Africa

Police allege they found marijuana on him during a traffic stop and are investigating a "syndicate linked to him".

Am 3. Oktober kommt Taylor Swifts neues Album «The Life of a Showgirl» raus. Voller Vorfreude warten die Fans rund um die Welt auf die neue Platte. Hören wir diesmal eine völlig neue Taylor Swift? Was wissen wir schon im Vorfeld über ihr neuestes Werk?

Un monument commémoratif sous-marin sera bientôt érigé au large de Ouidah, au Bénin. Il rendra hommage aux millions de victimes de la traite négrière transatlantique.

Matérialiser, dans les eaux béninoises, le souvenir du "passage du milieu", étape tragique de la déportation des esclaves africains vers les Amériques. Tel est le but du projet porté par le magazine américain National Geographic.

La construction du monument sous-marin a été annoncée par Tonya Lewis Lee, ambassadrice thématique du Bénin auprès de la diaspora afro-américaine. Elle s'est exprimée lors de l'émission Tête-à-tête sur France 24.

« Le monument commémorera les quelque deux millions d'esclaves morts en mer », a précisé Tonya Lewis Lee.

L'ambassadrice a conduit une délégation de National Geographic au Bénin cet été. Le groupe a rencontré les autorités locales pour discuter du projet et visiter les sites potentiels à Ouidah.

La productrice et militante afro-américaine s'est dite « ravie » de l'accueil réservé par les autorités béninoises. Elle a notamment rencontré le président Patrice Talon.

« Nous avons trouvé un terrain d'entente. Ce projet est une façon puissante de faire mémoire », a-t-elle souligné.

M. M.

Police say they shot dead two people who were part of a crowd trying to storm a police station.

Young protesters in Morocco are protesting against corruption and for better health and education.

Young protesters in Morocco are protesting against corruption and for better health and education.

L'accord agricole Maroc-UE amendé sera signé ce vendredi 3 octobre 2025. Cette décision confirme l'application aux Provinces du Sud des tarifs préférentiels accordés par l'Union au titre de l'Accord d'Association avec le Royaume du Maroc.

« Le Royaume du Maroc et l'Union européenne viennent de clôturer avec succès, dans un esprit de partenariat et de compromis, les négociations relatives à l'amendement de l'accord agricole qui lie les deux parties », a affirmé, à Rabat, ce jeudi 2 octobre 2025, le ministre des Affaires étrangères, de la Coopération africaine et des Marocains résidant à l'étranger, Nasser Bourita.
Dans une déclaration à Rabat, le chef de la diplomatie marocaine a précisé que « la signature interviendra incessamment, à Bruxelles » et, qu'en attendant la finalisation des procédures internes, « l'accord sera mis en application provisoire dès sa signature ».
Cet accord « apporte les clarifications nécessaires, dans le respect des fondamentaux nationaux du Royaume », a souligné M. Bourita. Il s'inscrit dans la continuité et « la philosophie de l'échange de lettre signé entre les deux parties en 2018 », auquel « l'économie générale du nouveau texte reste fidèle », a-t-il ajouté.
Le ministre a indiqué que « l'accord confirme l'application aux Provinces du Sud des tarifs préférentiels accordés par l'UE au titre de l'Accord d'Association avec le Maroc », expliquant que « d'une manière générale, les conditions d'accès au marché européen des produits du Nord seront appliquées aux produits du Sahara marocain ».
Le ministre des Affaires étrangères a précisé que le texte introduit des ajustements techniques relatifs à l'information du consommateur sur la provenance des produits ; Ainsi, un étiquetage mentionnant les régions de production au Sud du Royaume – "Laayoune-Sakiat el Hamra" et "Dakhla-Oued Eddahab" – sera apposé sur les produits agricoles, a-t-il annoncé.
L'Accord rappelle la position formulée par l'Union européenne en 2019 sur la question du Sahara marocain, où l'UE prend note positivement des efforts sérieux et crédibles menés par le Royaume. Il fait également référence aux positions nationales postérieures de nombreux Etats membres de l'UE, exprimant leur appui à l'initiative marocaine d'autonomie, dans le cadre de la dynamique impulsée par Sa Majesté le Roi Mohammed VI.

