Halima the Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirl Phones Home After Seven Years
New
Age Islam News Bureau
02
February 2021
• Ukraine
Woman Starts Fresh After Life Under Islamic State
• February
1 Declared Nat’l Hijab Day in Philippines
• Indonesia
Detains British Woman On Terror Suspect List
• Saudi
Arabia: Jazan Battered Woman Details Her Ordeal
• UAE
Law: Women May Not Be Forced To Do Night Shifts
• Pak
Women Term Govt’s Silence As ‘Unending Punishment’
• Tehran
To Host National Festival Of Creative, Entrepreneur Women
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
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Halima
the Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolgirl Phones Home After Seven Years
FEBRUARY
1, 2021
File
photo of released 82 Chibok school girls reuniting with their families in
Abuja, Nigeria (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
------
ABUJA
(Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Nearly seven years since Islamist militants
kidnapped two of his daughters from their school in northeastern Nigeria, a
hurried phone call let Ali Maiyanga know that his family’s ordeal might soon be
over.
The
call on Thursday evening was from Maiyanga’s daughter Halima, who - along with
her sister Maryam - was among more than 200 schoolgirls snatched by Boko Haram
insurgents in Chibok in April 2014, sparking a global #BringBackOurGirls
campaign.
“I
was crying, she was crying,” said Maiyanga, who was preparing to get married to
his fourth wife when he heard Halima’s voice down the line.
“We
couldn’t talk long because I was surrounded by so many people and the place was
noisy. Everybody started jumping up and down when I told them,” said Maiyanga,
father of 18 children, who was reunited with his other kidnapped daughter in
2016.
Halima,
23, told him she had been rescued by the Nigerian army, but Maiyanga said he
did not know her exact whereabouts or if she was alone or with more of her
kidnapped former classmates.
An
army spokesman said on Monday it did not have any Chibok kidnap victims in its
custody and the government has not issued a statement about any of the missing
women being found in recent days.
About
half of the students who were abducted have escaped or been released so far.
Dozens
have appeared in propaganda videos by the militants - showing them pleading for
their rescue or pledging allegiance to the group - and some have died from
illness, in childbirth or military air strikes, according to freed captives.
Reports
by Boko Haram’s victims of religious indoctrination and forced marriages have
fueled concerns about the remaining women as attacks by Islamist militants
gather pace in the northeast of the country.
Maryam,
24, said she and Halima - who were among the few Muslims kidnapped along with
their mostly Christian classmates - were held captive together at first before
they both married insurgents in 2014 and moved into different parts of the
forest.
Maryam’s
husband decided to help his wife escape because he did not want their son to
grow up in the forest, and she was found with their 10-month-old baby by troops
in the Gwoza district of Borno State in November 2016.
“I
always believed I would see my sister again one day,” Maryam told the Thomson
Reuters Foundation. “When I heard the news, I was jumping up and down. I was
very happy. I can’t wait to see her.”
‘I
WAS AFRAID’
After
the two sisters got married, they saw each other regularly. Halima used to
visit Maryam every month, helping her to care for the baby. Maryam said she
used to spend a lot of time consoling her sister after she had a stillbirth.
But
when her escape was planned, Maryam did not tell her sister.
“I
was afraid. I didn’t see her before I left,” said Maryam, who does not know the
whereabouts of her husband since he was arrested by the military at the time of
her escape. He had accompanied her out of the forest.
Since
then, Maryam and the other freed Chibok girls were enrolled by the government
in a special remedial course at the American University of Nigeria in Yola.
After
years of mounting criticism about the spread of Islamist violence and attacks
by armed gangs, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari appointed a new military
high command last week.
Hopes
were high after army successes against Boko Haram in 2015 and 2016, but with
the rise of Islamic State’s West African branch, formerly part of Boko Haram,
parts of the northeast have been experiencing more frequent attacks.
While
Thursday’s phone call put an end to the family’s agonising wait for news,
Maiyanga said he still did not know when they would be able to see Halima.
“I’m
hoping to hear more news from the military,” he said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-women-kidnapping-trfn/i-was-crying-kidnapped-nigerian-schoolgirl-phones-home-after-seven-years-idUSKBN2A1373
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Ukraine
Woman Starts Fresh After Life Under Islamic State
Alime
Abbasova, 37, has returned home to Ukraine, six years after following her
husband to Syria.
