By Elizabeth M.Koikai

Norway has been in a rather difficult position in the last few weeks. Hundreds of Roma people who beg in the streets of Oslo set up makeshift tents outside Sofienberg church, claiming that they are continuously harassed and arrested by the Police in Oslo.

An organisation know as “People are people” is said to be behind the action taken by the beggars.

The church officials found it hard to turn them away, they let the beggars put up their tents temporarily. However, several residents reacted strongly to the establishment of the camp at the church’s doorsteps.

During the course of that week, church officials arranged a meeting with some of the beggars and concluded that the church no longer wanted the camp outside the church area. The church officials argued that the area was used by many and it is a public area, adding that it was illegal and not proper for people to reside in a parking area.

– The camp has to be cleared as soon as possible. The Church can not be responsible for the safety and health conditions of those living here, Robert Wright the Churchwarden told the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.

Acting Bishop Olav Dag Hauge emphasized that the church was not going to force the Roma people out of the area, but that the police had the authority to intervene.

The decision to close the camp was not welcomed with open arms, some of the beggars who took part in the meeting claimed that the church had taken a political decision in closing the camp.

– We do not know what to do. We think this is inhuman. People respect animals more than they respect us, said one of the beggars when asked to comment on the decision.

The spokesperson of the church stated that the action was never meant to be prolonged, and that the church had always emphasized that it was temporary.

 Camps moved to Årvoll

The camp at Sofienberg church was moved last Saturday to a private property here in Oslo. The part owner of the land, Vanessa Quintavalle told the media that she had decided to help the Romani people who had nowhere to go.

– They are people too. If they come here, they can tell people that they are here legally, she said.

The land that Vanessa Quintavalle owns is a 26.5-acre building site that is in Årvoll minutes away from Oslo city centre. She says that she thought about offering her land to the homeless beggars and that the site is just there not being utilised.

Upon hearing the news the Romani people were relieved and looked forward to moving from Sofienberg church. Little did they know that it was a bare building site.

On Friday evening Bjønnulv Evenrud chairperson of the organization #People are people”, told the media that he was pleased and that the camp was ready for occupation by Saturday morning.

– We have a private sponsor with a plot of 26 acres. There is plumbing and electricity, and we are very satisfied.

Problems continue at Årvoll

Some had hoped that the situation would calm down when the Romani people in Oslo received permission from Vanessa Quintavalle to set camp in Årvoll. The story took a weird twist when millionaire Albert Kr. Hæhre who is the landowner of the site came back from vacation. Mr. Hæhre stated that he had no knowledge of Vanessa Quintavalle’s actions and  did not support her.

To view a larger size, click on the picture:

Mr. Hæhre added that he wants the Roma people removed from his land. Last week, child care services and the county doctor in Oslo warned that the camp was a health hazard and should be closed immediately.

The move to Årvoll has not elapsed without any problems.

Several Årvoll residents also complained about the beggars, claiming that the they were playing loud music late into the night. Others claimed that the beggars were loitering around their neighbourhood and even defecating in their gardens, causing uneasiness.

Four men were arrested after shooting fireworks into the camp site, directing their anger towards the Roma beggars on Sunday night. One of them has been charged with violence against a police officer after trying to push the officer with his vehicle.

However, the police argued that the Roma beggars had generally behaved well, according to Aftenposten, a Norwegian newspaper.

Årvoll Residents Outraged

Since the move to Årvoll, Norwegians residing in the area have been angered by the decision made to move the Roma people near their neighbourhood.

They claimed that the decision was not democratic because they were not asked if they wanted a camp near their properties and children.

– They should have considered us and our children before moving strangers into our neighbourhood, this is the last time I am going to walk my dog around this area, stated a woman living in the quiet neighbourhood.

They persistently asked those responsible to close down the camp. Residents living in the area have even taken matters into their own hands. There has been reports of neighbourhood watch groups.

http://www.africanpress.me/ Roma people occupyin g Årvoll building site in oslo Norway picture 3

A local newspaper has also reported that many in the neighbourhood have interrupted their vacation to come home and look after their houses.

