Global Voices » Humanitarian Response

Democratic Republic of Congo: Clandestine Abortions on the Rise in Goma

Georgi McCarthy — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:05:56 +0000

[Testimonies for this post were collected by email or face-to-face interviews in French and all links forward to French articles]

Illegal abortion is a common practice in several provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly in Goma, Nord-Kivu, where the number of deaths recorded as caused by these back-door procedures is increasing day by day at a worrisome rate. Several foetuses have been found in recent weeks in parts of Goma, located in the east of the D.R.C., alarming many in the community.

Local administrator Mapendo Victorine said in an email she is very concerned about this “criminal” act:

Il y a une semaine dans le quartier Mikeno à Birere un de plus grands quartiers de la ville de Goma un fœtus de 5 mois a été retrouvé emballé dans un sachet dans une poubelle publique. La mère ou jeune fille responsable de cet acte est inconnue.

A week ago, a 5-month-old foetus was found in a public bin in one of the largest neighbourhoods in Goma, wrapped up in a plastic bag. The mother is unknown.

Congolese law prohibits abortion in all parts of the country, and as such severe punishments are sanctioned to all those involved in the elicitation of illegal abortions. Lawyer Alain Lushule, a member of the bar in Goma, explained to us that Articles 165 and 166 of the Congolese Penal Code (Book II) mandate a punishment of 5 to 10 years' imprisonment for having an abortion, and 5 to 15 years for participation in the act.

Health Centre in Goma, D.R.C., by Julien Harneis on Flickr CC-license-BY)

Photojournalist Alain Wandiwoji expressed his concerns on his blog over the distressing situation in Goma:

Depuis décembre dernier, 11 fœtus ont été ramassés dans des caniveaux, et trois bébés étranglés retrouvés dans des poubelles publiques de certains quartiers de Goma : “Trop c'est trop ! Laisse entendre un pasteur de la ville de Goma.

Since December 2011, 11 foetuses have been found in gutters and 3 strangled babies have been found in public bins. A pastor from Goma suggests: “Enough is enough!”

A mother, indignant after seeing the foetus, told us in a face-to-face interview:

La personne qui a commis cet acte doit être recherchée par la police et être punit sévèrement pour ce meurtre. Des enfants ont été les premiers à découvrir cet enfant alors qu’ils pensaient trouver un ballon. Entendant cette foule nombreuse du quartier autour de ce fœtus, il y a une forte tristesse mais personne ne veut comprendre et s’interroger sur le pourquoi de ces pratiques d’avortement qui prennent de plus en plus de l’ampleur. Tout le monde condamne cet acte.

The person who committed this murder should be sought by the police and severely punished. A group of children came across the bag, thinking it was a balloon. The discovery of this foetus has caused a great deal of sadness, but no one is trying to understand by asking themselves why these abortion practices are gaining more and more momentum. They are condemned by everyone.

Fortuna Lufungula, a human rights activist in Goma, in an email touched on the cultural and moral reasons behind many in the community's denunciation of abortion:

Les traditions africaines et congolaises sont fondées sur des principes selon lesquelles avorter est un meurtre. Nul n’est censé tué et personne n’est autorisé de mettre fin à une vie d’un fœtus même quand celui-ci est d’un jour. Si on l’élimine, c’est un meurtre et il doit être sanctionné.

African and Congolese traditions are based on the principal that abortion is murder. Nobody should be killed, and nobody should be able to terminate the life of a foetus, even if it is only a day old. Termination is murder, and as such should be punished.

Can it be said that abortion is a crime without identifying the causes, issues and consequences of an act that is carried out by many young women and even some married women in Goma? What are the main reasons that lead these women to have abortions?

Challenges of women in Goma by Passy Mubalama for Uhaki News

Parents' inflexibility

Many parents in Goma still find it difficult to accept their daughters falling pregnant, even if they are not minors. When parents discover that their daughter is pregnant, she is many times immediately removed from the family home and taken to the man responsible for the pregnancy, forced into starting her own family.

Mwamini Bujiriri, the mother of a family from Goma, drove her 14-year-old daughter from their family home after discovering she was pregnant by a young man from the same village. Bujiriri explained in an interview:

Je ne peux pas rester avec ma fille lorsqu’elle est enceinte car elle m’a ridiculisé elle doit aller rejoindre son mari responsable de sa grossesse. Nous ne pouvons pas rester deux femmes dans la même maison c’est impossible.

I cannot let my daughter stay knowing she is pregnant because she has made a fool out of me. She is now the responsibility of the man who made her pregnant. It is impossible for two women to live in the same house.

Many parents do not want to hear the word “abortion” because, according to many of them, abortion is murder.

A woman in Goma by @RachelBayoli

The irresponsibility of young men

Irresponsibility of the young men involved, often alongside religious beliefs, force many young women into underground abortions and even infanticide.

A young girl, who does not want to be identified, gave us her account:

Lorsque je suis tombée enceinte, je n’ai pas eu le courage d’en parler à mes parents car ils devraient seulement me chasser de la maison et ou me tuer. J’ai décidé de me taire. En même temps, le garçon responsable de ma grossesse ne voulait pas croire que c'était lui le vrai responsable. Je me suis alors retrouvé entre deux mondes car je ne pouvais rien dire à mes parents et en même temps je n’avais nulle part où aller. C’est ainsi que j’ai décidé d’avorter, mais en même temps aussi je ne pouvais pas aller à l’hôpital car l’avortement n’est pas autorisé dans notre pays et donc les médecins ne pouvaient pas accepter de le faire. Je suis donc partie voir un médecin qui a fait la procédure dans la clandestinité loin de mon quartier.

When I got pregnant, I was too scared to tell my parents because they would have thrown me out of the house or killed me. I decided to keep quiet. At the same time, the boy involved didn't believe that he was the father. I was stuck because I couldn't say anything to my parents but I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I decided to have an abortion. I couldn't go to the hospital because abortion is illegal in our country and so doctors can't agree to do it. I had to go to a doctor far away from my neighbourhood who did the procedure illegally.

There are a lot of other young girls who, like her, are forced into illegal abortions that are carried out in secret and bring with them many associated risks, including death.

Many cases are recorded by the CONDE medical clinic in the Karisimbi neighborhood in Goma. A doctor from the clinic, who wishes to remain anonymous, told us:

Au mois de Mars dernier, une jeune fille d’une vingtaine d’année est morte de suite d’un avortement qu’elle a provoqué elle est arrivé à l’hôpital dans un très mauvais état elle a provoqué la grossesse. On a tous fait pour l’aider mais elle a fini par mourir. Beaucoup des jeunes filles meurent simplement parce qu’elles ont tenté d’avorter clandestinement.

In March, a 20-year-old girl died after having an abortion. She arrived at the hospital in a very bad state. We did all we could, but she passed away. A lot of girls die from trying to perform abortions illegally.

Beliefs and abortion

Many girls who are raped, sometimes by armed men, do not have abortions for fear of committing a sin against God. These girls suffer in silence, both with their unwanted pregnancies and the difficulty of upholding their religious beliefs.

A victim of sexual violence told us about her ordeal in the Lydia Centre, where she is receiving support. The centre, which oversees victims of sexual violence, was created by the ASLPC, Action Sociale pour la Promotion des Laissés pour Compte (social action association to help those left behind) in Goma. She explains:

Quand j’ai été violée, c’était insupportable à vivre et très douloureux pour moi. Malheureusement quelques mois après je me suis retrouvé enceinte. Je n'ai pas su quoi faire, je ne voulais même pas car c’est un péché. Mais comme je ne peux pas avorter, je garde quand même mon bébé. Même si quand je le vois je me rappelle de beaucoup des choses douloureuses.

When I was raped, I found life unbearable and it was very painful for me. Unfortunately, I found out I was pregnant a few months later. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want the baby because it was a sin. But having an abortion was also a sin, so I kept the baby. The painful memories come back every time I see him.