-----
2 FEB
2021
KOZYN,
Ukraine: Six years after she left Ukraine to follow her husband and promises of
a dignified life under the Islamic State group in Syria, Alime Abbasova arrived
home on New Year's Day, hopeful for a fresh start.
The
journey that took her from the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia, to the
so-called Caliphate, and then to camps for IS sympathisers run by overstretched
Kurdish authorities, was a miscalculation, she told AFP.
"You
know what they say: we all make mistakes. What happened is now behind us, thank
God," the 37-year-old mother-of-five said.
At a
Soviet-era spa in central Ukraine where she was in quarantine and making plans
for the future, Abbasova said: "Now I only hope for the best."
Western
countries have been reluctant to repatriate their IS-linked nationals held in
northeast Syria, though some have brought home women and children on a
case-by-case basis.
But
President Volodymyr Zelensky was unambiguous in his country's position when he
publicly welcomed Abbasova and another returnee home last month.
"Ukraine
will always bring home all of its citizens, no matter who they are and wherever
they get into trouble".
- A
'trap' -
The
ex-Soviet country is home to hundreds of thousands of Crimean Tatars, a Muslim
minority, mostly living in Crimea, who opposed Russia's 2014 takeover of the
peninsula and fled, fearing political persecution.
Abbasova
said that she and her husband were lured to IS-controlled territory by one of
his friends, who promised him he could continue his work repairing shoes in the
so-called Caliphate.
"I
didn't want to be left without a husband. I had two children at that
time," she said, of her decision to follow.
Echoing
many returnees and IS-linked detainees, she said that she quickly became
disillusioned with life in Syria and was "disappointed" by the terror
group's brutal interpretation of Islam.
But
there was no way out, she said, describing the so-called Caliphate as a
"trap" where "all roads closed".
"If
you tried to escape, they could shoot you in the back."
In
the four years that she and her husband spent in Syria, Abbasova said that they
were never called to take up arms by the terror group's leadership.
But
that claim did not resonate with the Kurdish forces that accepted their
surrender in 2019 and separated the husband and wife in captivity.
"It
was the last time I saw my husband," Abbasova, who took charge of their
children, said.
She
said she spent nearly two years in the Kurdish-run camps, al-Hol and Roj, where
tens of thousands of relatives of IS fighters and sympathisers have been held since
the 2019 defeat of IS.
-
'Went through hell' -
She
described life in the sprawling tent cities that have been battered by
inhospitable weather and lawlessness as "very difficult".
Aid
groups, too, have deplored conditions at the al-Hol camp, where the UN recently
reported a spate of murders.
Still,
the camps, run by Kurdish authorities, are home to at least 10 more Ukrainian
women and some 30 children that Tatar community leaders are working to return
to Ukraine.
Refat
Chubarov, a community leader who spearheaded release efforts in 2019 following
pleas from family members, described negotiations involving the foreign
ministry, the Red Cross and US diplomats.
He
said that "special services were already engaged in this" process
too.
He
made clear however that neither he nor Ukrainian officials were seeking to fly
home men who voluntarily travelled to Syria.
Chubarov
told AFP that he had urged the two women who were returned to Ukraine to start
again and "grab onto life".
"They
might be more successful than those around them, because they saw what many
others did not see, they went through hell," he said he had told them.
Abbasova
has few other options, since the life she left behind six years ago is all but
gone.
She
said she planned to go to Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, where her husband's
family was awaiting her and the children.
With
slim hopes of seeing her husband again, Abbasova said her focus was now on her
five children -- three sons and two daughters, aged between two and 14 -- all
bustling around.
"I
want to take care of my children," Abbasova said. "They need to be
raised."
"Each
child needs an individual approach, they've missed a lot in their
studies."
https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/2061267/ukraine-woman-starts-fresh-after-life-under-islamic-state
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February
1 Declared Nat’l Hijab Day in Philippines
February
01, 2021
Congress
unanimously approved the bill, which has yet to become a law, on Tuesday, Jan.
26, with all 203 lawmakers voting for the move.
Anak
Mindanao party-list Representative Amihilda Sangcopan, principal author and
sponsor of House Bill No. 8249, thanked all lawmakers for passing the
legislation and called on members of the Senate to espouse a counterpart
measure.
