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Mozambique. Benfica, Urban Mission.

Sunday, 1 July 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

The parish of St. Francis Xavier in the outskirts of Maputo: a centre of Christian and social commitment. Two Comboni Missionaries lead the parochial community.

The parish of St. Francis Xavier is located in the chaotic neighbourhood of Benfica, near Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. At five o’clock in the morning, the streets are already congested with tricycles loaded with goods, and women carrying products in big bundles on their heads looking for a somewhere to lay their goods on the ground and sell them. Lessons at the parish school start at 6 o’clock in the morning.

Spanish Comboni Missionary, Father Juan Sanchez Arenas, is the parish priest of St. Francis Xavier, a parish founded in 1949. He has the task of making the schedule of the several pastoral activities implemented at the parish such as: taking care of five external chapels, adolescent catechesis, administration of the finances of the parish, the coordination of the parish groups. Father Juan Sanchez is a jovial person who likes joking and laughing. At the same time he knows the social, political and ecclesial reality of Mozambique deeply, therefore listening to his comments and knowing his opinions is always very interesting.
Fr. Antonio Bonato, the other Comboni missionary serving at the St. Francis Xavier, is Italian and he is mainly in charge of the school.

The Benfica neighbourhood is home to some 80,000 inhabitants, about 13,000 of whom are Catholics. Many inhabitants of this peripheral neighbourhood of Maputo leave the suburb in the morning to reach the capital where they work and, when they come back, at sunset, they go to the St. Francis Xavier church to help the missionaries with their parish activities.There are three Ministries that stand out among the others for their importance and good organization in the parish. In the first place, there is the Social and Pastoral Ministry which relates to issues such as justice and peace, health, women, social communication, development, charity, migrants and education. The latter is a priority in this parish.
The St. Francis Xavier Community School has 1,400 students: 100 children in the nursery, 880 students attending Primary school, 340 in the Secondary school, and about 80 adults who attend literacy classes at night. The State subsidizes primary education entirely, and the secondary only partially and therefore many children in Mozambique do not attend school because their parents cannot afford tuition fees. The parish school building is located at the rear of the church and it provides classes on a 3-shift daily schedule. Father Bonato underlines that “It is not easy to coordinate three shifts of lessons and rotational teaching for different levels of education”.

The Liturgy Ministry is the second most important Ministry at the Benfica parish. Fr. Juan praises the choir singing at their church, “They sing very well, and have even won awards at several diocesan competitions!” The Liturgy Ministry also includes the Acolyte Ministry, the Word Ministry, the welcoming service and the service of hope which is carried out by well-trained people who accompany those who are seriously ill until the time of their death. They collaborate with the families of the sick and then make preparations for the funeral and burial in the cemetery. Fr. Juan underlines: “The burial of the dead is one of the great works of charity that our church provides”.
The Ministry of Catechesis, the transmission of the faith in Jesus, is the third most important Ministry at the Benfica parish, it incorporates a wide range of parish activities, such as Adult Catechumenate which include formation courses for those who were baptized as children, and a three-year formation program for non-baptized adults.

The youngest children of the Benfica neighbourhood attend kindergarten at the Escolinha Comboni-Marinette centre, a joint project between the Comboni Missionaries and the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary, the Order founded by Marie Rivier – known as Marinette – the blessed born in the south of France whose congregation has spread throughout the world.The centre provides its 100 children with breakfast in the morning when they arrive and a midday meal served in the dining room. The Escolinha Comboni-Marinette has several classrooms and a courtyard equipped with toys and games for the children.
Volunteers from the movements Legion of Mary and Hope and Life collaborate with the Comboni missionaries in order to carry out the several activities implemented at the parish.
These volunteers are mainly committed to providing social support. They visit and assist inmates in prisons or other marginalized people. It is beautiful to see how faith and life are interconnected through social support in the Benfica suburb.
Jaume Calvera

Spirituality as Ahimsa.

Sunday, 1 July 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

Undoubtedly, nonviolence remains at the heart of Asian spiritual tradition. It is not that Asians are less violent than others,
but a longing for peace has clung to their hearts even in the most violent of times.

Ahimsa, nonviolence, remains an inspiring theme in Asia among the co-nationals of Buddha and the disciples of Lao Tse. Hence, the greater tragedy when this message is forgotten on the continent. It was the genius of Mahatma Gandhi that brought the concept of nonviolence to the political field when he decided to fight the mightiest imperial power of the day in his own peaceful style. Non-violence was, for him, not mere passivity or weakness, but a pointer to the strength of the spirit. It consists in showing respect for the opponent and all his legitimate interests while refusing to bend to unjust treatment. He developed the concept of “strong persuasion” by appealing to the conscience of the opponent in respectful protest and expressing non-acceptance in a gentle and courteous manner. By reinterpreting the concept of Gandhi the message became universalised, making it meaningful to everyone. In a similar situation anywhere in the world.
Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and others felt inspired by Gandhi while pressing for their rights.

Looking at things objectively, when spiritual values fail to exert a moral authority in society, force comes to play a greater role in obtaining social compliance, whether imposed by the administration or inflicted on each other by fellow citizens. Force used in excess takes the form of violence. Violence, once unsheathed, cuts in all directions. This is an area where the spirituality of non-violence ought to be brought out of the world of contemplation and prayer into the public forum. Ahimsa also excludes the use of violence in language, provocative statements, unfair criticism, insensitive remarks; even violent forms of protests against injustice, and indifference to suffering. Today it needs to be extended to the over-tapping of natural resources, damage to environment, and competition that rises to merciless heights. Ahimsa would be fully in agreement with the concepts expressed in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Francis Laudato Si’, especially with regard to the ecology of the human person.

Truthfulness is considered the highest virtue among Asian peoples. There is an ancient Sanskrit saying, ‘The truth shall triumph’. However, honesty is probably the most forgotten spiritual value in public life. The tragedy in our times is that corrupt practices have risen to the world stage. No one can plead to be totally innocent. That is why all must join hands in order to wipe out this plague from society. Corruption is not only about the wrong use of money, but also about the wrong use of power. It is about taking bribes in government offices, about various forms of manipulation and blackmailing, political arm-twisting, pushing a particular party’s or ethnic group’s interests through underhand ways, unfairness of dominant classes to weaker sections, silencing the voices of the weaker communities, physical elimination of political opponents or commercial competitors, interfering with election processes.

Corruption also has reference to hidden transactions, unpaid salaries, underpaid employees, unfair pressure.
When citizens’ consciences are not alert, the mechanisms of accountability and sanction are not activated, and structures of enforcement lie idle, dishonesty rises to giant proportions. Today that is what is happening. A passage from early Buddhist poetry says, ‘Let no one deceive, anyone else, nor despise anyone anywhere. May no one wish harm to another in anger or ill-will’ (Samyutta Nikaya, 1468). (T.M.)

African Cuisine. Variety and Flavours.

Sunday, 1 July 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

African cuisine offers a wide range of dishes of great flavour and variety. Food is an occasion for gathering together, for celebrating and sharing. A short culinary journey across the continent.

