Day: March 11, 2022

Thousands of refugees in Indonesia are finding themselves shut out of public services including travel and shopping because of a bureaucratic glitch that prevents them from proving they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Indonesia is a transit country for 13,175 refugees, more than half of whom are from Afghanistan. Unlike some countries where refugees are kept In camps, refugees in Indonesia can roam freely and use public facilities. Most live around the Jakarta greater metropolitan area.

In 2020, the country launched “Peduli Lindungi,” a digital COVID-19 contact-tracing app giving vaccinated residents access to public facilities and mass transit. The program, however, requires people to upload their 16-digit government-issued civil registry number before they are vaccinated. Only citizens, permanent residents and foreigners with work visas have the number; refugees – more than 56% of whom have been vaccinated — do not.

The U.N. Refugee Agency, UNHCR, with the support of Indonesian state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma, developed a system to generate a different registration number to allow refugees to register in the app. However, the Jakarta Health Agency, which oversees the public plan, does not have the authority to generate the new numbers. The issue is now under discussion among the Health and Foreign ministries and the UNHCR.

Therefore, the refugees who received their vaccinations at local health clinics under the public vaccination plan did not receive an electronic vaccine certificate that would otherwise be uploaded to the Peduli Lindungi app. They also have no proof of vaccination other than a handwritten slip.

Somali refugee Ahmed Sheikh described the problem he faced when stopped by security guards asking for proof of vaccination at public transportation facilities or shopping malls.

“When we show them a handwritten slip issued by health workers at the public health clinic, they don’t believe it. …. It’s hard to explain to them when they don’t speak English too,” he told VOA.

Dr. Ngabila Salama, the head of the Jakarta Health Agency acknowledged the administrative hurdle, telling VOA the agency is limited by legal uncertainty; it does not have the legal authority to generate a useable civil registration number.

“We need to be accountable for every vaccine that we give out. It’s a shame if we cannot register all the vaccine recipients onto the Peduli Lindungi app. Imagine if we give out over 5,000 vaccines to refugees that are not registered on the Peduli Lindungi app. How can we be accountable for every vaccine, when we must undergo an audit by the Financial Audit Board? They may think we wasted a lot of the vaccines.” she said.

Some refugees are considering postponing getting their first vaccinations or second doses until this administrative problem is solved.

Although Sheikh is already vaccinated, he doubts he will let his wife be vaccinated soon, considering the circumstances.

“I don’t think I’m going to bring my wife to a Puskesmas [local health clinic] to get vaccinated because even if they give her the vaccine, they won’t enable the Peduli Lindungi app for her and can’t give her the electronic vaccine certificate she needs. I don’t want her to get the vaccine if we can’t get an [electronic] vaccine certificate. That’s what all refugees want.”

The UNHCR and nongovernmental organizations are trying to draw attention to the issue.

Zico Pestalozzi, campaign and advocacy coordinator at Suaka, an NGO that handles refugee issues, said “the Refugee Task Force under the Ministry of Political, Security and Legal Affairs should better coordinate [with relevant stakeholders] and ensure inclusive access to the Peduli Lindungi App.

“The UNHCR and NGOs are nongovernmental bodies, so it is up to the government to take charge of this issue and not simply divert responsibility back to the UNHCR,” he said.

Dicky Budiman, an Indonesian epidemiologist at Griffith University in Australia warns that “If we don’t protect this vulnerable population fast enough. We will be keeping a possible ‘pocket of infection.’ It will become a big problem because then it could produce a new variant or at least a new cluster among the refugee community.”

Pestalozzi agreed with Budiman, saying that if this problem lingers, it could turn into a public health risk and set back all the positive initiatives from the Indonesian government to improve refugees’ lives, including providing free vaccines, establishing learning centers and access to vocational learning.

Source: Voice of America

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday dealt essentially a final blow to abortion clinics’ best hopes of stopping a restrictive law that has sharply curtailed the number of abortions in the state since September and will now fully stay in place for the foreseeable future.