The
legislation seeks to promote a greater understanding among non-Muslims about
the practice and “value of wearing the hijab as an act of modesty and dignity
to Muslim women” and encourage Muslim and non-Muslim women “to experience the
virtue of wearing it.”
The
measure also aims to stop discrimination against hijabis and clear
misconceptions about the sartorial choice, which has often been misinterpreted
as a symbol of oppression, terrorism and lack of freedom.
The
bill also seeks to protect the right to freedom of religion for Filipino Muslim
women and “promote tolerance and acceptance of other faiths and lifestyles”
across the country.
Sangcopan
said that “hijabi women have been facing several challenges across the globe,”
citing examples of “some universities in the Philippines who had banned Muslim
students from wearing the hijab.”
“Some
of these students are forced to remove their hijab to comply with the school’s
rules and regulations, while some are forced to drop out and transfer to other
institutions. These are clear violations of the student’s freedom of religion,”
she said.
The
passage of the bill, she added, would “contribute greatly to putting an end to
discrimination against hijabis.”
“Wearing
the hijab is every Muslim woman’s right. It’s not just a piece of cloth, but it
is said to be their way of life. It has been explained in the Muslim holy book,
the Qur’an, that it is obligatory for every Muslim woman to guard their
chastity and modesty,” Sangcopan said.
Dr.
Potre Dirampatan Diampuan, a trustee of the United Religions Initiative’s
Global Council, welcomed the “milestone” legislation.
“It
is an exercise in what we call inclusiveness. I think it’s a very welcome move
in the eyes of the Muslim community,” Diampuan told Arab News.
“A
woman wearing a hijab here always gets a second look. This bill will make it so
that the sight is a common one. The hijab will become part of our wardrobe as
Filipinos,” she added.
According
to the Philippine Statistics Authority, there are more than 10 million Muslims
in the Philippines out of a total population of 110,428,130 based on the latest
UN data. Diampuan said that the bill was a “recognition of the Muslim
population in the country” and rejected the idea that wearing a hijab was akin
to oppression.
“Unless
you have embraced the religion and understood it, you will not appreciate the
culture,” she said, adding that the move could further encourage women’s
empowerment in the country.
“Women
must be appreciated not by their looks but what they know, what they do and
what they contribute to society…Where secular society says that beauty is in
the eye of the beholder, I think Islam would say that beauty is in the heart of
the person,” Diampuan said.
The
bill mandates the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos to celebrate National
Hijab Day by promoting and raising awareness about hijabis in the Philippines.
During
the 17th Congress, a similar bill was introduced by Sitti Djalia “Dadah”
Turabin-Hataman. It cleared a third and final reading in the House of
Representatives. Sangcopan’s bill, which was recently approved, was filed in
2018.
The
hijab is a veil that covers the head and chest and is mainly worn by Muslim
women who have reached puberty, in the presence of adult males outside of their
immediate family.
It
also refers to any head, face, or body covering conforming to a certain
standard of modesty for Muslim women, with those wearing it referred to as
hijabis.
Islam
is the Philippines’ second-largest religion, with most Muslims residing in the
Mindanao island.
Within
Mindanao is the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, comprising the Basilan,
Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu Tawi-Tawi provinces, but excluding Isabela
City in Basilan and Cotabato City in Maguindanao.
https://iqna.ir/en/news/3473859/february-1-declared-nat%E2%80%99l-hijab-day-in-philippines-%C2%A0
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Indonesia
detains British woman on terror suspect list
February
02, 2021
JAKARTA:
Indonesia has detained a British woman named in a list of global terror
suspects and plans to deport her for visa violations, authorities told AFP.
Tazneen
Miriam Sailar — once married to a now-deceased Indonesian extremist— is not
charged with terror offenses.
But
she and her late husband are on a police list of suspected domestic and foreign
extremists, including a Frenchman who appeared in Daesh beheading videos and
another close to the brothers who massacred staff at satirical magazine Charlie
Hebdo.
Sailar,
47, and her 10-year-old Indonesia born son, were being held in Jakarta after
they were picked up last year on allegations she didn’t have documents to
remain in the Southeast Asian nation, according to her lawyer Farid Ghozali.
“She
was put (in detention) while awaiting her return which will be facilitated by
the British Embassy,” Indonesian immigration directorate spokesman Ahmad
Nursaleh told AFP, without elaborating.
The
British Embassy in Jakarta declined to comment and it was unclear when the
deportation would happen.
