Copyright 2010 Jessica Keralis

This was originally posted on the APHA International Health Section’s blog.

The Shona word murambatsvina means “to drive out trash.” This was the word used to describe the Zimbabwean government’s campaign to forcibly clear out the slum areas around the country, under the pretense of combating illegal housing and reducing the spread of infectious disease. Zimbabwe’s psychotic de-facto dictator current president has described the “urban renewal campaign” as “a vigorous clean-up campaign to restore sanity.” UNHCR has estimated that the forced evictions have directly affected at least 700,000 people, and that approximately 2.4 million more could have been indirectly affected in some way. The campaign was condemned by the UN and was called a crime against humanity.

Five years later, the evicted slum-dwellers still remain homeless. The few houses that were built as part of the re-housing scheme were given to government employees. Obvious human rights abuses aside (like torching people’s houses and belongings) aside, the campaign had serious health consequences for the evicted populations. HIV patients were cut off from clinics and antiretroviral medications. Thousands of IDPs are still living under emergency plastic sheeting with no medical services or clean water, no schools, no sanitation, and no source of income. Amnesty International has reported a shockingly high neonatal mortality rate among babies born to evicted mothers: in five months, there were 21 newborn deaths in Hopley, a settlement 10 km south of Harare. Most of the babies died within 48 hours of birth. The women have said that they were fully aware of the importance of maternal healthcare, and they all wanted to give birth in a hospital or with a trained birth attendant, but many could not afford the $50 required to register for antenatal care. The nearest maternity clinic is 8 km away. Some thought their babies had died because of minimal access to healthcare, while others suspected they had died of cold because they live in plastic shacks.

Amnesty International and other human rights groups have called for an investigation of the newborn deaths, but there seems to be little hope of a serious inquiry. Meanwhile, there are growing concerns of another eviction campaign: residents are again being forced to leave their homes because they cannot afford a(n arbitrarily-imposed) $140 “lease renewal fee.” Zimbabwe’s government of course denies this, but it a bit difficult to argue when the evidence consists of shacks on fire. Several MEPs have called for the Zimbabwean diplomat to the EU to be sent home in response to the evictions – but will it be enough?

British actress and model Lily Cole visited Nai Soi refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border. She kept a journal of her visit, which is a pretty good read.

Copyright 2010, Jessica Keralis

One might think that refugees’ lives are already complicated enough as it is. The simple necessities of putting a roof over your head and food on your table are daunting, not to mention the bureaucratic process of making sure you are doing it all legally in whatever country you are trying to settle. But when a person is displaced by a controversial phenomenon which some cannot even agree exists, putting down new roots inevitably becomes infinitely more convoluted.

Climate refugees, or those displaced by natural disasters or other environmental phenomena that many attribute to climate change, are only now beginning to receive widespread international attention. The earthquake in Haiti and the floods in Pakistan have contributed significantly to this increased awareness. Unfortunately, no one seems to be able to agree on how to deal with them, where to send them, or even what to call them: some organizations prefer the term “environmental migrants,” while the UN has used the term “environmentally induced migrants.” “Climate refugee,” while popular in the media, is a highly controversial term: UNHCR has expressed concern that referring to these migrants as “refugees” might lessen protection for conventional political refugees that have legal rights to assistance. While political refugees (obviously) cannot go to their governments for assistance, many environmental migrants can. Others argue that times have changed and that environmental migrants should be classified as refugees in order to receive legal and material assistance. The debate rages on.

Regardless of what they are called, millions currently suffer some form of environment or climate-influenced displacement. At the Copenhagen summit last year, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said that 36 million were displaced due to natural disasters in 2008, 20 million of whom were forced to move due to climate change-related factors. The UN University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security estimates that there are nearly 50 million environmental refugees in the world today, though this estimate is somewhat controversial. Recent examples of large-scale environmental migration include the 1.5 million displaced in Haiti and the seven million driven from their homes by flooding in Pakistan. Other groups are forced to move due to slower or smaller-scale environmental degradation, such as desertification in north-central Africa and regular flooding in Bangladesh. Pacific island nations such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Vanuatu are slowly disappearing under rising sea levels. Oftentimes these slow environmental changes can trigger or exacerbate conflict by increasing conflict for resources.