The ruling by the all-Republican court was not unexpected, but it slammed the door on what little path forward the U.S. Supreme Court had allowed Texas clinics after having twice declined to stop a ban on abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy.

It spells the coming end to a federal lawsuit that abortion clinics filed even before the restrictions took effect in September — and were then rejected at nearly every turn, and in nearly every court, for six months.

“There is nothing left, this case is effectively over with respect to our challenge to the abortion ban,” said Marc Hearron, attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which led the challenge against the Texas law known as Senate Bill 8.

Although Texas abortion clinics are not dropping the lawsuit, they now expect it will be dismissed in the coming weeks or months.

It is likely to further embolden other Republican-controlled states that are now pressing forward with similar laws, including neighboring Oklahoma, where many Texas women have crossed state lines to get an abortion for the past six months. The Republican-controlled Oklahoma Senate on Thursday approved a half-dozen anti-abortion measures, including a Texas-style ban.

Texas’ law leaves enforcement up to private citizens, who are entitled to collect what critics call a bounty of $10,000 if they bring a successful lawsuit against a provider or anyone who helps a patient obtain an abortion.

The Texas law bans abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy and makes no exceptions in cases of rape or incest. Abortions in Texas have plummeted by about 50% since the law took effect, while the number of Texans going to clinics out of state and requesting abortion pills online has gone up.

In December, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to keep the law in place and allowed only a narrow challenge against the restrictions to proceed. The decision by the Texas Supreme Court turned on whether medical licensing officials had an enforcement role under the law, and therefore, could be sued by clinics that are reaching for any possible way to halt the restrictions.

But writing for the court, Justice Jeffrey Boyd said those state officials have no enforcement authority, “either directly or indirectly.”

Even though the Texas law is more restrictive than any in the country, the future of abortion rights in the U.S. is likely to come down to a Supreme Court decision later this year over a separate case out of Mississippi. That one amounts to a direct challenge of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion.

In December, the court’s conservative majority signaled a willingness to roll back abortion rights across the country, which clinics fear could allow Texas and other GOP-controlled states to ban abortion outright.

The number of abortions in September and October in Texas fell by about 50% compared to the same months a year earlier, from 4,511 in September 2020 to 2,197 in September 2021, and from 4,650 in October 2020 to 2,251 in October 2021, according to state health figures.

But that data only tells part of the story. Researchers say the number of Texas women going to clinics in neighboring states and going online to get abortion pills by mail has risen sharply since the law took effect.

A study released this month showed that from September to December, nearly 1,400 Texans a month were going to neighboring states for abortions. The study from the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Policy Evaluation Project collected data from 34 of 44 open clinics in Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

It found that about 5,600 Texans went to the clinics in nearby states over those months compared with just more than 500 for the same period in 2019.

Another study led by a University of Texas researcher found an increase in the number of Texans requesting abortion pills from the overseas nonprofit Aid Access. The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open, found that during the first week of September, requests per day jumped to about 138 compared to a previous average of 11. Over the subsequent weeks in September, requests averaged 37 a day. Then, through December, the average was 30 per day. Researchers noted they didn’t know if all requests resulted in abortions.

Source: Voice of America

CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) – President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday South Africa had been asked to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and that he had told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call it should be settled through negotiations.

Ramaphosa did not say who had made the request or give more details on how he planned to work with the two sides.

“Based on our relations with the Russian Federation and as a member of BRICS, South Africa has been approached to play a mediation role,” Ramaphosa said, referring to the emerging market group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

There were no immediate announcements from Moscow or Kyiv confirming South Africa’s role.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Leaders of the European Union have agreed to allow Ukraine to become a member of the bloc, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausda said on Friday.

The development comes more than ten days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed an application seeking membership of the European Union for his war-torn country.

“After five hours of heated discussions EU leaders said yes to Ukrainian eurointegration. The process started. Now it is up to us and Ukrainians to accomplish it fast. Heroic Ukrainian nation deserves to know that they are welcome in EU,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausda tweeted on Friday.

