Al Numani receives envoys
MUSCAT: Gen Sultan bin Mohammed al Numani, Minister of the Royal Office, received in his office on Monday Khondker Misbah ul Azim, Ambassador-designate of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the Sultanate of Oman.
At the outset of the meeting, Gen Sultan al Numani welcomed the Ambassador, wishing him success in performing his duties. The two sides also exchanged friendly talks and ways to develop bilateral relations in a manner that achieves the common interests of the two friendly countries.
The Minister of the Royal Office also received Idris Ahmed Mia, Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Sultanate of Oman.
During the meeting, Al Numani and the Syrian Ambassador discussed the latest developments and ways to enhance existing cooperation between the Sultanate of Oman and the Syrian Arab Republic.
The meeting also touched on issues of common concern on the regional and international arenas. — ONA
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
Syrian authorities announce closure of notorious desert camp
DAMASCUS: A notorious desert refugee camp in Syria has closed after the last remaining families returned to their areas of origin, Syrian authorities said on Saturday. The Rukban camp in Syria's desert was established in 2014, at the height of Syria's civil war, in a de-confliction zone controlled by the US-led coalition fighting the IS group, near the borders with Jordan and Iraq. Desperate people fleeing IS gunmen and former government bombardment sought refuge there, hoping to cross into Jordan. Former Syrian President Bashar al Assad's government rarely allowed aid to enter the camp and neighbouring countries closed their borders to the area, isolating Rukban for years. After an offensive toppled Assad in December, families started leaving the camp to return home. The Syrian Emergency Task Force, a US-based organisation, said on Friday that the camp was "officially closed and empty, all families and residents have returned to their homes". Syrian Information Minister Hamza al Mustafa said on X on Saturday that "with the dismantlement of the Rukban camp and the return of the displaced, a tragic and sorrowful chapter of displacement stories created by the bygone regime's war machine comes to a close". "Rukban was not just a camp, it was the triangle of death that bore witness to the cruelty of siege and starvation, where the regime left people to face their painful fate in the barren desert," he added. At its peak, the camp housed more than 100,000 people. The numbers dwindled with time, especially after Jordan sealed off its side of the border and stopped regular aid deliveries in 2016. Around 8,000 people still lived there before Assad's fall, residing in mud-brick houses, with food and basic supplies smuggled in at high prices. Syrian minister for emergency situations and disasters Raed al Saleh said on X the camp's closure represents "the end of one of the harshest humanitarian tragedies faced by our displaced people". "We hope this step marks the beginning of a path that ends the suffering of the remaining camps and returns their residents to their homes with dignity and safety," he added. According to the International Organization for Migration, 1.87 million Syrians have returned to their places of origin since Assad's fall, after they were displaced within the country or abroad. The IOM says the "lack of economic opportunities and essential services pose the greatest challenge" for those returning home. Syria's interim President Ahmed al Sharaa on Friday visited the southern city of Daraa, the cradle of the country's uprising, for the first time since ousting longtime ruler Bashar al Assad almost six months ago. State news agency SANA published footage showing a cheering crowd greeting Al Sharaa, who was seen waving and shaking hands with people during the visit, which came on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Adha. — AFP
Observer
3 days ago
- Observer
Homes smashed, help slashed: no respite for returning Syrians
DAMASCUS: Around a dozen Syrian women sat in a circle at a UN-funded centre in Damascus, happy to share stories about their daily struggles, but their bonding was overshadowed by fears that such meet-ups could soon end due to international aid cuts. The community centre, funded by the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR), offers vital services that families cannot get elsewhere in a country scarred by war, with an economy broken by decades of mismanagement and Western sanctions. "We have no stability. We are scared and we need support," said Fatima al Abbiad, a mother of four. "There are a lot of problems at home, a lot of tension, a lot of violence because of the lack of income." But the centre's future now hangs in the balance as the UNHCR has had to cut down its activities in Syria because of the international aid squeeze caused by US President Donald Trump's decision to halt foreign aid. The cuts will close nearly half of the UNHCR centres in Syria and the widespread services they provide — from educational support and medical equipment to mental health and counselling sessions — just as the population needs them the most. There are hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees returning home after the fall of Bashar al Assad last year. UNHCR's representative in Syria, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, said the situation was a "disaster" and that the agency would struggle to help returning refugees. "I think that we have been forced — here I use very deliberately the word forced — to adopt plans which are more modest than we would have liked," he said. "It has taken us years to build that extraordinary network of support and almost half of them are going to be closed exactly at the moment of opportunity for refugee and IDPs (internally displaced people) return." A UNHCR spokesperson said that the agency would shut down around 42 per cent of its 122 community centres in Syria in June, which will deprive some 500,000 people of assistance and reduce aid for another 600,000 that