Doctors warn US aid cuts leave rural Afghanistan without healthcare

Special Doctors warn US aid cuts leave rural Afghanistan without healthcare
This photo taken on July 21, 2022 shows doctors treating patients in the critical care section of the malnutrition ward at the Boost Hospital, run by Medicines Sans Frontiers, in Lashkar Gah, Helmand. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 25 March 2025
Follow

Doctors warn US aid cuts leave rural Afghanistan without healthcare

Doctors warn US aid cuts leave rural Afghanistan without healthcare
  • WHO says hundreds of health centers, clinics across country are set to close by June
  • Afghan health sector relies on donors as govt covers only 3% of total expenditure

Kabul: Afghan doctors warn that new foreign funding cuts are depriving the country’s most vulnerable of healthcare, especially in rural areas, where aid-dependent NGOs are the sole providers.

The WHO announced last week that 206 health facilities across 28 provinces of Afghanistan were either suspended or closed due to a lack of financial support.

About 200 more clinics, health centers and mobile health and nutrition teams operating in remote areas of the country are set to close by June.

The UN health agency said that the funding shortfall, which comes amid massive US aid cuts since January, is leaving an additional 1.8 million Afghans without access to primary health care.

“The big hospitals in provincial capitals are primarily run by the government while most of the health centers in rural areas are operated by NGOs with funding from different donors,” Dr. Zobair Saljuqi, a doctor at Herat Regional Hospital, told Arab News.

Most of the rural population cannot afford to travel to provincial capitals or major cities for treatment. Health facilities in remote areas are also crucial for women, especially since their movement has been curtailed by the Taliban administration.

“If these health facilities don’t receive the needed financial aid, they cannot continue functioning even for a month because from staff salaries, through running costs, to medicines — all are provided by the donors,” Saljuqi said.

“Women will face severe challenges during pregnancies and children could die due to malnutrition or infectious diseases.”

The halt in US aid is another blow to Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation since the Taliban took over in 2021. Following the collapse of the country’s Western-backed regime, the US withdrew its troops and froze all projects overnight, after spending billions on two decades of military and development operations.

Afghanistan’s health sector relies on donor funds. UN estimates show that out-of-pocket expenses and external funding make up 97 percent of total health expenditure, while government contributions account for just 3 percent.

Dr. Ahmad Tariq, who works at a health center in Qarghayi district, Laghman province, said that almost everyone in his neighborhood depended on the facility.

“People here are very poor. They are all either farmers or daily laborers. They can’t afford to travel to the center of the province or buy medicine,” he told Arab News.

“Our small facility is helping tens of patients every day, men and women, children and elderly persons. They come for OPD consultations as well as vaccination and receive some medicine for free. If it wasn’t for this center most of the people would have been deprived of basic health services.”

According to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Health data, 72 percent of the rural population lacks access to primary and secondary healthcare services.

Of the country’s 400 districts, only 93 have operational hospitals, and almost 10 million people in more than 20,000 villages have limited or no access to basic health services.

Dr. Mohammad Nazar, a public health practitioner in Kabul, forecast that the sudden shortage of US-led funding would further devastate Afghanistan’s already fragile health system, which had endured decades of war and Soviet and American invasions.

“Almost all health centers across rural areas are supported by donors and humanitarian organizations,” he said.

“Tens of health facilities are already closing, which means more and more women, children, elderly persons, displaced persons ... will have no access to essential health services and mortality from preventable diseases would rise.”


