Protests drowning the world

From the Aba Women’s riots of 1929 to the 2012 occupy Nigeria riots against the removal of fuel subsidy; protests have left powerful marks upon Nigeria. Protests have been used all over the world for centuries as a tool for people to express their frustrations and demand for change. Today is no exception. Currently, many […]

From the Aba Women’s riots of 1929 to the 2012 occupy Nigeria riots against the removal of fuel subsidy; protests have left powerful marks upon Nigeria. Protests have been used all over the world for centuries as a tool for people to express their frustrations and demand for change. Today is no exception. Currently, many protests are going on in several countries around the world such as Chile, Lebanon, Hong Kong and so many others.

So what are the causes of these global protests? Here’s an analysis of the protests and the motivations behind them.

Hong Kong protests

The protests began in June when an extradition bill was proposed by the government. The bill contained a new law that would mean that Hong Kong residents would be tried in China. The proposed bill intends to change the current arrangement of Hong Kong being a semi-autonomous region of China with its legal system. However, what started as a protest against the bill has turned into a pro-democracy movement. The protest has since become violent with the protesters throwing bombs, rocks and acid at the police, and the police retaliating by spraying tear gas. During this month, the protest reached a new height when a police officer shot a protester in the chest.

Indonesia protests

In September, a criminal code was introduced in Jakarta, Indonesia. The code outlawed sex outside of marriage with a six-month jail sentence for unmarried couples living together. This new criminal code led to protests against the government and its oppressive laws. It is the largest protest Indonesia has witnessed since 1998, and it’s still relatively nonviolent as most of the protesters are students and the police are using mainly tear gas and water cannons to try and dispel them. However, because of the protests, the Indonesian parliament has delayed a vote on approving the code.

Lebanon protests

Protests have been rising in Lebanon over the deteriorating economic situation in the country. The Lebanese believe their government officials are responsible for the bad state the economy is in. The protest worsened when their government proposed a tax on WhatsApp messages this month. Although the protests started peacefully, it has turned violent after the police used tear gas on the protesters.

Haiti protests

Haiti is descending into more chaos with the eruption of violent protests. As it stands, about 30 people have been killed in the protests and half of the people dead were killed by the police. The protesters are demanding for the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse.

Haitians are currently battling oil, power, and food shortages. All these, coupled with the president’s decision to remove fuel subsidy are fueling their anger. The president has also been accused of corruption and mishandling the Venezuelan oil subsidy program.

Syrian protests

The Syrian protests have been ongoing for a while now, but the new uprising is regarding American soldiers departing Syria. Syrians are protesting the US decision to withdraw their troops because the departure of American soldiers makes them more vulnerable to attacks from the Turkish forces.

US President Donald Trump just made a sudden decision to evacuate the 1000 American soldiers in Syria. The evacuation has led to Turkish forces invading Syria to fight off Kurdish forces who were partners with the US in fighting off ISIS.

According to Newsweek, one sign aimed at the departing forces reads: “To the US Army who is leaving northeast Syria now. Tell your children that the children of the Kurds were killed by the Turks, and we did nothing to protect them.”

Peru protests 

The Peruvian government recently authorized an armed invention to unblock a copper mine. Some Peruvians living in Andean where the mine is, have been blocking the mining company’s access road since the beginning of October. The mining protests are as a result of the dissatisfactions with Peru’s governance in general.

President Martin Vizcarra had to dismiss Peru’s congress after his fight to eradicate corruption bore no fruits despite months of trying.  The lawmakers responsible for the futility in response attempted to impeach him, naming his vice president as the new president. Although they’ve been unsuccessful so far, the uncertainty surrounding the presidency is the root of all the mass protests.

The Netherlands protests

Dutch farmers in the Netherlands are currently protesting against their parliament. The Dutch parliament stated that agriculture was causing high emissions and suggested that some cattle farms should be shut down. Since then, thousands of farmers have taken to the Dutch highways to protest, blocking the highways with tractors. The farmers claim it’s the aviation industry that is responsible for the high emissions and not them.

According to Dutch Automobile Association ANWB, over 700 miles of traffic plagued Dutch roads at the peak of rush hour as the tractors descended on The Hague. The Dutch police had to close off The Hague’s Central Parliament Square. The army supported them in blockading main routes to Parliament with large vehicles.

France protests 

The Dutch farmers are not the only ones angry with their lawmakers.

French farmers are boiling at France’s agricultural laws. They have been holding mass demonstrations since the beginning of the year and they have held two in October alone. The demonstrations consisted of more than 10,000 demonstrators. However, farmers are not the only dissatisfied sector in France. Several other groups are protesting their government’s policies.

In Paris, firefighters are also protesting poor working conditions. They are demanding better pay and benefits. Earlier in the year also, police officers held a protest against the rising suicide rate among French officers, which many attribute to the stress of containing the protests for weeks on end. Even though the protest has been ongoing for a long time, the protesters show no sign of giving up until their frustrations are attended to.

Chile protests

In October, the Chilean government increased subway fare causing high students to leap over turnstiles (mechanical gates) and the creation of a social media movement. Average Chileans feel neglected by the president who they believe is disconnected from the realities of his people due to wealth and affluence.

The protests have become violent after the citizens started breaking train windows and destroying things in the train stations.  It has also led to 180 arrests, 57 injured police officers and eleven deaths. Sebastian Pinera, the Chilean president, had to declare a state of emergency and also suspend the subway.