« Le Maroc est un partenaire fiable et crédible pour l'UE »
« Bien entendu, il ne s'agit pas d'un accord politique ; mais d'un accord sectoriel, commercial et opérationnel. Il n'en demeure pas moins qu'il envoie des signaux forts et clairs », a rappelé le ministre. M. Nasser Bourita n'a pas manqué de souligner la vision éclairée de Sa Majesté le Roi Mohammed VI, grâce à laquelle « le Sahara marocain est devenu une zone de développement, de connexion et de prospérité, qui se confirme comme un pôle de stabilité et de développement régional ».
Cette dynamique explique « l'intérêt de grandes puissances mondiales et régionales pour les activités économiques au Sahara marocain, et leur volonté d'encourager le commerce et l'investissement dans la région, pour faire du Sahara un trait d'union entre Europe et Afrique, entre Méditerranée et Atlantique », a rappelé le chef de la diplomatie marocaine. A titre d'exemple, il cité « la déclaration forte des Etats-Unis la semaine dernière », le « Forum économique Maroc-France prévu à Dakhla le 9 octobre » et « l'action projetée par l'Agence britannique UK Export Finance ».
De même, l'Accord avec l'UE « apporte une contribution qualitative sur le plan national », en participant au PIB agricole et à la création et au maintien de l'emploi, notamment dans la région du Sahara marocain, a ajouté M. Bourita. « Naturellement, cet Accord conforte le Partenariat stratégique ancien et solide entre le Maroc et l'UE », a réaffirmé le ministre.
Il a souligné que le Maroc est un partenaire fiable et crédible, avec lequel l'UE entretient la plus grande part de ses échanges commerciaux en Afrique et dans le monde arabe, pour un montant annuel dépassant les 60 milliards d'euros, incluant produits industriels, équipements et produits agricoles.
« Sa Majesté le Roi a toujours voulu que le Partenariat Maroc-UE se déploie par des actions communes et concrètes », a souligné M. Bourita. Et d'ajouter : « les domaines commercial et agricole sont importants, certes, de par leur place dans l'économie du Royaume, mais notre Partenariat [avec l'Union européenne] s'étend aussi à un large éventail de domaines : politique, économique, social, environnemental, ainsi que les secteurs de la migration et de la mobilité, de la sécurité, du numérique et de la culture ».
Pour le chef de la diplomatie, cette avancée permet au Maroc et à l'UE d'aborder leur avenir commun avec sérénité et d'envisager une voie ambitieuse et prometteuse. "Nous sommes désormais en mesure de déployer tout notre potentiel existant, qu'il s'agisse de préparer des échéances conjointes, ou de dynamiser nos cadres politiques, comme le Conseil d'Association, et de jeter les bases d'un partenariat stratégique encore plus approfondi, qui guidera nos relations pour les prochaines années", a conclu le ministre.

Luca Zidane, the son of France legend Zinedine, is called up by Algeria for their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Somalia and Uganda.

Funerals are held for 36 people who died after scaffolding collapsed at an Orthodox Christian church.

Namibia and Zimbabwe seal qualification for next year's T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka after victories in African qualifying.

Civilians pay the price as paramilitary fighters intensify their offensive to take full control of el-Fasher.

Pour une meilleure sensibilisation des populations sur la santé sexuelle et reproductive, la planification familiale, les violences basées sur le genre, la mortalité maternelle etc., les médias ont un rôle important à jouer. Le Fonds des Nations Unies pour la population (UNFPA), a organisé à cet effet un atelier de renforcement de capacités et d'actualisation de partenariat avec le Réseau béninois des journalistes et communicateurs en population et développement (RBJC-Pod), mercredi 1er octobre 2025, à Cotonou.

Le Fonds des Nations Unies pour la population et le Réseau béninois des journalistes et communicateurs en population et développement renouvellent leur collaboration. Un atelier de renforcement de capacités a été organisé, mercredi dernier, à Cotonou. Occasion pour le représentant résident de l'UNFPA, Richmond TIEMOKO, d'exposer le programme de coopération 2024-2026 de l'UNFPA au Bénin, les résultats des actions menées en 2024, ainsi que les perspectives aux professionnels des médias.