The situation according to medical specialists

A gynaecologist from the Provincial Hospital of Goma gave his point of view:

La jeune fille devrait pouvoir avoir le droit, dans le cas où elle se sent pas prête moralement et physiquement d’avoir un enfant de choisir d'avorter.

The girl should have had the right to choose abortion, given that she was physically and mentally unready to have a child.

Given the degree of the situation, it seems that the Congolese government should consider an alternative to the current law, the gynecologist explained:

Les victimes sont encore trop souvent sujets à recourir aux avortements dans la clandestinité qui comporte beaucoup des risques. Que le gouvernement autorise officiellement l’avortement afin que tous ces actes cessent et que si on veut avorter, qu’on le fasse sans aucune crainte dans des hôpitaux qui peuvent assurer une bonne prise en charge médicale. Il faut aussi renforcer la sensibilisation des femmes et des jeunes filles sur l’utilisation des méthodes contraceptives, afin d’éviter les grossesses indésirables.

The victims still have to resort to extremely risky illegal abortions too often. The government should officially authorise abortion so that this stops. If a girl wants an abortion, it should be done with good medical care and without fear in a hospital. Awareness should also be raised about contraceptive methods to avoid unwanted pregnancies.

Bangladesh: Voices from the Korail slum

Rezwan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:19:47 +0000

Michelle Chaplin at BRAC Blog posts a video (with subtitles), which shares the initial reactions of some of the people who lost their homes in the recent Korail slum eviction in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Ecuador: Refugee Women and Girls Turning to Sex Work

Juliana Rincón Parra — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:07:46 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

The VJ Movement video documentary Refugees turn to Sex Work in Ecuador examines the situation with many Colombian women who had to migrate across the border into Ecuador due to violence. In many cases, without being able to gain legal employment, the women and their daughters find themselves turning to sex-work to make a living.

Amy Brown reports on the situation, interviewing women and agencies in the area. The stories are told by women who had to flee Colombia after threats from the guerrilla, many times leaving businesses and households with only their children and a few belongings. Refugees cannot work legally until they receive a visa, and the process can take up to 18 months, leaving, as the video states “women and girls especially vulnerable”.

Woman working at a bar in Ecuador. Screenshot from documentary.

In many cases, their requests for odd jobs to make some money to buy food, such as washing or cooking are met with offers to become “waitresses”, the local euphemism for prostitutes working at different bars or brothels. One was told that she could send her pretty young daughter to work at a brothel… the girl was only 13.

But for many women, after three to six months of no employment, with no savings and no opportunities, turning to sex work is the only available option left. And there are enough customers: according to an interviewee who is studying the phenomenon, the oil companies arrival brought the first clients, and they are still the main customers of this growing industry: in the province there are more bars and brothels than basketball courts and soccer fields.

This lack of activities and opportunities for young people puts girls at risk: with nothing to do, 11 and 12 year olds are likely to fall into the illegal activities, in the case of girls, sex work and sex trafficking.

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

via The Latin Americanist

Thumbnail image is a screenshot from the VJ Movement Video.

Nigeria: Virality is a Cause

Ndesanjo Macha — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:20:34 +0000

Emannuel Iduma discusses #SaveOke campaign in the context of Kony 2012: “I am interested, in joining my voice to #SaveOke, in telling ways in which KONY 2012 implicate readings of virality…If a #SaveOke video is made, and it goes viral, the complex questions of white supremacy and black inactivity will not arise. We might just ask, ‘is this real?’ or ‘why exhibit his ailment?’ Those questions are within the realm of simplicity. This is a simple, human, matter.”

Italy: Netizens Ponder the April 2009 L'Aquila Earthquake

Superjules — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 00:09:05 +0000

[All links lead to Italian language pages, except when otherwise noted]

As still marked by many church clocks and bell towers at the center of L'Aquila [en], at 3:32 am of April 6, 2009, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake broke the silence of the sleeping town and destroyed the lives of many of its inhabitants. To remember the third anniversary of the tragic event, citizens came together in support and remembrance, created numerous web pages for retelling and commenting upon the earthquake and its far-reaching effects.

Church clock stuck at 3:32 am of April 6, 2009 in L'Aquila. Photo by StazioneMIR, under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 2.5 License

There was no dearth of official visits and commemorations — significant to many was the presence of Fabrizio Barca, the minister of “Coesione territoriale” [the Italian office created in 2011 to coordinate the actions of local governments and support political infrastructure in central-southern Italy], who has shown particular concern for Aquila's situation and to creating transparency in the reconstruction process — amidst great sorrow and grief, demands for justice and for guarantees of reconstruction.

In the last two days, many have shared, above all via Twitter, (#laquila, #terremoto, #laquilapernoi, #6aprile) their memories and reflections, and expressed solidarity with the people of Aquila. Highly referenced in these tweets is a telephone conversation intercepted the day after the earthquake, in which two businessmen joke about the event, looking forward hungrily to the money to be made in rebuilding. In this short video you can hear a excerpt from the conversation.

‏ @ermeneleutico dedicates a few verses to the town:

Buonanotte l'Aquila / riempita di promesse / usata e abbandonata / per meschino interesse

Goodnight L'Aquila / full of promise / used and abandoned / for petty self-interest

While Marta Torres shows her solidarity with the people of the city of L'Aquila and the region of Abruzzo:

Non dimentico mai #laquila, città distrutta il #6aprile. VERGOGNA k sia ancora una città fantasma. Tutti il mio affetto al popolo abruzzese ♥

I will never forget #laquila, destroyed city the #6aprile. SHAME that it is still a ghost town. All of my affection to the people of Abruzzo ♥

@Bebo1936 recounts his experience three years ago:

Tre anni fa ero a scappare per la violenta scossa di #Earthquake all'#aquila #Abruzzo

Three years ago I was trying to escape the violent shaking of the #Earthquake in #aquila #Abruzzo

And @DaniDBJ adds:

L'Italia che quella notte non rideva, oggi non dimentica.. #6april #laquila

Italy did not laugh that night, today it does not forget.. #6april #laquila

Finally, @liv_77 demonstrates how there has not yet been a return to normalcy for the people of L'Aquila:

Da 3 anni, ahimè, guardo il sito di INGV -@INGVterremoti #laquila

For 3 years, alas, I look at the INGV website -@INGVterremoti #laquila

Many initiatives have been launched to safeguard the memory of the event. A video made by Shoot4Change and Anpas collected voices, images and live stories, creating a space for collective sharing and remembering.

Move Productions and Al Jazeera English produced a documentary titled “Ritorno a L'Aquila” (Return to L'Aquila), that was transmitted today by hundreds of web tv channels, coordinated by the Altratv.tv network together with Internet provider Tiscali.

Furthermore, on April 15, the online magazine Wired.it has launched a campaign with the goal of maintaining a high level of attention on L'Aquila emergency in order to discuss publicly the reconstruction projects and the rebirth of the city. To this end, there's also been a barcamp organized in the central Duomo Square. For information and updates on the organization of these events, you can follow the hashtag #occupylaquila on Twitter.

The collective 3:32, put together in the weeks following the earthquake, published on its blog a long reflection on the most relevant events to characterize the past three years in L'Aquila:

Il terremoto del 2009 è stato senza dubbio una catastrofe; e quindi, come qualsiasi catastrofe nella storia dell’evoluzione del mondo, ha distrutto delle cose, delle forme di vita, ma ne ha fatte sorgere delle altre. Anzi, la sfida della ricostruzione è riuscita ad attivare dei processi di incontro e comunicazione tra le persone che prima sembravano impossibili. […] Più che restaurata, o semplicemente ricostruita, la nostra città deve essere rifondata. Battersi per L’Aquila oggi significa in primo luogo opporsi alle speculazioni edilizie e all’ulteriore consumo di suolo e territorio. […] La nostra è certamente una lotta territoriale, con la sua identità e le sue specificità, ma è anche una lotta per un modello complessivo fatto di politica trasparente, di decisioni realmente democratiche e partecipate, di rispetto del patrimonio ambientale e culturale e sviluppo eco-sostenibile.