The famous couscous, a dough made with hard grain or millet, semolina and rice, flavoured with butter and served with sheep, chicken or fish meat, is widespread throughout the Maghreb area and in some West African countries. Couscous-based dishes are always served with the harissa sauce, a mixture of herbs, spicy paprika and other spices. Couscous can often be accompanied by a special soup of legumes, cereals, meat or fish, known under different names in different countries: tchorba, in Algeria; brudu, in Tunisia; molokheya, in Egypt; harira, in Morocco.
Another popular dish in this region is tajines, stews of meat and vegetables seasoned with sauce made with vegetables and spices. Chicken stews with cinnamon and onion are very popular in Algeria, while those of lamb with honey and peach are typical of Morocco.

The culinary tradition of West Africa is based on products such as cassava, millet, spices and the abundant use of paprika, which in some places is called pili-pili. Maffe ‘el, a typical dish of Mali, consisting in minced meat with vegetables and peanut sauce, is widespread throughout the region.
Tieboudienne is the Senegalese national dish, a flavoured combination of fish, rice, and vegetables. While yassa, lemony chicken and caramelized onions in a sweet-spicy-lemony sauce served with boiled rice, is typical of Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Mali. Boarake is another popular fish-based dish with cassava leaf and palm oil.
Couscous is also typical of Cameroon where the dough is mainly made of corn and served with fish sauce. Tô, a millet, sorghum or corn paste is very common in some regions of Burkina Faso, Mali and northern Togo and is often served with local sauces.
Mutsella, a dish consisting of fish with vegetables and spices, and yekumé, spicy chicken, are typical Togolese dishes.

Cassava is the staple food of Central Africa. It is left to ferment and then ground into flour. Boiled water is added to the flour which is kneaded into a compact dough. Cassava is usually accompanied by vegetables, seasoned with oil, tomato sauce and onions. Fufu is also a staple food in several African countries such as Inizio modulothe Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it usually accompanies pondu, a vegetable dish made with cassava leaves and palm oil.
Eating mushrooms and almonds, as well as insects such as caterpillars, termites and worms is very common in the Central African Republic. Insects have a high protein value and can be consumed raw, after being soaked in salt water and sun- dried.
African people from rural areas also consume monkeys, gazelles, antelopes and boars.
Some oriental influence is evident in many traditional dishes of the countries of the coastal region of East Africa, mainly Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Madagascar, which are enriched with sauces and spices imported from India, China and Arabia. Sukuma wiki is a traditional Kenyan dish that is prepared with meat, vegetables and typically served with ugali which is a ball of corn cooked in boiling water to a stiff or firm dough-like consistency. Ugali is also consumed with maziwamala (sour milk) and is one of the most common staple foods throughout East Africa. It is called shima in Mozambique and Zambia, and usua in the southern area of Mozambique and Swaziland. One of the most common appetizers in this region is sambusa, triangular fried pastries stuffed with minced and flavoured meat.

Injera is a traditional Ethiopian sour, spongy, flat bread made with teff flour. Teff is a cereal that is grown almost exclusively in Ethiopia. According to historians, it began to be cultivated around 4,000 BC. Teff flour is mixed with water and left to ferment for three or four days. The liquid amount of flour is then ready to be poured into a large clay plate and cooked over a fire. A very large spongy crepe-like bread is created. Injera is almost never eaten by itself. The large flat bread is placed on the table and other food, such as vegetables, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peppers and stews of chicken, lamb or cow meat, are placed on top of it. These are served with a spicy sauce known as berberé, a spicy mixture whose ingredients include spicy paprika and other spices and herbs. Injera becomes the plate, the eating utensil, and the food. Pieces of injera are ripped off the main piece of bread and used to pick up the other foods; the injera soaks up the juices and flavours from the food placed upon it. Injera lamb is one of the most appreciated and is usually consumed on occasions of special celebrations.

Africa G. Gómez

Beyond the Dark Web: Arms Trafficking in the Digital Age.

In October 2013, the US Justice Department announced the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, the founder and operator of ‘Silk Road,’ a massive online marketplace for drugs and other illicit goods.

Authorities called it ‘the most sophisticated and extensive criminal marketplace on the Internet’ and estimated that it had facilitated the transfer of more than a billion dollars in drugs and other contraband over a two-year period”.

Ulbricht set up his black market bazaar on the dark web - a collection of websites that are accessible only through special software such as TOR. Practically overnight, ‘dark web’ was transformed into a household term, and its implications for criminality, including arms trafficking, became the topic du jour for policymakers, pundits, and journalists. This fascination with the dark web obscures the broader role that the Internet plays in the illicit proliferation of weapons. Online activities related to arms trafficking occur throughout the Internet, including on mainstream websites. This activity ranges from outreach to potential clients on social media to the procurement of weapons, ammunition, and accessories from online vendors.

The embrace of the Internet by arms traffickers and their clients has significant implications for law enforcement and policymakers, but it is not a game changer, at least not yet. Arms trafficking remains tethered to the real (physical) world in important ways. In fact, very few illicit transfers are conducted entirely online. Weapons are physical objects that are manufactured, stored and transported offline. Technological advancements such as 3D printing could eventually sever some of the links between the real and virtual worlds but, for now, most ‘online’ arms trafficking involves extensive offline activities and interactions.

Online activities associated with arms trafficking can be divided into three main categories: advertising, procurement, and technology transfers. A brief discussion of each category is included below. Firearms parts and components seized by the US Homeland Security Investigation. Source: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Advertising

Perhaps the most important role played by the Internet is efficiently connecting potential buyers and sellers of illicit weapons. Social media sites and online marketplaces allow arms traffickers to identify and engage with potential clients located across town, in other countries, or, in some cases, on different continents. Sites on the dark web are used for this purpose but so are legitimate, mainstream websites.

As documented by Small Arms Survey, traffickers based in the United States have illegally shipped hundreds of weapons, accessories, and components to foreign clients whom they met on social media, legitimate online marketplaces, and gun forums. Such activity is not limited to the United States. Traffickers in Middle East and Africa have set up regional weapons-centred marketplaces on social media sites. Weapons advertised on these marketplaces range from blank-firing handguns to anti-tank missiles. Some companies have taken steps to prevent arms trafficking on their sites, but completely eradicating it is extremely difficult.

Procurement

Some traffickers purchase most or all of their merchandise from online vendors. The ease of shopping online and the ready availability of weapons, components, and accessories undoubtedly explain why traffickers procure these items over the Internet, especially in places where sales of firearms and related items are strictly controlled. Another benefit is reduced visibility. While few online transactions are truly anonymous, purchasing weapons over the Internet allows traffickers to minimize their procurement footprint. Instead of buying large quantities of weapons from a single store — a red flag for law enforcement and law-abiding vendors — many traffickers purchase small quantities of the same items from several different sellers, which is much less conspicuous. Placing numerous small orders online is much easier than driving to multiple brick-and-mortar stores.

