George Washington, the first American president, hero of its War Of Independence and one of the founding fathers of the USA wrote in 1783 that “the gradual extension of our settlements will as certainly cause the savage, as the wolf to retire; both being beasts of prey, tho’ they differ in shape”.
So far, more than 15 Million naive people have been directly killed by Americans since 1945. This figure does not include the killings during World War I and II but do include those from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Millions have been injured and millions have become IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons). In one way, the ongoing international crises are due to the rivalry between the players of the Cold War. This multipurpose squabble has put the world in the fire of massive socio-economic predicament. Homeless people are the direct result of this altercation. Privatization of the wars, profiting from the chaos, the culture of war economy and capitalizing on the disasters are actually the real face of international politics which have directly resulted in amplifying the number of homeless people.
According to the different reports of Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the UNHCR and the European Commission, more than 80 million people on the world map are homeless and forcibly displaced. Among them, 20 million are refugees, 40 million are internally displaced and more than two million are asylum seekers. Other than the IDPs, there are around 14 million stateless people who do not have any international recognition. It seems that the situation will only worsen. As Syria has become the epicentre of international interests, if it is changed into a full fledge war of which there is a high probability, the refugees’ crisis will further increase.
Major countries with IDPs and refugees are Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Iraq, Congo, Sudan, Columbia, Myanmar, Palestine, Nigeria, Kashmir and the list goes on. These IDPs are in a very pitiable and deplorable condition. They are facing food shortage, unhygienic and limited shelter camps, loss of childrens’ education, very poor health facilities, epidemic diseases, water and sanitation problems, sexual harassment, clothing issues, etc. Reports show that more than 80 percent of the displaced people are women, children and elderly people. They are not only facing problems at the camps but their houses are also looted.
In Pakistan, the 2.3 million temporary dislocated persons (TDPs) from one military operation in North Waziristan are living in very horrendous situations. What apathy that, reportedly, all of their belongings including different substances at the shops as well electronics accessories, household bits and pieces and womens’ clothes they left at their homes while they were driven toward camps have been stolen away. Who can be blamed for the theft…security forces or terrorists?
Calamities are generally man-made and natural. But most of the calamities are either man-induced or produced. Though the sudden outbreak of disasters like floods, cyclones, famines, sectarian and ethno conflicts is undeniable in the displacement of people, the case of homelessness is heavily related to man-provoked and fashioned disasters. Here the maxim is reversed: God proposes but man disposes. Man is the victim of man. What a joke in humanity that an uncivilized man from a poor country is stung by a civilized man or institution of the developed countries with different names like the corporate elite, the Pentagon, NGOs, the IFIs, the UN, etc. The cruelties of enlightened and developed nations are resulting in the devastation, desolation and wreckage of masses in every corner of the globe.
The number of IDPs, stateless, refugees and asylum seekers in the world is mounting day by day. Actually, the national interests of the permanent members of the UNSC are changing the world. The Oil Embargo of 1973 changed the course of Western and American foreign policy. They took it as a major threat to their economic hegemony. Since then, where they are heavily working on alternate energy resources they are grabbing the energy resources of other countries by any means. This greed has given birth to the gigantic flux of IDPs and refugees.
The UNHCR and ICRC are incapacitated to take care of such a huge number of increasing refugees and IDPs. If the UN had worked for what it was created for and not played in the hands of the P5, we would have not seen this bloody state of affairs today. The utter failure of the UN on political fronts is adding to the number of homeless persons. Most of the NGOs are just earning in the name of depressed and deprived people by taking their pictures and videos and showing them to the donors. Most of the money given under USAID is taken back by the US as most of the employees working in the organization are taken from the donor country. Every country moves away from taking responsibility.
Our tragedy is that we merely look at the tragedy but overlook the factors which have caused it. The concept of corporate social responsibility by capitalists in reality is to counter the challenge posed by the socialists and not to work for the welfare of people affected by the activities of the corporates. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement is a document on the restoration of refugees and IDPs which was prepared by Francis Deng in 1994 on the request of the UNGA. Unfortunately, it is not binding in any country.
The homeless people anywhere and due to any reason deserve abrupt attention, intensive care and outstanding consideration. It is time that nations came out of their vested interests and properly addressed the problem.
There is dire need of national, regional and international immediate response. The permanent solution of this issue lies in political settlements of the economic adventures. In the conflict zones, the warring groups should be stopped and their arms supply and financial support should be ceased. Private military companies should be nipped in the bud, otherwise the situation will hardly be different and more aggressive.
We have not to built agencies like UNHCR, ICRC, UNDP, WFP, etc. but have to control the circumstances, policies, countries and people which or who have created, forced and aggravated this plight. NGOs, International Financial Institutions, IGOs, donor agencies, etc. must come forward with a human spirit to assist, accommodate, rescue and resettle the IDPs and refugees.
Canada has set a great example in welcoming the war trodden refugees. European countries and the US must come forward for their settlement as they are also the major contributors in their generation. Refugees too have political, economic, cultural, social and religious rights as well responsibilities. Such rights must be constitutionally guaranteed under the flag of international law. They should not be denied property, safety, political participation and voting rights. If we will not take care of them, to balance the situation, nature will surely take revenge on us. It can be sooner or later and in any form, but it will take place.
