(This June 11 story corrects amount recovered by trustee in last paragraph)
FILE PHOTO: Representations of virtual currency Bitcoin are seen in this picture illustration taken taken March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
By Nichola Saminather
TORONTO (Reuters) – Last year’s collapse of Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform Quadriga CX was due to a Ponzi scheme operated by founder Gerald Cotten, who died suddenly in December 2018, the country’s biggest securities regulator said on Thursday.
Cotten died at age 30 from complications of Crohn’s disease while volunteering at an orphanage in India, according to the Facebook page of Quadriga CX, which announced his death in January 2019.
“What happened at Quadriga was an old-fashioned fraud wrapped in modern technology,†staff at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) wrote in a report.
“While public release of an investigative report is rare, we believe the tens of thousands of Ontarians who entrusted Quadriga with their money and crypto assets deserve to know what happened.â€
Facing losses when the price of crypto assets changed, Cotten covered the ensuing shortfall with other clients’ deposits, according to the report.
Richard Niedermayer, lawyer for Cotten’s widow, Jennifer Robertson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Some 76,000 investors from Canada and around the world collectively lost at least C$169 million ($124.2 million)
from the collapse of Quadriga in 2019, the statement added.
About C$115 million of that was due to Cotten’s fraudulent trading, the regulator said.
When Cotten died, the platform owed approximately C$215 million to clients, according to the OSC. Cotten also siphoned off assets for personal use, transferring about C$24 million to himself and Robertson between May 2016 and January 2018, the report said.
About C$34 million was recovered by the bankruptcy trustee and paid to clients, it said. The trustee also recovered assets from Robertson expected to be worth about C$12 million, and Cotten returned about C$10 million to Quadriga in the months before his death, it said.
Reporting by Nichola Saminather in Toronto; Editing by Denny Thomas and Matthew Lewis
Mr Johnson posted a copy of an image that has been widely shared online.
It shows a photo of George Floyd with text saying: “The media and the left have made George Floyd into a martyr. But who was he really?”
It lists several previous convictions and alleges Mr Floyd was “high on meth getting ready to drive a car and possibly kill your kid” at the time of his arrest.
Mr Johnson added his own caption, stating: “This is no reason to condone his killing by the officer at all, which still needs to be investigated as a potential crime.
“It is a learning opportunity for people (and your kids) to teach that this type of criminal lifestyle never results in good things happening to you or those around you.”
How did Riot Games respond?
On Wednesday, Riot Games placed Mr Johnson on leave to launch an investigation.
It said the post was “abhorrent, against our values, and directly counter to our belief that addressing systemic racism requires immediate societal change”.
“We must respect that everyone is entitled to their own political views,” wrote Riot Games chief executive Nicolo Laurent.
“I believe Ron exercised really poor judgment here. It resulted in a post that was harmful to many of us and our broader community. It was insensitive and in this moment, it undermines the commitment we’ve made to stand against all acts of injustice, racism, prejudice, and hate.
“Ron understands this and recognises that he will be ineffective as a leader at Riot going forward. As a result, he has resigned, effective today.”
Matt Comstock (left) takes the temperature of a guest at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday. A spike in coronavirus cases in Florida and other states raised concerns in financial markets.
Chris O’Meara/AP
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Chris O’Meara/AP
Matt Comstock (left) takes the temperature of a guest at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday. A spike in coronavirus cases in Florida and other states raised concerns in financial markets.
Chris O’Meara/AP
Updated at 12:03 p.m. ET
Major stock indexes rose Friday, a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average dived 1,861 points amid spikes in new coronavirus cases in states that had reopened their economies.
The Dow was up 470 points, or nearly 2%, in midday trading Friday, and the S&P 500 gained about 1.5%. A day earlier, the Dow lost about 7%, and the S&P 500 dove nearly 6%.
The market’s volatility comes as a number of states, such as Florida and South Carolina, reported surges in new coronavirus cases, raising concerns that a second wave will trigger renewed lockdowns and stall an economic recovery. Florida reported nearly 1,700 new cases Thursday — the biggest jump since March. South Carolina announced nearly 700 new cases, a record high.
The Federal Reserve issued new projections this week that unemployment would remain high through at least next year, which also weighed on the markets.
Golf courses across South Africa will be allowed to open under level 3 of the lockdown with amateurs allowed to play and train again after talks between stakeholders and the ministry of sport.
