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The Guardian
7 days ago
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
On the right track: the record label reaching out to Cameroon's street talent
It does not take long for a crowd to gather when the Jail Time Records van pulls up to the kerb and starts blasting music in Cameroon's port city, Douala. Set up not just to play music but as a mobile recording studio, too, the van passes through the city's poorer neighbourhoods, offering the microphone to Douala's aspiring but unguided young musicians. The goal is to scout for new talent while also helping out young people in areas plagued by drugs and crime. 'We go to the ghettos with the mobile recording studio, start blasting the music and open the mic up for freestylers. More and more young people start gathering and freestyling. They want to be part of it,' says Steve Happi, co-founder of Jail Time Records – a label that started in Cameroon's prisons. Since 2019, Jail Time Records has been operating in Cameroon's toughest prison, helping inmates to find a creative outlet and even launch a career in music. The project's success has meant the authorities in Burkina Faso are also allowing the label to operate a music project from Ouagadougou's prison there but the team wanted to expand what they do in Cameroon by reaching some young people before they end up in prison. Happi says: 'The reality is the only older brother figures they have to look up to from the ghetto are mostly the drug dealers, so they are growing up in the hands of criminals. Our goal with this project is to put up a hand and say we can go in another direction too.' Many of the young people disappear down the backstreets soon after their freestyling, never seen by Happi again, but occasionally they come across a talent that they can bring back to the studio. In time, they hope to release an album of songs from the street sessions. Happi's task is not easy – some of the young people are difficult to track down because they do not have phones or they have sold them because they need money. He is also tussling for influence with the negative forces in the city, especially the phenomenon of 'microbes' – gangs of dozens of youths who often mob parts of the city, attacking people and stealing. It is an issue that has got worse with the rising influence of drugs and gangs in Douala, he says. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion But for young people such as one 21-year-old who records under the name Diblaq, this is the opportunity they have been waiting for. 'The street freestyles allowed me to develop my music in a new way. My environment isn't really favourable to my growth but I used to struggle to save up some money and then head straight to the studio,' says Diblaq. 'Now, with Jail Time Records, I have access to a recording studio for free. Creating music gives me a certain freedom, allows me to express myself and share my feelings with those around me.' Happi knows there is talent in the neglected corners of Douala but that when recording costs are too much for most, talented young people can have their lives derailed by small mistakes, such as drug possession, which can lead to harsh prison sentences. It is in jail that many pick up far worse habits. The aim of the project is to start helping young people at every stage, by giving them guidance and hope before they end up in jail, in addition to the work they were doing with those already in prison and those who have been released. That work has helped people such as KMB, who came across Jail Time Records when imprisoned as a child but now, aged 21 and out of jail, is trying to use music to steer clear of prison. 'It's difficult in this environment to find work and stay out of trouble because I grew up in a poor area and have been involved in criminal activities,' says KMB. 'The project helps me to record my music and pursue my passion and avoid going back to my old demons.'
The Guardian
29-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Dominican Republic deports pregnant women in ‘inhumane' migrant crackdown
Pregnant women and new mothers are being rounded up in hospitals in the Dominican Republic and deported back to Haiti as part of what observers say is an openly cruel, racist and misogynist government policy. More than 130 Haitian women and children were removed on the first day of a new crackdown on undocumented migrants last week targeting the Caribbean country's main public hospitals. Dominican authorities said 48 were pregnant, 39 were new mothers and 48 were children. Local media reported that one woman was deported while in labour. Pregnant women have been crossing the border in increasing numbers over the past few years, looking for a safer place to give birth after the almost complete collapse of Haiti's healthcare system. The measure is one of a series announced by President Luis Abinader to reduce the number of undocumented migrants in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, where there is a dire humanitarian crisis. 'We're shocked by the government determination to fuel policies which are openly cruel, racist and misogynist,' said Guillermo Rodríguez, rights campaigner for the Americas at Amnesty International. 'Authorities allege that deportations are for the sake of the Dominican Republic, but no prosperity or good can be achieved if it is based on cruelty and human suffering.' Targeting hospitals was 'outrageous', said Rodrígues. '[The government] is forcing people to choose between deportation or risking pregnancy complications which could eventually lead to maternal mortality, morbidity or neonatal death. It is a macabre and misogynist trap.' In a statement, Dominican authorities said women and children were seen by medical staff and discharged from hospitals after it was confirmed there were no health risks. They were then deported in comfortable buses in accordance with 'international and national legal provisions', they said. Reem Alsalem, a UN special rapporteur on violence against women, said the treatment of Haitians by the Dominican Republic was an 'area of concern'. Returning people to Haiti where their lives would be in danger was not safe, she said. 