An example of a typical social media post offering a weapon (in this case, a Czech Sa vz. 25 sub-machine gun) for sale on the illicit market in Libya. Note: the comments reflect group members’ queries to the original poster regarding the asking price (LYD 1,300) and location (Benghazi) of the weapon.

Online purchases also involve fewer interactions with vendor employees, who are often critical sources of information for law enforcement.
The importance of this information is illustrated by the multi-year investigation into an Arizona-based trafficker of hand grenade components to Mexico.
Employees of military surplus stores frequented by the trafficker provided authorities with a wide array of valuable information, including his purchase orders and driver’s license number.

One quick-witted clerk working at a shop in Phoenix wrote down a description of the trafficker’s vehicle and his license plate number, which was promptly provided to investigators. Two of the clerk’s colleagues also positively identified the trafficker from a photo shown to them by authorities. Based on this and other evidence, the trafficker was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the US.

Many traffickers also use online payment services and cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin and its less well-known counterparts are often favoured by dark web vendors, some of whom only accept payment in cryptocurrencies. Other illicit financial activity, such as the sharing and use of stolen credit card numbers to purchase trafficked firearms, is also conducted online.

Technology transfers

The third category of online activity related to arms trafficking is the illicit sharing of technical data on the creation, assembly and use of weapons. This data takes many forms and covers topics ranging from the construction of improvised batteries for shoulder-fired missiles to the conversion of non-lethal and deactivated guns into lethal-purpose firearms. Of particular concern is the illicit proliferation of files for making weapons with 3D printers and other production technologies, such as computer numerically controlled (CNC) milling machines.

Existing evidence suggests that only a small proportion of illicit weapons are currently made with these technologies, but this may change as 3D printers, and particularly metal printers, improve in quality and decrease in price. Their widespread acquisition and use by traffickers and other illicit end-users could eventually undermine the export control regimes that have been the backbone of national and international anti-trafficking efforts for decades.

Moving forward

Online arms trafficking is a serious problem with real-world consequences. Digital marketplaces and online storefronts are significant force multipliers for tech-savvy arms traffickers, who can build global client bases and diversified supply networks with minimal capital and from nearly anywhere in the world. The Internet is not yet the game-changer that many feared, however. Law enforcement agencies in the US and elsewhere have adapted to the digital age as evidenced by the numerous online arms traffickers arrested by US authorities in recent years, including traffickers operating on the dark web.

The continued links between the virtual and physical worlds provide additional opportunities for authorities to detect online trafficking networks and interdict arms shipments arranged by these networks. That said, the improving quality and increasing availability of 3D-printers and other production technologies could eventually tip the scales in favour of online traffickers, with potentially dire consequences for export control regimes. Preventing this outcome will be challenging; the inherently dual-use nature of 3D printers and their numerous beneficial applications limit the types of controls that governments can impose on manufacturers, retailers and exporters.

Overcoming these and other challenges associated with arms trafficking in the digital age will require creative thinking and close collaboration between policy-makers, law enforcement agencies, and industry at the national and international levels. This is a tall order given the current geopolitical climate but, given what’s at stake, it would behove the international community to find common ground on this critical issue.

Matt Schroeder

Latin America. The starting point of all the routes.

Friday, 1 June 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

The mingling of drug trafficking and terrorist/guerrilla organisations also involves Latin America which, as is well known, is the homeland of drug trafficking.

The new geographic mafia is making increasing inroads into the growing economies of the sub-continent. One of these is Mexico which, besides being a new geopolitical and geo-economic actor in the region, may be considered one of the principal centres of world drug trafficking where, for years now, the ‘First Narcotic World War’ has been raging with around 100,000 victims in the last decade. The breadth of the phenomenon is conveyed by the declaration made in November 2009 by the Director of the International Centre for Legal and Economic Development, Edgardo Buscaglia, according to whom “the Mexican economy is greatly conditioned by the drug cartels since more than 70% of the various economic sectors have been ‘infiltrated’ by criminal organisation whose financial resources amount to 40% of GDP”.

Then there is Colombia which, though it has lost its primacy as the fatherland among leading drug trafficking countries and whose gestures became legendary, is still one of those countries where the drugs business produces a major portion of the entire wealth of the country. Such an index, besides being a warning as to the stability of the economy of the country, reveals the failure – in a more malicious view the ambiguities – of the Colombia Plan implemented by the United States to counteract the illegal cultivation of drugs. The dominion of the great cartels has gradually been supplanted by a fragmented market with weak hierarchies and characterised by the multitude of groups with very small numbers which have led the intelligence authorities to define the phenomenon as the ‘miniaturisation of the cartels’. These groups, which operate in ever more close alliances with the Mexican narcos, behave very discreetly in spending money and making investments.

In the Colombian context, the role played by the FARC and other guerrilla groups such as the ELN, has been crucial. In the early nineties, the FARC took part in the drug-trafficking business by demanding the payment of a tax in exchange for the protection of the illegal cultivation and transport of the goods. Later, protection was extended also to the laboratories and especially to the clandestine runways for the use of the small aircraft which, packed with narcotics, transport the goods to their market destinations. In recent years, the guerrillas decided to abandon the previous policy, choosing instead to directly run the cultivations of coca and opium, a decision that led analysts to speak of ‘the FARC cartel’. This cartel became even stronger following the operation carried out by the government against the cartels of the Valley of the North of Cali and Medellin. Furthermore, the guerrillas took up a fortified position on the border with Ecuador, also occupying portions of Ecuadorian territory in areas extremely difficult to reach where they set up their own drug refining and storage centres. Today, the FARC, following the peace treaty signed with the Colombian government in September 2016, is undergoing a process of fragmentation which is transforming it into small armed paramilitaries engaged in drug trafficking. Considering the fact that the organisation counted about three thousand militiamen, there is no doubt that this represents a serious problem with which the Colombian government is faced.

Peru, too, is one of the countries involved in the phenomenon of the production of narcotics. As in the case of the FARC in Colombia, the rebels of the Sendero Luminoso play a leading role in the production and marketing of cocaine and with considerable profit, thanks to the fact that, in recent years, the country has exponentially increased the area devoted to cultivation, thus moving into first place in terms of cocaine production.
Even though the government of former President Humala is pursuing a fight with no quarter against the rebels, availing of United Staes help, there is a faction within them – called Proseguir – which , while remaining active in the region of Vrae, has transformed itself to all intents and purposes into a drug-trafficking organisation. The region, which was always the prerogative of Sendero Luminoso, is located in the south of the country, in the department of Ayacucho. The thick and inhospitable woodland vegetation, together with the high level of humidity, have created the perfect situation to make that place one of the main centres of cultivation of coca in the world, boasting the best quality of plantations. The rebels, for years based in the territory, exercise strict control and, thanks to the large arsenal at their disposal, are capable of opposing and rendering fruitless the numerous attempts at eradication carried out by the army. Under cover of the forests, the Senderos manoeuvre the sale of tons of coca throughout the entire region and direct the process of production. Transportation is effected either overland through Ecuador, crossing the region of Guayaquil, or by air, mainly from the central region of Bajo Huallanga and Yarina. There, five or six times a month, the drug traffickers transport a ton of coca with each flight. In recent times, due to close control by the Peruvian army and police, the route now used most is that of river transport. The rivers that the ‘narco-terrorists’ use most frequently are the Putumayo and the Leticia for narcotics from Colombia, and the Ucayali and Amazonas when transporting narcotics to other bordering countries.

