ANTANANARIVO: Hundreds of mostly young protesters faced off against security forces in Madagascar’s capital Saturday days after an anti-government demonstration erupted into clashes and looting.
Police used rubber bullets and teargas to disperse crowds at Thursday’s protest, which was called to condemn persistent water and power cuts in the impoverished nation but descended into violence as stores were looted and buildings and cars set alight.
Demonstrators including university students gathered again in Antananarivo Saturday, holding placards with slogans that included, “We are poor, angry and unhappy” and “Madagascar is ours.”
Mostly dressed in black and with their faces covered, some wore the colored straw hats that have become a symbol of defiance.
A wall of security forces prevented protesters from marching toward the city center and there were reports that police used tear gas to disperse them.
An unidentified hospital source said five people were killed in Thursday’s violence, but no official has released a confirmed toll.
In a video address late Friday, President Andry Rajoelina said that in response to the protest he had sacked his energy minister “for not doing his job.” He also condemned the violence as “acts of destabilization.”
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) grouping said Saturday it was concerned about “an unconfirmed number of fatalities, injuries, and extensive damage to both public and private property.”
The 16-nation SADC, of which Rajoelina is the current chairperson, commended in its statement “the government’s steadfast commitment to restoring peace and stability.”
The African Union called for restraint, calm and dialogue.
Protesters gather again in Madagascar
https://arab.news/mjdkx
Protesters gather again in Madagascar
- Demonstrators including university students gathered again in Antananarivo Saturday
- An unidentified hospital source said five people were killed in Thursday’s violence
19 EU countries call on EU to fund ‘return hubs’
- The European Parliament must still vote on the measures
- Denmark has made illegal immigration one of its main battlehorses during its six-month stint at the helm of the EU presidency
COPENHAGEN: After the European Union significantly tightened its immigration policy earlier this month, 19 EU countries on Wednesday urged the European Commission to finance “return hubs” outside the bloc for failed asylum-seekers.
Interior ministers from the 27-member bloc greenlighted a package of measures on December 8 that include the opening of return hubs and harsher penalities for migrants who refuse to leave European territory.
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden called on the Commission to make the changes possible.
“Specifically, the EU countries want ... the Commission to help ensure, going forward, that the financing of, among other things, return centers can be done using EU funds,” the Danish immigration ministry said in a statement, with the signed letter sent to the Commission attached.
The European Parliament must still vote on the measures.
Denmark has made illegal immigration one of its main battlehorses during its six-month stint at the helm of the EU presidency, which ends at the end of the month.
“The work is not done, and I’m glad that there are now 19 countries that stand behind a letter calling on the EU system to provide diplomatic and economic help to ensure that the new and innovative solutions — such as return centers — will become a reality,” Danish Immigration Minister Rasmus Stoklund said in a statement.
“For years, Denmark has worked hard to persuade other European countries of Danish ideas such as moving the processing of asylum applications outside Europe, as well as other ideas involving cooperation with third countries outside the EU,” the ministry added.
“The group of EU countries that support such new and innovative solutions has steadily expanded,” it said.
Activists working with migrants have meanwhile denounced the measures, saying they violate migrants’ human rights and risk pushing them into danger.