'Unfortunately the treatment of Haitians … is not in line with the Dominican Republic's international and regional obligations,' she said. The Dominican Republic has been deporting pregnant women, raiding homes and stopping people in the street for the past four years. In October, the government announced a target of deporting 10,000 Haitian migrants a week. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion In 2023, a UN group, including Alsalem, condemned the detention and deportation of pregnant and postpartum Haitian women from the Dominican Republic. A UN committee has also highlighted that some women have been forcibly separated from their children. The worsening situation in Haiti has severely damaged health services. Cholera outbreaks are spreading. Gender-based violence is increasing and sexual violence against children has risen tenfold, according to the UN. At least 5,600 people were killed in gang violence last year. The kidnap and murder of workers has put about two-thirds of medical facilities out of use. Roudy Joseph, a spokesperson for the community group Haitians in the Dominican Republic, said the crackdown 'put the health and lives of people, of women, at risk'. 'This is the consolidation of an apartheid regime that should be criticised or denounced by the international community,' he said. Liliana Dolis, the director of Movimiento de Mujeres Dominico-Haitianas (Dominican-Haitian Women's Movement), said deporting vulnerable women and children back to Haiti was 'inhumane'. She said there was an atmosphere of fear among Haitians in the Dominican Republic where women were reluctant to attend health checkups and endanger their lives as a result. 'It's an anti-women, anti-feminist attitude,' she said. 'It is an attitude of gender violence, and obstetric violence.'
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump's first 100 days supercharged a global ‘freefall of rights', says Amnesty
The first 100 days of Donald Trump's presidency have 'supercharged' a global rollback of human rights, pushing the world towards an authoritarian era defined by impunity and unchecked corporate power, Amnesty International warns today. In its annual report on the state of human rights in 150 countries, the organisation said the immediate ramifications of Trump's second term had been the undermining of decades of progress and the emboldening of authoritarian leaders. Describing a 'freefall' in human rights, the report said growing inaction over the climate crisis, violent crackdowns on dissent and a mounting backlash against the rights of migrants, refugees, women, girls and LGBTQ+ people could be traced to the so-called Trump effect. Amnesty warned the situation would deteriorate further this year as Trump continued to dismantle the rules-based world order that Washington helped to build from the devastation of the second world war. Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK's chief executive, described the US president's swift and deliberate targeting of international institutions designed to make the world safer and fairer as 'terrifying'. 'You look forward to the end of this decade and wonder whether the basic frameworks and underpinnings of not just human rights but international law will still be standing. You probably haven't been able to say that since 1935,' he said. Amnesty's report also documents how mass arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and lethal force are becoming increasingly widespread tools of repression. In Bangladesh, 'shoot-on-sight' orders during student protests led to hundreds of deaths; Mozambique's disputed elections similarly sparked a deadly crackdown; and Turkey also imposed draconian bans on demonstrations. The report also identified global inaction as an area of concern, particularly in relation to Sudan's ruinous civil war. One of the warring sides there, the Rapid Support Forces, has been accused of repeatedly carrying out mass sexual violence against women and girls yet international action remains muted. Trump's sweeping foreign aid cuts had made conditions worse across the world, Amnesty said, closing crucial programmes in states such as Yemen and Syria, leaving children and survivors of conflict without access to food, shelter or healthcare. Amnesty also raised concerns over failures to uphold international humanitarian law, citing Israel's military operations in Gaza. In Europe, Amnesty said Russia killed more Ukrainian civilians in 2024 than the previous year and continued to target non-military infrastructure. Trump is proposing that Ukraine cede territory to Russia as part of peace proposals dismissed as appeasement by critics. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International's secretary general, said: 'Trump has shown only utter contempt for universal human rights – emboldening anti-rights movements worldwide and letting corporate allies run amok.' Looking further ahead, the report warned that governments risked failing future generations on the climate, economic inequality and corporate power. It cited the collapse of the UN's Cop29 climate conference, under fossil-fuel corporations' influence, while rich countries 'bullied' low-income nations into accepting inadequate climate financing. Trump's exit from the crucial Paris climate agreement threatened 'to drag others with him', Amnesty warned. Elsewhere, against a backdrop of scapegoating migrants, 'billionaires gained wealth as global poverty reduction stalled', it said. Women, girls and LGBTQ+ people faced intensifying attacks in a number of countries including Afghanistan and Iran, while LGBTQ+ rights were targeted in Uganda, Georgia and Bulgaria. 'The Trump administration fanned the flames, cutting support for gender equality and dismantling protections for trans people and women globally,' Amnesty said.