The upcoming talks in Cancún highlight the sense of urgency surrounding this issue. However, many commentators are skeptical that any meaningful progress will be made, considering how poorly negotiations went during the Copenhagen summit. Additionally, a recent study by the UN Environmental Programme has established that even if all countries followed through with their commitments in the Copenhagen accord, CO₂ emissions would not be sufficiently reduced to halt the rise in global average temperatures to two degrees Celsius, which is regarded as the “danger threshold.” While some hope for an eventual legally-binding agreement between countries, others are crafting their own solutions. In Bangladesh, for example, a non-profit organization called Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (a name meaning “self-reliance”) designs boats to house schools, libraries, and climate shelters. In Pakistan, communities are determined to get back on their feet, with or without international assistance. “We appreciate all the outside help, including seeds being supplied by the US, but the [we] are proud people and we are determined to help ourselves.”

Jessica Keralis is a public health specialist with an active interest in international health and refugee issues. She is the Communications Committee chair for the International Health section of the American Public Health Association. She blogs for the IH section and can be followed on Twitter here.

How Can We Raise Awareness In Darfur Of How Much We’re Doing For Them?

Copyright 2010, Jessica Keralis

I did competitive acting when I was in high school. One of my performances was a duet acting piece based on the poem “1990” by Bob Holman. The refrain of the poem – the line it keeps coming back to – is

It’s 1990
& Nelson Mandela is free!

The poem is an interesting political and cultural “snapshot” of that year – it talks about everything from gay rights to tearing down the Berlin Wall to Tiananmen Square and the AIDS epidemic. Mr. Holman framed that pivotal year with Nelson Mandela’s release in his poem. It would seem that we are in a similar period of change as the world globalizes, and Aung San Suu Kyi’s release is a similarly appropriate event with which to frame it.

The question remains, however – will her release bring any relief to the Burmese refugees and IDPs?

Burma’s military junta is notorious for one of the worst human rights records in the world. Aside from the standard battery of no freedom of speech or press or assembly, no independent judiciary, forced labor, sexual violence, human trafficking, and official corruption, the government targets ethnic minority groups for “Burmisation” – a polite euphemism for a slow genocide. The military kills, rapes, and pillages: they burn down entire villages, destroy farming tools and livestock, force villagers into labor, and force the women to marry them. These minorities, which make up more than one third of Burma’s population, are constantly fleeing this military-perpetrated violence, which has created one of the worst refugee crises in the world. There are nine permanent refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border alone, with more on the borders with India and Bangladesh and in Malaysia. It is estimated that there are nearly 300,000 refugees from Burma, the majority of which are the Royingya and the Karen, and hundreds of thousands of more IDPs throughout the country.

Optimists hoped that the election on November 7, which was meant to mark the transition to civilian rule, would lay a new foundation for an improvement in the country’s situation. Unfortunately – surprise! – the election was declared a sham by pretty much everyone except for Burma’s autocratic neighbors. The elections were “cancelled” in nearly 24,000 villages along the eastern border (where the ethnic groups are focused, naturally). The UN and foreign journalists were not allowed to observe. Allegations of fraud and vote-rigging are all over the place. Dr. Suu Kyi was barred from participating, so her party, the National League for Democracy, boycotted the whole thing. The junta’s de facto party was the only one who could field candidates for all of the positions, so it naturally took 80% of the “vote,” which basically means that the junta is now wearing a civilian mask.

