Water Protests Roil Mideast, Alarm Region's Governments
Voice of America
When the civil war erupted in Syria a decade ago, some Middle East observers and climate scientists argued drought was one of the significant drivers of the conflict.
Drought in the years preceding the war caused an agricultural collapse in parts of eastern and northern Syria, forcing rural families to migrate to cities in ever larger numbers and it intensified the competition over already scarce resources and jobs. Water shortages may become a trigger in other countries in the region for unrest and rebellion, fear analysts and diplomats, and they point to water feuds between neighboring states and protests over water shortages that have erupted this year in a swathe of the Mideast and North Africa as harbingers of more prolonged political and social trouble ahead. Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Yemen have all seen drought-related frustrations boiling over with government mismanagement and corruption blamed by locals for water shortages as much as climate change.This handout photo taken June 9, 2024, and provided by the South Korean Defense Ministry shows unidentified objects believed to be North Korean trash from balloons that crossed the inter-Korea border, on a street in Seoul. A North Korean military guard post, top, and South Korean post, bottom, are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, May 31, 2024.
A textbook is seen on a high school student's desk during a philosophy class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. Middle school students, some wearing a hijab, listen to teacher Ilyas Laarej during an Islamic ethics class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. High school student Noha Fouad and her friend walks toward a classroom and in front of a banner that says "Ramadan Kareem" in the courtyard of the Averroes school, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. A middle school student scribbles on a piece of paper during an Islamic ethics class at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024. Students wearing abayas put their shoes back on as they prepare to leave the prayer room at the Averroes school, France's biggest Muslim educational institution that has lost its state funding, Lille, France, March 19, 2024.
FILE - Students protest for more public university funding and against austerity measures proposed by President Javier Milei, featured on the sign, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 23, 2024. FILE - Sally Otto, owner of a downtown craft collective, speaks May 21, 2024, in Greeley, Colo. FILE - Kristina McGuffey with her 12-year-old daughter, Molly, and 9-year-old son, Wyatt, speaks while making a purchase at a downtown craft collective May 21, 2024, in Greeley, Colo.
U.S. WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, arrive to celebrate their wedding at the town hall of Carentan-les-Marais in Normandy, France, June 8, 2024. U.S. WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, celebrate their wedding in Normandy, France, June 8, 2024. U.S. WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, kiss in Normandy, France, June 8, 2024.