Last Thursday, residents living in the Årvoll area threatened to sue the Mr. Hæhre who is the landowner, if the Roma people were not moved within three days.

Årvoll is a residential area north of Oslo, with around 4,700 inhabitants.

Norwegian Police officials claim that begging is an organized trade and suspect that some groups of beggars are also linked to crimes such as pick-pocketing, shoplifting and burglaries that are usually common during summer.

http://www.africanpress.me/ Roma people occupyin g Årvoll building site in oslo Norway picture 4

Such reports have made Norwegians weary of Roma people as a whole and are suspicious of their activities in Norway.  

Outcasts of Europa

Siv Jensen who is the leader of the Progress right-wing party in Norway suggests that the Roma beggars should be expelled from Norway. The Conservative Party in Oslo have also supported deportation. However, both the legal expertise and the European leader Torbjorn Jagland have warned against this.

– This is completely contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, said the former prime minister.

The problems the Roma people face today are not new. They have been subjected to various forms of discrimination throughout history and in nearly all the countries in which they have settled. These groups of people have held on to their culture despite abject poverty, but this has come with a price. They face isolation and stigmatization from the surrounding populations in Europa. They are usually stereotyped as thieves, tramps and con men.

Amnesty International in Norway has been vigilant as the events unfold in Norway.

Hate Speech

The recent action by the Roma people to set up makeshift tents outside the Sofienberg church and Årvoll site, has sparked heated debates on social networking sites and online newspapers comment fields. Many Norwegians let out their fury online, majority were angered by the lack of action by their government and institutions that are responsible for this ongoing problem. Some Norwegians urged the Roma people to take their own lives, and someone even compared them with brown snails.

Olav Rune Ekeland Bastrup who is an expert on the Roma people claims that the debates online are hateful and characterized by misunderstandings. He continues by saying that deportations of the Romani people as suggested by some politicians is not a solution.

The Anti-racist centre in Oslo has also warned the public of posting hateful comments on debate forums claiming that the Roma people’s history is more brutal than most people realize.

Årvoll Camp to be closed

Last week, land owners Albert Kr. Hæhre and Vanessa Quintavalle came to an agreement that the camp at their building site be removed by Tuesday. The municipality confirmed this to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) that they received a letter from the two land owners. Residents of the area were elated and the Roma people started moving out, upon hearing the news.

By today afternoon, there was only one car the at the camp. The order by the landowner Albert Kr. Hæhre to vacate his land met no resistance.

The Roma people who come to look for greener pastures in Norway are usually living in open parks, car parking areas and even under bridges. This has caused them to be targeted by police who patrol at night trying to safeguard public properties.

But according to Bjønnulv Evenrud, chairperson of organization “People are people”, a person believed to have masterminded the action taken by the Roma beggars, now wants the municipality to offer a new camp for the beggars. His sentiments were immediately dismissed by the city council.

Related stories:

• Norway: Beggars roam the streets of Oslo – API’s Elizabeth interviews Kari Gran 
• Norway: A magnet for beggars 

End

——————

The President of Ghana John Atta Mills died Tuesday afternoon unexpectedly. It is reported that he had complained of pain on Monday.

Some weeks ago, he was back from the US where he had been undergoing treatment for throat cancer.

Atta Mills dies only a few months before he was to stand for re-election. His country has been praised for a strong democracy.

Mills became Ghana’s president in January 2009. Before that, he was vice president under Jerry Rawlings from 1997 to 2001.

End.

JOHANNESBURG,  – The Himalayan glaciers that feed major south Asian rivers like the Indus, the Brahmaputra and the Ganges are melting more rapidly, reveals a major new study which says that soaring global temperatures are not the only reason.

The study, led by Yao Tandong, director of the Institute of Tibetan Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and eminent glaciologist and paleo-climatologist Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University, is the most comprehensive examination so far of the region’s glaciers.

“The status of the glaciers had been a bone of contention,” reported the weekly science journal, Nature, whose sister publication, the peer-reviewed journal, Nature Climate Change, published the study. “Earlier this year, an analysis of 7 years’ worth of measurements, taken by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission, suggested that high-altitude Asian glaciers on the whole are losing ice only one-tenth as fast as previously estimated, and that glaciers on the Tibetan plateau are actually growing.”