The offensive launched by former President Humala obtained notable results in terms of arrests but much less in terms of the effective reduction of the plantations. Nevertheless, also in this case, not a few people see the crusade against coca, carried out with the help of the United States, as a geopolitical pretext on the part of the USA to establish itself in the Andean country by means of development plans that include the construction of an army and air force base in the region of Vrae, thus copying the Plan Colombia which, without defeating the drug traffickers, militarised the country. In this regard, some analysts, connecting the ‘war on drug trafficking’ with the struggle for the control of natural resources and the expansion of the neo-liberal programme, hypothesise that the groups in question (when they have abandoned their ideologies) may also act as a counter-insurrection apparatus, the aim of which is to disseminate panic among local, regional and national capitalists, forcing them to end their activities and allow the supranational entities to gain access to the economic sectors previously controlled by them. In fact, we must not exclude the possibility that this emphasis could help to create a useful pretext to launch an offensive for the control of the region and, more particularly, of some strategic areas such as the triple frontier. That area, having for some time been in the sights of US strategists due to the presumed presence of groups of Islamic terrorists in league with local crime, would, according to some analysts, represent an area of strategic importance both for the water resources of the Guarani catchment – known today as the third largest reserve of underground fresh water in the world – and for its geographic centrality which, once conquered, would permit the military control of the entire region. This hypothesis does not seem so far-fetched if one considers the outcome of the Plan Colombia and the Plan Merida.

The concentration of the production of cocaine in South America makes this area the starting point for all the routes which are initially high density flows of goods directed towards the consumer markets. While North America is the landing place of the first flow, the second is that of Europe that crosses Venezuela and the Caribbean or the south of the continent – Brazil and Argentina. Leaving the Atlantic coast, drugs directed towards Europe are transported aboard narco-flights that often stop at West African airports. About 20% of the drugs remain in the country to increase local consumption while the remainder is sorted and sent to the European market aboard ship or other fortuitous means of transport.On the route towards Europe, the ‘ndrangheta’, a well-known Calabrian criminal organisation, dominates the white powder market in the old continent, playing a strategic and fundamental role in the alliances with the Mexican narcos. Supplanting Cosa Nostra, the ‘ndrangheta’ has become a perfect partner thanks to its network which facilitates the ‘placement’ of drugs anywhere in the European continent. The Calabrian organisation was preferred by the Mexicans to that of Sicily because it was considered – and with good reason – more solid and trustworthy, having family ties binding on all its affiliates which notably reduces the danger of intervention by collaborators of justice.

Filippo Romeo

India. Another Side.

Friday, 1 June 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

It is called Sarva Seva Sangh which means “a community at the service of all”. It was founded by the Divine Word Missionaries and is especially dedicated to helping the street children of Pune.

Pune, the eighth city in India, two hours’ drive from the great metropolis of Mumbai, increased enormously in size in recent years, becoming a capital for high-tech and manufacturing businesses. This impressive development has brought to the city a great flow of migrant workers and, together with them many children from other parts of the country. Many of them end up in the shanty towns, on the streets or in the railway station, often in the work sites. These youngsters have fled their homes or have been abandoned by their families, are the victims of unpaid work, suffering from HIV/AIDS, or perhaps the children of mothers unable to take care of them because they are forced into prostitution, or are the victims of serious forms of exploitation as forced labour. As a result, the street children earn their living by begging, collecting scrap or in other such ways.

The Sarva Seva Sangh Centre of Pune (“a community at the service of all”) has various creative initiatives to rescue these children. Sarva Seva Sangh is a pioneering Centre of the Divine Word Missionaries, specialising in assisting high-risk children but is also involved where there are other difficult realities such as that of women in serious difficulty or elderly people left unaided. “Sarva Seva Sangh” was begun forty years ago and has had a positive effect on the lives of thousands of minors. At the moment it provides assistance in various forms to around 500 children and youngsters. The staff employs innovative and diversified methods that involve not only the minors but also their parents or tutors, wherever possible.

Each day, the staff of Sarva Seva Sangh visit the Pune railway station where around ninety children live. They try to convince them to leave the place and attend school. This requires: first of all, the identification of the children; possibly getting them to cooperate; tracing their families (where they exist); helping them to undertake specific programmes to improve their miserable condition.
The street children are unable to see to their own health and hygiene. During the daily visits to the station and other contact points, the staff of the Centre provide primary health care and take to hospital those children who require medical checks or specific treatment. Hundreds of street children have benefited from this health service thanks to the help of volunteer doctors.

The Sarva Seva Sangh Centre also has a “school on wheels” to rehabilitate street children. A minibus, transformed into a classroom, visits the shanty towns and the sites where children are forced to work, or the railway station. It is equipped with technology adapted to the children. Apart from teaching reading and writing, the “mobile school” offers the small pupils activities such as singing, dancing and art. It is a basic form of education, as yet informal, but closely adapted to children in such conditions.It is a first step in the process of rescuing minors from poverty and exploitation, to convince them, together with their adult contacts, to start formal school. The children are often starving and are given highly nutritious food. Almost 250 attend the minibus-school at five different contact points in different areas of the city.

One of the basic aims of the Centre is to restore the children to their families. In recent years, this aim was reached in about a hundred cases. Around eighty minors are at present resident in four hostels in Pune and regularly attend the public schools. The staff of the Centre visit the hostels and follow the progress of each child at school.The street children whom it has not been possible to reunite with their families are housed in a section of the Centre. The house receives minors from five to seventeen years of age. They are enrolled in the schools of the area and are provided with all the books they need. There are also extra lessons to help those small children who are behind in their studies. The children live, study and play like one large family where they are offered a fresh opportunity for their all-round growth.

Gianni Criveller

Mexico. “I could be killed anytime”.

Friday, 1 June 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

Commitment to work side by side with immigrants right to the end. A Church up and running. The testimony of Fr. Thomas Gonzalez.

“I have received many threats. I know I could be killed but I am not afraid. I have dedicated my entire life to the defence of the weakest. I always ask myself what Jesus would do in this situation.” These are the quiet but determined words of Father Thomas Gonzalez, a 44 year-old Franciscan and director of a house for immigrants called “The 72” in Tenosique, in the state of Tabasco towards the south east of the country.

Anyone taking the part of the immigrants become the preferred target of drug traffickers and organised crime who see this as a threat to their lucrative business of people trafficking which shows a worldwide yearly profit of 32 billion dollars. Human trafficking is the third most profitable business after arms and drugs.
Mexico has become the most dangerous country in the world for priests and religious. From 2012 until today, twenty three priests have been killed in the country.

