By Pakinam Amer
Dec 5, 2007, 19:29 GMT
Cairo - Protesting round the clock in front of the cabinet's headquarters for the third day in a row, Egyptian tax workers said they had reached a dead end and so had nothing left to lose.
'We could be dismissed from work, we could be imprisoned or beaten up by security police, but we don't care any more,' one of the workers shouted on Wednesday.
The Egyptians - some middle-aged and some elderly - said they would begin a hunger strike Thursday morning if their suffering was further ignored.
'We fear nothing. We just want our rights back,' a protestor cried out.
Metres away stood rows of heavily-armed riot police, while truckloads of standby forces could be seen parked in the vicinity. Security personnel ordered that metal cordons be placed around the throngs of workers, but so far no clashes with police had been reported.
The state employees, who are all members of the property tax department, have been picketing for better wages and working conditions since October when they initially organized a mass strike of around 55,000 tax workers.
This week's picket brought together around 500 employees from both southern and northern provinces.
The protestors, standing by the gates of the cabinet quarters in downtown Cairo, will not collect any taxes until their demands are met.
Suleiman Rashed, from Giza's tax division, said he had been working in the state-run institution for more than 25 years and his salary had only reached 450 Egyptian pounds (81 dollars) a month.
An accountant in the same department, Gamal Hassanein, claimed his net income was 380 pounds (69 dollars). 'A state employee taking only this much? Imagine,' he said.
'Sometimes, they deduct 50 per cent of our efforts benefits because we do not meet the desired tax collection quota,' Rashed told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The tax collectors usually face difficulties during money collection.
'Some people refuse to pay, and we follow them around. But sometimes, we fail to collect. What do we do then? Shoot the citizen (who refuses to pay)?' Rashed shouted at the top of his voice.
'I work in the countryside collecting taxes from farmers, and we face a lot of dangers there too. We are beaten up sometimes, and others are even shot when they pursue the farmers for payment,' a tax collector from Monofiyah province agreed.
On the protest site, it is clear that workers have lost patience with both their union and government.
Calling the finance minister, the labour union head and even members of the cabinet 'liars, scoundrels and thieves,' the protestors said they stood alone: 'Poor, hungry and no better than beggars.'
So far, leaders of the strike say the government has not been responsive to their movement, and demands that they be treated like their colleagues in departments run by the Ministry of Finance have not been met.
According to the workers, a recent move by the government has caused the reassignment of the tax department workers.
The senior and high-ranking tax employees became answerable to the Ministry of Finance, receiving higher incomes and yearly benefits. Others were placed under locality governance. 'These are the ones who do not have enough connections,' claimed one of the workers.
The angry protestors want the discrepancies in wages between employees to be eliminated. The labour union earlier deemed the workers' pleas legitimate but refused to back up their strike.
Hussein Mugawer, head of the labour union, told al-Masri al-Yom newspaper earlier that 'a strike will complicate ongoing negotiations (with the government). The policy of arm-twisting that the workers are following will not work.'
'Mugawer claimed he had talks with the (finance) minister. But we know he didn't. They all ignore us,' Rashed said.
'They have no hearts, no children or wives or parents,' another protestor said, describing how 'inhuman' he believed the authorities were. 'We are spending our days here on the bare pavement and they feel nothing for us. Where is the mercy?'
In some provinces, workers told dpa that state security personnel had given them orders not to strike or join their fellow workers in Cairo. Some had still travelled to the Egyptian capital to join the larger protest despite the ban.
'Once we speak out back at work, they threaten us with dismissal and relocation,' a protestor said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/features/article_1378893.php/Egyptian_workers_begin_indefinite_strike_picket_cabinet
Friday, December 07, 2007
UN climate report carries warning for Arab states - dpa
By Pakinam Amer
Dec 5, 2007, 19:28 GMT
Cairo - Warnings against human-induced climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions, scarce and strained water resources, lack of food security and deteriorating human health dominated the United Nation Development Programme's newest report.
Launched in the Egypt-based League of Arab nations during an Arab environment and development ministers meeting, the UNDP's Human Development Report for 2007/2008, labelled Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided world, called for collective and immediate action and warned against pessimism.
'Confronted with a problem as daunting as climate change, resigned pessimism might seem a justified response,' read the report. 'However, resigned pessimism is a luxury that the world's poor and future generations cannot afford - and there is an alternative.'
