from the international community. While southeastern Turkey is rightly receiving aid from around the world, NPR journalists have reported that on its border with Syria it is "empty and silent". Meanwhile, the tyrannical [...]
FMS Political Café: Passion and unity on 'revolutionary situation' in Iran
People are still taking to the streets en masse in Iran for the biggest Iranian protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The FMS organised a political café about this on 2 February. With a passionate and engaged audience, experts, politicians and representatives of the Iranian diaspora stressed the importance of continued support for the [...]
Interview: Colleague Meriem on her experiences in the Palestinian territories
Colleague Meriem Hammami visited the Palestinian territories in November during a three-day fieldtrip organised by the Palestinian-European Civil Society Forum and the Jerusalem Human Rights Consortium. During the fieldtrip, she experienced poignant moments. FMS interviewed her about the experiences that stuck with her most. What was the background to your trip to [...]
Egypt suffers from skyrocketing inflation
A 1 Egyptian pound note. The social contract between Egyptian President Abdul Fatah al-Sisi and Egyptians is in question. Egypt has a long history of trading political freedoms for socio-economic gains. With the Egyptian economy in a deep slump, the question is whether Egyptians continue to believe in [...]
Harsh repression and economic malaise keep Iranian regime in power
Protests in Amsterdam in October 2022 in solidarity with Iranian protesters In recent months, Iranians have taken to the streets en masse to demonstrate for greater freedom. The protest movement is in dire straits. Partly due to harsh government repression and economic woes, the protests seem to have passed their peak. "Women, life, freedom" The immediate cause [...]
Background to Tunisia's bizarre elections with a nine per cent turnout
Last Saturday, Tunisia went to the polls for the first time since the outbreak of a deep political crisis between President Kais Saied and the Assembly of Representatives (Majlis Nuwwab ash-Sha'b), Tunisia's parliament, a year and a half ago. The outcome of the election was shocking but not entirely surprising. Only just under nine per cent of the electorate [...]
EU milestones in Bosnia and Kosovo underline importance of European engagement
Photo: The European Parliament in Strasbourg, France (Flickr) After a long period of limbo, the war in Ukraine brought a turnaround in European efforts to integrate the Western Balkans into the EU. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the next country to take a step towards EU membership. At the same time, Kosovo is also trying to make a [...]
Protests in Iran continue despite heavy-handed repression and half-hearted promises
Protest in Melbourne in September 2022 in solidarity with protests in Iran Over the past 12 weeks, Iranians took to the streets en masse to demonstrate. The immediate cause was the death of 22-year-old Masha Amini, who was arrested by the so-called vice police for not wearing "modest clothing" prior to her death. [...]
Nikolai Statkevich: 'As a Belarusian, I am used to solitary confinement'
Military analyses from the penal camp Nikolai Statkevich is chairman of the Social Democratic Party 'Narodnaya Gromada' in Belarus. Under Alexander Lukashenko's regime, he had previously spent eight years in various prisons and camps because of his political activities. A few months before the 2020 presidential elections and subsequent mass protests, he was imprisoned in broad daylight [...]