According to GolfRSA courses will be required to undergo strict hygiene compliance protocols set out by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
Golf courses allowed to open
GolfRSA oversee the amateur game in South Africa and have sought government approval for the opening of clubs to members only.
Previously government had stated that only professional non-contact sports could resume with the terms then extended to include elite amateurs.
All golfers who belong to a federation, agency, club or body will be allowed to play but only courses that complete the protocols will be permitted to reopen and interprovincial travel to play the sport remains forbidden.
“GolfRSA and the Golf bodies welcome the efforts of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture that have allowed for the safe return of Golf,†GolfRSA said in a statement on Friday.
“The Golf bodies wish to thank the minister, director-general and their team of staff for their commitment to helping golf to begin exercise and training for members of a federation, agency, club or body.â€
Safety is paramount
The amateur golf oversight body said they did not take their responsibility to the wider public lightly, and they would do their utmost to ensure that golf courses comply with regulations.
“Golf acknowledges and recognises that the safety of human life is of paramount importance,†GolfRSA’s statement on the decision continued.
“We appreciate the challenge presented to government to ensure an appropriate response to the threats presented by the global coronavirus pandemic.Â
“As a result, we sought to ensure compliance with unfolding regulations and directives.â€
Golf clubs equipped to begin reopening
GolfRSA say they have armed clubs and courses with the knowledge they require to plot a path to reopening the sport.
“Over the past few weeks, GolfRSA has equipped all clubs with Risk Mitigation Strategies and training of Compliance Officers.
“In addition to this, GolfRSA has provided all facilities with a state-of-the-art Application that allows for the scanning and monitoring of all golfers and staff,†the statement read.
“Clubs need to complete the Confirmation of Compliance Document and submit it to GolfRSA before they can open their facilities.â€
CEO of GolfRSA Grant Hepburn has taken the lead in discussions with government alongside Sunshine Tour Commissioner Selwyn Nathan, PGA of South Africa CEO Ivano Ficalbi and Club Manager Association of SA Chairperson Chris van der Merwe.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan say they are “disgusted” by President Donald Trump’s remarks on the nationwide protests against racial injustice.
The Facebook founder and his wife this week shared their thoughts in an email to a group of scientists who are backed by their nonprofit organisation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).
The scientists recently raised concerns about how Facebook has handled Trump’s posts on the platform.
“We are deeply shaken and disgusted by President Trump’s divisive and incendiary rhetoric at a time when our nation so desperately needs unity,” Zuckerberg and Chan wrote.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan say they are “disgusted” by President Donald Trump’s remarks on the nationwide protests against racial injustice. (CNN)
“This is an extraordinarily painful inflection point in our nation’s story, particularly for the Black community and our Black colleagues, who have lived with the impacts of systemic racism for generations.”
The email was provided to CNN Business by Jason Shepherd, a scientist backed by CZI who helped put together the letter to Zuckerberg earlier this month. The email was first reported by Recode.
The response came days after more than 140 scientists who have received funding and support from CZI penned an open letter to Zuckerberg that urged him to “consider stricter policies on misinformation and incendiary language.”
In the letter, the scientists pointed to a widely condemned Facebook post Trump sent during the protests, which said: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
This “is a clear statement of inciting violence,” the scientists wrote. “Like many, we were disconcerted to see that Facebook has not followed their own policies in regards to President Trump, who has used the Facebook platform to spread both misinformation and incendiary statements.”
In the email sent to the scientists on Tuesday, Zuckerberg and Chan said the group’s letter had been “shared and discussed by CZI’s entire leadership team,” and added that they took the “concerns seriously and to heart.”
But Zuckerberg and Chan offered little in the way of new action. Instead, they shared earlier Facebook posts written by Zuckerberg, who defended the company’s stance and pledged to review its policies about content moderation, voter suppression and the state use of force.
CZI did not respond to requests for comment on Zuckerberg and Chan’s response to the scientists.
Zuckerberg’s decision to leave the Trump posts up has alienated many of the company’s own workers. Last week, some Facebook employees staged a virtual walkout over inaction on the matter.
One employee even quit his job last week, telling CNN Business he was worried that Facebook would be used to further escalate violence in the United States.
The couple also stressed that Facebook and CZI are “entirely separate and independent organisations,” though acknowledged that they share a leader.
