WORLD - The African Mirror

Dec

11

2024

What is a self-coup? South Korea president’s attempt ended in failure − a notable exception in a growing global trend

WORLD

SOMETHING unexpected – but hardly unprecedented – happened in South Korea on Dec. 3, 2024. With little warning, President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law, citing the threat from “pro-North Korean anti-state forces.” The move, which appeared more about curtailing efforts by the main opposition – the centre-left Democratic Party – to frustrate Yoon’s policy agenda through their control of parliament, left many South Koreans stunned. As one Seoul resident told reporters: “It feels like a coup d'état.” That interviewee wasn’t far off. As scholars of authoritarian politics and authors of the colpus dataset of coup types and characteristics,…

Dec

11

2024

By The African Mirror

A new strategy to support stabilization and integration of refugees and migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean

WORLD

OVER 4.5 million migrants and refugees* from Venezuela have obtained regular status in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2019, it was announced today. This was achieved thanks to the proactive measures taken by host governments within their legal frameworks, and financial support from the international community, enabling them to access documentation, regularization mechanisms and recognition of refugee status. In 2024, over 1.3 million refugees, migrants, and members of host communities benefited from opportunities for integration, protection, and humanitarian assistance through the regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP), coordinated by the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for…

Dec

10

2024

By The African Mirror

A year of unprecedented human suffering: A stark humanitarian reckoning

WORLD

IN a sobering assessment that echoes the depths of human tragedy, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has painted a devastating portrait of 2024 - a year marked by relentless conflict, systematic human rights violations, and a profound erosion of international humanitarian principles. "*The cost of war is so high. The human toll is incalculable*," Türk declared, his words reverberating with the weight of global suffering. His statement is not merely a rhetorical flourish, but a raw, unvarnished reflection of the brutal realities facing millions around the world. The global landscape in 2024 has been a nightmarish tapestry…

Dec

10

2024

By MEHMET OZALP

After 54 years of brutal rule under the Assads, Syria is at a crossroads. Here are 4 priorities to avoid yet another war

WORLD

WHO could have predicted that after nearly 14 years of civil war and five years of stalemate, the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria would collapse in just a week? With Assad’s departure, the pressing question now is what lies ahead for Syria’s immediate future. When opposition fighters led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized the major city of Aleppo in late November with minimal resistance, commentators widely believed it marked the beginning of the Assad regime’s downfall. Many anticipated a bitter fight to the end. Assad was caught off guard, and his forces were clearly unprepared. He…

Dec

10

2024

By SARAH A. SON

South Korea: defeat of president’s attempt to impose martial law shows a robust democracy at work

WORLD

JUST a year ago, the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, addressed the UK parliament with a speech that praised the country as the birthplace of liberal democracy. He pledged that South Korea would join with the UK in promoting freedom, peace and prosperity for the international community. This week, Yoon made an apparent U-turn in his admiration for democracy, throwing the country into turmoil by calling for emergency martial law. In a televised address to the nation, he claimed there was a need to protect the country from “shameless, pro-North Korean, anti-state” forces. He also said it was time…

Dec

09

2024

By ALI MAMOURI

Bashar al-Assad’s regime has fallen in Syria. How will this impact an already fractured region?

WORLD

THE swift and unexpected fall of the Syrian capital, Damascus, to Sunni opposition forces marks a pivotal moment in the modern history of the Middle East. Bashar al-Assad’s regime had withstood more than a decade of uprisings, civil war and international sanctions since the onset of widespread protests in 2011. Yet, it collapsed in a remarkably short period of time. This sudden turn of events, with the opposition advancing without significant battles or resistance, has left regional powers scrambling to assess the fallout and its broader implications. This dramatic development signals a reshuffling of power dynamics in the region. It…

Dec

08

2024

By The African Mirror

No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO

WORLD

ONE of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO). “All night, there was heavy bombing around the Kamal Adwan Hospital”, said Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the UN health agency Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Speaking from Gaza to journalists in Geneva, he reported that an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank was seen outside the hospital early in the morning, around 4 am, while people were told to move out of…

Dec

08

2024

By The African Mirror

Briefing on the first regional mission of UN and NGO Emergency Directors to the Middle East

WORLD

MORE than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which the Security Council sanctions as a terrorist group. Aid has continued to flow from Türkiye across three border crossings into the embattled northwest. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that it had opened community kitchens in Aleppo and Hama – now reportedly occupied by HTS fighters. In neighbouring Lebanon, meanwhile, senior UN aid official Edem Wosornu expressed deep concerns for the safety of more than 600,000 people who…

Dec

07

2024

By MYUNGHEE LEE

What South Korea’s short-lived martial law says about nation’s democracy and the autocratic tendencies of President Yoon

WORLD

DURING a whirlwind few hours in South Korean politics, President Yoon Suk Yeol placed the country under martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, only to lift it just a short while later. It marked the first time that a South Korean leader has imposed the emergency power since 1979. And although short-lived, the measure provoked concerns of the country backsliding into authoritarian rule. To explain what happened and what it means for South Korean democracy, The Conversation U.S. turned to Myunghee Lee, an expert on authoritarianism, democracy and South Korean politics at Michigan State University. How did all this unfold?…

Dec

07

2024

By The African Mirror

Amnesty International says Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

WORLD

AN Amnesty International investigation has concluded that Israel has and is continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, during the military offensive it launched last October. The watchdog group released a 296-page report today, detailing – among other crimes – Israel’s direct or indiscriminate attack on civilians, mass forced displacement, and the destruction and denial of aid. It concluded, crucially for a legal finding of genocide, that Israel carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention “with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza”. “Month after month, Israel has treated Palestinians in Gaza as a subhuman group unworthy of…