Despite international disappointment, however, governments and democracy advocates around the world welcomed Suu Kyi’s release as a positive step and expressed the hope that it marked the start of a change in direction for the country. Other commentators are not so cheerful, though. Some see her release as a show of confidence by the regime, or a tactic to distract the world from the country’s sad excuse for an election. Since winning her freedom, she has been walking on eggshells: she has withheld comment on most major issues, including whether or not she supports continued sanctions against the country, and her words have been “measured and careful.” Also, she has apparently not decided whether she wants to join Twitter or Facebook. The junta does not seem particularly worried.

From this point, things will undoubtedly be slow-going. After all, an election does not magically make things better (even though Thailand seems to think so). Leaders of armed ethnic groups fighting for the autonomy promised by her father before he was murdered support Suu Kyi and have welcomed her call for a multi-ethnic conference. But most Burmese refugees do not believe that anything will change. Saw Tun Wai, a Kareni who works as a teacher in the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand, firmly believes that the elections offer no hope for positive change, “neither for the Karen, nor for any of the people in Burma.”

Jessica Keralis is a public health specialist with an active interest in international health and refugee issues. She is the Communications Committee chair for the International Health section of the American Public Health Association. She blogs for the IH section and can be followed on Twitter here.

In times of need

We’re referred to as beggars

Hatred at a family level; neighbours don’t see

We remain kins we don’t know its nicety

Even if a coin we need to settle debts

It will be useful to them

In that minute we’re in need

Leaving aside; millions for our funerals

Where they eat and drink to satisfaction

In the eyes of others impersonating

That they were helpful

Kins; they celebrate

Spending millions on coffins

Keep our corpses; decorated outside

And what lives inside? Gone lives

I can’t help my own self in such mazes

Relationship a maze

How can I help the world? For now

Unite with neighbours; it’s of significance

It pushes you ahead

That emotions won’t take you

Hope that; when I find one

To listen to my call

That who understands better

I will raise my two hands and eyebrows

To give you a pity

Southern Sudanese to play the harp in Kakuma;

Owing to the pending Referendum to give Southern Sudan the opportunity to vote for either unity or secession, SSRC has set up centers in Kakuma Refugee Camp. Other towns in Kenya where Sudanese should vote are: Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kitale and Daadab. Southern Sudan Referendum

Commission(SSRC) is absolutely neutral. Yesterday, registration despite its hardest layout of understanding winged its way on. The youth play the harp of unfolding the necessities of voting to the aged and the illiterates. To the literates the out-of-country registration and voting (OCV) Kenya information sheet speaks. The registration and the pending Referendum are open to voters who have registered who are above eighteen years of age. Part of the information which may suspend voters is the fact that readers may read on the information sheet as if only Dinkas are allowed to participate in the out-of-country registration and voting. It was cited in reality.

The sheet too doesn’t show centers where voting will take place in Kitale. This has made it possible to read information to instill awareness and mobilise Southern Sudanese around the Registration sites and on the road to let them get information for clarity. Southern Sudanese are urged to Register before possibilities last. Failures to register soil their fats.

No voting on the ninth of January, 2010 if one can’t produce a laminated registration card.
The Nuba, Blue Nile and Kordofan stand loose yet unable to fall into the registration and employment queues. Better the SSRC has dug down doubts by ensuring a Toll-free all over Kenya. Twelve hours of free call from six in the morning to six in the evening is enough to swallow the leftovers.

Eligibility and registration;

The camp, Kakuma has a number of nationalities which may tend to admire voting. Southern Sudanese have to present written certificates or documents issued by a Sudanese authority even if expired or a document issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees-UNHCR. If not an identifier should either deny or accept your identity. Articles 25 and 27 stipulated in the Southern Sudan Referendum Act 2009, classifies voters into the categories below:

       a) Voters from the indigenous communities in Southern Sudan, that’s to say if Shilluk which entered Sudan on or before the first of January, 1956 are allowed to vote out of Southern Sudan.
       b) Voters who trace their ancestry to one of the indigenous Southern Sudan communities but did not reside in Southern Sudan without interruption before or since January, 1956 can only vote in the South where they can be identified.
       c) Finally, voters not belonging to any of the indigenous communities of Southern Sudan whose parents and grand-parents permanently resided in the south on or before January, 1956 can vote only in the South.