“In this moment, we understand that CZI’s relationship to Facebook is not an easy tension to bridge,” they wrote, adding that Facebook’s policies “are not the decisions of CZI as an organisation.”
Gadget makers have been striving to cut wires from their products for years and when it comes to headphones, they’ve just about managed it.
So-called ‘true wireless’ earbuds are now very much a thing thanks in large part to Apple and the AirPods.
Although AirPods remain the most recognisable, there are plenty of other decent contenders worth checking out.
If you’re an Android user or want a pair especially for the gym, then you’re apt to be looking for something other than Apple’s slick white buds.
We’ve pulled together a few options that are worth examining and listed them below.
Jabra Elite Active 75t
Jabra’s new buds come in a range of different colours – the navy looks good (Jabra)
Jabra has two versions of the 75t: one regular and one ‘active’. The former is a bit sleeker and more suited to businessey types while the latter throws in an IP57 waterproof rating for when you’re hitting the trails.
These headphones are a strong choice if you’re regularly out running or cycling as they’ve got sweat and dust resistance thanks to that aforementioned rating. Jabra has made these buds 22% smaller and lighter than the last generation and bumped the battery life up to 28 hours.
The case charges via USB-C and you can program the on-device controls to tailor them to your needs. Speaking of, a feature called MySound attempts to calibrate the audio based on your own personal hearing profile. Which is quite handy if you’re preoccupied trying to sprint up a hill.
The Jaybird Vistas are a great choice for runners (Jaybird)
Sitting in a similar slot to the Jabra Elite Active 75t above, these buds are for those with a penchant for getting hot and sweaty.
They’ve got themselves an IPX7 water resistance rating which means they could technically be submerged briefly in a metre of water and still work – although we wouldn’t recommend it.
You’ll get six hours of playback from each bud and the case carries an additional ten hours of charge. And, with a price of £160, they’re a fair bit more affordable than some of the other options here.
Jaybird has an app that accompanies the headphones that lets you customise your own sound profiles should you choose.
Winning the prize for the least-inspiring name on the list, the Sony WF-1000XMS are nevertheless highly recommended by gadgety folk.
They offer a pretty premium design and excellent noise cancelling technology to help block out the rest of the world. Sony says it uses 24-bit processing to make the batteries inside the buds last longer.
You’ll get six hours (turn off noise cancelling and that jumps to eight) of playback as standard but then enough power in the charging case for an extra three cycles. In total, Sony says you get 24 hours of solid performance with both Bluetooth and noise-cancelling enabled. The case is pretty chunky, but it’ll charge over USB-C and give you 90 minutes of power from just a 10 minute charge.
The Sennheiser buds look slick but are quite pricey (Sennheiser)
Sennheiser is a bit of a storied name when it comes to headphones and these wireless buds don’t come cheap at £279.
But you get a good amount for your cash. These have got active noise-cancellation on board and they are splashproof with an IPX4 waterproof rating.
Sound quality has been roundly praised by reviewers as has the comfort of wearing these for a long time. They should be good for about seven hours on a single charge and you can juice up via USB-C through the carry case.
Like the AirPod Pros, you can enable passthrough hearing by tapping the earbuds so (if you want to) you can let in the outside world.
AirPod Pros are the best buds for iOS users (Apple)
If you’re a hardcore Apple user then the best wireless earbuds you can get are hands down the AirPods Pro.
You’ll pay a pretty penny for them (£249), but the functionality you get alongside an iPhone or iPad can’t be beaten.
There’s more sound to the Pros than the standard AirPods and the bass notes just sound a bit throatier. Apple has created what it calls ‘Adaptive EQ’ that will automatically tune the low and mid frequencies to the shape of each individual’s ear.
The company’s engineers scanned thousands of people’s ears and built heat maps to understand sound as well as fit. The all-round insulation of the sound likely comes from the fact you now have two tips of silicone holding the headphones more snugly inside your ear.
Something to be wary of: these are beautifully white when you unbox them but will get grubby before long.
They really do look a lot like the AirPods (Huawei)
Huawei’s FreeBuds are all-white (or black) wireless earbuds that look suspiciously like Apple’s AirPods and if you’ve got a Huawei phone then they easily pair in a similar way.
The FreeBuds 3 are an open-cup design, meaning they don’t employ silicone tips to give an airtight seal around your ears. The benefit is they’re easier to slip on and slip off and will suit a wide variety of ear types. The downside is that even with the noise cancellation engaged, background noise is inevitably going to seep in around the edges.