The 2009 earthquake was without a doubt catastrophic; as with any catastrophe there's ever been, it destroyed many things, it destroyed many living things, but it gave way to new creations. The challenge of reconstruction has activated certain channels of communication that before would have seemed impossible. […] More than restored, or simply reconstructed, our city has to be founded again. To fight for L'Aquila today means, in the first place, to oppose building speculation and the further buying up of land and territory. […] Ours is specifically a territorial dispute, but it is also a fight for a totally transperant political model. A truly participatory model in which real democratic decisions are made, in which our environmental and cultural patrimony is respected and sustained.

L'Aquila still resisting. Photo by Abruzzo Indymedia under a Creative Commons BY-SA 2.5 License

There has been no lack of official voices either, like that of Stefania Pezzopane, councilwoman for culture in L'Aquila, who on the news website Articolo21.org wrote:

Il 6 aprile resta una data diversa dalle altre perché sono passati più di mille giorni e sentiamo sulle nostre vite il peso di una precarietà e di un disorientamento che persistono. La nostra città è ancora deserta, ferita, priva di quella vita pulsante che era, poi, la quotidianità di ciascuno di noi. […] Questo non è un giorno normale proprio perché, a fianco al lutto che è impresso come una ferita nei nostri cuori, ci stupiamo della nostra forza e della speranza che ancora riusciamo a donare allo sguardo con cui cerchiamo di abbracciare il futuro.

April 6 remains a date that is different from all others. Today, more than 1,000 days after that date, we yet feel the weight of persisting unpredictability and disorientation. Our city is still a wasteland, wounded, deprived of its pulse, which beat beneath the daily experience of every one of us. […] This is no normal day precisely because, next to the mourning that is cut like a wound into our hearts, we continually surprise ourselves at our strength and we still manage to look to the future with hope.

Walking about the streets of the city and its surrounding neighborhoods, one realizes that in L'Aquila the trauma is still present and visible, but stronger yet is the resentment of those families who will never see their homes again, of those who feel abandoned and who believe that not enough has been done, that in three years nothing (or almost nothing) has changed: debris and rubble piled on the streets downtown, houses propped-up in makeshift fashion, windowless buildings make up the cityscape awaiting tourists in the medieval jewel of Abruzzo.

Thousands were wounded and 309 people died, many of whom were students from all over Italy who had moved to L'Aquila to attend its university.

The L'Aquila tragedy, as it persisted after the earthquake, did not concern solely the loss of human life during the catastrophic event: there were many judicial inquiries (some still under way) regarding the handling of the emergency, the responsibilty of those companies that chose building materials and designs that were unfit for an earthquake zone (in particular, the construction of public buildings, like student housing, has come under questioning), and regarding lobbyists and other groups interested in receiving a portion of the funds allocated to reconstruction of the city and the entire seismic crater.

After the triple catastrophe (tsunami, earthquake, near nuclear meltdown) that a year ago battered Japan [en], there are many comparisons to be made between Fukushima and L'Aquila, comparisons that underline the differences in ‘approach' between Italian and Japanese scientists when it comes to making previsions for earthquakes based on seismology.

A couple of months after the event, when the media frenzy that brought L'Aquila such (sad) international notoriety had left, the floodlights suddenly turned off. Now, three years after the tragedy, there is still much work to be done before the city and community can return to the actual stability they once knew.

Bangladesh: Eviction of Slum in Dhaka Creates Humanitarian Catastrophe

Rezwan — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 22:59:49 +0000

On Wednesday (4th of April, 2012) the dwellers of Karail slum, one of the biggest in the Bangladesh capital, were evicted by the authorities to free Gulshan Lake from land grabbers. The inhabitants were given short notice via miking in the previous day, which many might have missed. Thousands of structures including houses and shops were demolished on less than a day's notice at 80-acre land of BTCL in Karail and other slums in Dhaka. A slum dweller claimed that her 4 year old girl has been missing as soon as bulldozers had hit the shanties.

The Incremental House posted a case study on this expansive slum:

The entire settlement is resistance. It is on someone else’s land. Morphologically, it couldn’t be any more different than the surrounding wealthy estates of Gulshan and Banani. The water bounds is. The inhabitants have set up full formal transportation networks of boats to ferry people to and from their jobs.

[..] It is pretty clearly planned, does that make it a space of resistance? Where does it gets it water and electricity from? The boats scrape the water pipes floating in the water. The pipes tap into the main lines in Banani. Someone is controlling it. Electricity is strung over the water, again tapped into the main line.

Here is a short video (uploaded by lizscarff) showing glimpses of coexistence of rich and poor in the surroundings of Karail slum:

In my Bangla blog I wrote [bn] about the background of the eviction:

গত বছর ২০শে সেপ্টেম্বর রাজউক এরকম স্বল্প নোটিসে আরেকটি উচ্ছেদ অভিযান চালায় সেখানে। পুলিশ আর পাড়ার মাস্তানদের দ্বারা ১২০টিরও বেশী পরিবার উচ্ছেদ করা হলেও পরে তারা আবার এসে বাসা করে। গত ২০০৮ সালে প্রথম পিডাব্লিউডি উচ্ছেদের নোটিশ পাঠালে আইন ও শালিস কেন্দ্র পুনর্বাসন ছাড়া উচ্ছেদ মানবাধিকার লঙ্ঘন এই বলে হাইকোর্টে একটি স্টে অর্ডার নেয়। সেই মামলার বিভিন্ন শুনানীতে পুনর্বাসনের কথা বলা হয় তবে গত জানুয়ারীতে হাইকোর্ট সরকারকে আদেশ দেয় দুই মাসের মধ্যে এই বেদখলকৃত জমি উদ্ধার করতে - তবে সেখানে পুনর্বাসনের কোন কথা বলা হয় নি।

Last year on 20th September RAJUK (housing authority) went for another eviction drive giving short notice. Police and local goons forced 120 families out and destroyed their homes but later they came back. In 2008 PWD (Public Works Department) first sent the eviction letter to the slum dwellers. Ain O Shalish Kendro, an NGO advocated for them and obtained a stay order from the court claiming that without rehabilitation such eviction is a violation of human rights. In different stages of that trial the issue of rehabilitation was discussed at various lengths. But last January the court ordered to free those lands from land-grabbers and award the owners (govt agencies) - but there was no mention of any rehabilitation of the existing dwellers.

করাইল এলাকার এইসব ভূমিহীন বস্তিবাসীর ৩০ ভাগ দিনমুজুর, ২০% রিক্সা-ভ্যান চালায়, ১৮% গার্মেন্টস কর্মী ও ১২% ছোট ব্যবসা করে। তাদের মাসিক আয় ২৫০০-৪৫০০ টাকা এবং স্থানীয় মান্তানদের ৮০ স্কয়ার ফিটের ঘর ভাড়া দিতে হয় ৮০০-১২০০ টাকা।

More than 30 percent of the dwellers of Karail Slum are day labourers, 20 percent rickshaw and van-pullers, 18 percent garments workers and 12 percent small traders. An average family earn only BD Taka 2,500-Tk 4,500 ($30-$52) a month and they have to pay local influentials BS Taka 800 - 1200 ($10-$14) for rent of a 80 square foot illegal shanty house.

Residents of ‘Karail Slum’ take part at a human chain to express their demands. Image by Firoz Ahmed. Copyright Demotix (18/2/2012)

Julkarnain questions [bn] the eviction without any plans to rehabilitate these people:

আমাদের মানবিক বিবেচনা কী দিন দিন হারিয়ে যাচ্ছে? নাকি বিবেচনার গলা টিপে রোবোটিক হয়ে উঠছি প্রতিনিয়ত আমরা? এমনিতেই শহরে প্রচুর ভাসমান লোক এখানে সেখানে বসবাস করে। তার সাথে যদি এরা যুক্ত হয় তাহলে শহরের না কোনও সৌন্দর্য বর্ধন হবে না আইন-শৃংখলা পরিস্থিতির কোনও উন্নয়ন সাধন হবে।

Are we losing our humanity? Or whether we are strangling our power to considerate and are being robotic? The city is filled with landless destitutes. If these people join in the gang of homeless people then the city won't be beautified and the law order situation will deteriorate.