Hostel for migrants

The Franciscans have been taking care of immigrants since 1995. Father Tomás came in 2010. “When I came here to Tenosique abductions were the order of the day. The Migration delegate and the Director of Public Security were members of the gang engaged in human trafficking and the kidnapping of migrants. At that time the reception project was very simple: just one meal a day, only for men and they were allowed to stay three days at the most. Very few people came, due partly to the fact that the hostel was in the centre of the city”.
Two events totally changed the life of Father Tomás and the life of the house for immigrants. The Franciscan recounts: “At the end of August 2010 72 migrants were massacred in San Fernando, Tamaulipas. That same month, in the commune of Macuspana, just two hours from here, three migrants were brutally clubbed to death. These two events left their mark on us. We founded this refuge in May 2011 and we baptised it “The 72”, in memory of what had happened. We wanted it to be a place of social struggle and the defence of life. A place of sharing with our brothers and sisters coming from other nations.”

Father Tomás continues: “Right from the start, we opened the project to anyone willing to collaborate. Volunteers began to come from all over the country, from the United States, Europe, Central and South America. At the moment we are working with “Medicins sans Frontieres”, and ASYLUM ACCESS, an organisation of UNHCR lawyers.”
The Franciscan tells how Mexico is a country of migrants and for migrants: “It is unusual to find a family that has no relatives in the United States who is without documents or is an illegal immigrant. There are more than ten million undocumented Mexicans in the United States. Migrants are human beings in an extremely vulnerable state since they are the victims of an unjust political, economic and social system. The main force behind migration is the capitalist and neo-liberal economic system which literally catapults human beings into other areas. When will it end? When will this economic system change’? It is a system that some see a “their god”.

There are hundreds of thousands of people seeking to enter the United States every year. There are many stories of violence, exploitation and oppression. Father Tomás recounts: “This hostel has welcomed over 50,000 people since it was opened and all of them have experienced sorrow and pain, though some of their stories are really terrible. Mothers come with their children to escape from the sexual violence of their husbands or gangs; young adolescents between twelve and fifteen years old have fled from the youth gang recruiters, the well-known «Maras». Many have seen their parents killed; there are adolescents the victims of trafficking and young adults who have suffered all their lives because of migration or because they are the children or grandchildren of immigrants”.With some regret, Father Tomás tells us: “We are often faced with the fact that nobody cares about the lives of these people who travel in secret for fear of criminals and the police. Then, in transit countries, they are treated like real criminals or terrorists: arms, walls and security forces persecute them humiliate them and mistreat them in detention centres.”That which worries the Franciscan most is the emergence of political leaders like the American President Donald Trump with his hostile language who “create in their citizens negative attitudes towards migrants and refugees”.

Father Tomás states that Mexico is not sovereign in matters of immigration but depends upon the decisions of the United States. This does not make it easy to have a healthy discussion on the question of immigration. The question must be debated at international level and not left to Mexico and the United States.
“As the Church – Father Tomás says – we must return to our roots as a Church that is up and running, a Church that is able to speak to the world of today and a courageous Church with no fear of martyrdom. “.
He concludes: “We are living in a time in history in which we are ethically obliged to recover our humanity and dignity. As human beings today, we cannot accept hostility, walls, discrimination or exclusion. We must work hard for hospitality, integration and bridge-building, convinced that we are all one big family”. (L.M.)

Mali. Helping The Street Children Of Bamako.

Friday, 1 June 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

One evening, Mamadou Touré had just left the disco and was walking back home when a child came up to him and told him
that he was very hungry. Mamadu could not remain indifferent, and since then, every evening, he drives around his town to help children living on the street.

Every evening when Inizio modulothe night falls over the city of Bamako, the capital of Mali, Mamadou Touré drives his white Toyota van across the surroundings of the Sogoniko bus station, one of the most dangerous places in the city, a place of drug smugglers and teenage girls who prostitute themselves.
Touré is the president and founder of the Sinjiyaton association, a Malian NGO that helps children get off the streets and lead a normal life.
The NGO offers professional training in order to turn street children into autonomous adults that are integrated into society. The Sinjiyaton association currently provides accommodation, food, health care and schooling to 50 kids, 22 of whom are girls.

The origin of this association dates back to the night when Touré, still a student, after leaving the disco to return home, was approached by a five/six year old child who told him that he was very hungry. Touré bought him some food and the child ate part of it and saved the rest for his little sister. On that evening Touré found out that many people of Bamako were homeless including many children who had escaped from home and lived on the street.
He could not remain indifferent and therefore, along with some other university students, started to help street children. In 1997, they established the Sinjiyaton association.
The Hospitality House that the government had offered to the NGO did not suit the needs of the children, so Touré decided to transform his own house into a hospitality centre.

The children that are hosted at the centre must stick to some regulations, such as bedtime rules. Touré explains to the street children, to whom he offers hospitality, how things work at the Sinjiyaton centre, he gives them time to think whether they are really interested in staying at the centre. He does not force them, since many of them do not feel prepared to live in a structure where there are rules to respect.

Life on the street: figures

Finding food, washing oneself, and looking for a place to sleep every day is tough for kids. Living on the street is not easy. According to Samusocial Mali organization “many street children do not say that they suffered violence and sexual exploitation, while these kind of abuses are on the rise”.
Street children generally are kids who left a difficult family situation behind. When a child escapes from home, the Malian police do not look for him to take him back to his family, unless the kid happens to be in trouble with the law. So, once a child leaves home, he is left alone to face the dangers of the city.

Boys generally become beggars, while young girls prostitute themselves to survive. According to Samusocial Mali, only 14 percent of street children make some money by selling handkerchiefs or chewing gum, or by washing vehicle crystals during traffic jams or when cars stop for a red light.There are no official figures for the number of street children living in the regional capitals of Mali. The data of the National Directorate for the Promotion of the Child and the Family, only show the number of children who live in difficult situations, without distinguishing whether they are street children. Touré estimates that they number about 500 in Bamako alone.

The policies implemented in order to solve this social problem have not worked, this is evident by looking at the many people sleeping in the street at night, or by walking around the Centre of Hospitality, Listening and Orientation for Children of the District of Bamako, a small decaying place where a smell of urine comes from the ground, and where some young people find shelter for the night. Touré criticizes the initiatives of the government which have turned out to be ineffective, and he is trying therefore, to develop his organization and to get more houses where children can be accommodated, in order to provide them with food, health care and schooling so that, in the future, they can be reintegrated into society when they have become adults.
Touré lost his parents when he was very young and, as he points out, if it were not for the help he received from others, he doesn’t know what would have happened to him. When he decided to help the street children of Bamako, he was aware that that was the best way to thank those who had helped him and whom he felt indebted to.

María Rodríguez

Catholic priests. They are the Target.

Friday, 1 June 2018 8:00
Written by: Fr.Carmine

In the last three months, eight priests and dozens of Christians have also been killed.