The
police document does not say why Sailar was listed along with some 400 other
terror suspects, including her late husband who was killed in Syria in 2015,
sources said.
The
couple’s 2010 marriage was officiated by radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar
Bashir, the spiritual head of extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), according
to sources familiar with the case.
JI
members were behind the Bali bombings which saw more than 200 people, including
nearly 90 Australian holidaymakers, killed when massive blasts ripped through a
pair of packed bars on the Indonesian holiday island in October 2002.
Sailar
operated a charity named after her late husband, which sent aid to women and
children in conflict-wracked Syria, sources said.
She
arrived in Muslim-majority Indonesia in 2005 as a medical volunteer for a
Christian-based humanitarian foundation that assisted victims of natural
disasters, Ghozali and a source said.
Alleged
members of the Taliban and Daesh appear on the Indonesian police list, as well
as British Islamist Anjem Choudary and Sally-Anne Jones, a Daesh recruiter
reportedly killed in a US drone strike in Syria.
Maxime
Hauchard, a now-dead French convert seen in a gruesome Daesh beheading video,
was listed along with French extremist Peter Cherif, previously charged with
the 2011 kidnapping of three French aid workers in Yemen and a close associate
of the siblings who killed staff at Charlie Hebdo in 2015.
Sailar
was born in Manchester on February 20, 1973 and holds a British passport,
according to the list, which also said she goes by at least two aliases.
Indonesia’s
counter-terror squad questioned Sailar but no charges were filed, her lawyer
said.
“So
we’re now focused on immigration matters,” he said, adding that Sailar wants to
remain in Indonesia.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1802426/world
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Saudi
Arabia: Jazan battered woman details her ordeal
February
02, 2021
Samir
Salama
Abu
Dhabi: A battered Saudi young woman, known as Jazan domestic violence victim,
has revealed the details of her physical and verbal abuse by her father.
Ibtihaj
told the Ya Hala show on the Rotana Khaleejia TV her father began abusing her
at the age of eight, indicating that she was always trying to tell her mother
what was happening.
She
said that her father’s strikes were always focused on the head area to hide
evidence, as he did on a daily basis, and in the presence of family members
including her grandmother.
Ibtihaj
confirmed that no one was interfering to rescue her.
Lawyer
Sheikha Al Balawi said Ibtihaj’s father faces a jail term of between one month
and a year, in addition to a fine of not less than 5,000 but not more than
50,000 riyals.
Domestic
violence cases are a public issue in the country with some husbands and
brothers beating their wives and sisters, humiliating them, locking them inside
rooms, usurping their legitimate rights, taking away salaries and neglecting
children, according to court records.
Serious,
long-term domestic abuse can result in a mental disorder called battered woman
syndrome. Battered woman syndrome, which is also sometimes called battered wife
syndrome, is considered a subcategory of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
With
battered woman syndrome, a woman may develop a learned helplessness that causes
her to believe she deserves the abuse and that she can’t get away from it. In
many cases, it’s why women don’t report their abuse to police or avoid telling
friends and family what’s really going on.
Battered
woman syndrome is taken into account in homicide cases when women murder their
abusive partners.
Stages
There
are four stages that women who develop battered woman syndrome typically go
through:
Denial:
The woman is unable to accept that she’s being abused, or she justifies it as
“just being that once.”
Guilt:
She believes she has caused the abuse.
Enlightenment:
In this phase, she realizes that she didn’t deserve the abuse and acknowledges
that her partner has an abusive personality.
Responsibility:
She accepts that only the abuser holds responsibility. In many cases, this is
when she’ll try to escape the relationship.
Some
women in abusive relationships never make it past the first 2 or 3 stages, as
domestic violence can be fatal.
https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/saudi/saudi-arabia-jazan-battered-woman-details-her-ordeal-1.76891156
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UAE
law: Women may not be forced to do night shifts
January
31, 2021
Some
categories of female workers may be requested to work at night.
Question:
I work for a hospital group in Dubai as a nurse. Despite several requests to
exempt me from the night shift, my superiors continue to put me on duty at
night. There are male staff who are happy to take the night shift. Is there any
legal protection for female medical nurses who do not want to do the night
shift?
Answer:
Pursuant to your queries, we assume that you are employed as a nurse in a
reputed hospital group which is situated in the mainland of Dubai. Therefore,
the provisions of Federal Law No. (8) of 1980 Regulating Employment Relations
in the UAE (the Employment Law) are applicable.