The slum dwellers protested forming a human chain and blocking important roads of the capital creating a chaos in the roads. The traffic was suspended in the Gulshan Mohakhali link road on Wednesday for three hours creating long tails in many roads of the capital.

Twitter users also expressed their opinions.

@nhasan89: I think today is a dark day that will go down in history. The people are being pushed to their absolute limit. #karail #freebangladesh

@EEP_shiree: A devastating eviction in Karail slum on April 4 broke nearly 45,000 houses … what can we do for these urban extreme poor people?

@KorviRakshand: At this moment, thousands of people are homeless and without shelter at the Karail Slum near Banani Lake. http://t.co/LpeAmBnk

Shanty dwellers of Karail Slum take shelter at T&T Colony ground in Gulshan after eviction. Image by Firoz Ahmed (Copyright Demotix 5/4/2012)

@shahanasiddiqui: It's unbelievably dark out - #kaalboishakhi - summer storm. Really worried about the ppl of #karail who are out under the open sky

@mehrabsaurav: Lying in my bed but thinking about the homeless people who were evicted from Karail Slum. I feel helpless, I couldn't be of any help! #Dhaka

@shahanasiddiqui: Hey everyone, @JAAGOFoundation is preparing food for the #karail evictees. help needed with distribution. Pls be there by 12 noon TNT field

@JAAGOFoundation: For the last 36 hours, we have been distributing food to the victims of the Karail Slum Demolition from a small… http://t.co/NarANbkC

Heavy downpour on Friday made the situation worse for the evicted slum dwellers.

Sri Lanka: How Should We React To Beggars?

Rezwan — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:09:38 +0000

The Puppeteer invokes the debate “how should we react to beggars?” How do we know they are sincere or professionals?

Syria: A Year On, From Beirut With Love

Mohamed ElGohary — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:17:28 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.

On 15 March, 2012, the Syrian revolution marked its first anniversary with increasing determination that marked its beginning. On this day many activists around the world rallied at the Global March Against the Syrian Dictator while protests were arranged in many cities around the world supporting the Syrian cause.

Lebanon, Syria's neighbour, and its capital Beirut, were not away from all what was happening despite the difficulties in freedom of expression lately. There, activists faced this challenge and decided to do something different. Beirut Walls [ar] explains the activists stance in Lebanon in the blog post entitled “The Syrian revolution after a year, from Beirut with love”:

منذ عام والشعب السوري يصرخ “الموت ولا المذلة”، “حرية حرية حرية”. قتل منهم ما يفوق الثمانية ألف شهيد واعتقل الآلاف ودمرت البيوت واغتصبت النساء… منذ عام ونحن في بيروت نحترق أمام المشاهد ونتخبط في حيرتنا عمّا بوسعنا ان نفعله. كيف نتضامن مع شعب يقتل لأنه يريد اسقاط نظام قمعه لمدة عقود؟ كيف نعبر عن تأييدنا وبيروت يملؤها شبيحة من الطراز البعثي والقومي والميليشيوي؟

منذ عام وبعضنا من أفراد وناشطين مستقلين نحاول ان نشارك من بيروت في ثورة سوريا. نعتصم هنا، نكتب هناك، نعرض أفلاماً، نيأس ثم نعود نرفض ان يطالنا القمع فنهرع الى جدران المدينة. كانت الجدران الحيز الحر الذي وجدنا فيه مكاننا للتعبير

For a year, the Syrian people have been chanting “Death rather than living in humiliation” and “Freedom Freedom Freedom”. More than 8,000 people have been murdered, and thousands of people have been detained, homes destroyed and women raped. A year has passed and we are on fire in Beirut watching what's happening in confusion not knowing what to do. How can we be in solidarity with people being murdered and whose only crime is their determination to take down a regime that has been repressing them for decades? How can we express our support and Beirut is full of thugs from different Baath, Ultra-National and Militant backgrounds?

Beirut Walls: To the Syrian revolution with love, used under CC.

Despite this, netizens and activist Twitter users announced their support for the Syrian revolution. @abirsasso [ar], from Beirut, tweeted:

عام والسوريون يبدعون بشعاراتهم. “الممانعة مو مانعة غير حريتنا” من المفضلات لدي، مكتوبة على جدران بيروت ‎‬#1YearAgo‪

A year passed and Syrian revolutionaries prove their creativity in their chants. My favorite one is “Resistance (to US/West) is only against our freedom”. It is written on Beirut walls. #1YearAgo

While @taniaelk said:

Early this morning, on the 1st anniversary of the revolution in #Syria Beiruti activists sent a message of solidarity.

@NadineBek [ar] also assured the Lebanese solidarity with the Syrian revolution saying:

رسائل من بيروت الى أحرار سوريا good morning Syria #Syria‪‏ ‎‬#banner‪‏ ‎‬#beirut‪‏ ‎‬#March15‪‏ صباح الثورة

Messages from Beirut to Syria's free people. Good morning Syria, good morning revolution!

Activists in Beirut found another way to announce their solidarity with the Syrian people, by drawing graffiti and putting posters on walkways and bridges. They also wrote and distributed slogans in the memory of the Syrian revolution.

Beirut Walls also wrote about the revolution morning [ar] including a video entitled: “From Beirut with love”:

لأن تضامن الشعوب والأفراد أقوى وأهم من تصريحات ومواقف الأنظمة وزعماء الطوائف والأحزاب، أردنا ان نعبّر عن تأييدنا لثورة الشعب السوري. في أولى ساعات الصباح في يوم 15 آذار وبعيداً عن أعين السلطات اللبنانية المختلفة، قمنا بعملية نشر هذه “الرسائل” من بيروت الى أحرار سوريا.

Because the people's and individuals' solidarity is stronger and more important than official statements and the stance of politicians and sect and parties heads, we wanted to express our support to the Syrian revolution. In the early hours of 15 March, and away from the different Lebanese official eyes, we were to spread these “messages” from Beirut to Syria's free people.

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12.

Palestine: Gazans Suffer Due to Fuel and Electricity Shortage

Ola Anan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:16:27 +0000

Over the past decade, the words “Gaza” and “crisis” have become almost complementary. The crises have ranged from war and military raids and invasions, to military occupation, and in this case to an electricity and fuel outage.

In addition to an ongoing Israeli-led blockade, the Gaza Strip is suffering from a fresh fuel crisis, with the only fuel currently available being an overpriced Israeli fuel supply in limited quantities. The shortage of fuel has added to the shortage of electricity, as it is used to supply the main generators of the electricity company, alternative power generators at hospitals, bakeries and sewage pumps, in addition to power generators used in households.

Palestinians wait to fill containers with fuel. Image by Majdi Fathi, copyright Demotix (21/03/2012).

Gaza's netizens have been commenting on the situation (when there is electricity to do so):

@Omar_Gaza: Gaza is heading into very dark dangerous turn because of fuel shortage! Bakeries, schools, hospitals, stores, cars, taxies & life will stop sooooon

The first victim of the power outage facing the Strip was seven-month-old baby Mohammed Al Helou, who died after the generator running his respirator ran out of fuel.

@LeilZahra: As we tweet the energy away, hospitals in #Gaza are denied the life-saving energy to sustain their patients #Gas4Gaza

@LuluDeRaven:تخيلوا لو اسرائيل ضربت غزة الان في هاد الوضع؟ لا المستشفيات تقدر تتحمل ولا في وقود لسيارات الاسعاف ولا المطافي ولا اشي !!!

Imagine if Israel attacked Gaza in this situation? Hospitals don't have the capacity to manage, and there's no fuel for ambulances or firetrucks or anything else!

Shortage of electricity and/or fuel is becoming the most popular topic among Palestinians on social media platforms. Things such as Facebook statuses cursing the electricity company, or happy tweets indicating the return of electricity, have become customary.