They have been given an IPX4 water resistant rating (the same as the AirPods Pro) which means they’ll stand up to splashes, rain and sweat.
The FreeBuds 3 will give you around four hours of listening on a single charge but you’ll get a further 16 hours from the charging case itself. When it’s time to recharge you can use either wireless charging or plug in to the USB-C port on the underside of the case.
And, at £150, they’re reasonably well priced. Although Huawei does have an even cheaper set, the Huawei Freebuds 3i, for sale at £89.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the June 11 announcement made by US President Donald Trump on economic sanctions against International Criminal Court workers. Trump made his decision over an investigation of American troops for possible war crimes, but for Netanyahu, the decision would benefit also Israel, in thwarting possible probes against Israeli soldiers.
Speaking at the beginning of a press conference on the coronavirus, Netanyahu said, “This court is politicized and obsessed with carrying out a headhunt against Israel and the United States as well as other democratic countries that respect human rights, but turns a blind eye to the world’s worst human rights offenders, including the terrorist regime in Iran.” The prime minister blamed the court for fabricating accusations against Israel by claiming that Jews living in their historic homeland constitutes a war crime, adding “this is ridiculous. Shame on them.”
Israel has signed the Rome Statute, which constitutes the legal framework of the ICC, but never ratified it. In other words, like the United States, it never joined the international court in The Hague as a member state, fearing probes against soldiers and politicians. In 2015, the ICC was one of the first international forums to accept Palestine as a member state. Since then, the Palestinians have been pushing ICC prosecution to open probes against Israel. And indeed, in December 2019, ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced a preliminary examination of possible war crimes committed by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Bensouda’s move was contested by several European member states, headed by Germany and the Czech Republic. Prague filed a brief arguing that the Oslo Accord gives Israel exclusive jurisdiction over criminal issues in the West Bank relating to Israel, and proves that there is no Palestinian statehood. On May 25, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a stern warning to the ICC, qualifying it as a political body. He argued the court had no authority to advance such investigations because Israel, like the United States, never joined the Rome Statute. He also noted that the Palestinians “are not qualified to obtain full membership or participate as a state in international organizations, entities or conferences, including the ICC.â€
But on June 8, the chief prosecutor told the ICC’s Pretrial Chamber that a war crimes probe against Israelis could proceed despite the continued application of the accord. Israel’s Foreign Ministry preferred keeping a low profile on the announcement and did not react. On the other hand, several Israeli politicians joined Netanyahu on June 11, hailing Trump for his move against the ICC. Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (now in the opposition) tweeted, “The International Criminal Court is being misused by the Palestinians and others to pursue political campaigns against democracies, while distorting international law.”
Israeli satisfaction over the American move of sanctioning the ICC is reminiscent of Israel’s reaction over the 2017 US decision to quit UNESCO. With Trump complaining about UNESCO discriminating Israel, Jerusalem had to follow Washington and pull out of the UN agency as well. Shortly after that decision, Jewish-French Audrey Azoulay was elected to head UNESCO, a nomination that made many in Israel regret its hasty pullout.
This Webinar was hosted by the Mail & Guardian and Absa Vehicle and Asset Finance. It featured Motlatjo Moholwa, Deputy Director-General (Economic Planning) at the Gauteng Department of Economic Development and Acting Chief Executive Officer at the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP); Oscar Siziba, Managing Executive of the Relationship Banking Coverage segment for Gauteng and Limpopo at Absa’s Retail and Business Bank; and business speaker Vusi Thembekwayo. It was facilitated by Michael Avery, Anchor for Classic Business and Editor of Catalyst Private Equity Magazine.
We’re clearly going through new and interesting times, and the South African economy has changed so much, particularly regarding manufacturing. “Proximity to customers is the most important thing for SMEs right now,†said Vusi Thembekwayo.
Small businesses must re-examine their business models and endeavour to understand their customers, and know what their new needs are. Some SMEs have been able to pivot fast: some that used to sell suits are now selling masks. “Revise your costs, and think about what your core business is — this will enable you to get over this mountain. Use this moment to focus on what you are really good at,†advised Oscar Siziba.