At least 24 people were killed when an armed group attacked the church of Notre Dame de Fatima in Bangui, capital of Central African Republic, on May 1. Father Albert Toungourmale-Baba was among the victims. The church is not far from the PK5 district, inhabited mostly by Muslims. The incidents broke out when the security forces stopped a vehicle carrying Moussa Emperor, a member of a self-defense militia of the PK5. In trying to escape the arrest, he was wounded by the military. His men then attacked the security forces and unleashed the violence against civilians.

Then a group of militias attacked the parish of Notre Dame de Fatima, not far from the accident, with gunfire and grenades while Father Albert Toungoumale-Baba and some faithful were celebrating Mass on the occasion of the anniversary of St. Joseph.
Witnesses said : “Filled with panic, some Christians began to flee until bullets and grenades began to fall in the parish grounds, trapping those who remained in the compound”.
After the attack, the militia men fled. A crowd of thousands of angry, shouting protesters gathered, decided to transport the body of the priest killed to the presidential palace but they were dispersed by the police.
Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, archbishop of Bangui said: “I strongly condemn what happened in Notre Dame de Fatima parish. I appeal to the government and MINUSCA (UN Mission in Central Africa) to investigate into the matter”. The Cardinal pointed out: “Behind these events, I ask myself questions: what is happening? Have there been manipulations, exploitation? Is there a willingness to divide the country? Is there a hidden agenda? Let us look for answers to these questions together”.
However, the Cardinal raised the hope that “in difficult situations such as this, heroes arise, and I do not doubt that heroes exist in the Central African Republic, so that they stand together to say no to violence, no to barbarism, no to self-destruction”.

In Nigeria, in the village of Mbalom, in Gwer East Local Government Area, Benue State, which is part of the so-called Middle Belt in central Nigeria that divides the mainly Muslim north from the south where the majority of the people are Christian, another massacre happened at dawn on Tuesday 24 April.
The attack occurred during the 5.50 daily morning Mass, always well attended in the parish of St Agnatius Ukpor-Mbalom The service had only just begun and people were still arriving. Suddenly gun shots were heard as armed men broke into the church while in the panic people tried to escape. However 19 people, including Father Joseph Gor and Father Felix Tyolaha, who were celebrating the Mass, were killed in cold blood. Many more were wounded. After attacking the church the criminals torched the village destroying at least 60 homes and hay lofts. The people fled to the nearby villages in search of safety.
Following a massacre at a church, the catholic bishops asked, “How can the federal government stand back while its security agencies deliberately turn a blind eye to the cries and wails of helpless unarmed citizens who remain sitting ducks in their homes, farms, highways and now even in the holy places of worship?”
“It is time for the President to choose the path of honour and consider stepping aside to save the nation from complete collapse”. With these words the Bishops of Nigeria demand the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Nigerian Bishops express anguish, grief and anger. “These innocent souls met their untimely death at the hands of a wicked and inhuman gang of rampaging and murderous terrorists who have turned the vast lands of the Middle Belt and other parts of Nigeria into a massive graveyard”. A few day before, Father Gor tweeted: “We live in fear the Fulani are back in the area of Mbalom. We have no means of defending ourselves”, the tweet said. “Their desperate cries for security and help went unheeded by those who should have heard them”, say the Bishops, referring to the two priests killed. “They could have fled but true to their vocation they remained to continue to serve their people right unto death”.The Bishops accuse the federal government and its security agencies of being responsible for the insecurity.
“Today we Christians feel violated and betrayed in a nation that we have all continued to serve and pray for”. “If the President cannot keep our country safe then he automatically loses the trust of the citizens”, say the Bishops calling on the President to step down.
Several priests have been abducted in Nigeria in recent months. Most recently, the parish priest in Benin City, Fr. Omorogbe, was kidnapped by gunmen on April 18. He was released on April 22. In Cote d’Ivoire a Catholic priest was killed in a road robbery on 23 April. Fr Bernardin Brou Aka Daniel was assistant parish priest at Sacred Heart Parish Koun-Abronso diocese of Abengourou, in the east of the country.

On the evening of 23 April, Father Bernardin was returning to his parish on the Agnibilekro-Koun-Fao road after taking part in meetings in Abengourou. With him in the car was Fr. Théophile Ahi. At about 10 pm local time in the town of Nianda, just after the village of Apprompronou (some 30 km from Abengourou), the car carrying the two priests was forced to slow down because of a truck stranded in the middle of the road. Fr. Bernardin who was driving tried to avoid the obstacle but was hit by shots fired by two armed men who appeared all of a sudden. The wounded priest was made to stop, the bandits asked the priests for money, Fr. Bernardin replied that they were not carrying much money. Without warning the bandits opened fire and the priest was hit in the abdomen.The criminals were forced to interrupt the attack when a second vehicle appeared. Rev. Bernardin, who was losing blood fast resumed his place at the wheel, managed to reach Agnibilékrou where he was admitted to the local hospital where, despite the efforts of doctors, he died of his wounds.
A Catholic priest was found shot dead hours after he said Mass in Democratic Republic of Congo, the latest in a series of incidents in North Kivu province.“Fr Etienne Sengiyumva was killed on 8 April by the Mai Mai Nyatura [militia] in Kyahemba where he had just celebrated a Mass including a baptism and a wedding”, Fr Gonzague Nzabanita, head of the Goma diocese told Agence France-Presse.
The murder occurred three days after Father Celestin Ngango of St Paul Karambi Parish, abducted just before Easter, was found unharmed by villagers. Local authorities said that Father Ngango’s release was secured by pressure from the local villagers. Father Ngango was the sixth priest abducted in the eastern DRC since 2012 and one of the few abductees in the region to be released.

Mexico has become the most dangerous country in the world for priests and religious. From 2012 until today, twenty three priests have been killed in the country. On April 20, Father Juan Miguel Contreras was shot to death inside a church on the outskirts of Guadalajara, as he was hearing confessions. The day before, Father Rubén Alcántara, Vicar General of the Diocese of Cautitlan Izalli, outside Mexico City, was stabbed to death.Fr. Rubén Alcántara Díaz, 50, judicial vicar of the diocese of Izcalli, in the municipality of Cuautitlán (Mexico), was murdered on Wednesday, April 18, with a knife, just before the 7pm Mass that he was to celebrate in the church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, in the district of Cumbria.
Father Fabila Reyes, 83, who had been reported kidnapped has been found dead on 25 April in the town of Cuernavaca, in central Mexico. He was taken in Cuernavaca, in the state of Morelos, one of the most afflicted by organized crime. His family reportedly paid a ransom of over $100,000. A preliminary investigation shows he couldn’t survive the conditions he was kept in.