Trump eyes Erdogan’s help to end Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (File/AFP)
US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (File/AFP)
Updated 55 min 30 sec ago
Follow

Trump eyes Erdogan’s help to end Ukraine war

US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (File/AFP)
  • Two leaders discussed “all things Syria, Gaza and more” in what Trump called a “very good and productive telephone conversation” with Erdogan

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday he wanted to work with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after the two leaders spoke by telephone.
Trump added on his Truth Social network that Erdogan had also invited him to visit Turkiye and that the Turkish leader would be meeting him in Washington.
“I look forward to working with President Erdogan on getting the ridiculous, but deadly, War between Russia and Ukraine ended — NOW!” Trump posted.
Trump, who promised to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of starting his second term in January, has been pushing Kyiv and Moscow to reach a ceasefire deal.
NATO member Turkiye has sought to maintain good relations with both of its Black Sea neighbors since the Russian invasion and has twice hosted talks aimed at ending the war.
The two leaders also discussed “all things Syria, Gaza and more” in what Trump called a “very good and productive telephone conversation” with Erdogan.
Trump said he and Erdogan had an “excellent” relationship during his first term as US president from 2017 to 2021.
The Turkish president’s office said Erdogan had told Trump that US efforts to ease sanctions on Syria would “contribute” to stabilizing the war-torn country.
Washington has said any normalization or lifting of sanctions following the December ouster of Bashar Assad will depend on verifiable progress by Syria’s new authorities on priorities including actions against “terror.”
Erdogan also thanked Trump for his “approach to ending wars,” with the statement mentioning Ukraine, Gaza and negotiations on Iran.
He raised the issue of the war-battered Gaza Strip, telling Trump that humanitarian aid should “be delivered to Gaza without interruption.”
Israel halted all aid to the 2.4 million Palestinians in Gaza in March and its security cabinet has approved the expansion of military operations in Gaza including the “conquest” of the Palestinian territory.
Trump is due to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates next week.


Spain probes deaths of thousands of Spaniards in Nazi camps

Spain probes deaths of thousands of Spaniards in Nazi camps
Updated 05 May 2025
Follow

Spain probes deaths of thousands of Spaniards in Nazi camps

Spain probes deaths of thousands of Spaniards in Nazi camps
  • Thousands of Spaniards fled to France after Franco’s Fascist-backed nationalists overthrew a republic in the 1936-1939 civil war
  • They found themselves under Nazi occupation in France from 1940

MADRID: Spanish prosecutors on Monday said they were investigating whether General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II to send thousands of exiled Spaniards in France to death camps.
Thousands of Spaniards fled to France after Franco’s Fascist-backed nationalists overthrew a republic in the 1936-1939 civil war, only to find themselves under Nazi occupation in France from 1940.
The investigation will “clarify the relevant responsibilities and the existence of a possible joint strategy” between Franco’s dictatorship and Nazi Germany “in the detention and subsequent transfer of thousands of Spaniards exiled in France to different extermination camps,” the public prosecutor’s office said.
The Mauthausen camp in Austria was among the sites where the republican exiles “were subjected to forced labor, torture, disappearance and murder,” the prosecutor’s office added.
The human rights and democratic memory section of the office will lead the inquiry into the 4,435 recorded dead.
The prosecutors’ office said the probe coincided with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Mauthausen and was launched in accordance with a divisive 2022 democratic memory law.
The left-wing government passed the legislation in a bid to tackle the legacy of the civil war and honor victims of violence and persecution under Franco, who ruled with an iron fist until his death in 1975.
The right-wing opposition says the left is trying to reopen the wounds of the past with the law and has vowed to repeal it if they return to power.


Rwanda in ‘initial’ talks with US over migration deal

Rwanda in ‘initial’ talks with US over migration deal
Updated 05 May 2025
Follow

Rwanda in ‘initial’ talks with US over migration deal

Rwanda in ‘initial’ talks with US over migration deal
  • Great Lakes nation — often viewed as an island of stability in a turbulent region — previously made a similar multi-million deal with Britain to receive deported illegal migrants
  • FM Olivier Nduhungirehe: ‘Those reports are true, we are engaged in discussions with the Government of the United States of America’