Motlatjo Moholwa, deputy director (economic planning) at Mpumulanga’s department of economic development and tourism
As SMEs will be critical to restarting the economy, the government’s core strategy right now is making sure that all SMEs have access to relief. At the GEP we are giving small businesses a six-month debt holiday, and the private sector must do the same. No business should be black-listed at this stage. SMEs also need market access, and we are partnering with the private sector in this regard. “Basically we must de-risk this sector, or reduce risk as much as possible,†said Motlajo Moholwa.
The simple answers are the best answers in a crisis like this. We all think are providing essential services, but are we, or are we actually frills? All the frill purchases have been cut, such as advertising. If you are not essential, this may be the basis of your business pivot. “Perfect†is the enemy of good enough: if your product is good enough, get it out into the market.
“South Africans have a bad relationship with small businesses; they are used to being serviced by large organisations, so if a small business lapses in any way with delivery of goods or services, they default back to the large corporations. We need to rethink that mind-set,†said Thembekwayo.
Oscar Siziba, a managing executive at Absa’s Retail and Business Bank
Siziba said that Absa is committed to its engagement with it SMEs. “We are banking those SMEs that are in good standing, to help them through this crisis. We are really deepening our understanding of the entrepreneur, and our solutions have to be tailor-made, because the things that we have on the shelves are no longer relevant. We are reaching out to the private sector and asking businesses to partner with us to help keep SMEs afloat. We have had to rethink things entirely.â€
PPE is required by all government departments, said Moholwa, so we took the stance that all PPE and masks are bought from SMEs. We are emphasising local production post-Covid-19 as well. From July the borders will be opened up, which will create many opportunities for small businesses. Banks are getting strict, so this is the time for banks to provide grants to SMEs, and supply clusters are very important.
The world hasn’t experienced anything like this before, but there are many opportunities in this crisis. It is not just a health crisis, but also a financial crisis, and the virus has spread very fast. We went into this crisis already on our knees, with the South African economy in depression. There will be blood on the streets in sectors like tourism. Many people who were in the sector will have to change direction.
Payment to SMEs within 30 days has become crucial under the Coronavirus. Government is making an effort to ensure that the books show that this is happening, or within an even shorter time period, such as 15 days. The government estimates that in Gauteng alone there will be between 800 000 and two million jobs lost. SMEs will be at the centre of the province’s economic recovery. To this end, the GEP is doing house visits to SMEs, chatting with them, checking what their problems are, giving some loan repayment relief.
“In the banking sector, there are big changes; we have had to revise our criteria for which SMEs qualify for loans,†said Siziba. “We have done a lot of hand-holding and given a lot of advice, for instance asking small businesses what new directions they can go in. The key issue is cash flow, and keeping your cash working, not necessarily showing profit. Businesses have to be taught how to manage their cash, loans, debtors and the process of buying and selling. And banks have to ensure that they don’t overfund small businesses, which can kill them really fast.â€
Michael Avery, Anchor of Classic Business, Classic 1027
The issue of debt and cash flow has become huge. Some businesses work on year-long sales cycles, and are now caught in a three-month long crisis: should your business forego its relationship with a business it invested in because now there are immediate repayment issues? All businesses have been affected by this crisis, with no exception.
SMEs must above all demonstrate their commitment with regard to the government guaranteed scheme. Small businesses require a lot of support with things like infrastructure and developing their accounting skills. Everyone — banks, the private sector, government — is going to have to become involved in the process of keeping small business alive.
Remember, if you are an owner of a small business: this moment will pass. The question is, who will you be at the end of this?
To register to become a supplier of PPE, visit https://covid19.gauteng.gov.za/ and click on the PPE-Suppliers menu to download the form.
CAIRO — The joint venture of Egyptian companies Arab Contractors and El Sewedy Electric Company, under government guidance, continues to work on the Julius Nyerere hydropower project in the Rufiji River in Tanzania.
On June 1, Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Assem el-Gazzar praised the progress of the project and the commitment to preventive and precautionary measures to protect and ensure the health and safety of the workers part of it. Gazzar’s remarks came during a meeting he held to follow up on the execution of the Julius Nyerere hydropower dam and plant project, in the presence of ministry officials and representatives of the joint venture.