In the Philippines, a young Catholic priest was shot dead in Cagayan province on Sunday, becoming the second cleric slain in around four months.Fr. Mark Ventura, 37, was murdered at about 8:15am right after celebrating Mass at a gymnasium in Brgy, Peña Weste, on the outskirts of Gattaran town. The priest was blessing children and talking with the choir members when a still unidentified male donning a motorcycle helmet emerged from the back of the gym and shot the victim twice. Father Ventura was the director of San Isidro Labrador Mission Station, a post he only assumed early this month, in Mabuno village, also Gattaran. A priest for almost seven years, he was also known for his anti-mining advocacies and for helping indigenous peoples in the province. (C.C.)

Youth Synod: “Young people are a treasure for our people”.

In view of the XV General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to young people, to be held next October 2018, many local churches are organizing activities and events with the youth. A few examples.

In Kenya, the diocese of Ngong has organised the Year of Youth whose theme is: “You are the Light of the world”. Mgr. John Oballa Owaa, Bishop of Ngong, who is also vice president of the Bishops’ Conference of Kenya, highlighted that “young people have enthusiasm, hope and are full of joy and their heart desires to know the truth.
The ideal of the young is to witness the Gospel in a more just and free society and the Holy Father wonders how they can announce to the world the good news of joy and how they can play an active role in being announcers of this Good News”.

“Young people need to see how Christ does things: this will enable them to learn how to discern, to know their own vocation, whether it is marriage or consecrated life or priesthood. Through faith they will be able to know how to make decisions and make wise choices for their lives”, he added.
During the Year the “instruments of evangelization” such as a Holy Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Holy Rosary and a candle are ready to be used to accompany young people throughout the year.

The Bishop emphasised that “there are many places, opportunities and sources that young people can use to discern God’s plan for their lives”, such as studying the Bible, liturgy, participation in the activities of the Christian community and pilgrimage to the holy places. The hymn for the Year of Youth, in the Swahili language reads: “Simama imara katika imani, usiogope“, which means “Be strong in faith, do not be afraid”.

The leaders of the Latin American Youth Pastoral after having concluded the XIII Youth Pastoral Regional Meeting in Mexico-Central America in the city of San Jose, in Costa Rica, they released a note which states: “Young people are a treasure for our people, a wealth that generates joy, hope, and the ability to dream, to show sensitivity and solidarity for those who suffer. In these difficult times, God calls each one by name, so that he may be the protagonist in the transformation of these realities, a transformation in the light of the Gospel and of the Magisterium of the Church”.

Delegations from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama participated in the meeting with the aim of reflecting, in communion with the universal Church, on youth Pastoral in the region, in view of the Synod of Bishops dedicated to “Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment”. “We are thrilled – the note continues – because the Church has set its sights on young people and promotes spaces for participation so that young people, with their dynamism, will know how to renew structures and pastoral action”.

The young Catholics of Pakistan express satisfaction and hope because the Catholic Church, through the Synod dedicated to young people, is interested in their future. Ashiknaz Khokhar, coordinator of a youth group, said: “I am pleased that the Church has given youth the opportunity to take part in a survey to let them know what they think and how the Church can help them grow in following of Christ. We are happy to hear that cardinals, bishops, priests, nuns and lay people are working to make the Synod of Bishops a truly participatory event that takes into consideration the various areas of the world. We in Pakistan are full of hope”.

In Papua New Guinea, the year 2018 has been proclaimed the “Year of Youth” by the local Church. It will be a precious opportunity to help young people understand, live and witness their faith in Christ Jesus.

Father Ambrose Pereira, a Salesian, Director of Youth Department in the Episcopal Conference of Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, said: “It was aimed at bringing together the youth animators in order to enable them to interact, network and reflect on the Synod dedicated to young people: this was the meaning of the various speeches that followed, which placed particular emphasis on living their Catholic life with the Eucharist and Sacrament of Reconciliation, helping the young to understand the need for committed love and preparing them for the Sacrament of Matrimony”.

Sr Aurora Yolanda Pugal, of the Sisters of St. Joseph, said : “A positive attitude is what young people need to learn to develop. Youth animators need to help young people move from their weakness and use their strengths to bring about the change they desire.

The Year of the Youth was opened in the Archdiocese of Tai Yuan, in the province of Shanxi, in the northern part of the People’s Republic of China. The general theme of the Year is “To seek God, to walk together in the universal Church”.
The Year of the young is divided into five stages, each marked by a verse of the Gospel: to search; vocational promotion; the knowledge of the Church; “Alleluia”, contest of sacred songs; the hope and the pilgrimage of young people.

Mgr. Paolo Meng Ning You, the diocesan bishop said: “Faith and vocation are two elements that are well connected. We must accompany the journey of the young and their vocational discernment in a secularised world. They are the future of the world and of the Church. We hope that, thanks to initiatives like this one, dedicated to young people, new vocations of young people who wish to give themselves to priesthood and to consecrated life can flourish. In this way we can continue to send missionaries to the communities that need them”.

Groups in the galaxy of terror.

Among the groups belonging to the radical Islamic galaxy, a fundamentally important role was played by the Al Qaeda of Islamic Maghreb (AQMI) which now controls the routes in the area of the Gulf of Guinea and the Maghreb leading to Europe.

Among the criminal organisations most involved in business with the Islamic terrorist groups of western Africa is the Mexican Sinaloa cartel which, in league with its Colombian colleagues, finances international Jihadism with its income. According to the US State Department there are at least 51 groups described as terrorists, almost half of them (as many as 20, including Al Qaeda in the Maghreb and Hezbollah in Lebanon) are now bound up with Colombian and Mexican drug traffickers.

Al Qaeda is said to be in control of trafficking in the region of Sahel in Western Africa while Hezbollah is said to be involved in illicit cocaine, synthetic drugs and money-laundering between South America, West Africa, Europe and the Middle East. According to DEA experts, the appearance of this important Mexican cartel in the western African illicit drugs market is due mainly to an increase in consumption in Europe, the Middle East and in Africa, markets that have allowed the mafias to make up for the collapse of cocaine consumption in the United States which, of course, also led to the collapse of cocaine prices. The DEA report also shows that the entry of the Sinaloa cartel into Africa was facilitated by the Colombians who acted as intermediaries (some of whom were members of the FARC ‘Armed Colombian Revolutionary Forces’), to whom we must add other intermediaries defined in the report as ‘shadow facilitators’. Such people, already known for their international criminal activities, offer drug traffickers and terrorists such services as money-laundering, smuggling, forgery and the control of the routes along which drugs and arms are moved. Their role is so much in demand that many drug-trafficking and terrorist organisations share the services of the same shadow facilitator and the capture of one of them would be a severe blow to international crime.