Pour le représentant résident de l'UNFPA, la population est au cœur de tout développement, et la collaboration avec les journalistes vise à la sensibiliser sur les problématiques cruciales telles que la santé sexuelle et reproductive, la mortalité maternelle, la planification familiale, les violences basées sur le genre etc.

Près de 80% de femmes et de jeunes peinent à planifier leurs naissances

Selon les explications de Richmond TIEMOKO, au Bénin, des millions de femmes et de jeunes peinent à planifier leurs naissances ou à choisir leur plan de reproduction. Ceci, en raison « des besoins non satisfaits en planification familiale ». A l'en croire, 80% des femmes en âge de procréer n'utilisent aucune méthode de contraception. « Et pour réduire ces besoins non satisfaits, il faut de l'information. Il faut que chaque personne puisse avoir à sa disposition des informations crédibles qui lui permettent d'aller vers les services, et les services de qualité et faire son choix », a-t-il expliqué évoquant le rôle important des médias qui consiste à mettre à la disposition de la population, des informations crédibles sur la qualité des services, et encourager à aller vers ces services.

Sur le volet concernant la santé maternelle, le taux de mortalité au Bénin est très élevé alors que tout le monde admet « qu'aucune femme ne devrait mourir en donnant la vie ». Un autre fait marquant qui souligne l'importance d'informer et de sensibiliser la population.

L'atelier de renforcement de capacités a été l'occasion pour les participants de revenir sur les initiatives conjointes telles que le concours médias, les reportages thématiques, les documentaires, et campagnes de sensibilisation.
Le représentant résident avait à ses côtés Paul AMOUSSOU, président du RBJC-Pod, au lancement officiel des travaux de l'atelier.

F. A. A.

Bobi Wine says the two Kenyans were "picked up mafia-style" because they had joined his campaign.

US deportee says Ghanaian officers secretly moved him and others to Togo and left them there without documents.

Rachel Iliya only took up rugby league last year but is now hoping to help Nigeria reach the Women's World Cup for the first time.

Rachel Iliya only took up rugby league last year but is now hoping to help Nigeria reach the Women's World Cup for the first time.

Rachel Iliya only took up rugby league last year but is now hoping to help Nigeria reach the Women's World Cup for the first time.

A drill monkey in an electric enclosure at the ranch. Credit: Promise Eze/IPS

By Promise Eze
BOKI, Nigeria, Oct 2 2025 (IPS)

For the past 23 years, Gabriel Oshie has started his mornings at Drill Ranch in the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, Boki, Cross River state, southern Nigeria.

At sunrise, he walks through an electric enclosure at the ranch, giving bananas and other fruits to the over 200 endangered drill monkeys he watches over.

Drill monkeys are among the world’s rarest primates, known for their brightly coloured faces and short tails. They live in large groups led by a dominant male and are found only in parts of Nigeria, southwestern Cameroon and Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea.

However, their numbers have fallen sharply due to deforestation, hunting and the illegal wildlife trade. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates fewer than 4,000 remain in the wild.

“Wildlife is the beauty of nature,” Oshie said, explaining what motivated him to work at the ranch. “When you see the drill monkeys, the forests, and other animals, you can’t help but appreciate their beauty. But it’s sad that people are destroying wildlife despite its importance.”

Gabriel Oshie has been working at the ranch for the past 23 years. Credit: Promise Eze/IPS

Wildlife Crime

Wildlife crime is the fourth most profitable illegal trade globally, worth billions of dollars each year. Nigeria has become a key hub, with porous borders and weak enforcement enabling traffickers to move ivory, pangolin scales and other endangered species.

Authorities have tried to curb the trade by shutting bushmeat markets and seizing smuggled wildlife. In July, officials announced the country’s largest wildlife-trafficking bust, intercepting more than 1,600 birds bound for Kuwait at Lagos International Airport.

But experts warn these efforts could fail if weak conservation laws, poor enforcement, limited public awareness and the lack of arrests or convictions persist.

“The state of biodiversity in Nigeria is in serious crisis,” said Rita Uwaka, Interim Administrator for Environmental Rights Action. “Much of our forested landscape has been depleted due to industrial plantations expansion, leading to significant loss of plant and animal species with devastating impacts on people and climate. We are also seeing concession agreements awarded to large-scale agro-commodities companies contributing to increased biodiversity loss. They arrive with promises of development, but vast forested areas, family farms, and ancestral lands are handed over to them amidst social, environmental, and gender impacts. In the process, they cut down forests that should serve as vital hubs for ecological conservation.

“The biggest drivers of biodiversity loss in Nigeria are in the agro-commodity sector, where large tracts of forest and wildlife sanctuaries are allocated to corporations at the expense of local communities, especially women and vulnerable groups who suffer differentiated impacts when forests and biodiversity are destroyed,” she added.

Preserving the drills

Two American conservationists, Liza Gadsby and Peter Jenkins, founded Drill Ranch in 1991 through their non-profit group Pandrillus. Now home to over 600 drills, it is the world’s most successful breeding project for the species.

En route to Botswana with only a tourist visa, Gadsby and Jenkins arrived in Nigeria where they learned of a gorilla conservation project in Boki. There, they discovered not only gorillas but also drill monkeys, thought before the 1980s to be nearly extinct outside Cameroon.

“Less was known about drills at the time, and they were more endangered than gorillas across Africa. Of course, the local people knew they were there all along, but the international community had only recently rediscovered them. So, we became quite interested in them,” Gadsby explained to IPS.

For over three years, their tourist journey took a different turn as they travelled across southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon, gathering information and persuading locals to surrender captive drills.

They established a sanctuary in Calabar, the capital of Cross River state, later expanding it into a natural habitat in Boki. They worked closely with 18 Boki communities, each contributing rangers who were often former hunters, to patrol the forests and deter poaching. Their efforts paid off, with locals surrendering as many as 90 drills to the project.

Today, the ranch houses both captive-bred and wild-born drills, each with a name and tattoo number. Alongside the drills, it cares for 27 chimpanzees, a soft-shell turtle and 29 African grey parrots seized from traffickers in 2021. In 2024, 25 parrots were released back into the wild.

The presence of Pandrillus in Boki, one of Nigeria’s largest green canopies, helped drive conservation gains in the area. In 2000, after a decade of lobbying, part of the forest reserve, where the ranch is located, was declared a wildlife Sanctuary by the government.

“We had been lobbying for over ten years, proposing that a portion of the forest reserve be upgraded to wildlife sanctuary status,” Gadsby said.

Bleak Future?

Rehabilitating drills into the wild is the main goal of the project, but rapid deforestation in Boki and Cross River is making this increasingly difficult, said ranch manager Zach Schwenneker.

With the thriving cocoa trade in the region, many people turn to farming for a living, often cutting down forests, including protected areas, for cultivation and exposing drills and other animals in the ranch to poachers.

Government support is also dwindling. Pandrillus once received monthly subventions to care for the animals, but the suspension of this funding has hindered conservation efforts. Today, the ranch relies largely on international aid and individual donations.

Uwaka told IPS that Nigeria’s National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan would have effectively addressed these issues, but she argues that “The problem lies in enforcement. While the laws look impressive on paper, they are often ineffective in practice due to weak monitoring systems. Even where such systems exist, they are insufficient to ensure compliance. Policies should be put in place not to encourage poaching, and there should be strong regulatory frameworks to curb deforestation.”

For Oshie at the ranch, the project can only succeed if people value wildlife and biodiversity and no longer feel the need to hunt drills.

“But I’m here because I want to protect nature. If we are not here, logging activities could take over, destroying the trees and harming the animals,” he said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');   Related Articles

• The Young Nigerian Innovator Lighting Up Communities With Recycled Solar Innovation
• Young Africans Priced Out of Cities as Urban Housing Crisis Deepens

Kathmandu’s Singha Durbar in flames

By Jan Lundius
ROME, Oct 2 2025 (IPS)

In the Global South, where people under the age of 18 comprise more than 50 percent of the population, youth activism is increasing rapidly. Youngsters are more agile and volatile than older people, less restrained by family, prestige and work. However, many suffer from marginalisation, lack of employment, and poverty. Furthermore, insecurity and limited life experience make young people an easy target for manipulating and unscrupulous politicians, criminal networks, and religious fanatics.

Students and young citizens come together by using social media to make their presence felt and mount protests in public spaces. The role of new media technologies as an organising tool has led besieged authorities to ban online platforms, though imposed restrictions have rather than contain protests accelerated them.