The GRACE mission is a joint partnership between the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Luft und Raumfahrt (DLR) in Germany.

“Since a number of papers… have been published, based on a seven-year GRACE data set, it was important to look at the longer-term retreat story, as climate is generally considered a 30-year average of the weather,” Thompson said in an email to IRIN.

For the glaciers studied, approximately nine percent of the area of ice that was present in the early 1970s had disappeared by the early 2000s

The scientists studied 30 years of data from the field, and satellite and weather records to examine the retreat of 82 glaciers, the area reduction of 7,090 glaciers, and mass-balance change – the difference between the accumulation and loss of ice of 15 glaciers in the seven larger regions of the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau and the Pamir Mountains. Glaciers in this region give birth to major rivers across Southeast Asia and the Far East, from the Ganges to the Mekong, the Yellow and the Yangtze, which provide water to 20 percent of the world’s population.

“For the glaciers studied, approximately nine percent of the area of ice that was present in the early 1970s had disappeared by the early 2000s. Where we had decadal information, we could show that the rate of retreat had accelerated,” Thompson said.

“Potential consequences of glacier changes would be unsustainable water supplies from major rivers, and geohazards (glacier-lake expansion, glacier-lake outbursts and flooding), which might threaten the livelihoods and wellbeing of those in the downstream regions,” the study warned.

A sustained glacier retreat would increase the volume of water in rivers and also sediments, which could choke water supply, affecting agriculture.

When glaciers retreat, lakes commonly form behind the newly exposed debris – soil and rock called a moraine – which is carried along by the leading edge of the ice wall. Rapid accumulation of water in these lakes could lead to a sudden breach of the moraine dam, causing a possibly catastrophic glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF).

In the recent past, Nepal alone has been affected by 21 GLOF events, and 200 potentially dangerous glacial lakes have been documented across the Himalayan region.

The Indus

Thompson, the leading authority on high-altitude glaciers in the tropics and near tropics, pointed out that the Naimona’nyi glacier, which feeds the Indus River, had shrunk by 155m within the 30 years from 1976 to 2006, at a rate of about five metres per year.

He and his colleagues drilled ice cores from deep within the glacier in 2006. An ice core provides detailed climate records that can extend over hundreds of thousands of years. Wind-blown dust, ash, bubbles of atmospheric gas, and radioactive substances trapped in the layers of ice in each core have provided valuable information on volcanic activity, ocean volumes and the historic impact of climate change.

“We were surprised to find that at 6,050 metres [the height at which the glacier is located] there had been no net accumulation [of ice] since the late 1940s,” he told IRIN. “Also in 2006, we observed cyoconite holes in the glacier all the way to the summit. The holes form when dust accumulates on the surface and absorbs solar radiation, causing melting. The dust actually collects in depressions on the glacier surface and then melts into the glacier. Some of these holes are two metres deep and filled with water, indicating that melting is occurring at the highest elevations of this glacier,” Thompson said.

“It means that the glaciers are wasting much faster than just the loss of area, but they are also wasting from the top down, which means they are losing ice volume rapidly. Thus, we expect to see the area of ice loss to accelerate in the near future if these conditions hold, so it is very hard to predict when the glacier will actually disappear. In this case, the past behaviour of the glacier is not likely a good indicator of the future.”

He noted that “This is significant for water resources in the Indus River, as it is believed that 40 percent of the water discharge in that basin in the dry season comes from melting glaciers. The impact on the other rivers systems is a function of the many glaciers that feed the headwaters of the rivers.”

Causes

The study found that the Himalayan glaciers, which are fed by the Indian monsoons, were shrinking more rapidly than those in Pamir Mountains, which were influenced by the westerlies, the prevailing winds. These glaciers gain from winter snow and are less affected by warming, while in the Himalayas it snows during the monsoon season, in summer, and temperature increases can have a dramatic effect.