Concerning the web of affairs related to the illicit trade in drugs that connects crime and groups in the galaxy of terror, the data furnished by the CITCO, ‘Intelligence Centre for Terrorism and Organised Crime’, an organisation of the Spanish government, have much to say: almost 20% of the terrorists in prison have previous convictions connected to drug trafficking and the forging of documents. Many of them worked between Ceuta and Melilla, the gateway to Europe from North Africa. The CITCO reports also show that, in the areas in question, there are active fundamentalist groups that are financing the Islamic State by drug trafficking, arms smuggling and human trafficking. It also seems that these new alliances have further increased traffic in cocaine and marijuana along the border with a corresponding increase in exchanges in recent times.
The figures published by the Russian Federal Agency for the control of drug trafficking (FSKN) indicate that drug trafficking is second only to oil as a source of funds for Islamic State.
In particular, sales of heroin, derived from opium produced in Afghanistan, create an income of more than a billion each year for ISIS.
According to the Russian figures, it seems that more than half the heroin sold in Europe now bears a Jihadist trademark, a fact reflected in the continual increase in Afghan plantations that this year have produced an excellent harvest. The same data give rise to an estimated Isis income from drugs of around a billion dollars per year, and a future income of 50 billion dollars for the Islamic State.

It is worth noting that instability in Iraq and Syria guarantee a secure and undisturbed passage for drugs sent from Central Asia to the European market, marginalising the Baltic route. Syria, in particular, besides being the location of an undisturbed route for different traffickers, has become the ideal centre for the production of synthetic drugs as it is a relatively industrialised country with numerous installations for pharmaceutical production present in the war zone that were immediately converted into laboratories for the production of amphetamines. This is a phenomenon that has produced a war economy that serves to finance the various Shiite and Sunni factions present in the country. The Syrian production of such drugs is largely absorbed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar where, in recent years, there has been a surprising increase in the consumption of such substances due to the fact that the amphetamines, even if they are severely prohibited by Islamic law, are used where there are restrictions on alcohol and natural drugs. Captagon is the most widely used substance among Sunni youth.
According to figures provided by various intelligence centres, the phenomenon being studied is growing and there is no doubt that it has become more deeply rooted in those areas (the Middle East, Maghreb, Sahel, Afghanistan and Central Asia) which, ruined by the situation, have precipitated into chaos favouring the proliferation of such situations.(F.R.)

SIPRI. World Military Expenditure Up.

Total world military expenditure rose to $1,739 billion in 2017, a marginal increase of 1.1% in real terms from 2016,
according to new figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)

After 13 consecutive years of increases from 1999 to 2011 and relatively unchanged spending from 2012 to 2016, total global military expenditure rose again in 2017. Military spending in 2017 represented 2.2% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) or $230 per person. “The increases in world military expenditure in recent years have been largely due to the substantial growth in spending by countries in Asia and Oceania and the Middle East, such as China, India and Saudi Arabia”, said Dr Nan Tian, Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure (AMEX) programme. “At the global level, the weight of military spending is clearly shifting away from the Euro-Atlantic region”.

Military expenditure in Asia and Oceania rose for the 29th successive year. China, the second largest spender globally, increased its military spending by 5.6% to $228 billion in 2017. China’s spending as a share of world military expenditure has risen from 5.8% in 2008 to 13% in 2017. India spent $63.9 billion on its military in 2017, an increase of 5.5% compared with 2016, while South Korea’s spending, at $39.2 billion, rose by 1.7% between 2016 and 2017.
“Tensions between China and many of its neighbours continue to drive the growth in military spending in Asia”, said Siemon Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI AMEX programme.
At $66.3 billion, Russia’s military spending in 2017 was 20% lower than in 2016, the first annual decrease since 1998. “Military modernization remains a priority in Russia, but the military budget has been restricted by economic problems that the country has experienced since 2014”, said Siemon Wezeman.Driven, in part, by the perception of a growing threat from Russia, military spending in both Central and Western Europe increased in 2017, by 12 and 1.7%, respectively. Many European states are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and, within that framework, have agreed to increase their military spending. Total military spending by all 29 NATO members was $900 billion in 2017, accounting for 52% of world spending.

Military expenditure in the Middle East rose by 6.2% in 2017. Spending by Saudi Arabia increased by 9.2% in 2017 following a fall in 2016. With spending of $69.4 billion, Saudi Arabia had the third highest military expenditure in the world in 2017. Iran (19%) and Iraq (22%) also recorded significant increases in military spending in 2017.
“Despite low oil prices, armed conflict and rivalries throughout the Middle East are driving the rise in military spending in the region”, said Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI AMEX programme. In 2017 military expenditure as a share of GDP (known as the ‘military burden’) was highest in the Middle East, at 5.2%. No other region in the world allocated more than 1.8% of GDP to military spending.

The United States continues to have the highest military expenditure in the world. In 2017 the USA spent more on its military than the next seven highest-spending countries combined. At $610 billion, US military spending was unchanged between 2016 and 2017. “The downward trend in US military spending that started in 2010 has come to an end”, said Aude Fleurant, of the SIPRI AMEX programme. “US military spending in 2018 is set to rise significantly to support increases in military personnel and the modernization of conventional and nuclear weapons”.

African military spending was down

According to a report by SIPRI, African military spending was down by 0.5% to an estimated $42.6 billion in 2017, or 2.5% of global military spending. “This continued the downward trend from the post-Cold War peak reached in 2014, although the decrease tapered off in 2017. Despite three consecutive years of decreases, military expenditure in Africa was still 28% higher in 2017 than in 2008”, SIPRI noted.
Military spending in North Africa fell by 1.9% between 2016 and 2017 to an estimated $21.1 billion. This was the first annual decrease in military spending in the subregion since 2006. Nonetheless, spending in 2017 was 105% higher than in 2008.
Algeria, Africa’s largest spender, decreased its military expenditure by 5.2% between 2016 and 2017 to $10.1 billion. This was the first annual decrease in its military spending since 2003 and only the second annual decrease since 1995, SIPRI reports. “The decline in Algeria’s military expenditure in 2017 was probably related to low oil and gas revenues in recent years”.

According to SIPRI, military expenditure in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017 amounted to $21.6 billion, up 0.9% from 2016 but 6.8% lower than in 2008. “A substantial surge in Sudan’s military expenditure in 2017 (by 35 % to $4.4 billion) – mainly due to intensified fighting between the Sudanese Government and rebels – drove the upward trend, but this was partly counteracted by decreases by three of the four largest spenders in the subregion: Angola, Nigeria and South Africa. Principal of those was the continued drop in Angola’s military expenditure (by 16%). While Angola was the largest military spender in sub-Saharan Africa in 2014 with 26% of the subregional total, it fell to third in 2017 (with 14% of the total), behind Sudan and South Africa.

“Nigeria’s military expenditure fell for the fourth consecutive year in 2017, by 4.2% to $1.6 billion, despite continued military operations against Boko Haram. Military spending in South Africa, the second largest spender in sub-Saharan Africa, has stabilized at around $3.6 billion per annum since 2012. Its military spending decreased marginally in 2017, by 1.9%”, SIPRI said.
There were also notable cuts in military spending in 2017 in South Sudan (–56 %), Chad (–33 %), Mozambique (–21 %) and Côte d’Ivoire (–19%). The decline in Côte d’Ivoire’s military spending, the first annual decrease since 2013, was the result of the sharp drop in world prices for cocoa, the country’s main export. In South Sudan, despite the ongoing conflict, the worsening economic conditions led to further reductions in military spending.(S.L.)

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