This information is verified at the centers to avoid misconceptions and to ensure Southern Sudanese are adequately informed. Agnes, the mobile operator for the SSRC in Nairobi encouraged me to let you register without fail. Totally if you think a goat and a leopard can share a room, you won’t say I told you. This out-of-country registration will take place in eight countries which include Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Ethiopia, Canada, U.S.A, UK and Australia, said Mapur, a registrar at Rajaf Primary School. In Kenya registration takes place in:

a) Nairobi with center at; Nairobi railway club, Uhuru Park, Haile Selasie Avenue
b) Eldoret has a center at; Rupa mills at Ken Knit, Uganda road
c) Nakuru center is at; Menengai social hall near Menengai High School
d) Kitale center is; The National Museum
e) Daadab center is at; Family centre two, Ifo Daadab
f) Kakuma centers are; Rajaf Primary School and Clinic two.

These centers are adequately secured beyond any doubt. Hands are checked before registration and you go through illegibility examination which when you are affirmed as illegible a form is filled showing your names, age, gender and address. Right thumbprint is placed on the form and registration card. The card is laminated in the center to ensure you don’t return. You will not leave without an inked index finger and you are done.
A card can be canceled;
    a) If a mistake is made filling the entry or a card
    b) When the details on the card are incorrect though laminated
    c) If the lamination of the card is not performed correctly

Should you lose the card or fail to register you are nothing to vote. Those who had not gone back to Sudan where the documents are found and have no documents from UNHCR are assisted by the community leaders. Nobody registers on behalf of the other and voting is effective where you have registered.

The criticized delegates;

The team of Elizabeth Nyawuro which had some officials from the Government of Kenya and the international observers as put by Nyak and Mapur took a wrong foot. These delegates left the youth complaining camp wide that corruption lifted up in the nation-Sudan has been carried to a refugee camp. Wrong of the wrongs which was a mess was asking of community leaders to select qualified people in the camp. These leaders ended up selecting friends and relatives who were interviewed and found unable to work effectively.

The twist came on thirty first of October. Posters appeared on the notice boards needing forty polling staffs, eight civic educators and one outreach supervisor. The people who were discouraged who’re qualified could not complete the race. Mapur said the applicants were three hundred and seventy passed. Nyak who had wasted his energy told me before the outcome that he wasn’t expecting to succeed due to corruption he had witnessed. He accused the delegates of glaring, nodding and saying,” It’s okay” which is not a means of interviewing people. The shortlisted applicants were posted in the evening, said Jumla, those who arrived on time were all employed instantly. They kept saying that those who were late were denied interviews even if they didn’t know.

These accusations are not admitted to by the employees, trainers and the Mobile operator I talked to. The successful applicants were induced from twelve-fourteen of November. They are still being instructed by the out-of-country officers who are available in all the centers in the camp. They monitor the running of registration, said Mapur, a registrar.

The failures have gone far that the pay was deducted by UNHCR from thirty dollars to fifteen dollars per day to retain their workers but I can’t see the hand of UNHCR for this matter. Agnes herself knocked it out that a rumour as such is fake. It’s not to be depended on. Akran, the UNHCR staff whom I called by phone said the registration is not about UNHCR but the Kenyan Government and the IOM and that’s the fact. “To us if it will bring peace in Sudan, we support it,” she said. These accusations must be bygone. Southern Sudanese should keep high their heads hoping to play the harp they spearhead. A separate harp, you think it wiser, go don’t let go!

I am doing PhD from India. My research is on Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India.

I am looking for funding to carry out data collection. Please let me know if there are any funding opportunities.

Thanks & Regards,

Bharath Kumar