However, as per a report by Reuters, the European Union refused Kyiv’s appeal for rapid accession to the bloc and differed over the reach of sanctions against Moscow.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Menongue – Angolan head of State João Lourenço Friday evaluated the functioning of the Larviculture and Fattening Center of Missombo, in south-east province of Cuando Cubango.

On the second and last day of his visit to the region, João Lourenço, got in touch with the breeding areas and the fish fattening reservoirs.

Built in an area of eight hectares by the Israeli contractor Mitrelli over two years, the project worth US$14 million, has 36 metallic reservoirs, 20 meters of diameter, with capacity for more than 20,000 fish.

The Larviculture Center of Missombo commune has the entire production chain, from the production of fingerlings to fattening, a process that takes the fish to reach the necessary dimensions for commercialisation.

The infrastructure, with the capacity to produce 3,500 fingerlings (fish larvae), has a fish processing area, a fish processing factory and an ice factory, and 16 greenhouses for tilapia reproduction.

Freezing and conservation refrigerators, fishmongers, warehouses, cafeteria, offices and laboratories, as well as residences for technicians, are part of the production chain.

According to the official, the centre, which also has a factory that can produce up to 400 kilogrammes of feed per hour, to feed the fish in production twice a day, will also sell fish in fillets.

The first fingerlings were launched between August and December 2019 and, at the moment, weigh between 350 and 500 grams, which is considered the ideal size for marketing and consumption.

The operation of the Missombo Larviculture and Fattening Center, located 18 kilometers east of the city of Menongue, created 28 direct jobs for youth from various parts of Cuando Cubango.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – National and foreign citizens are allowed to bring into or take out of the national territory an amount of USD10,000 in cash, duly declared to the customs authorities, National Bank of Angola (BNA) has stated.

The measure is contained in Notice No. 6/22 of 3 March, of the BNA, which revokes, the previous one, No. 1/16 of 12 April.

Border authorities are authorized to condition the exit of national or foreign currency, regardless of whether the amounts comply with the limits regulated in this Notice, whenever the traveler is suspected of any criminal offense, under the terms of the legislation in force.

BNA justifies the updating of the rules with the need to improve national and international regulations in the foreign exchange market, as well as the prevention and fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Thus, the total amount in cash is updated to USD 10,000.00 with natural persons, nationals and foreigners, who can enter and leave the national territory, added the financial institution.

However, it is pointed out that there will be situations in which they will be obliged to declare to the customs authorities the value that travelers take.

National citizens residing abroad, as well as Angolans who emigrate, diplomats or their relatives who intend to leave the country, with a value equal to or greater than the stipulated, must provide proof of entry of this value, through the declaration completed upon entry into the country.

As for the cases of departure, the BNA notice determines the same value, for individual citizens, considered to be foreign exchange residents.

Minors under 18, who travel alone, are authorized to carry the amount in cash, in local or foreign currency, totaling USD 1,000.00.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Menongue – Angolan head of State João Lourenço left Menongue Friday after a two-day working visit to the south-east province of Cuando Cubango.

The Statesman chaired the meeting of the Local Governance Council on Thursday, which, among other matters, addressed the transfer of various powers from the Central Government to the provincial and municipal administration bodies.

Of the total, 3, 186 terms of transfer of competencies from the Central State Administration moved to the local administration bodies.

The meeting also evaluated the level of execution of the Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM).

Also on Thursday, the President of the Republic consulted representatives of churches, traditional authorities, businessmen and the provincial youth council.

Friday, President João Lourenço, accompanied by ministers, met with members of the government of Cuando Cubango, whose attention focused on the infrastructure, as well as an increase in provision of health services, education and decent housing.

Still Friday, the Angolan Head of State visited the Larviculture and Fattening Center of Missombo, a fish production and processing unit, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Estimated at USD14 million, the Larviculture and Fattening Center is part of the Executive’s strategy for improving and diversifying the population’s diet.

Source: Angola Press News Agency