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- The Guardian
‘It was steer or they would kill me': why Sudanese war refugees are filling prisons in Greece
Former law student Samuel, 19, fled his home town of Geneina shortly after it was ransacked during one of the worst massacres of Sudan's brutal civil war, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 13 million people. After making it overland to Libya, Samuel spent two days crossing the Mediterranean in June before being rescued by a cargo ship and escorted by the Greek coastguard to Crete. He is now being held in the Avlona youth prison, 28 miles (45km) north of Athens, along with an estimated 50 other Sudanese men, most of whom, lawyers and activists say, are war refugees who have been detained and accused of migrant smuggling after seeking asylum in Europe and arriving on the Greek island of Crete. Samuel was identified by other passengers as the dinghy's pilot, a violation of several Greek laws including aiding the transfer of illegal migrants. If convicted he faces a possible 15 years in prison. He says he is no smuggler, but a refugee seeking safety in Europe. He paid smugglers 12,000 Libyan dinars (£1,660), which he says was a discounted fare on the condition that he navigate the boat. He has said he didn't know how to steer or even swim. 'It was steer or they would kill me,' he told Greek prosecutors in his testimony. View image in fullscreen Avlona prison, north of Athens, where Samuel is being held in the youth detention centre. Photograph: Thanassis Stavrakis/AP Hundreds of people have been arrested under Greece's harsh anti-smuggling law that came into force in 2014 with jail sentences of up to 25 years. Convicted migrant smugglers are now the second-largest group in Greek prisons behind those jailed for drug-related offences. Activists and lawyers have said it is often the most vulnerable who will steer the boat, including men who sometimes agree to do it in return for a reduction in the price of passage for themselves or their family members. They say the criminalisation of refugees and asylum seekers is ineffective in disrupting smuggling networks, as the real smugglers are rarely on the boat. 'The very tough anti-smuggling law has been a timeless governmental weapon to minimise illegal immigration. In reality it is completely useless, only filling up Greek prisons with people who have no record or connection to criminal offences,' says Samuel's lawyer Spyros Pantazis. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Global Dispatch Free newsletter Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion My family was torn apart. I have a mother and father and I am the eldest of six Samuel, Sudanese prisoner Pantazis, an Athens-based criminal defence lawyer, describes Samuel as 'brave and committed to a better future' and says the Greek prosecution's case rests solely on witness statements taken by the Greek coastguard with no footage, digital evidence or proof of financial gain. Pantazis also says no witnesses will have to appear in court, depriving Samuel of the right to face his accusers. 'My family was torn apart. I have a mother and father and I am the eldest of six. Friends told me they are in refugee camps, but I have not spoken to them in over a year,' Samuel testified to Greek prosecutors in June 2024, shortly after his arrival. Crete has recently emerged as Greece's main entry point for migrants, accounting for more than a quarter of all arrivals since January 2025, overtaking previous hotspots such as Lesbos and Samos. According to Greek officials, more than 2,500 people have arrived in Crete from Africa so far this year. Sudanese nationals make up the fourth-largest group of asylum seekers in Greece, overtaking traditional cohorts such as Syrians and Palestinians. UNHCR figures show arrivals on Crete increased more than sixfold in 2024 compared with 2023. View image in fullscreen A dinghy washed up on the shores of Agios Georgios, east of Lesbos, Greece, after a boat carrying migrants capsized on 10 January 2024. Photograph: Manolis Lagoutaris/AFP/Getty Images Gabriella Sanchez, a research fellow at Georgetown University, says the criminalisation of refugees from the civil war in Sudan contravenes the UN protocol on migrant smuggling, which 'clearly establishes that a migrant cannot be prosecuted for facilitating his or her own smuggling. The practice across EU countries of prosecuting young migrants as smugglers goes against the protocol's principles.' Another war refugee, Justin Angui, 19, who fled Sudan in 2023, was found guilty