Monthly Archives: July 2018

Illegal immigration to the US a humanitarian problem

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Journalists have recently uncovered reports from a February 2017 Department of Homeland Security meeting in which Trump immigration officials argued that immediate prosecution for illegal crossings, which would separate parents from their children, would deter illegal immigration. In fact, CNN reports data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency showing that the number of illegal border crossings has actually increased since the prosecution initiative was announced.

This failure to deter illegal immigration is understandable given what we know about the circumstances. Many are fleeing Central American countries, including Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, where gang violence, crime, drug cartels and poverty leave them with little hope for a future. Parents fear their children will be forced into gangs or killed if they stay.

In fact, the number of children who come unaccompanied to the United States has increased recently, with most growth coming from Hondurus, where gang violence and homicide is the worst. It is clear that parents are willing to be separated from their children in order to give them the chance to escape. This isn’t a new phenomenon. In the 17th and 18th centuries, European families sent their children on dangerous journeys to America as unaccompanied minors and even as indentured servants in order to give them opportunities for a better life.

In light of the circumstances, it is difficult to imagine the amount of depraved cruelty our immigration process would have to inflict upon asylum-seekers in order to make staying home the more attractive option.

If legal immigration were a more legitimate option, more people would be compelled to follow the process. As it is, we have made it more and more difficult for people to seek asylum and the approval rate is notoriously low.

[Excerpts of LancasterOnline article by April Kelly-Woessner, political science professor at Elizabethtown College]

Logos on aid supplies: Helpful or demeaning?

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When a humanitarian group hands out bags of food or sets up toilets for people who are poor or recovering from a crisis, the group puts its logo on the product. It’s a way of taking credit, which makes donors happy. It’s a way of letting the recipients know where to complain if there’s a problem. And if you’re sitting at home and catch the logo on a TV report, you might be inspired to contribute to that particular charity.

But now, some people are questioning the branding of aid goods. The first concern: How do the logos make aid recipients feel?

Ian Birrell, an international reporter and a contributing editor to Great Britain’s The Mail on Sunday, tweeted an image of a corrugated latrine door from a trip to the Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda in May. Birrell wrote, “So demeaning for those who fled chaos and carnage to be endlessly reminded of their supplicant status.”

Sudhanshu S. Singh, CEO of an India-based emergency relief group called Humanitarian Aid International, agrees.Singh recalls a time when a major relief group provided plastic water buckets for aid recipients — with its logo emblazoned on each pail in huge letters. “I think it’s unfair as each time people take out the bucket to fetch water, others would immediately notice that it is part of the dole,” he says.

Many recipients don’t mind the logos. Cedric Habiyaremye, a Rwandan Ph.D. student at Washington State University, remembers when he was living in a refugee camp in Tanzania as an 8-year-old. Each day, he would see trucks labeled “WFP” — short for World Food Programme, the U.N. food agency — come into the camp.” We were full of joy, because we knew we were going to eat at that time,” he says. “It was a very reassuring time of day. … I feel that I am glad I got to know who served me at the refugee camp.”

Habiyaremye got a chance to visit World Food Programme in Washington, D.C., after he won a global agriculture award. He was so excited to meet some of the staff. “I’d been waiting for this moment for my entire life,” he says he told them. “I just wanted to tell them thank you.”

[NPR]                                                                                                        Read more

Logos on aid supplies: Helpful or dangerous?

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Research has shown that there’s a relationship between the visability of a humanitarian aid brand — its public recognition — and donations, says Dmitry Chernobrov, a lecturer in journalism and politics at the University of Sheffield.

Such logos also help ensure that charities and donors get credit for their good deeds. According to USAID’s branding guide, their red, white and blue logo “was developed to ensure that the American people are visibly acknowledged for their contributions.”

Logos have become such a powerful tool that there have been incidents of ISIS stealing U.N. food aid, slapping their own logo on the boxes and redistributing it back to people.

Governments — especially those recovering from a humanitarian crisis — are anxious to get credit, too, says W. Gyude Moore, the former Liberian minister of public works. Except there’s one problem: They don’t often control the purse strings.

It’s the topic of a new paper he’s written for the think tank Center for Global Development, where he is now a visiting fellow. He argues that in fragile states, it’s in the best interests of aid groups and development agencies to let the home country get credit for big-ticket aid interventions and rebuilding efforts — even if their role was to negotiate the deal. After crises, governments and its citizens have a fractured relationship, says Moore. Citizens want to trust that their governments can handle a big shock. And governments want to ensure that they have the trust of the people.

“Public goods like roads, hospitals and schools are the most significant ways the state can make its benevolent presence felt,” he writes. Otherwise, it may lead to “nationwide consequences, ranging from protests to separatism.”