@Ibtihal4Gaza: ما في أحلى انك تصحى تلاقي في كهربا في البيت‏ #غزة #أشياء_نادرة

It feels so good to wake up and find electricity at home #gaza #RareThings

The electricity company has been dividing the Gaza Strip into areas and neighborhoods, and each gets a power supply for six hours daily on a rotating basis.

Blogger Randa Abu Ramadan has written a blog post [ar] that analyzes your personality according to the time your house gets electricity:

إذا بتيجي عندك من 12 بالليل لـ 6 الصبح: انت شخص طيب ومضحوك عليك, وبتصدق أي كلمة بحكوهالك, لأنو في ناس تانية بتيجي عندهم الكهربا في مواعيد أحسن من هيك, وانت يا ويلي عليك معطيينك موعد عاطل بنفعش لإشي

If you get electricity from midnight to 6am you are a kind person, but you're also naive and easily deceivable. Other people get electricity at better times, but what a pity, you get it at a bad time that isn't useful for anything!

Moreover, people have to find a way to organize their day according to electricity. Yousef Abu Watfa, a reporter for Al Jazeera Talk, has written [ar] about how his friend's mother is affected when doing housework:

أما والدته فتضطر إلى أن تؤجل جميع أعمالها المنزلية إلى ما بعد منتصف الليل حتى تقوم بغسيل ملابس العائلة، حتى تتحول في ذات الوقت إلى طهي الطعام الذي يتطلب استخدام بعض الأدوات الكهربائية.

His mother has to postpone her household chores until after midnight in order to do laundry and cooking, which requires using electrical appliances.

Large numbers of gas tubes are accumulating in stations in the Gaza Strip, as the fuel crisis deepens. Image by Ahmed Deeb, copyright Demotix (05/03/2012).

This could be summarized in a tweet written by Fady [ar]:

@chefadi90: تويتر بعلمنا نختصر افكارنا في 140 حرف , وغزة علمتنا كيف تختصر كل حياتك في 6 ساعات بتيجي فيهم الكهرباء كل يوم

Twitter teaches us to summarize our thoughts in 140 characters, while Gaza teaches us how to compress our whole life into the 6 hours of electricity that we get every day.

Nour Abed, a school teacher, tweets [ar]:

@NourGaza: أطفالي في المدرسة: أجدُّ على كراستهم المهترئة آثاراَ من الشمع المنسكب, كتبوا واجبهم على ضوء الشمعة!

My students at school: when I find tracks of melted wax on their notebooks, I realize that they wrote their homework by candlelight!

As a recent poll shows that 48 percent of Gazans blame their local government for the fuel crisis in Gaza. Izz Shawa wrote on Twitter [ar]:

@izzshawa:الحكومة التي يتطلع لها الشعب في غزة هي التي لا تصدر الأزمات الى غيرها ولكن تبذل قصارى جهدها لحلها وان لم تقدر تعمل على تخفيف حدتها

People in Gaza are looking forward to having a government that doesn't blame the others for their problems, but does their best to solve it or ease it if they can't solve it.

Blogger Yasser Ashour also noticed the exchange of accusations between Palestinian officials as he wrote on his blog [ar]:

لما يعملوا مقابلة مع مسؤل من الشركة ويسألوه عن السبب بيقول : الاحتلال يشدد حصاره ، ولما نسأل قيادي في حكومة غزة ؟ بيقول : سلطة رام الله محتكرة الأموال وبتعمل على قطع الكهربا عن غزة

When we ask an official from the electricity company about the reason he says: The [Israeli] Occupation is increasing its siege over Gaza. When we ask an official from the Gaza government he says: The Ramallah government [the Palestinian Authority] is monopolizing the money and is the reason behind the power outage.

Although the official representatives of the Gaza government have come out with a number of declarations defending themselves, claiming that a huge “conspiracy” is being conducted against them, a lot of people are still not convinced. Blogger and photographer Khaled Safi writes in a blog post [ar]:

لا أجد الوقت الكافي لأتابع تصريحات هنا واتهامات هناك، أصلاً لا أجد الكهرباء لأسمع وجهة نظركم الكريمة، معظم يومي خارج بيتي إما في انتظار المواصلات أو في معركة الوقود أو مناظرة المخبز الصباحية

I can't find the time to keep up with statements and accusations here and there. In fact, I don't get electricity in order to hear your point of view [on TV]. I spend most of my day outside of my house, either waiting for transportation, or in a battle for fuel (at gas stations), or in a morning debate at the bakery.

This post was written jointly by Ola Anan and Yasmeen El Khoudary

China: Debate on Kony 2012

Bob Chen — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:00:30 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.

The short video Kony 2012, posted on YouTube on March 5, 2012, and narrated by Invisible Children's US founders, Jason Russell, has become viral on the Internet with millions of views worldwide.

The video also drew significant attention in China. On the popular Chinese video site Youku, the same video harvested over 8 million views in a few days and people on social networks such as Weibo and Renren circulated the film widely. Chinese subtitles were also added.

Initially, comments show that most people were outrageous of the crimes committed by Kony as depicted in the video. People appealed to their friends to spread the film and “make Kony famous”, as called by the Invisible Children.

A Youku usre named SherieL said [zh]:

请耐心看完！身在信息轰炸的时代，能迅速了解未知世界的每个截面，是我们的幸运；能在滑动食指敲打键盘那一刻改变某些人某些事，是我们的力量！请善用！make invisible power visible, make Kony famous!

Please watch it patiently until the last minute! At the age of information boom, it is our fortune to be able to quickly know the unknown world beyond our touch; it is our power to be able to hit the keyboard and make a change to the world and people within a minute! Please make a good use of it! Make invisible power visible, make Kony famous!

But soon suspicions of the validity of information presented by Invisible Children grow. As Polly Curtis and Tom McCarthy from Guardian state:

• The LRA [Lord's Resistance Army] is not in Uganda but now operates in the DRC, South Sudan and the Central African Republic

• In October last year, Obama authorised the deployment of 100 US army advisers to help the Ugandan military track down Kony, with no results disclosed to date.

• The LRA is much smaller than previously thought. It does not have have 30,000 or 60,000 child soldiers. The figure of 30,000 refers to the total number of children abducted by the LRA over nearly 30 years.

Chinese bloggers, moreover, widely questioned the intention of the video besides the doubt of misinformation. Many thought the purpose of the video was to keep the United States (US) army in Africa and call for US intervention in the region.

Shen Yang, a Renren user, posted a long article [zh] expressing her doubt and got thousands of views and comments debating the issue:

短短一个多星期的时间里，一个名为“Kony 2012″的短片在各大视频网站以及社交网站上被顶至首页，点击飙千万，短片中强调的”集结众人的力量可以改变世界“的想法其实并不新鲜，在我看来这样的代表雷同价值观的口号在好莱坞的电影中可能已经被喊烂大街了。混和着普世价值，国际人道主义，“悲天悯人”的心态立场的观点在今天通过短片＋网络进行铺天盖地的宣传显得尤为有感染力

Within a bit more than a week, a video named Kony 2012 went viral and drew tens of millions of views. Actually the idea that “all together we can change the world” is not fresh. To me, similar slogans with appeals of the kind have been banal. The mixture of universal values, international humanitarianism, and sympathy was greatly amplified by the viral video and Internet, making a huge impact.

Whereas the author says that she doesn't tend to point finger at the US government, she did point out that she was suspicious of the motivation of Invisible Children, the so-called “NGO”.

非洲自身的情况很复杂，不是大家派军队过去抓个人击毙几十个军人就能解决的，不适当的介入完全可能导致更糟的情况发生

The situation in Africa is complicated. The dispatch of troops to kill scores of soldiers there cannot solve the problems. Misled intervention may even result in something worse.

对其在短片中所表达出的一些倾向非常怀疑：1.持续寻求资金援助 2.呼吁国际社会，尤其是美国，（原片中的一个情节是导演给奥巴马写了邮件）对Kony施行抓捕行动
LRA不足百余人，根本对当地构不成大规模的威胁，即便是制裁，当地政府也有足够的能力去制裁他们这样的一种抓捕行动，不需要其他国家的人去出兵，乌干达政府也没有向国际社会进行过任何正式求助

I was suspicious of some inclinations exposed in the video: 1) the consistent seeking of funding, 2) the appeal to the international society, the US in particular (with a letter addressed to Obama shown in the video), to capture Kony.
There are no more than some hundreds of soldiers in the LRA, posing no significant threat to the local community. The local government is fully capable to sanction the organization without support from other countries. The Ugandan government has never formally asked for any support from the international community.