The first step lies in taking adaptive measures to climate change, unique to each countries' conditions, said the report.
The Arab world, like other regions, contributes to 'deep carbon footprints' with Egypt having some of the highest levels of carbon emissions globally.
Already, the north African country is threatened by climate shocks like floods that lessen longterm opportunities for human development. In Egypt, as in other developing counties of the Arab world, many of the poor depend on natural resources for their livelihood.
However, erosion of the coast of the Nile Delta, pollution, and salinization are affecting agricultural productivity and in turn could lead to possible loss of land.
'The evidence of climate change is there and the change will get worse. You find it in shortage of water in areas that are already short of water, like the Arab areas and Egypt,' said Mohammed al- Ashry, UNDP official and co-author of the report.
Al-Ashry told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the report sheds light on the percentages of the decrease of water availability in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, mainly the Nile Delta.
Concerning Egypt, the sea level changes are causing a threat to the northern Nile Delta especially, he said.
'If you have one metre decrease in sea level then you are going to lose more than 4,500 square kilometres of the delta and around six million people will need to be relocated,' al-Ashry told dpa. Agricultural production would also be affected.
The regional report addresses the people, according to the UNDP official, and the poor in Egypt and the Arab world are suffering the most from climate change.
The report concludes that the 'expenditure on social affairs is very low for the Arab world,' said al-Ashry where the most underprivileged are those 'people who are living in work areas and suburbs.'
It's the human development aspects that Egypt and the Arab countries should focus on, from education to health care and nutrition efforts, he said.
The Arab world needs to strengthen social safety net programmes, according to report recommendations. The region is reluctant to make any tangible efforts to change the status quo; leaning instead on claims of gradual efforts, say observers.
'Everyone is talking about a gradual effort to combat climate change with time markers such as 2020, 2030 and 2050, (but) top scientists believe that the climate change will be both sudden and severe,' said al-Ashry.
In November's summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), member states, including Arab nations, stressed their commitment to fighting global warming and harmful environmental changes.
However, the UNDP official believes that these counties want to appear more cooperative through giving 750-million-dollar funds which are 'a drop in the bucket with the price of oil as it is,' approaching the 100-dollar-a-barrel mark.
'OPEC, I don't actually believe for a moment that they think about climate change. They are producing climate change,' said al-Ashry.
'Some of them are concerned that reducing gas emissions would mean energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, renewable energy, perhaps even nuclear (energy), and in turn cutting down on use of oil.'
'This is utter nonsense; oil will always be important and will be used. But this is a very defensive approach on their part.'
The solution? 'The combat against climate change has to be part of the economic thinking of the country, preparing strategies for human and economic development putting in mind climate change,' al-Ashry told dpa.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1378891.php/UN_climate_report_carries_warning_for_Arab_states
Dec 5, 2007, 19:28 GMT
Cairo - Warnings against human-induced climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions, scarce and strained water resources, lack of food security and deteriorating human health dominated the United Nation Development Programme's newest report.
Launched in the Egypt-based League of Arab nations during an Arab environment and development ministers meeting, the UNDP's Human Development Report for 2007/2008, labelled Fighting climate change: Human solidarity in a divided world, called for collective and immediate action and warned against pessimism.
'Confronted with a problem as daunting as climate change, resigned pessimism might seem a justified response,' read the report. 'However, resigned pessimism is a luxury that the world's poor and future generations cannot afford - and there is an alternative.'
The first step lies in taking adaptive measures to climate change, unique to each countries' conditions, said the report.
The Arab world, like other regions, contributes to 'deep carbon footprints' with Egypt having some of the highest levels of carbon emissions globally.
Already, the north African country is threatened by climate shocks like floods that lessen longterm opportunities for human development. In Egypt, as in other developing counties of the Arab world, many of the poor depend on natural resources for their livelihood.
However, erosion of the coast of the Nile Delta, pollution, and salinization are affecting agricultural productivity and in turn could lead to possible loss of land.
'The evidence of climate change is there and the change will get worse. You find it in shortage of water in areas that are already short of water, like the Arab areas and Egypt,' said Mohammed al- Ashry, UNDP official and co-author of the report.
Al-Ashry told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the report sheds light on the percentages of the decrease of water availability in Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, mainly the Nile Delta.