Iraq protests

Planned demonstrations are ongoing in Iraq against Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi. The planned demonstrations are being used to mark the first anniversary of Abdul Mahdi taking over office. The protests started on the 1st of October, leading to the death of two people. Iraqis are protesting the government’s inability to improve public services and unemployment.

They are also angry at the Prime Minister for removing the liked counterterrorism chief Lieutenant General Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi. The protests quickly turned violent when the police fired live ammunition at the protesters in Baghdad. Apart from the initial two deaths, 286 people have been injured in the protests.

Israel protests

Israeli Arabs are being killed in Israel. Their local news provider, Haaretz, reports that 75 members of the Arab community have been killed in 2019, hence, the reason for the protests in Israel. The Israeli Arab community is angry at the police for their inactions regarding the killings. Hundreds of protesters gathered last week outside of the police station in Ramla.

“Police for Jews, police for Arabs, racist police,” demonstrators chanted, according to Haaretz.

Sudan Protests

Sudan protests started as far back as December 2018 when their president tried to introduce emergency austerity measures to prevent their economy from collapsing. The government removed bread and fuel subsidies and this spurred the citizens to take to the streets in protest. Soon, the protest escalated from asking the government to return the subsidies to the citizens asking for the removal of the president.

Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir had been in power for 30 years before the protests eventually led to him being overthrown in April 2019. However, instead of the protests dying down after the citizens’ aim was achieved, it further escalated.

A council of army generals took power after the president was overthrown, but struggled to maintain power because demonstrators insisted the Military transfer authority to a civilian administration.

The Military was unwilling to hand over power, so they used brute force on protesters to strengthen their position which led to more deaths in the country in June.

After the Military council faced backlash and condemnation for the brute force used from countries like the UK and US, they were forced to hold talks with the leaders of the protests and eventually reached an agreement. Both the Military and civilians agreed to share power and on the 4th of August, 2019, they signed an informal constitutional declaration which paved way for a transitional government. The formal signing ceremony took place on August 17, 2019.

Bolivia Protests

Violent protests erupted on the streets of the Bolivian administrative capital La Paz, with angry protesters accusing the country’s election authorities of fraud. Bolivia’s presidential elections held on October 20th, it was allegedly, marred by irregularities and discrepancies. The preliminary results released on the night of the election pointed to a runoff between Mr. Morales and Carlos Mesa, a former president, only for the election authorities to backtrack within 24 hours. On the 21st, they released an updated vote tally showing Mr. Morales leading by 10 percentage points, the margin required to avoid a runoff.

Morales has been in office since 2006 and Bolivians are reportedly tired of his authoritarian and corrupt ways. The announcement that he was winning the elections provoked a wave of huge demonstrations and attacks on election facilities on Monday night. Protesters took to the streets again on Tuesday night in La Paz and other cities.

Egypt protests

Sporadic protests flared in Egypt on the 20th of September. The anti-corruption protests were caused by the deteriorating standards of living in Egypt. Before that day, Egypt hadn’t experienced any uprising since street demonstrations were banned in 2013. After the protests, the Prime Minister and his government clamped down on any form of protest. The government started arresting people indiscriminately; from people who have political affiliations to people walking on the streets.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said the protests are a part of an external “brutal war” designed to create “confusion.” He warned Egyptians that his government will not allow protesters to spread “chaos”. Since September, Mostafa has been successful in repressing any form of Protests in Egypt.

Zimbabwe Protest

Zimbabwe declared Friday, 25th of October as a public holiday to protest against US sanctions.

These sanctions were imposed against some individuals in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and businesses associated with them in 2003. Since then, the US  has added more people they believe are involved in human rights abuse or impoverishing the country on the sanction list.

The protesters say that these sanctions have destroyed their economy, but the US insists that the sanctions were placed on Individuals and companies and have nothing to do with the Zimbabwe economy.

“Our targeted sanctions are not responsible for Zimbabwe falling tragically short of its potential. The fault lies in the catastrophic mismanagement by those in power and the government’s abuse of its citizens,” U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nichols said.

This protest is a bit different from the other protests going on because it’s not directed at internal forces within the country but external ones. The government even provided buses for marches and the president, Emmerson Mnangagwa gave an address at the National Sports Stadium where the protest held.

Ecuador Protests

Like Nigeria, Ecuador is an oil-rich country whose economy depends largely on oil exports. Everything was good in the country when oil topped $100 a barrel and their president built airports, universities, roads and so on. Unfortunately, when oil slumped, so did their economy. Ecuador was left with billions in debt and a steep annual budget shortfall after the slump. The president had to take out a three-year $4.2bn credit line from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which led to him to introduce austerity measures earlier this month. The $1.3bn austerity package included the elimination of fuel subsidies and a resulting sharp rise in gasoline and diesel prices.

This fueled Ecuadorians anger and many of them took to the streets to protest against the measures. They demanded the return of the fuel subsidy and the resignation of President Moreno. Although the protest started peacefully, it turned violent when demonstrators were met by police, who attempted to disperse them using tear gas. Demonstrators retaliated by throwing stones, Molotov cocktails and tube-launched fireworks at the officers.  Eventually, Moreno ended the protests by agreeing to restore the subsidies on October 14, 2019.