Rebellious youth generally belong to the Gen Z, which refers to “digital native”, the first generation fully immersed in a digital world, with constant access to internet and social media. An upbringing that has shaped their world view, making them independent, pragmatic and focused on social impact.

South Asia has recently experienced massive protest movements involving crowds of young people. In July 2022, after an economic collapse in Sri Lanka, a rebellion forced its president to flee the country. In July 2024, upheavals ended the long rule of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh, and in September this year, violent protests in Nepal forced Prime Minister Khadga Oli’s government to resign.

Even though specific incidents triggered these upheavals, they were all due to long-term, shared grievances evolving from stark wealth gaps, rampant nepotism, and unlimited corruption. Above all, youngsters protested against members of powerful dynasties, favouring a wealthy and discredited political elite.

Sri Lankans were in 2022 faced with a galloping inflation, daily blackouts, as well as shortages of fuel, domestic gas, food, medicines, and essential imports. Amid massive desperation, huge crowds of mostly young people did on 25 March take to the streets under the slogan Aragalya, Struggle.

Political power had by then become embedded within the Rajapaksa dynasty. From 2005 to 2022, two brothers – Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, had alternately shared the presidency and prime minister post, while another brother headed their political party; a fourth was speaker of the parliament, and other relatives occupied influential political positions.

While Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as defence minister, he was credited with ending the twenty-six-year-long civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. After churches and luxury hotels in April 2019 had been targeted by ISIS-related suicide bombers, killing 270 people, Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who at the time were in opposition, accused the current government of leniency. When Gotabaya ran for the presidency the same year, he based his campaign on his record as a militant leader, embracing a Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalism inspired by his brother Mahinda’s ethno-nationalist rhetoric, favouring the Buddhist establishment. Gotabaya was elected with an overwhelming majority and six ministries were then headed by members of the Rajapaksa clan.

Most Aragalaya protesters considered their personal hardships to be a result of the mismanagement and corruption of the Rajapaksa-led government. They demanded that the president be deposed and a thorough “system change” brought about. After appointing an astute insider, Ranil Wickremesinghe, as acting president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to Singapore. Wickremesinghe’s government refused to hold elections and persistently portrayed Aragalaya as a chaotic movement, captured by militants, fascists, and terrorists.

Several Aragalaya supporters were wary of being used by partisan or militant groups, particularly those with leftist ideologies which had a long history of organizing protests and strikes. One exception could have been the leftist National People’s Power (NPP), established in 2019. The 2024 elections, which Wickremesinghe had been forced to accept, was won by a NPP coalition lead by Anura Dissanayake.

So far, Dissanayake and his NPP coalition have not introduced any radical political or economic changes. They have largely continued the Wickremesinghe government’s economic and foreign policies, raising questions about the extent to which the NPP coalition is willing, or able, to depart from established governance patterns and deliver the systemic change that has been promised. Deep set divisions and ethnic-religious tensions continue to harass the nation and NPP is apparently trying to tread lightly to avoid stirring up any violent disaccord.

The same could be said about Bangladesh, where an interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus seems to be cautious not to cause any antagonistic violence. Yunus’ group of personal supporters and experts presides over a nation with a chilling rise in mob violence and political discord; women are often being targeted, as well as there are reports of attacks on religious minorities.

The formerly dictatorial, but secular and highly corrupt political party, the Awami League, has been banned and democratic elections are promised by the interim government in February 2026. Some are optimistic about democratic elections, described by Yunus as becoming the most “beautiful elections ever”. However, others are unsure if elections will actually be held within a political scenario where violence is a common-day affair.

In Bangladesh, it was a quota system for jobs that forced youngsters into the streets. It was mainly students who led the protests. Student politics had for several years been ferocious, especially since religious and political fractions used them as a mobilising force. Violent feuds within educational institutes had killed many and seriously hampered the academic atmosphere.

Student anger became unified through a common resentment of reserved positions in the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS), a cherished field of government service. The reserved positions were destined to “freedom fighters, i.e. veterans from the 1971 liberation war, as well as their children and grandchildren. Protests erupted in full force on 1 July after the Supreme Court in June 2024 had reinstated a 30 percent quota reserved for veteran descendants, generally interpreted as an intent by the governing party to favour its traditional supporters.