The project aims to control the flooding of the Rufiji River, generate power and preserve the environment. It will include the construction of a 1,025-meter-long (3,363-feet) dam, with a height of 134 meters (440 feet) and a storage capacity of 34 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water. The hydroelectric power plant will generate electricity of 2115 megawatts, Mahmoud Nassar, chief of the Central Agency for Reconstruction affiliated with the Ministry of Housing, said during the June 1 meeting. The power station is to be located across the Rufiji River in the Stiegler’s Gorge, at the Selous Game Reserve in the Morogoro region in the southwest of Dar es Salaam city in Tanzania, according to Nassar.Â
In July 2019, Egypt and Tanzania laid the foundation stone for the hydroelectric dam project in the Rufiji River basin, which is completely located inside Tanzania. The Rufiji River basin consists of the confluence of Kilombero and Luwegu rivers and is approximately 600 kilometers (373 miles) long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania.
The chairman of Arab Contractors, Mohsen Salah, told Al-Monitor that the dam covers an area of ​​1,350 square kilometers (521 square miles) with a length of 100 kilometers (62 miles). A total 80 kilometer (50 miles) of roads will be constructed for the dam, 40% of which have been completed.
On the stages of the project, Salah explained that the project consists of five main components, including the dam body, the powerhouse, the water diversion tunnel, the energy distribution sites and the permanent bridge connecting the two sides of the project. This is in addition to constructing two quarries on the two sides of the project and a small village for the workers.Â
He clarified that 20% of the planned housing camps, including the temporary camp, have been executed. The surveying works for all of the project area have been completed along with the soil exploration works with a total of 223 exploration wells. A concrete plant and a crusher were constructed to secure the materials needed by the project, he added.
Nassar noted that the project includes the construction of four sub-dams to form the water reservoir, and two temporary dams in front and behind the main dam, for the drying and diversion during the construction of the main dam. He added that this also includes a water spillway in the middle of the main dam, an emergency spillway and a 703-meter-long (0.4-mile) tunnel to divert river water, three tunnels to ensure the flow of the water needed for the power station, a permanent concrete bridge and two temporary bridges over the Rufiji River.Â
“The project area is serviced by creating temporary roads and permanent roads to facilitate movement and connect the project components,†Nassar said. He further noted that the entire project that started in 2019 will be completed in July 2022.
Ahmed Bahaa Eddin, head of the Nile water department at the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, told Al-Monitor that the dam does not have a negative impact on neighboring countries. “The dam does not affect Egypt’s water quota because it is located on the Rufiji River basin and is far from the Nile River. The Nile Basin riparian countries have a number of river basins. The Rufiji River is 220 kilometers (137 miles) southwest of the Tanzanian capital. It is a 600-kilometer-long internal river and its annual run-off ranges from 10 to 58 bcm.â€
Al-Monitor spoke to Mahmoud Abu Zeid, head of the Arab Water Council and former minister of water resources and irrigation. He believes the Tanzanian dam project would boost Egypt’s influence among the Nile Basin countries, as it refutes Ethiopia’s accusations of obstructing development projects in the basin countries to monopolize the largest share of water. “Egypt is strengthening its relations with the Nile Basin countries, by implementing joint development projects for the benefit of their people without harming anyone, and to take advantage of the annual rainwater that is being wasted in most of these countries.â€
Abu Zeid stressed the importance of Egypt’s support for Tanzanian funding requests to international institutions. “This is all the more important in light of Egypt’s presidency of the African Union [AU].â€
On Feb. 10, 2019, AU leaders elected Egypt to chair the AU for one year.
Over the past month, Egypt and Ethiopia exchanged accusations of infringing rights and foiling negotiations on the Nile dam dispute, amid verbal skirmishes, and diplomatic moves by officials of the two countries to mobilize international positions in their respective favor.
Negotiations between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have been frozen after the latter withdrew from a meeting in Washington in late February, which was dedicated to concluding a final agreement regarding the rules for filling and operating the Renaissance dam.
Merhawit, a 34-year-old single mother of two school-aged children is an asylum-seeker from Eritrea. Fleeing war and her violent husband and his abusive family, she came to Israel some 10 years ago, brought by smugglers through Egypt and the Sinai desert, where she was repeatedly raped.Â
Today, she lives in downscale south Tel Aviv in a crowded apartment with two other families. Until the coronavirus lockdown, she worked as a cleaner in an office building. She was fired in mid-March and has not been called back.
“I have no money, no income,” she told Al-Monitor in a WhatsApp conversation. “How will we survive? What will we do if I get sick?”