Concerning Egypt, the sea level changes are causing a threat to the northern Nile Delta especially, he said.
'If you have one metre decrease in sea level then you are going to lose more than 4,500 square kilometres of the delta and around six million people will need to be relocated,' al-Ashry told dpa. Agricultural production would also be affected.
The regional report addresses the people, according to the UNDP official, and the poor in Egypt and the Arab world are suffering the most from climate change.
The report concludes that the 'expenditure on social affairs is very low for the Arab world,' said al-Ashry where the most underprivileged are those 'people who are living in work areas and suburbs.'
It's the human development aspects that Egypt and the Arab countries should focus on, from education to health care and nutrition efforts, he said.
The Arab world needs to strengthen social safety net programmes, according to report recommendations. The region is reluctant to make any tangible efforts to change the status quo; leaning instead on claims of gradual efforts, say observers.
'Everyone is talking about a gradual effort to combat climate change with time markers such as 2020, 2030 and 2050, (but) top scientists believe that the climate change will be both sudden and severe,' said al-Ashry.
In November's summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), member states, including Arab nations, stressed their commitment to fighting global warming and harmful environmental changes.
However, the UNDP official believes that these counties want to appear more cooperative through giving 750-million-dollar funds which are 'a drop in the bucket with the price of oil as it is,' approaching the 100-dollar-a-barrel mark.
'OPEC, I don't actually believe for a moment that they think about climate change. They are producing climate change,' said al-Ashry.
'Some of them are concerned that reducing gas emissions would mean energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, renewable energy, perhaps even nuclear (energy), and in turn cutting down on use of oil.'
'This is utter nonsense; oil will always be important and will be used. But this is a very defensive approach on their part.'
The solution? 'The combat against climate change has to be part of the economic thinking of the country, preparing strategies for human and economic development putting in mind climate change,' al-Ashry told dpa.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/features/article_1378891.php/UN_climate_report_carries_warning_for_Arab_states
Families mourn as bodies of illegal migrants return - dpa
By Pakinam Amer, dpa
First Published: 13 November, 2007
Cairo - The first signs of winter chilled Reda Attiya‘s bones as she sat huddled between her sons at the Cairo airport awaiting the casket containing the body of her nephew.
Tarek Abdel-Nabi Attiya was one of 22 illegal would-be immigrants from Egypt who drowned off the shores of Syracuse in Sicily when the boat in which they were being transported capsized last week.
Over 125 people are still missing. Search efforts are still underway, monitored by a special operations unit at the Egyptian embassy in Rome.
The ages of the missing and drowned range from 13 to mid-20s. They had attempted to travel over 1,500 kilometres of water on two fishing vessels, their boats capsized. Eleven are known to have drowned off Syracuse while there have been contradicting reports as to where a second boat sank.
The grieving woman waited eight hours for the plane bringing home the victims to arrive in the early morning hours Monday.
"His voice was choked by tears," she told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, recounting the frantic last phone call her family received from her 24-year-old nephew.
Attiya was one of more than 100 Egyptians who had turned to a people- trafficking network that smuggles young men who are desperate for work opportunities to Italy.
He and his travel mates were stranded across the Mediterranean aboard a fishing boat where Attiya‘s life was being threatened by "crime cell members," facilitators of the illegal trip, she said.
The middle-aged woman whose face was worn by weeping, told dpa that Attiya had said he had had to pay 30,000 Egyptian pounds (5,400dollars) to facilitators "or else they will slit my throat."
Initially, she said, "we didn‘t know what to do."
"Like mad people, we went to our neighbours and relatives. We borrowed money. We sold land. We sold our livestock - the only source of living we had," said Attiya‘s son, Samir.
Samir, who did not disclose his last name, said his cousin had already paid the facilitators 5,000 Egyptian pounds before leaving for Italy via the port of Alexandria. He was supposed to pay them more money, but only if he found work.
"But they are cheaters. They took the money and gave us a corpse," said Samir.
Attiya‘s family refuse to believe that he merely drowned. They claim he was killed and thrown overboard and have called on the government to investigate the event by questioning the one person who survived the tragedy.
Reda Mohie Mohammed Khattab, a friend of Attiya, is currently being treated at the Italian Red Cross hospital.