KIGALI: Rwanda and Washington are in the early stages of talks to receive immigrants from the United States, the Rwandan foreign minister told state media.
Washington has been pushing a mass deportation drive, with President Donald Trump’s administration negotiating highly controversial arrangements to send migrants to third countries.
The Great Lakes nation — often viewed as an island of stability in a turbulent region — previously made a similar multi-million deal with Britain to receive deported illegal migrants. However, it was scrapped immediately after a new government was elected last year.
Foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe confirmed earlier reports that Rwanda was among countries talking to Washington over a migrant deal, following a question on state TV on Sunday.
“Those reports are true, we are engaged in discussions with the Government of the United States of America,” he said.
Noting the similar agreement with the British, Nduhungirehe said such a deal “is not something new to us.”
However, while he confirmed that the two nations were engaged in “ongoing” talks, he said “they are not yet conclusive to determine the direction this will take.”
“I would say the discussions are in their initial stages, but we continue to talk about this problem of migrants,” he said, without giving further details.
When contacted by AFP about the talks he said: “You will be informed when the discussions will be finalized.”
Washington’s deal with El Salvador has created a furor, notably after a US official acknowledged that authorities mistakenly expelled one Salvadoran man but that the United States could not bring him back.
The Kigali-London deal was also controversial, with the UK’s Supreme Court ruling that sending migrants to Rwanda through the agreement would be illegal because it “would expose them to a real risk of ill-treatment.”
The tiny nation of roughly 13 million people has been criticized by rights groups over its human rights record and increasingly diminished freedom of speech.
Rwanda has also faced mounting pressure over its involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the east of which has been re-engulfed in conflict after a lightning strike by a Rwandan-backed military group.


UK royals lead celebrations to mark 80 years since WWII end

UK royals lead celebrations to mark 80 years since WWII end
Updated 05 May 2025
Follow

UK royals lead celebrations to mark 80 years since WWII end

UK royals lead celebrations to mark 80 years since WWII end
  • Charles and Camilla were joined by Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Prince William and his wife Catherine along with their children George, Charlotte and Louis

LONDON: A military parade, fly-past and balcony appearance by the royal family on Monday kicked off four days of UK celebrations marking 80 years since the end of World War II.
King Charles III saluted as around 1,000 members of the UK armed forces, joined by NATO colleagues from the US, France and Germany, along with 11 soldiers from Ukraine waving their country’s flag reached the end of the procession in front of Buckingham Palace.
Tens of thousands defied the damp weather on the Union Jack-lined Mall to watch the parade, which began with Winston Churchill’s 1945 victory speech, voiced by actor Timothy Spall.
“Do not yield to violence and tyranny, march straight forward and die if need be, unconquered,” bellowed Spall, standing in front of Churchill’s statue in Parliament Square.
The procession culminated in a fly past featuring aerobatic team The Red Arrows and 23 current and historic military aircraft, which the 76-year-old monarch watched from the balcony of Buckingham Palace.
Charles and Queen Camilla were joined by Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Prince William and his wife Catherine along with their children George, Charlotte and Louis.
As European countries gear up to celebrate Victory in Europe (VE) Day on May 8, the war in Ukraine is a reminder “that peace is never to be taken for granted,” Charles told the Italian parliament last month.
“Today, sadly, the echoes of those times — which we fervently hoped had been consigned to history — reverberate across our continent,” the king said.
It was from the same balcony on May 8, 1945, that King George VI and Queen Elizabeth — alongside daughters princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, and then-prime minister Churchill — greeted tens of thousands of Londoners celebrating what Churchill declared the “day of victory in Europe.”
That night, the two princesses, then 19 and 14, were allowed to leave the palace and join the jubilant crowds incognito.
Some 40 years later, Elizabeth, by then queen, described the night as “one of the most memorable” of her life.
This year’s commemorations will take on extra poignancy given the fading of the “Greatest Generation.”
Younger generations are increasingly disconnected from the conflict that shook the continent from 1939 to 1945.
“It’s important to remember some of the poor devils who didn’t make it like I did,” 99-year-old Royal Air Force veteran Dennis Bishop told AFP.
Buckingham Palace will later host a reception celebrating veterans and people of the WWII generation.
The first act on a chilly Monday morning in London was the draping of two huge Union Jack flags on the Cenotaph war memorial.
Hundreds of people set up camp outside Buckingham Palace with chairs and rugs.
“It’s so emotional to be here today. Eighty years of peace and peace of mind. Where would we be without them?” asked Patrick Beacon, 76, who arrived with his wife at around 7:00 am (0600 GMT) to get the “best view.”
Tourists included 52-year-old Ludivine Batthelot from southern France.
“We came out of curiosity because it’s the kind of celebration that the English do so well,” she told AFP. “It’s folklore, we wanted to be in the mood and live the experience.”
Among other events, there was to be a party on HMS Belfast — one of the few surviving British warships from WWII — which is moored on the banks of the Thames.
And people were invited to take part in hundreds of other parties, 1940s dress-up events, picnics, installations and commemorations that take place across the country through the week until VE Day on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Queen Camilla will visit an art installation of around 30,000 ceramic red poppies — symbols of remembrance for the war dead — at the iconic Tower of London.
Celebrations will draw to a close on Thursday with a two-minute national silence at government buildings.
Charles, who has been undergoing treatment for cancer, will attend a service at Westminster Abbey, followed by a concert at London’s Horse Guards Parade.
The royal family was hoping “nothing will detract or distract” from the celebrations after Prince Harry, Charles’ youngest son, gave a bombshell interview on Friday, according to UK media.
Pubs across the country have been allowed to stay open two hours later as part of the celebrations.