It
should be noted that women in the UAE are not required to work between 10pm and
7am.
This
is in accordance with Article 27 of the Employment Law, which states: “Women
may not be required to work at night. The term ‘night’ means a period of not
less than 11 consecutive hours, including the period from 10pm to 7am.”
However,
women employed in medical sectors may have to work during the night shifts.
This is in accordance with Article 28 (c) of the Employment Law, which states:
“The following cases shall be excepted from the clause prohibiting women to
work at night.
“c.
Work in medical and other services as may be decided by the Minister of Human
Resources & Emiratisation if the working woman does not normally carry out
a manual job.”
Based
on the aforementioned provisions of law, your employer may have the right to
call upon you to work during night shifts. However, as a few of your male
colleagues are willing to work during the night shifts, you may request your
employer in writing that you intend to work during the day. In the said request
letter, it is recommended that you include a genuine reason for the exemption
from the night shift.
Having
said that, it must be noted that it is up to the discretion of your employer to
accept your request.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/legalview/uae-law-women-may-not-be-forced-to-do-night-shifts
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Pak
Women Term Govt’s Silence As ‘Unending Punishment’
02/02/2021
Srinagar,
Feb 1: The Pakistani wives of ex-militants today protested and appealed the
Government to take steps to send them back to Pakistan.
Scores
of such women along with their kids reached the Press Enclave and raised
slogans in favour of their demands while terming the silence of the Government
over the issue as ‘unending punishment’.
“We
have been protesting for long now and all we want is to be sent back to
Pakistan but nobody is paying any heed to our issues. We are appealing India
and Pakistan to send us back,” said Bushra Farooq currently residing in
Kupwara.
They
said that after the disqualification of a DDC candidate in Kupwara Soumya Sadaf
based on citizenship, they have come to know that the Government is not going
to give them the rights of a citizen of India. Click here to watch video
“Keeping
that in view, we are demanding that either accept us as citizens or make sure
that we are deported back to Pakistan,” the women said.
They
said that as many of them have been divorced or have been widowed over time,
they are facing immense troubles.
“We
know that they are not in a mood of addressing our issues. What is our fault?
We fail to understand; at least they should treat it is a humanitarian issue
and resolve it,” they said.
The
children of these women also said that they are in a state of agony and want to
be deported without any delay as they are suffering.
“We
came here in 2015 but after that, we are suffering. My father is a labourer and
is not able to earn the livelihood and provide us with education; we demand
that we should be deported back to Pakistan. If they do not accept us, then
deport us,” said Laiba daughter of one the women from Pakistan.
https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/pak-women-term-govts-silence-as-unending-punishment/
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Tehran
To Host National Festival Of Creative, Entrepreneur Women
February
1, 2021
Coinciding
with National Women's Day, the two-day event is held aiming to emphasize the
successful presence of women in the development of a sustainable economy in
recent years and honor those who are working toward a sustainable economy.
The
festival also identifies and introduces the capacities and talents of women in
Iran STI eco-system, attracts attention to the role of women in the development
of a sustainable economy, models successful and leading patterns in the STI
eco-system, and provides platforms and infrastructures for the introduction of
hi-tech products by women in creative firms.
Expert
meetings and reviewing the experiences of success and failure of women CEOs in
high-tech and creative firms, holding an exhibition of hi-tech products and
services, and praising selected projects of entrepreneurs and creative women
are among the events held during the festival.
Given
that women comprise more than half of Iran’s university graduates, they can
play a significant role in the transition to a knowledge-based economy.
Although
the share of women in the country's employment is less than 20 percent, the
CEOs of about 11 percent of knowledge-based companies are women. These
statistics show the prominent role of women in the advanced fields of science,
technology, and innovation.
Women’s
participation above global average
The
participation of Iranian women in research and development fields is higher
than the global average, according to the UNESCO 2020 report on Women in
Science.
Iranian
women's participation in research and development has increased from 27.7
percent in 2019 to 31.2 percent in 2020, which is above the global average of
30 percent.
The
increase in the share of women in research and development is mostly due to
their increasing share in knowledge-based companies, Masoumeh Ebtekar, the vice
president for women’s and family affairs, said in August 2020.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/457633/Tehran-to-host-national-festival-of-creative-entrepreneur-women
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