"He‘s the only survivor, he knows what happened on this boat. He knows if our son was killed or drowned," said the soft-spoken woman. Khattab reportedly called Attiya‘s family from the hospital with"horror stories" of what happened on the boat.
Whether through Libya or Alexandria, on boat or by air, many poor young Egyptians in their early 20s have considered the idea of fleeing the country to work elsewhere.
Adel, a peasant from Fayyum who lost a family member, said people from his village will continue to "plunge into the unknown," seeping into European lands even if the possibility of death hovers.
"As long as they cannot put food on their tables, young people will risk their lives and money savings," he said. "This tragedy is the responsibility of the government. The people have no choice."
"Most of these youths did their duty towards their country. They served in the army and then went to their doom as their country watched," said Samir.
"It‘s a personal and financial ruin," one relative said.
Attempts at entering Italy illegally are always fraught with danger. Illegal migrants are usually asked to leave the boat off the coast of Italy, and swim the rest of the distance of around 10 kilometres, according to some claims.
And the scenario is not always the same, as some men reach the shore, while others drown or end up being killed in rows on the boats.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
First Published: 13 November, 2007
Cairo - The first signs of winter chilled Reda Attiya‘s bones as she sat huddled between her sons at the Cairo airport awaiting the casket containing the body of her nephew.
Tarek Abdel-Nabi Attiya was one of 22 illegal would-be immigrants from Egypt who drowned off the shores of Syracuse in Sicily when the boat in which they were being transported capsized last week.
Over 125 people are still missing. Search efforts are still underway, monitored by a special operations unit at the Egyptian embassy in Rome.
The ages of the missing and drowned range from 13 to mid-20s. They had attempted to travel over 1,500 kilometres of water on two fishing vessels, their boats capsized. Eleven are known to have drowned off Syracuse while there have been contradicting reports as to where a second boat sank.
The grieving woman waited eight hours for the plane bringing home the victims to arrive in the early morning hours Monday.
"His voice was choked by tears," she told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, recounting the frantic last phone call her family received from her 24-year-old nephew.
Attiya was one of more than 100 Egyptians who had turned to a people- trafficking network that smuggles young men who are desperate for work opportunities to Italy.
He and his travel mates were stranded across the Mediterranean aboard a fishing boat where Attiya‘s life was being threatened by "crime cell members," facilitators of the illegal trip, she said.
The middle-aged woman whose face was worn by weeping, told dpa that Attiya had said he had had to pay 30,000 Egyptian pounds (5,400dollars) to facilitators "or else they will slit my throat."
Initially, she said, "we didn‘t know what to do."
"Like mad people, we went to our neighbours and relatives. We borrowed money. We sold land. We sold our livestock - the only source of living we had," said Attiya‘s son, Samir.
Samir, who did not disclose his last name, said his cousin had already paid the facilitators 5,000 Egyptian pounds before leaving for Italy via the port of Alexandria. He was supposed to pay them more money, but only if he found work.
"But they are cheaters. They took the money and gave us a corpse," said Samir.
Attiya‘s family refuse to believe that he merely drowned. They claim he was killed and thrown overboard and have called on the government to investigate the event by questioning the one person who survived the tragedy.
Reda Mohie Mohammed Khattab, a friend of Attiya, is currently being treated at the Italian Red Cross hospital.
"He‘s the only survivor, he knows what happened on this boat. He knows if our son was killed or drowned," said the soft-spoken woman. Khattab reportedly called Attiya‘s family from the hospital with"horror stories" of what happened on the boat.
Whether through Libya or Alexandria, on boat or by air, many poor young Egyptians in their early 20s have considered the idea of fleeing the country to work elsewhere.
Adel, a peasant from Fayyum who lost a family member, said people from his village will continue to "plunge into the unknown," seeping into European lands even if the possibility of death hovers.
"As long as they cannot put food on their tables, young people will risk their lives and money savings," he said. "This tragedy is the responsibility of the government. The people have no choice."
"Most of these youths did their duty towards their country. They served in the army and then went to their doom as their country watched," said Samir.
"It‘s a personal and financial ruin," one relative said.
Attempts at entering Italy illegally are always fraught with danger. Illegal migrants are usually asked to leave the boat off the coast of Italy, and swim the rest of the distance of around 10 kilometres, according to some claims.
And the scenario is not always the same, as some men reach the shore, while others drown or end up being killed in rows on the boats.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)