以杀死Joseph Kony的名义武装干涉乌干达已经在十几年以来反复执行并且毫无结果。每一次行动都让当地的居民损失惨重并且使得LRA人员散落在各个平民区内。

Numerous interventions in the name of decapitating Joseph Kony have been carried out within the last decade but were all in vain. Each time, the local community suffered from collateral damage and revenge and LRA personnel were dispersed among civilians.

She opposes the blind belief on what the video tells and was alerted that the masses may be manipulated. She also jettisons the Chinese video description seen on Youku which states that Kony has to be captured and penalized:

我想我们大多数人大概连乌干达到底个什么样的国家都没有关注过，更别说其斗争历史了，那么这个上传视频的人又怎么能口气如此斩钉截铁地对其内容进行了如此主观臆断的描述呢？

I think most people don't even care about how Uganda is like, not mentioning its history of civil wars. Then how can the uploader make such a subjective assertion?

事情不是想像中的二元对立，善恶两极这么简单，而是要复杂的多。如果单看LRA这么个历史事件，部落之间的利益冲突，还有权力斗争都是其背后形成的动因，而欧美国家的对非洲长期的介入，实际上没有带去福音，而是把斗争关系和利益关系变得更加复杂，即便有人陈词滥调地说他们是冲着资源去非洲的，这也根本不奇怪，因为历史确实重复如此的上演了这样的动机和其带来的后果。

It is not simply a duality of good and evil. It is more complicated than that. The LRA problem for example is a result of tribal conflicts and power games. The continuous intervention of western powers in Africa has brought no benefit but actually intensified the complexity of power structures and interest conflicts in the local community.

如果大家真的一心想要帮助非洲，为什么不呼吁非洲各国人民尽快完整自己国家的主权和制宪呢？所谓的慈善机构的捐助不仅没有让非洲脱离贫困，反而助长了政府的腐败和货币的高通胀率，让社会陷入了一个恶性循环。

If people really want to help Africa, why not appeal to Africans to make their state sovereignty intact and lay the constitutional foundation firm? So-called charity donations not only failed to help Africa rid of poverty but actually fueled the high inflation and government corruption, throwing the society into a vicious cycle.

The name of the article, actually, is ‘Media as a Weapon'.

A more aggressive point of view [zh] questioning the US's support of the video as an excuse for future intervention is expressed by Ye Ruihong. The technique of storytelling employed in the video, he said, is very dangerous because with a good story no body cares what the truth is.

看完以后，我感到我一直以来的一个想法得到了印证：在这个娱乐为王的时代里，一个好故事就意味着一切。真相？无关紧要。

After watching the video, I felt one of my long-held thoughts was proved: in this entertainment-above-all time, a good story is everything. Truth? Not that important.

我并不是在说，这部影片中的故事都是假的…这部影片虚假的地方在于，其作为一个整体所讲述的故事：在非洲有一个Bad Guy，然后本来没有人在乎他，尽管他犯下了累累罪行，但是在热爱和平热爱人类的广大Facebook用户的呼吁之下，正义的代言人，世界警察山姆大叔终于要动手将这个Bad Guy绳之于法了。看到这个视频的你们必须继续支持我们，让山姆大叔在非洲继续待下去。

I am not saying that the whole story is fake…but the story as a whole is fake: “there is a bad guy in Africa, but no one cared about him in spite of his crimes. However, because of the call by human-peace-loving Facebookers, the representative of justice, Uncle Sam, is finally going to take out the bad guy. You have to support us by watching the video, and let Uncle Sam stay in Africa.

The author echoes the saying that the video is a conspiracy to consolidate US control in Uganda for the oil discovered there:

它没有告诉你至今美国军队根本就没有撤出乌干达的打算，不用劳烦我们呼吁他们留下；它没有告诉你Invisible Children不是由一群志同道合的年轻人建立的，而是由前JP Morgan的银行家建立的；它没有告诉你在2006年的时候乌干达发现了储量丰富的石油。

It doesn't tell you the US army has no intention to withdraw from Uganda at all, so we don't have to ask them to stay; it doesn't tell you Invisible Children is not founded by a group of young men but former bankers in JP Morgan; it doesn't tell you oil was found in Uganda in 2006.

He connects to a series of events:

这部精彩的电影也没有告诉你，夏威夷王国是如何地被美国吞并的；它没有告诉你，美西战争之后古巴是如何被沦为美国的半殖民地并扶持着一个个的独裁者以维持其统治的，直到卡斯特罗和切·格瓦拉通过革命推翻了靠美国人支持通过一次次政变维护其统治的巴蒂斯塔；它没有告诉你菲律宾是如何在二战前沦为美国的殖民地，而在二战之后如何有通过扶持独裁者斐南迪·马科斯维持其经济殖民的；它没有告诉你美国是如何用“正义”的名义入侵巴拿马从而控制巴拿马运河的；这个故事还可以继续讲下去：尼加拉瓜、洪都拉斯、波多黎各、伊朗、危地马拉、越南、智利、格林纳达到今天的阿富汗和伊拉克，或许还有明天的乌干达。——毕竟，美国任何一次出兵他国之前，都会动用各种传媒来告诉大家，对方是一个多么反人类的人，激起公众义愤，然后大义凛然地入侵。

It doesn't tell you how the kingdom of Hawaii was annexed; it doesn't tell you how Cuba was colonized and the US installed one dictator after another…it doesn't tell you how the Philippines was colonized by the US in World War Two [WW2] and then economically colonized after WW2…it doesn't tell you how the US invaded the Bahamas in the name of justice to control the canal… After all, the US would use the media to tell every one how anti-human the enemy is and then invade openly.

事实是简单的：美国从来不会为了帮助其他国家实现和平、民主或者自由而出兵。美国的军事行动从来都只是为了美国的利益。

It is simple: the US never helped others for the sake of peace, democracy or freedom. US military action is all about the US interest.

那么，Facebook会改变这一切吗？

Would Facebook change anything?

而这部片子最厉害也是最虚伪的地方则在于，其叙述居然试图让人们相信，一个通过娱乐而获取巨额利润的社交网络会改变这一事实。而据昨晚那么疯狂的转发量看来，它确实使许多人如此认为了。但事实是，它不会。Facebook唯一专心致志做并成功达成的，就是让人们在上面花费越来越多时间从而赚取越来越丰厚的利润。

The “best” and most hypocritical thing about the movie is that it tries to convince people a social network earning huge profit by providing entertainment would change something….the only thing Facebook is focusing on and has accomplished is to keep people on it and get more profit.

或者，更多人的关注就会让事情变得不同？

Or, more attention means something different?

不知道有多少人还会记得，2005年时，有一个名为Live 8的盛大活动，呼吁G8在2010年之前将对贫困国家的援助提高到500亿美元，其中一半给非洲国家。而在随后召开的G8峰会上，各国首脑也承诺要有所行动。

I don't know how many people remember that in 2005 there was a huge event called Live 8, asking G8 to raise their aid to poor countries to 50 billions. Later, leaders of many countries promised to act too.

然后，没有行动。至今，那些个承诺都不过是空话。而人们是善忘的，

Then, no action. So far, those promised are made in vain. People tend to forget.

在一个社交网络和围脖统治的网络环境中，得到传播的不会是许多网络公知所宣称的“真相”，而只会是好故事。
于是，在这个舞台上，正义不会胜利，故事王会胜利。

In a world of Facebook and Twitter, what is known to public and circulated widely is not truth but good stories. So on this stage justice won't prevail, the best story will.