Rainfall records from the region indicate that the Indian monsoon is getting weaker while the westerlies are strengthening. “Under the present warming conditions, glacier shrinkage might further accelerate in the Himalayas, whereas glaciers might advance in the eastern Pamir regions,” said the study.

Obtaining accurate data is the biggest hurdle in researching the impact of climate change on the region. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which has come under fire for citing “grey literature” – a report that has not been peer-reviewed – in a projection of glacier melt in the Himalayas, has highlighted the need for robust evidence.

A number of studies between 1999 and 2001 have backed the link between climate change and glacier melting. A joint study by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a Nepal-based research centre supported by eight governments in the region and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said, “The Himalayan glaciers have retreated by approximately a kilometre since the Little Ice Age [from 1350 to 1900].”

jk/he source www.innews.org

—————–

Moving forward

The guidance comes days after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its approval of Truvada for PrEP. The FDA recommended that HIV-negative individuals at high risk should take Truvada daily to lower their chances of becoming infected if they are exposed to the virus.

Kenyan government officials say the country is investigating the feasibility of adding PrEP to its repertoire of options. “Kenya is always receptive to new technologies to the extent that they are feasible, cost-effective and portend no adverse social, human rights or health system consequences,” said Dr Peter Cherutich, acting head of Kenya’s National AIDS and Sexually transmitted infections Control Programme (NASCOP).

“We have had extensive discussions on the matter [PrEP] and at the moment we are planning deliverability studies, beginning September 2012. If all goes well, we should adopt PrEP as part of combination prevention in mid-2013.”

Cherutich said a number of factors would need to be taken into account before rolling out a new approach, including “competition with treatment, resource-wise, especially within a discordant relationship in which the infected partner may be preferred to receive treatment, rather than the uninfected partner receiving PrEP”, the potential for incorrect of ARVs for prevention, concerns about reinforcing complacency over HIV, and the cost of funding such a programme.

James Kamau, the coordinator of Kenya Treatment Access Movement, said the addition of treatment to the prevention “toolkit” was welcome. “Countries like Kenya must now change their policies to include Truvada as a critical component of their HIV prevention strategy,” he told IRIN/PlusNews. “We have so many people in need of antiretroviral treatment who aren’t getting it, and we must embrace anything that would stop that number from increasing.”

He said PrEP would require adequate sensitization to prevent people from abandoning cheaper, widely available, tried-and-tested HIV prevention methods like condom use.

MSM

Representatives of some “most-at-risk” groups expressed concern that they would not benefit from PrEP. “The stigma and taboo attached to same-sex activity means many men who have sex with men, and women who have sex with women, are not able to easily access health services,” said Denis Nzioka, editor of Identity Magazine. 

“The government would need to ensure that the message [reaches] all groups who need to have access to it, and. that these groups are fully aware that Truvada works in conjunction with other HIV prevention methods such as condoms, water-based lubricant and so on,” he said.

“Fighting HIV is not just a health issue, it is also a human rights issue – decriminalization of same-sex activity will be key to sexual minorities accessing crucial health services.”

Cost, complacency

Uganda’s Ministry of Health appears concerned with the cost of PrEP and the danger of complacency. “Usually, we change our HIV prevention and treatment policy after thorough scientific research and technical assessments. We have also to look at whether it’s affordable and conforms to our disease pattern. We don’t see any reason to change at the moment – the regimens we currently have in the country are working,” Christine Ondoa, Uganda’s Health Minister, told IRIN/PlusNews.

Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN

Experts caution that tried and tested HIV prevention methods must continue to be promoted

“Truvada is good,” said Asuman lukwago, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health. “However, the medicine is too expensive – encouraging [the use of] it will increase our prevention and treatment burden. We currently have problems with the Global Fund [to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria] money, which we rely on so much.”

The manufacturer of the approved pill estimates that the medicine will typically cost US$13,900 per person per year in the US.

He suggested that “We should continue using cheaper protection methods like condoms. Truvada is not a vaccine for HIV, it’s a preventive drug – people should stick to the ABC [abstinence, be faithful, and correct and consistent use of condoms.]“

But activists say the government should look into the official use of PrEP as part of the package of options, especially as HIV prevalence in Uganda has climbed from 6.4 percent to 7.3 percent in the last five years.