Meanwhile, concerns about safety have made some aid groups rethink the use of logos. In a conflict zone, when logos are emblazoned on products as well as T-shirts worn by staff, that could put staff at risk. Aid workers are increasingly under attack, especially in conflict zones like Syria and Yemen.

“[We used to think that] if we stick [a logo on], everyone will know we’re here to do good,” says Paul O’Brien, vice president of policy and advocacy at Oxfam America. “But there’s less and less of that notion that the branding will keep you safe. We need to get out of the branding game.”

 [NPR]

The world in crisis

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Over 201 million people in 134 countries were estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance in 2017. Conflict continued to fuel much of this need, with protracted violence and unrest continuing in many countries.

Of the 201 million people identified as in need of humanitarian assistance, 23.5% were in just three countries – Yemen, Syria and Turkey.

A small number of crises continued to receive the majority of international humanitarian assistance: 60% was channeled to 10 countries.

For the fifth consecutive year Syria was the single largest recipient of international humanitarian assistance. Response to the overspill of crises and the forced displacement of populations led to Turkey and Greece  featuring among the 10 largest recipients of humanitarian assistance for the first time.

Conflict, violence and persecution drove ever more people from their homes in 2017. The total number of people forcibly displaced grew for the sixth consecutive year to an  estimated 68.5 million. And 2.8 million more people were identified as refugees than in the previous year. Most of those forcibly displaced (62%) remained in their own countries.

[devinit.org]

Forgotten at the gates of Europe

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In May 2015 the European Commission presented the European Agenda on Migration, meant to address the challenges of the increased arrivals of migrants and refugees to Europe. Three years later arrivals have decreased, and policymakers claim their plan worked.

“The reality however is that people are still dying trying to reach Europe,” says Claudia Bonamini, Europe’s policy and advocacy officer for Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS). In its latest report, “Forgotten at the gates of Europe” JRS Europe asks for a fundamental policy change towards a Common European Asylum System that lives up to its name.

The report finds that violent push-backs still happen at several EU external borders, such as between Croatia and Serbia as well as in Melilla. Even once on EU territory, people often face enormous difficulty to access asylum procedures because they have not received sufficient information, or because the authorities of EU Member States purposefully misdirect them.

In Croatia, people were told to sign forms in languages they could not understand. They thought they had applied for asylum, but instead they were pushed-back to Serbia. In Romania, people were detained without being told how they could apply for asylum. People in Greece, Italy, and Malta told JRS how they were unable to navigate asylum and immigration procedure because they were not told how, or things were in a language they did not understand.

JRS is calling for a fundamental policy shift at EU level, whereby they create safe and legal pathways for people seeking protection.

[Relief Web]

Escalating Humanitarian Crisis in Southern Syria

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The global relief organization Mercy Corps is deeply concerned about the escalating humanitarian crisis unfolding in southern Syria, as civilians continue to flee the violence and are unable to access life-saving essentials.

“The number of people fleeing this latest offensive has more than tripled in the past few days,” says Arnaud Quemin, Mercy Corps Country Director for Syria. “People are fleeing with whatever few items they can carry — or nothing at all.”

The United Nations estimates there are now more than 160,000 displaced people in southern Syria. Vast numbers of civilians are moving towards the Israeli and Jordanian borders, which remain closed.

“With nowhere to go, tens of thousands of displaced people are stranded in open and unprotected areas,” says Quemin. “Our team members and partners are providing food, clean water and other essentials even while they themselves flee the fighting. Many do not foresee being able to return home anytime soon due to the insecurity.”

[Relief Web]

The Red Cross in North Korea

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The Red Cross is one of few humanitarian organizations working in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as North Korea is formally called.The work of the Red Cross is based on its seven fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality.

“The humanitarian situation is worrying with over ten million people in need of humanitarian assistance. As political processes continue, we hope there is space for discussions to include the importance of improved humanitarian cooperation,” says Åsa Sandberg, Head of Desk at the Swedish Red Cross.

Åsa was moved by the kindness extended to her wherever she went. “I sat down with people in the villages to better understand their needs. They get by with very few means, but possess such resilience and dignity.”

One of the challenges the country is facing is access to clean water. Many people fetch water in the river or struggle with shallow wells. Overall, there are six million people who suffer from a lack of clean water and improved sanitation.

“An elderly couple that I met had difficulty getting access to safe water from the well near their home, and for years they struggled with buckets, sometimes finding only a few drops of water. Now we have installed a water management system in their house, and they won’t have to worry about clean drinking water anymore. It was a joy to hear how well it works,” adds Åsa.

[International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies]