Thinking About the Refugee Crisis in the World Today
Aleppo
is the name, the place that has become the face of the crisis in Syria and
indeed the plight of refugees in the world. I recall one man who wants to be
president of the US does not know Aleppo. Did he ask "what is
Aleppo?" Let us forget him but he deserves no mercy for confessing
ignorance of a matter of such grave concern to the world, worse still
concerning a country that the US has been so much involved in its politics. If
the US was not actively fighting in Syria and contributing to the production of
refugees there, we could consider forgiving this man, after all, what does a
white American have to do with some suffering Arabs in distant lands - far
removed from "civilization?"
But
here is the point, we are yet again having such a monumental humanitarian
crisis of our time. The wave of refugees witnessed across various places of the
globe was not expected, at this point in time. What is worrying is the trend
that this is taking, especially in Africa. The great lakes region is
particularly troubled with recent violent conflicts in Burundi and South Sudan.
Even as Somali refugees "prepare" (or are they being forced?) to
return to their country, we have seen a hemorrhage of refugees from South
Sudan. At some point in August, 2016 northern Uganda recorded an average of
3,000 new arrivals. The ones who recently fled Burundi have been put behind a
wall of silence. Other than few updates done to regional heads of state here
and there with no known strategic and comprehensive plans to deal with this
issue, there is nothing we are hearing about tackling the issue of refugees in
the region. Thanks to the struggle for power back home.
And
when the world deals with refugees, it always deals with this matter in a
manner it best knows how. The same way that they have always dealt with it; nothing
new, no innovation. So we are stuck, we do not seem to move an inch and if and
when we do, we often make one step forward and two backwards. That is how we
have ended up sinking this deep. Immediately the world talks and thinks about
refugees, it thinks and talks about those "nice" things as voluntary
return, resettlement and re/integration etc. The
world talks about caring about refugees, clothing and sheltering and feeding
them, sometimes giving them some sporadic support in terms
of medical support and stuff. We do not need to labor much
to know that this has not worked. I do not know how it is supposed to work now
if it never worked then.
Interestingly, some of those in positions of authority seem
to know what needs to be done right. For example, commenting on the crisis of
influx of refugees from Burundi to his country, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda
argued that "the issue is not about how well we take care of
refugees, the issue is about how to stop the production of refugees."
Thanks Mr. President - you have it. But then what happens after this
beautiful statements? What have the neighbors of Burundi and the so
called "international community" (never makes known sense to me
anyway) done to help seal loopholes for the production of refugees in Burundi,
for example? Even before the dust settled in Burundi, the region let South
Sudan to sink as everybody watched and up to know neighbors and the
so called international community is simply toying with possibilities.
Nothing concrete is going on!
The issue on how better to address the refugee crisis in the
world, from Aleppo to Adjumani needs rethinking and re-engineering.
It is no longer about sheltering and feeding; it should be
about empowering refugees. We should see in them future agents
of real change and expose them to various opportunities of self-sufficiency.
Most importantly we must come up with clear strategies to in the
words of Kagame, stop production of refugees. Let us work to stop war,
greed and corruption, let us strive to sort governance issues and
this madness of power at all costs and let people live in peace in their
countries.
Thinking About the Refugee Crisis in the World Today
Reviewed by Ibrahim Magara
on
September 09, 2016
Rating:
No comments: