The National Interest Foundation Newsletter

Issue 87, March 11, 2021

Welcome to our NIF Newsletter. In this week’s headlines: human rights activists condemn the Indian government for detaining hundreds of Rohingya with the intent of deporting them to Myanmar where they face imminent danger, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls for a peace summit to discuss the prospects for an Afghan unity government, Pope Francis makes a historic trip to Iraq to promote a message of religious tolerance and harmony, and Yemen’s Houthis and Saudi Arabia launch tit-for-tat airstrikes against each other.

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Condemnation of Rohingya Detainment

Human Rights Activists Condemn the Indian Government for Detaining Hundreds of Rohingya

The Indian government has come under fire in recent days after it ordered the detention and deportation of hundreds of Rohingya Muslim refugees. Indian authorities detained nearly 170 Rohingya in Kashmir, and the government said it planned to deport them to Myanmar, where they had originally fled. Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are under imminent danger of ethnic-based violence, and the risk of this has increased greatly since the country’s coup in early February. Several international organizations have urged the Indian government to reverse its decision and allow the Rohingya in Jammu and Kashmir to remain in the state. Furthermore, human rights groups in India have called on the government to expeditiously process the relevant asylum requests filed by these individuals, in addition to halting the deportation of Rohingya back to Myanmar. Many of the Rohingya refugees are in possession of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) documents that classify them as protected refugees, but the Indian government has long considered them as being in the country illegally.

Prospects for Afghan Peace Talks

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken Calls for a Peace Summit to Discuss Afghan Unity Government Prospects

Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for a United Nations-facilitated conference to discuss the prospects for an Afghan unity government. The recommendation was outlined in a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, which included other proposed steps to help accelerate the stalled peace process between Ghani’s government and the Taliban. In it, Blinken also expressed that the Biden administration continues to consider a full withdrawal of American forces from the country by the May 1st deadline negotiated by former President Trump and suggested holding high-level discussions with representatives from the Afghan government and the Taliban in Turkey during the coming weeks in order to draft a revised plan for a 90-day reduction in violence. Afghanistan has witnessed a recent uptick in violence against civilians as peace talks have stalled in the preceding months, and officials fear that the security situation there could deteriorate even further in the absence of quick and effective action.

Pope Francis’ Trip to Iraq

Pope Francis Makes a Historic Trip to Iraq to Promote a Message of Religious Tolerance and Harmony

During this past week, Pope Francis embarked on a historic four-day trip to Iraq, the papal’s first ever visit to the Middle Eastern nation. Iraq is the first country that Pope Francis has traveled to since the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. While there, the pope conveyed a message of interfaith tolerance and harmony to Muslim and Christian religious leaders at the symbolic location of Ur – the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, the revered patriarch of the three monotheistic faiths of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. He stressed the commonalities and interconnectedness of the creeds, and denounced any form of hostility, extremism, or violence as a betrayal of religion. Pope Francis also visited several churches in the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad and met with top Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani, with both respected figures advocating for peaceful coexistence between the country’s Muslim and Christian population. Observers have praised the significance of the pope’s trip in helping to shed light on and encourage the protection of minority groups, in Iraq and elsewhere.

Houthi-Saudi Tit-For-Tat Airstrikes

Yemen’s Houthis and Saudi Arabia Launch Tit-For-Tat Airstrikes Against Each Other

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen exchanged airstrikes with the country’s Houthi rebels in an escalation of the ongoing Yemeni civil war. The Houthis fired several missiles at strategic targets in Saudi Arabia, most notably a Saudi Aramco facility that is vital to the kingdom’s petroleum exports. In retaliation, the Saudi-led coalition struck targets in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. Saudi Arabia said that the Houthis targeting civilian infrastructure was a “red line” which justified their response. The Houthis denied that they had targeted civilians, and said military targets had been struck in the Saudi cities of Dammam, Asir, and Jazan. The escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis comes as the United States, United Nations, and others have pressed both sides to find a diplomatic solution to end the conflict. The war in Yemen is widely regarded as the greatest ongoing humanitarian disaster, and both sides have been urged to stop the violence.