benefit from the remaining centres. The UNHCR will also cut 30 per cent of its staff in Syria, said the spokesperson, while the livelihood programme that supports small businesses will shrink by 20 per cent unless it finds new funding. Around 100 people visit the centre in Damascus each day, said Mirna Mimas, a supervisor with GOPA-DERD, the church charity that runs the centre with UNHCR. Already the centre's educational programmes, which benefitted 900 children last year, are at risk, said Mimas. Nour Huda Madani, 41, said she had been "lucky" to receive support for her autistic child at the centre. "They taught me how to deal with him," said the mother of five. Another visitor, Odette Badawi, said the centre was important for her well-being after she returned to Syria five years ago, having fled to Lebanon when war broke out in Syria in 2011. "(The centre) made me feel like I am part of society," said the 68-year-old. Mimas said if the centre closed, the loss to the community would be enormous: "If we must tell people we are leaving, I will weep before they do," she said Aid funding for Syria had already been declining before Trump's seismic cuts to the US Agency for International Development this year and cuts by other countries to international aid budgets. But the new blows come at a particularly bad time. Since former president Assad was ousted by Islamist rebels last December, around 507,000 Syrians have returned from neighbouring countries and around 1.2 million people displaced inside the country went back home, according to UN estimates. Llosa said, given the aid cuts, UNHCR would have only limited scope to support the return of some of the 6 million Syrians who fled the country since 2011. "We will need to help only those that absolutely want to go home and simply do not have any means to do so," Llosa said. "That means that we will need to be very selective as opposed to what we wanted, which was to be expansive." Ayoub Merhi Hariri had been counting on support from the livelihood programme to pay off the money he borrowed to set up a business after he moved back to Syria at the end of 2024. After 12 years in Lebanon, he returned to Daraa in southwestern Syria to find his house destroyed — no doors, no windows, no running water, no electricity. He moved in with relatives and registered for livelihood support at a UN-backed centre in Daraa to help him start a spice manufacturing business to support his family and ill mother. — Reuters HIGHLIGHTS The UNHCR has had to cut down its activities in Syria because of the international aid squeeze caused by US President Donald Trump's decision to halt foreign aid
Muscat Daily
6 days ago
- Muscat Daily
Dutch coalition collapses after Wilders withdrawal
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – The Dutch coalition government led by Prime Minister Dick Schoof fell apart on Tuesday after Geert Wilders, the head of the far-right PVV (Party for Freedom), pulled his party out, citing differences with his partners over immigration policy. 'No signature for our asylum plans. No adjustment of the coalition agreement. The PVV is leaving the coalition,' said Wilders on X, formerly Twitter. He said he had informed Schoof that all ministers from his party would quit the government. The PVV entered its first coalition government six months after a surprise victory in the Netherlands' November 2023 parliamentary elections; striking a deal with the conservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the centrist New Social Contract (NSC) and the populist Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB). Wilders is frustrated with coalition partners, they're furious with him The endeavour was shaky from the start, however, with politicians voicing aversion to working with firebrand Wilders and doubts about his willingness to abide by the country's constitution. Wilders had been frustrated with what he saw as the slow pace of introducing the 'strictest-ever immigration policy' that he had agreed with coalition partners after his election win in November 2023. The government crisis comes just weeks before the Netherlands – the eurozone's fifth-largest economy – is due to host world leaders for a NATO summit. As a result of the collapse, NATO spending increases will likely be in limbo when the alliance's boss, former Prime Minister Mark Rutte, convenes the confab in his home country. Though the remaining coalition partners could carry on as a minority government, a snap election is the likely consequence of Wilders' move. Frans Timmermanns, leader of opposition Labor/Green bloc, said: 'I see no other way to form a stable government.' Coalition partners blasted Wilders for his lack of seriousness. 'There is a war on our continent. Instead of meeting the challenge, Wilders is showing he is not willing to take responsibility,' said Dilan Yesilgoz, leader of the conservative VVD. 'It is irresponsible to take down the government at this point,' railed Nicolien van Vroonhoven, leader of the centrist NSC. What did Wilders want on immigration? Wilders had already indicated in late May that he was ready to bring about the fall of the coalition if his 10-point plan to curb immigration was not put into action within a few weeks. The plan included border closures for asylum-seekers, tougher border controls and deporting dual nationals convicted of a crime. 'Close the borders for asylum-seekers and family reunifications. No more asylum centres opened. Close them,' was how he summarised the scheme. The PVV called for military deployment to protect the country's borders, with Wilders demanding Syrian refugees be repatriated. However, the plans were deemed unviable or even illegal by several political experts. Some observers suggest Wilders created the current crisis as a means to topple the government. New elections in the Netherlands would be yet another contest likely viewed as a measure of just how mad voters are over immigration and cost of living issues. Although the PVV racked up some 23% of the vote last November, it is currently polling around 20% – on par with Labor/Green. DW