基于此，一个谎言的效率，就更在于其在多大程度上能让人们参与其中。明明是山姆大叔为了不久将来在非洲增强其军事存在而正名与造势，却成了一个你亲身参与呼吁美国道非洲去维持正义的故事。戈培尔说过，谎言重复一万遍就成为了真理。他已经落伍了。只要让人们在谎言中亲身参与一次，谎言就能够成为真相。所有的转发者都已证明了这个道理。

Therefore, how effective a lie is depends on how many people are involved. It is obviously a campaign to justify the military presence of the US in Africa but now it turns into YOUR appeal for the intervention. Goebbels said a lied repeated 10,000 times becomes the truth. He is out of date. Now, as long as you are involved in the making of a lie for once, the lie is then the truth for you. All the people that helped distribute the video have proved it.

于是，就不会有人去追究，谁造就了几个世纪以来亚非拉的贫穷与支离？所以，真正要做的不是呼吁美国去插手，而是叫它收手。

So, no one would ask any more who should be responsible for the poverty and disintegration of Asia and Africa in the centuries. What we really need to do is not to ask for US intervention, but ask for its withdrawal.

This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.

Mali: Facing Secession and Food Crisis as Elections Loom

Lova Rakotomalala — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:41:09 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

Coverage of Mali may be absent in the mainstream media, but it is currently facing critical challenges while preparing for the presidential elections on April 29, 2012. After the fall of Gaddafi in Libya, Mali faces the return of Tuareg armed groups posted in Libya, who threaten to seek secession from Mali [fr] for the Azawad territory, or Northern Mali.

The conflict has already forced 195,000 people to flee their homes since mid-January, according to the the United Nations humanitarian office OCHA. Additionally, a food crisis threatens 3 million Malians [fr] because of a prolonged drought in the northern region.

Mali has its hands full with its current domestic issues but it understands that it also needs to take into account regional stability and its neighbors' wishes - Algeria, Niger and Mauritania - when handling the refugee crisis.

Screen shot of a Tuareg rebel via Azawad17Janv2012

Presidential elections in jeopardy

One of the consequences of the refugee crisis was a military mutiny in the northern region on March 20, whose participants threatened to join the Tuareg rebels.

Sandrine Sawadogo explains [fr]:

Alors que le gouvernement malien et les combattants du MNLA se renvoient la balle en s'accusant mutuellement d'être responsables de l'exode de plus de100 000 personnes, les combats font rage autour des derniers campements militaires encore entre les mains de l'armée officielle.

While the Malian government and the MNLA rebels (editor's note: Mouvement National de Liberation de l'Azawad) are blaming each other for the exodus of more than 100 000 people, battles are raging around the last military camps that are still under the control of the national army.

In the following video, some rebels explain why they deserted the Malian army to fight with the Tuareg rebels:

Jeremy Keenan provides more context about the Tuareg rebellion:

After two months of fighting, the Malian army has lost control of most of Azawad, while the number of troops that have either been killed, taken captive or deserted is now thought to be at least 1,000. In a humiliating incident, the army base at Aguelhok was overrun on January 24 when the troops defending it ran out of ammunition.
However, from a strategic point of view, the most significant fighting was at Tessalit. Close to the border with Algeria and with an army base and airport, Tessalit is a strategic town. By March 4, three Malian army units abandoned their attempts to relieve the MNLA siege of the base. A week later, the troops retreated to Algeria, leaving the base and the airport in MNLA control. The number of soldiers killed, taken captive or deserted, along with equipment destroyed or captured in these twin setbacks is thought to be considerable.

He adds:

It is conceivable that further attacks on the highly vulnerable, nomadic civilian population, may bring the rebels to submission, as has been the case in previous Tuareg rebellions. It is also conceivable that the Malian government's undercover militias, ethnic hatred campaigns, military in civilian clothing acting in mobs shouting “death to the Tuaregs” and internet propaganda might succeed in opening cleavages within the complex political, ethnic and social mix that comprises the totality of the Azawad population.
However, the signs are that the rebellion is capable of sustaining itself for much longer, especially if the MNLA receives support from Niger's well-armed and battle-experienced Tuareg, as unverified reports suggest

The prospect of a secession is unacceptable according to Presidential candidate Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and main opponent of presidential incumbent Amadou Toumani Touré (also known as ATT). In a meeting in Kayes, Mali, Keita asserted that Mali is “one and indivisible” as Madiassa Kaba Diakité reports [fr]:

Il a réaffirmé son attachement inébranlable au principe sacro-saint de l’indivisibilité du territoire national et a demandé à tous les Maliens de soutenir le chef de l’Etat, Amadou Toumani Touré, et de rester soudés derrière l’armée malienne pour qu’elle puisse repousser les assaillants afin de rétablir la sécurité et restaurer l’intégrité territoriale du Mali [..] « L’élection du 29 avril est la première des solutions car voter c’est donner une nouvelle chance à la paix », selon IBK. A l’en croire, il sera sans doute difficile de faire voter tous nos compatriotes, notamment ceux refugiés à l’étranger mais voter c’est dire non à la guerre

He reiterated his attachment to the fundamental principle that the national territory is indivisible and asked all Malians to support the head of state Amadou Toumani Touré and the Malian army so that they can repel the attacks and reestablsih peace and the integrity of the Malian territory. […] “The April 29 elections are the primary solution because voting means giving peace a new chance,” according to IBK (Ibrahim Boubacar Keita). Still, it will be difficult to get all Malians to vote, especially those who have been displaced across the borders, but to vote is to say no to war.

A prolonged food crisis

The conflict makes the relief of the food crisis even more challenging. According to UNICEF:

The dry, ‘lean' season in the affected countries is imminent, and will be marked by rising numbers of children in feeding centres who will need life-saving treatment. The agency's Regional Director, David Gressly said: “A multiple disaster is stalking children in the Sahel. Even in a best case scenario we are expecting more than a million children suffering from severe and acute malnutrition to enter feeding centres over the next six months.

On Blogcritics, Aboubacar Guindo, a WFP school feeding officer in Mali is interviewed:

The government through the Early Warning System identified 159 communities that are the most affected by this crisis. To respond to this, WFP elaborated an Emergency Operation (EMOP) with a School Feeding component to avoid important drop-outs that schools used to face in this type of crisis. The EMOP will also include nutrition, food for work, and cash components. [..] In addition to food insecurity, WFP is assessing the needs of the internally displaced due to conflict in the north. This assessment may show in an increase in needs.

The question remains whether the presidential elections will still hold. Gaousso Yah Touré is doubtful [fr]:

le Mali est une grande nation démocratique et la tenue des élections ne doit aucunement le plonger dans le KO. En d’autre terme, la cohésion sociale et la paix doivent être vigoureusement préservées. Cela passe, bien entendu, par le dialogue et la réflexion. Quant à la question de savoir si les élections se tiendront le 29 Avril prochain ou non, une réponse exhaustive ne peut être donnée pour le moment.

Mali is a great democratic nation and elections must not drive the country into chaos. In other words, social cohesion and peace must be protected first and foremost. This must of course come through dialog and exchange. The question remains whether elections will be held on April 29 and at this point, one cannot provide an answer.

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

Macedonia: Making a Humanitarian Book of Interesting Tweets

Filip Stojanovski — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:48:50 +0000

DarjanR, ArsovaM, and Angie_Mkd have issued a call [mk] for participation in creating a pocket-size book with the most interesting tweets, and invited other Macedonian Twitter users to submit their favorites. They are also trying to crowdsource the design, printing and publishing. Proceeds will go to charity. One of the first users to respond was i999y, who started posting [mk] excerpts from his collection of funny tweets on his blog.

Arab World: Hands Off Clooney!

Amira Al Hussaini — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:58:34 +0000

George Clooney handcuffed. Photo by Sasha Lezhnev, shared by ENOUGH project on Flickr (CC-BY-NC-ND)

The United States has arrested actor George Clooney and his father Nick at a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington DC. Arab Twitter users register their protest on their arrest on Twitter.

The protest was organised to to draw attention to a looming humanitarian crisis in the Nuba mountains areas, on the border between Sudan and South Sudan. Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir is accused of blocking food and aid from reaching the region.