Bangladesh became a sovereign nation in December 1971, after a war against Pakistan, which was supported by India. Sheik Mujibur Rahman was until his assassination in 1975 president and prime minister. Following further turmoil with counter coups, General Ziaur Rahman eventually took over as president; he was in May 1981 assassinated in yet another coup. Ziaur Rahman’s widow, Begum Khaleda Zia, served from 1991 to 1996 as the second female prime minster in the Muslim world (after the Pakistani Benazir Bhutto) and again between 2001 and 2006, when Bangladesh, according to the Corruption Perceptions Index was listed as the most corrupt country in the world. Following the end of her government’s term, a military-backed caretaker government charged Khaleda Zia and her two sons with corruption and in 2018 she was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Sheikh Hasinah, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was prime minister between 1996 and 2001, and again from 2009 to 2024, following several controversial elections. Her tenure as prime minister was marked by economic mismanagement, rampant corruption, leading to a rising foreign debt, increased inflation, youth unemployment, banking irregularities and an enormous wealth gap. The Financial Times reported that more than an estimated USD 200 billion was allegedly plundered from Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasinah’s time as prime minister, with a lot of these money ending up in countries such as the UK.

As the case had been in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, several members of the Nepalese political elite considered themselves as privileged and not accountable, while favouring family members and supporters to syphon wealth from overprized building endeavours.

Khadga Prassad Oli, a communist who began his political career as “spokesman for the oppressed”, seemed to be unaware of the anger accumulating around him within a nation where some two thousand men and women daily left to look for livelihoods in other countries (remittances from Nepalis working abroad constitute a third of the country’s GDP). Of those who stayed behind, more than 80 percent work in the informal sector, while youth unemployment in the formal sector is more than 20 percent.

On 4 September this year, the government ordered authorities to block 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, X, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit, Signal and Snapchat, for not complying with a deadline to register with the country’s ministry of communication. The measure was explained as a means to tackle fake news, hate speech, and online fraud.

By then, youngsters had with increasing anger accessed platforms where politicians’ children posted photos of their opulent existence, awash with designer clothes, luxury holidays, and lavish parties. The close down of all media platforms, except the Chinese TikTok, further inflamed the resentment of Nepalese youth.

Soon Kathmandu was burning – Singha Durbar, i.e. Nepal’s administrative headquarters; the health ministry; the parliament building; the Supreme Court; the presidential palace; the prime minister’s residence, offices of the governing communist party, and the Kathmandu Hilton, were all set ablaze.

Nepal, the oldest sovereign, and until 2008 only Hindu state in South Asia, was for 250 years, under a strict caste system, ruled by the Shah dynasty. After internal power struggles and murders within the “Royal House of Gorkha” the monarchy was abolished and it was only in 1990 that it had ceded partial power to political parties. After that, a series of failing civilian governments gave in 1996 rise to a “Maoist” insurgency, which took sixteen thousand lives.

The leader of that rebellion, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, was in 2008 elected prime minister. However, he and his erstwhile revolutionaries proved incapable of improving Nepalese living standards and soon indulged themselves in corruption. After the September Gen Z-led upheaval a caretaker Prime Minister has been appointed. Sushila Karki, has a good record after being Nepal’s first female Chief Justice, between 2016 and 2017.

While new leaders seem to have emerged in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, the general public is now asking itself if these recently arrived politicians will be more prudent, corruption free and restrained in controversial actions, than their predecessors.

Much of the outcome depends on the “big brother” in the area – The Republic of India, where millions of migrant workers from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka reside and work. Indian democracy has, with all its shortcomings, been characterized by a collective political discourse in which concerns of a diversity of all Indians could find a space. However, under prime minister Modi we now witness the rise of Hindu nationalism, rooted in homogeneity and exclusion, questioning who really belongs in the Hindutva community, while marginalizing those who don’t, among them migrants, Muslims, and many others. A dangerous polarization that could worsen the situation in neighbouring countries, particularly considering the huge number of their emigrants being present in a country prone to discriminate against them, as well as forcing them back to a tumultuous situation in their countries of origin.