“The government knows the infection rates have gone up… it should focus on prevention measures to protect people. The use of Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis is one of [them],” said Florence Buluba, the executive director of the National Community of Women Living with AIDS (NACWOLA). “The Ministry of Health should do whatever it takes to ensure all Ugandans stay healthy.”

kr/so/ko/he source www.irinnews.org

——————-

ABIDJAN,  – Arbitrary arrests, kidnappings and torture by armed groups and government forces since the end of Côte d’Ivoire’s bloody 2010-2011 post-election unrest are stifling national reconciliation and causing fear and mistrust among civilians.

A local human rights group estimates that around 200 supporters of ousted president Laurent Gbagbo have been detained, mostly in northern Côte d’Ivoire. Gbagbo, who is being held by the International Criminal Court, refused to concede defeat to current president Alassane Ouattara in the 2010 polls, sparking clashes that killed some 3,000 people.

In the western and central towns of Daloa and Issia, several civilians have been arrested and mistreated by armed traditional hunters known as Dozos, who are carrying out unauthorized security duties, while Republican Forces troops who backed Ouattara have also committed abuses in the western region. Many of the troops do not respect the military chain of command, the Ivorian Human Rights League (LIDHO) said.

“There is still some sort of confusion in the country. There is no clear division of responsibility at the top government level, so much so that we do not know who is arresting who, and the abuses continue,” said René Hokou Legré, the head of LIDHO.

“Many people face charges. Things are not being done the right way. Today there are people who have been arrested and detained and do not even have visiting rights – it’s like something is being kept secret,” he said.

A January 2012 report by the UN Independent Expert on the human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire, noted that most of the violations resulted “less from the state’s complicity than from its failure to prevent them, especially because of the difficulty of reforming the security sector and re-establishing the government’s authority over the country’s entire territory.”

In the capital, Abidjan, the district of the Yopougon, one of the neighbourhoods worst hit by post-election violence, Cyrille Adiko*, 33, recounted how he and more than a dozen other residents were arrested in April and later presented on national television as mercenaries plotting a coup d’état.

“For ten days we did not see daylight. Armed men tied our hands and feet. We only had water and biscuits at times,” said Adiko. “When we arrived, already there were around ten people held in another cell under tough conditions.”

On the same day, Bertin Djédjé*, also from Yopougon, was arrested for the third time. “On the first two occasions I was lucky because I had my work ID, but this time around my name was associated with the former president’s region. The soldiers put us through the worst humiliation. I don’t think there are chances that the country will reconcile under these conditions,” he said.

In July 2011, three months after Gbagbo was arrested and President Ouattara took power, Côte d’Ivoire set up the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CDVR), but despite a recovery from the worst of the violence, the panel is struggling to unite a country torn apart by successive crises and deep political and ethnic divisions.

Ouattara Karim, the CDVR’s youth advisor, said the arrest of supporters of the former president was complicating the reconciliation, especially those associated with Charles Blé Goudé, a militant pro-Gbagbo youth leader accused by rights groups of playing a key a role in the unrest and who is under an international warrant issued by Abidjan.

“I find it difficult to understand that while we are working to build confidence between one another, it seems like there is a bulldozer flattening all our efforts. I’m not happy with what is happening. We should stop these things [arrests] and begin a true reconciliation of Ivorians,” Karim told reporters in June.

“The government, through the prime minister, has begun talks with the opposition,” said government spokesman Bruno Koné. “These are signs of openness in the national reconciliation process. There are difficulties, but the process is under way. The CDVR set up by President Ouattara is working.”

Gilbert Gonnin, a history professor at Abidjan’s l’Université de Cocody, also criticized the arrests, which he termed as a form of victor’s justice. “Some effort has been put in, but reconciliation efforts are being undermined by the arrests and abductions,” Gonnin told IRIN.

“We can’t achieve peace when part of the population feels that they are victims of the victor’s justice,” he said. “There needs to be fair justice to bring confidence – without that the reconciliation will just be empty talk.”

aa/ob/he
source www.irinnews.org

————-