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Millions of people are suffering as the world chooses to look
the other way, writes John O’Shea
What does it take to arouse the world’s conscience? What
levels of human suffering must be experienced before the international
community can be galvanised into action?
Throughout the developing world countless millions of people suffer
intolerable hardships and abuses simply because their governments
simply don’t care about them and the rest of the world is
too complacent, they just can’t be bothered, to intervene
on their behalf.
Take Zimbabwe for instance. Once one of Africa’s success
stories, it used to export its huge food surpluses around Southern
Africa and the wider world and welcome tourists in their millions
to admire its fabulous scenery and wild life.
How things have changed – the UN World food Programme estimates
that today, 38% of Zimbabweans are malnourished and seven million
people, over half the population, are in need of food aid. The lucrative
tourism industry is all but defunct, inflation is running at above
500% and unemployment levels are as high as 70%.
In Zimbabwe the prevalence of HIV/AIDs, that close relative of
poverty, is among the top five in the world at 34 per cent. Already
the epidemic has caused 800,000 orphans and a massive lowering of
the life expectancy rate. Things, it seems, couldn’t get much
worse for the Zimbabwean people.
Or can they? Parliamentary elections are due next year and the
government of Robert Mugabe is turning to the people of Zimbabwe
to ensure that the Zanu PF party that has presided over this mess
is returned to power. They are turning to the people, not with promises,
but with threats and the use of food as a political weapon.
In a recent interview with the BBC, The Archbishop of Bulawayo,
Pius Ncube, a courageous and outspoken critic of the government
of Zimbabwe, said: “They have a plan to starve people to death
for political ends - to get everyone aligned to their party at all
costs, which is absolutely diabolical and vicious.”
“I'm very, very concerned as the government is telling lies,
saying there is enough food and already babies are dying. We have
statistics from the city council that 50 to 60 have died already
of malnutrition. I'm really scared that people will die by their
thousands unless this matter of food is opened up.”
Meanwhile, in Darfur, Western Sudan, two million people are clinging
desperately to life having been forced out of their homes and off
their land by armed militias in what has been variously described
as ethnically motivated violence, ethnic cleansing, or genocide.
Again food is being used as a weapon (although in this case it
is accompanied by murder, rape and theft to reinforce the terror).
The technique is as old as the hills – you force your enemies
off their land so they can’t feed themselves and, sooner rather
than later, they will starve to death, you can then take over their
land and your problems are solved. The beauty of it is that it doesn’t
cost much to carry out.
This conflict has been ongoing for almost 18 months and it is
only now that some elements of the international media have begun
to cover it, that the international community is taking any notice.
Both Colin Powell and Kofi Annan are in Sudan this week to try and
shame the Sudanese Government into allowing greater access for humanitarian
aid organisations and disarming the militias.
But this is too little too late. Several weeks ago Andrew Natsios,
head of the American overseas relief organisation USAID, warned
that as many as a million people could starve in Darfur depending
on how quickly the world reacted.
“If we get relief in we could lose a third of a million people”
he predicted. “If we don't, it could be a million".
Meanwhile the international community is arguing about what exactly
to call this disaster. Just as they did ten years ago in the case
of Rwanda, they have shied away from referring to it as genocide
because that brings with it the legal responsibility for them to
do something to prevent it.
A million people were hacked to death in the space of 100 days
in Rwanda and the outside world ignored the warnings and looked
the other way. Today the alarm bells are ringing loud and clear
in both Zimbabwe and Darfur but the signs are that the world is
still choosing to turn a deaf ear.
The ideal circumstances for evil men to carry out their work is
when it goes unnoticed or when others do not care enough and pretend
not to notice.
There is no need for the people of Darfur to be huddled together
in the desert sheltering from the searing heat and hoping against
hope that someone arrives with food aid before any more of their
children die from hunger. No need, because they could be at home
planting their crops now that the rains have come – unfortunately
so has terror in the form of the Janjawid armed militias.
There is no need for the children of Zimbabwe to feel the burning
fire of hunger in their bellies either. Nor their cousins in the
Congo, or Uganda or anywhere in the world for that matter. The only
reason they are in their present predicament is that they do not
have the protection and support they need.
The reason they are suffering is sheer complacency on the part
of those that should be in a position to help. They die because
there is nobody with enough will to intervene, to help them live.
They die because too many people choose to look the other way or
because we are too busy to notice their cries for help.
John O’Shea is chief executive of the aid organisation,
GOAL
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