The Big Pharaoh, from Egypt, tweets [Ar]:

اكتب على حيطة الزنزانه حبس كلونى عار وخيانة

@TheBigPharaoh: Write on the prison walls, arresting Clooney is shameful and treacherous

Syrian Save Our Syria reacts:

@freeppl: Actor Clooney arrested outside Sudanese Embassy..I am glad someone from hollywood now know how reality action feels like

#FreeClooney trending worldwide on Twitter

Tunisian Tounsia Hourra (Free Tunisian) jokes [Ar]:

أنادي بجبهة شعبية لتحرير جورج كلوني , يا نساء العالم اتحدن جورج مقبوض عليه في واشنطن ‎‬

@tonsiahourra: I call for a popular movement to free George Clooney. Women of the world unite. George Clooney has been arrested in Washington DC.

Malek, from Egypt, adds [Ar]:

كله الا كلوني يا ولاد الكلب … ماعندكم مايكل مور

@MaLek: Anyone other than Clooney, you sons of dogs! You have Michael Moore [whom you can arrest]

Egyptian Marwan Qoutb chimes in [Ar]:

جورج كلوني مش بلطجي , الحرية لجورج كلوني

@Qoutb: George Clooney is not a thug! Freedom for George Clooney

While Egyptian Alyaa Gad jokes:

@AlyaaGad: Don't #FreeClooney. Can't stand him. lol

And J Berry draws parallels to some of the atrocities committed against Arab protesters during the Arab revolutions saying [Ar}:

كلوني و قبضوا عليه .. ناقص ايه ؟ .. يخرموا عين توم كروز !! يسحلوا كيم كارديشيان !! يكشفوا عذرية باميلا انديرسون !

@moneloky: Clooney has been arrested… what's left for them to do? Pop Tom Cruise's eyes? Pull Kim Kardashian across the street? Or check Pamela Anderson for her virginity?

For other reactions on Clooney's arrest, check out the Twitter hash tag #FreeClooney, which is now trending worldwide

Uganda: Yes We Kony!

Ndesanjo Macha — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:33:43 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.

A social media campaign to raise support for the arrest of Ugandan guerrilla leader and wanted war criminal Joseph Kony has taken a new twist. In a blog post titled “#Kony2012 is a Parody,” Sean Jacobs looks at online parody videos about the viral campaign.

The Australian “rap news agency” has come up with Kony parody titled “Yes We Kony”:

YES WE KONY. It's March, and the Internet delivers 2012's first globe-consuming meme: the unstoppable, Stop-Kony 2012 video, which has highlighted the plight of African child soldiering like never before. But is it really good? Is it really bad? Or is the world really more complex than ‘good guys' and ‘bad guys'? Whatevers; one thing's for sure, this is momentous: never had a 27-minute video devoid of both cats and boobs ever achieved such virality. Is this a demonstration of the internet's ability to instantly inform and engage tens of millions; and a hopeful sign that there is a willingness among those millions, to engage passionately with something more meaningful? Or does Kony2012 just mark the dawn of a rapacious new era of viral humanitarian marketing? Join your charitable host Robert Foster - and our special guest, General Baxter, direct from AFRICOM - as we delve into the dark heart of the matter.

Tony 2012 t-shirt. Image courtesy of http://www.districtlines.com/.

A comedy group called Bath Boys Comedy has initiated a campaign called Tony 2012: Stop The Tiger. Tony the Tiger is the advertising cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes breakfast cereal, appearing on its packaging and advertising.

Apparently, Adolph Hitler has reacted to Kony 2012 video campaign:

YouTube user StabOfMyVenom has compiled some of the best Joseph Kony 2012 jokes:

The Kony 2012 campaign has been criticized by many Ugandans who argue that the video oversimplifies the conflict in Northern Uganda. In order to counter the negative portrayal of Africa in the video, African netizens are tweeting about “what they love about Africa” with the hash tag #WhatILoveAboutAfrica.

This post is part of our special coverage Kony 2012.

Hong Kong: UNHCR's Subsidy Cut and Donation Black Hole

Tina Chan — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:33:17 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.

Recently the United Nation Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Hong Kong is being questioned by several non-governmental bodies regarding its reduction in the day-to-day financial aid for refugees in Hong Kong, in spite of the huge amount of donation coming from private donors in Hong Kong.

The latest announcement made by the UNHCR Hong Kong office stated that they are going to cut off 80 percent of the monthly allowance, which currently supports 180 refugees with housing and daily living in Hong Kong. Refugees in Hong Kong were used to receiving HKD 3,000 (equivalent to USD 400) per month once their status had been confirmed, however after the cut, they will receive approximately only HKD 1,500 (USD 200) per month.

Global Survivor 2012 Workshop by Crossroad Foundation, A refugee support group in Hong Kong. (CC-BY 2.0)

On the other hand, UNHCR collected over HKD 20 million in 2010 and HKD 16 million up to 19 September, 2011, in Hong Kong. So, where have these UNHCR millions gone?

Frustrated by the budget cut, refugee organization, Vision First, has issued an open letter to the UNHCR Sub-Office in Hong Kong and questioned UNHCR's policy.

A comment made by Cow Pies on March 5, under the Vision First news thread about the subsidy cut, expresses his anger over the UNHCR:

UNHCR is nothing but a fundraising *Black Hole*!!! There are reasons why their job should be an essential international service, yet they offer no accountability or transparency. Why should we take them for their word when we don’t trust any other international agency (United Nations excluded)? The more one digs for answers, the more questions are unearthed … It’s too convenient to say “We spend the 3.9 billion USD helping refugees worldwide” without backing this up with independent reports. Even the pie charts on their website show 88% “Refugee Programs” but the same charts don’t show salaries, housing allowance, insurance, officer traveling, entertainment, lobbying and other cost they most certainly have. Why should we trust them? They are in-house, unverified, unsupported and lacking basic monthly cost they obviously have. We realize that UNHCR was around before we were born, they will be around after we die and it cannot be changed overnight. Truth is, the way they treat refugees is disgraceful. After collected 27 million HKD in 2011, there is no justification for spending only 648,000 HKD and passing responsibility to HKSAR. They recognized these 180 refugees, but they continuously shirk their responsibility to care for them. Shame on UNHCR!!!

Refugees are not permitted to work in Hong Kong, due to the unsigned 1951 Refugee Convention by the government. Apart from a small group of people who receive financial support from churches or private donors, most of them rely on the UNHCR's monthly allowance.

Rents and the inflation rate in Hong Kong are sky rocketing and it is tough for anyone who has to live in the city on approximately HKD 1,500 a month, which is probably not even enough to pay for a cage room or a 150-square-foot subdivided unit in this expensive city.

Mr Refugee Beggar tells how hard his life is in Hong Kong through the blog of an organization which supports refugees and asylum seekers:

Now, we became the regular beggars! While sleeping we plan where we will go tomorrow for begging. Sometimes going for begging a little money to Mosque, Church, I.S.S. and to others NGOs whose behaviours are insulting and disrespectful and humiliating. They are treating refugees and others like a slave or third-class citizens. I swear you that this is the real punishment when you have no money to pay phone bill, electric bill, buying gas cylinder, hear cutting, photo copy, postal expenses, transport money for going to Mosque, to your lawyer, to attend the court and for many more expenses which are not paying by I.S.S. Some time even we have no two dollars for photo copy and spending day & night in the room as a self confinement for weeks.

Help please left a comment on February 24, to seek for help:

I am having 2 electric bill and water bill I cannot pay. ISS paying just small part. Not everything for me. My church also say no more money. The Final Notice from landlord write she cut electric and water tomorrow. Please help me! UNHCR Hong Kong cut my money from 1500 to 300 dollars. I ask them, but they don’t help me. Today I am very very desperate now. If landlord disconnect I cannot live in my room with no window.

Below is a series of videos produced by the HKSTV, on the story of an asylum-seeker, Mohammed, in Hong Kong. [The voice over is in Mandarin but Mohammed's interview is in English.]

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

This post is part of our special coverage on Refugees.