This is part 1 of an analysis of the connection between youth movements and political change, part 2 will analyse how youth-led revolutions have changed political scenarios globally.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

This two-storeyed residential building was one of 12 structures demolished by Israeli authorities in Area C of Al Judeira village, in Jerusalem governorate, citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain. Credit: community via UNOCHA

By the Norwegian Refugee Council
OSLO, Norway, Oct 2 2025 (IPS)

In less than nine months, Israel has demolished more Palestinian homes and structures in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, over building permits than in the whole of last year.

By 30 September, Israeli authorities had demolished 1,288 structures over building permits, nearly five a day, including 138 funded by international aid. More than 1,400 Palestinians were displaced and nearly 38,000 affected through the loss of livelihood, agricultural and water and sanitation infrastructure.

This marks a 39 per cent increase in demolitions over building permits compared with the same period last year, when 929 structures were torn down due to lack of permits. Israeli authorities demolished a total of 1,281 structures over building permits in 2024.

“Families are being stripped of homes, water and livelihoods in a calculated effort to drive them from their land and make way for settlements,” said Angelita Caredda, NRC’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “This is not accidental destruction. It is a deliberate policy of dispossession.”

The demolitions are rooted in a planning system that denies Palestinians the right to build in Area C, which covers more than 60 per cent of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli control. Palestinians must apply for permits that are almost never granted.

Since October 2023, 282 applications have been submitted. Not a single one was approved.

Israel has also carried out 37 punitive demolitions this year, matching the record set in 2023. These demolitions involve destroying or sealing the homes of Palestinians accused of attacks against Israelis. The practice punishes entire families and constitutes collective punishment, prohibited under international law.

At the same time, Israeli military operations in Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps have left destruction not captured in official demolition figures. The UN reports at least 245 buildings destroyed and 157 severely damaged, with nearly 32,000 refugees displaced. With limited access to the camps, the real toll is likely far higher.

These developments come a year after the UN General Assembly endorsed the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful and said it must end as rapidly as possible.

In its 18 September 2024 resolution, the Assembly gave Israel 12 months to withdraw and called on states not to recognise annexation, not to aid violations, and to act together to end them. That period has now lapsed, yet Israel has only tightened its grip.

“Instead of ending its occupation, Israel is entrenching it and accelerating its annexation agenda,” Caredda said. “Over 150 states have recognised Palestine, yet the land that state needs to survive is disappearing. Governments must urgently act to protect Palestinians from the relentless erosion of their rights.”

• Between 1 January and 30 September 2025, Israeli authorities demolished 1,288 Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for lack of permits. This is an average of 4.7 demolitions per day. In the same period in 2024, 929 structures were demolished for lack of permits, an average of 3.4 per day. The demolitions in 2025 have displaced 1,414 people and affected 38,017 others (OCHA).

• Israeli authorities demolished 1,281 structures citing lack of permits in 2024. (OCHA).

• Since October 2023, 282 applications have been submitted. None have been approved. (Israel Planning Council)

• Between 2016 and 2021, Palestinians in Area C submitted 2,550 requests for building permits. Only 24 were approved, less than one per cent (Bimkom).

• Between 1 January and 30 September 2025, Israeli authorities carried out 37 punitive demolitions of homes belonging to Palestinians accused of attacks against Israelis. This equals the record number set in 2023 (OCHA).

• Israeli authorities have denied humanitarian monitors access to Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps in the northern West Bank, where widespread destruction has occurred during military operations. A UNOSAT satellite assessment recorded at least 245 buildings destroyed, 157 severely damaged, and 750 moderately damaged.

• In 2024, Israeli authorities demolished 452 Palestinian structures during military operations (OCHA).

• Between 1 January and 30 September 2025, the UN verified the destruction of 1,384 Palestinian structures by Israeli authorities in total (OCHA).

• In 2024, Israeli authorities and forces demolished 1,768 structures across the West Bank (OCHA).

• At least 31,919 Palestine refugees have been displaced from Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps, based on self-registration by affected families. The real number is likely higher, reflecting displacement on a scale beyond what has been verified (UN).

• Area C comprises more than 60 per cent of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli control.

• Under the Oslo II Interim Agreement, powers in Area C were meant to be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction within 18 months of the inauguration of the Palestinian Council in 1996. Nearly three decades later, Area C remains under Israeli control.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');