Mina Al-Oraibi, Assistant Editor in Chief of Asharq Alawsat, the international pan-Arab daily newspaper, spoke to the assembled Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Council last night.
Ms Al-Oraibi spoke about the latest developments in the Middle East in a briefing entitled ‘Middle East in Transition’. The challenges and opportunities facing the Arab World, and in particular Iraq, Syria and Egypt, were discussed. The Iraqi-British journalist spoke of the need to look at militancy and sectarianism more as organised crime, rather than being misled to believe it is driven by religious interpretation.
Ms Al-Oraibi highlighted the need to reform immigration and refugee-resettlement policies in the UK and EU, so that those most in need of resettlement are not exploited by traffickers. She also spoke of the need to continue support to countries hosting refugees in the region, especially Jordan and Lebanon, while maintaining political will to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches Syrians, Palestinians and others who need it in their own countries.
Ms Al-Oraibi took questions on the roles of the US, Russia, Turkey and Iran in the Arab world.
Rehman Chishti MP was in attendance and responded briefly to questions about Pakistan.