In Dhaka, Makkah Route facility eases Bangladeshi pilgrims’ Hajj journey

In Dhaka, Makkah Route facility eases Bangladeshi pilgrims’ Hajj journey
Updated 05 May 2025
Follow

In Dhaka, Makkah Route facility eases Bangladeshi pilgrims’ Hajj journey

In Dhaka, Makkah Route facility eases Bangladeshi pilgrims’ Hajj journey
  • Around 87,000 Bangladeshis will be going for Hajj in 2025
  • Special pilgrimage flights from Dhaka began on April 29

Dhaka: Bangladeshi pilgrims have welcomed the Hajj immigration procedures under the Makkah Route initiative, which are easing the process for tens of thousands of pilgrims departing for Saudi Arabia from the nation’s main international airport.

Most of the pilgrims are departing from Dhaka under the flagship pre-travel program.

The Kingdom launched the initiative in 2019 to help pilgrims meet all the visa, customs and health requirements at the airport of origin and save them long hours of waiting before and upon arrival in Saudi Arabia.

This year, Hajj is expected to start on June 4, and special pilgrimage flights from the Bangladeshi capital began on April 29.

“The Makkah Route initiative … It’s very pleasant for the pilgrims of Bangladesh. It is, of course, time-saving and being done comfortably,” Hajj director Mohammad Lokman Hossain told Arab News over the weekend.

“They didn’t have to wait in a long queue and it’s very beneficial to the pilgrims.”

Bangladesh is among seven Muslim-majority countries — including Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, Turkiye and Cote d’Ivoire — where Saudi Arabia is operating its Makkah Route initiative.

One of the most populous Muslim-majority countries, Bangladesh was granted a quota of 127,000 pilgrims in 2025. But only about 87,000 will be going this year due to high inflation and rising cost of airfares to the Middle East.

The pilgrims appreciated the way the Saudi facility was organized at the airport as they prepared to board their flights to the Kingdom.

“We have completed the immigration formalities very easily. There was no delay, no waiting. It’s like we came and everything was done,” Mohammad Ruhul Kuddus, a businessman from Dhaka, told Arab News.

For Oaliur Reza, the immigration process took only a minute.

“I had no idea about these services. I just found out about it for the first time and I had a very good experience,” Reza said.

“Just within a minute, I passed the immigration, and I liked this service the most.”

Abdul Awal, a businessman from the city of Feni, recalled how different it had been the first time he performed Hajj, when the Makkah Route initiative was not yet introduced.

“I like the current system a lot. It made things easier. The difficulties of the pilgrims have been reduced now significantly compared to the years before (the Makkah Route initiative),” Awal said.

“There were plenty of computerized service counters here for the pilgrims. Praise be to God, it’s very good.”