There are approximately 30,000 asylum-seekers in Israeli, most of whom, like Merhawit, live in the south Tel Aviv area; the majority of them come from Sudan and Eritrea. According to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, which Israel has signed, individuals fleeing persecution are entitled to request asylum from the country to which they escaped. The host country is obligated to investigate, on an individual basis, whether the person is indeed entitled to refugee status, according to specific UN-mandated criteria. Refugee status automatically confers residency rights and numerous other benefits; if the individual does not meet the criteria, he or she can be deported.
According to Noa Kaufman, director of the Refugee and Asylum-Seekers Unit at Kav Laoved-The Worker’s Hotline, a nongovernmental organization (NGO) promoting workers’ rights throughout the world, 86% of Eritreans and 65% of Sudanese receive refugee status. Israel, however, has refused to establish a process to review these applications. To date, less than 1% has received refugee status; this is the lowest rate in the Western world.
Despite criticism from the United Nations, Israel refers to the asylum-seekers as “mistaninim,” a particularly derogatory word, roughly translated as infiltrators, and insists that they are economic migrants, who pose an economic, demographic and security threat.
This leaves the asylum-seekers in a state of limbo. According to UN regulations, they cannot be forcibly deported back to their native countries or to a third country. At the same time, they also cannot work in Israel — although the government does not enforce this — and they are not entitled to health care or other benefits. And now, many of them, like Merhawit, have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and, not eligible for state aid, are at risk of losing their homes and ending up on the streets.
According to media reports, Israeli officials are concerned about the possibility that the virus is spreading within asylum-seeker communities. In late May, the Health Ministry set up a temporary site for free testing for the virus in the south Tel Aviv region. Merhawit has not received the results of her test and does not know how, or if, the medical officials will contact her — or what she will do if her test is positive and she is sent to a government-mandated “corona hotel,” until she is well.
“I can’t isolate myself in our tiny apartment,” she said. “If I am sent away, who will take care of my children? At least we got our ‘deposit money’ back, so we have had money for food until now.”
“Deposit money” refers to Israel’s 2017 law requiring that employers garnishee 20% of an asylum-seeker’s wages, to be returned only when the asylum-seeker leaves Israel. In response to a petition by Israeli human rights organizations, the High Court of Justice determined April 23 that the law violated the property rights of the asylum-seekers, who have been particularly hurt by the recent economic and social lockdown.
Numerous NGOs and volunteer groups have been founded to aid the immigrants, but the asylum-seekers also encounter opposition, sometimes violent, from residents in south Tel Aviv who demand that all the mistaninim be immediately expelled. One local resident, Sheffi Paz, has formed the “South Tel Aviv Liberation Front,” which holds regular demonstrations in public parks where asylum-seekers congregate and in front of the schools their children attend. Paz has been indicted twice for spray-painting threatening graffiti on buildings in Tel Aviv. In mid-May, on his first day as public security minister in the newly established government, Amir Ohana (Likud) met with Paz and other local activists, indicating that he, too, intends to continue the current harsh Israeli policies.
“These people escaped persecution in their home countries, hoping to find safety in Israel. Instead, they face constant discrimination, oppression and racism,” Diddy Mymin-Kahn, director of Kuchinate, a collective for African women, told Al-Monitor.
According to a stinging report by the State Comptroller in 2018, Israel has never established a coherent, effective policy for dealing with the African asylum-seekers, who first began arriving in 2007, escaping the wars and unrest in their home countries. Initially, their numbers were small, and Israeli authorities largely ignored them, allowing them to work and live “under the radar.” But by 2011, as many as 2,000 asylum-seekers arrived in Israel every month. To put an end to the “infiltration,” Israel built a wall along its border in the Sinai desert. It was completed in 2012; since then, few if any new asylum-seekers have arrived. Â
In an effort to persuade the asylum-seekers to leave “voluntarily,” Israel passed legislation to allow imprisonment of asylum-seekers for up to three years, When the Supreme Court struck down that legislation, Israel established a so-called open detention center, but the court once again ruled that the asylum-seekers could not be held there indefinitely.
In April 2018, Israel came to an agreement with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, according to which 16,250 asylum-seekers would be resettled in Western countries and an equal number would receive residency status in Israel. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s right-wing coalition opposed allowing any asylum-seekers to stay in Israel.
“I am very thankful to the many Israelis who help us, and I am very afraid of the Israelis who hate us. I didn’t come here to be a burden. I have nowhere to go,” Merhawit concluded.
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