of smuggling last month but is now appealing against his conviction. He says he saw his father killed before fleeing Sudan. In his court testimony, he said: 'My mother told me to leave at any cost, so I fled to Libya. I worked in a supermarket to save up, then used those earnings – along with the small amount my mother had given me – to pay a smuggler and make the journey here.' Angui now says he longs to speak to his mother and two younger sisters 'I haven't had any contact with them since I was imprisoned six months ago. I've lost hope – it's all dark now.' Julia Winkler, a political scientist who co-authored a 2023 report on migrant criminalisation in Greece, says: 'What's happening in Crete is a brutal example of how Europe's so-called 'war on smuggling' is, in reality, criminalising the very act of migration.' The Greek immigration and asylum ministry said it did not wish to comment.
The Guardian
15-04-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
‘The last thread connecting people to services': why vets are risking all to care for Gaza's donkeys
It felt like an 'earthquake from the sky' when an Israeli airstrike hit the clinic Dr Saif Alden had left just minutes earlier. Alden had been treating animals hurt and abandoned amid Gaza's destruction. They survived but the equipment and medication the mobile clinic needed to function was destroyed. Still, the team saw it as a setback, not a defeat. Alden has spent the month since the airstrike traversing Gaza to scavenge the tools needed to resume operations. 'It was a test of our purpose, our mission and our resilience,' says Alden, team leader for a mobile clinic run by the charity Safe Havens for Donkeys. 'It was a miracle that we survived. 'And survival wasn't the end of the story – it was just the beginning of another struggle. The attack took from us all the tools we use to save lives. 'We've started again, from zero, because the animals are still here. They still need us. And we will never abandon them.' Alden's team operates a mobile clinic that has treated more than 7,000 donkeys and thousands of other animals since the outbreak of the current war in Gaza in October 2023. Donkeys are a lifeline for many Palestinians in Gaza. Israel's bombardment has decimated Gaza's infrastructure, destroying roads and leaving few functioning vehicles, while its blockade of the Palestinian territory makes fuel for transport difficult to find. Donkeys have filled the gap, used to transport goods and people – as they search daily for food, water and fuel, to get to hospitals and to transport them with their belongings each time Israeli forces order thousands to leave an area. 'These donkeys are the last thread connecting people to the basic services they desperately need,' says Alden. 'We've seen donkeys in Gaza who've saved lives – transporting pregnant women to hospitals to give birth, carrying the injured to safety, standing by the side of those who have lost everything, offering warmth when all else is cold. They give without asking for anything in return.' The Safe Haven team have continued to work despite the airstrike on 13 March, and other challenges before that including near-misses, roadblocks and the struggle to find food or shelter. Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion The mobile clinic travels across Gaza, stationing itself in different areas on appointed days so those with wounded animals can bring them for treatment. But the team also scours the destroyed landscape for those animals left behind, takes calls from the owners of ailing and injured donkeys, and responds to requests to rescue animals from even the most dangerous areas. The treatment process is a careful one: each animal is sensitively approached and assessed then given the correct treatment, whether for a wound, a broken limb or malnutrition. Finally, they wait and hope the animal can recover with their limited resources. Alden says they go through a personal journey with each animal, which involves offering each one sensitivity and dignity after the traumas it would have experienced. And while it relies on science, the little equipment they have to heal the animals means the team also depend on sheer willpower. 'When they get better, we don't celebrate – they aren't trophies. We quietly stand by their side, just as we have been standing by every other animal we've helped. But inside, a part of us whispers a prayer of gratitude,' says Alden. 'When we help them, we are not simply saving a life; we are preserving a sacred bond between humans and animals. We are keeping hope alive.'
