Crisis of humanitarianism: Ramesh Shrestha

It started with compassion

Helping each other in times of need is an innate human nature which exists in all cultures transcending partisan politics. This humane gesture became a profession in its own right which we now call humanitarianism, arising out of kindness, not out of duty. It started in 1859 with the initiative of Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman. This gentleman raised funds to assist and rescue the injured soldiers abandoned in the battlefield of Solferino. It eventually led to the creation of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) on the 17th February 1863. There are now Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in 191 countries with more than 16 million volunteers worldwide making it the largest humanitarian network. It is an achievement.

Looking back in history there have always been wars and conflicts arising from differences in political viewpoints, religious beliefs, sociocultural differences, territorial disputes, resource exploitation, domination by one group over the other, etc. All politicians love to talk about peace and human rights while preparing for wars. The leaders deliver endless lectures on honouring diversity and self-determination but the same leaders ridiculously go to war because of difference in opinions. Looking around us, today, it seems like there are no limits in human beings' capacity for cruelty. The killing machines are made further efficient with the application of modern-day technology taking warfare to a new height. Country's expenditure in keeping peace dwarfs when compared with the investment in preparations for wars says it all.

Humanitarian efforts

The first Geneva convention of 1864 initiated a framework for the treatment of the wounded and the sick. It was expanded in 1899 and 1907 by the Hague Convention to address the issue of disarmament, protection of combatants (including the prisoners of war) and civilians. The amendment of 1949 is the most significant one, referred to as the International Humanitarian Law or the law of war, which has been ratified by all UN member states. There are other conventions such as the convention which prohibits the stockpiling and use of cluster munitions, landmines, etc. The contents of all these conventions are meant to regulate the conduct of wars and hostilities involving nation states and militant groups, occupation of territories, and investigations of war crimes in both domestic and international courts. There is no shortage of goodwill and guidelines for countries to act with civility when conflicts erupt but as we continue to witness over the decades the application of all these guidelines have been abandoned.

Forced revolution and democracy

Many neighbouring countries have territorial disputes which lead to brawls in the disputed areas or sometimes open hostilities with loss of life. Most of these disputes remain as status quo with no war or no peace situation, some of which are guarded by the UN peacekeeping force. The most serious concern leading to loss of civilian lives are the conflicts forced upon by external players to bring in democracy with staged revolution to dislodge 'unpopular' governments. The local population have no clue on what goes on in these circumstances as everything happens in different shades of illusive narratives. The most recent example is the declaration. Of martial law in South Korea. Since the end of WW-II there have been more than 300 wars and conflicts resulting in humanitarian crises both for the countries in crisis and for the humanitarian organisations. These include conflicts between neighbours, ethnic conflicts within the borders of the country, conflicts between the governments and rebels due to ideological, religious or ethnic differences, conflicts brought in by drug lords, etc. It seems as though we have been constantly at war. All wars are bad; the most destructive one that created serious havoc internationally were the Chinese civil war, Korean war, Vietnam war and the Rwanda genocide. The Vietnam war is a special case. Vietnam wanted to get rid of the French with US help but fell in the trap and lost the lives of 2.7 million people instead. Today it is still a communist country and doing well compared to many other democratic countries. There have been many more wars since the new dawn of democracy in the 1990s where revolution and democracy were forced upon countries for vested interest of different players. Many of these countries were simply not ready for a sudden change as they have neither resources nor administrative infrastructure for such sudden change.

Defeating humanitarianism

Humanitarian agencies have been relocating their field staff from one location to another like a firefighting brigade trying to extinguish uncontrollable forest fires. It is as if their job will never be done. Humanitarian workers are welcomed and they do achieve their objectives in all post-natural disaster situations. There may be problems such as overlaps or bringing in wrong supplies, lack of coordination, but overall, the humanitarian agencies achieve results in the end. But this is not the case where disasters are caused by political objectives causing displacement and loss of life. In such cases the humanitarian workers face an uphill task in relief works and in coordinating their works with parties to the conflict. Sometimes the humanitarian workers are accused of taking sides and may even be physically harmed and killed. It is not uncommon for some donors to block funds of humanitarian agencies for aiding wrong groups of victims. When the governments are openly violating any and all moral and ethical principles and the law of war, it defeats the purpose of humanitarianism. Gaza is a case in point.

Deliberately killing of children and women has become routine in recent conflicts. It happened in Rwanda, Balkans and it is happening now in Syria and Palestine. Many such incidents when reported are told as mistakes and shall be 'investigated' with no end in sight! Targeted killing cannot be prevented, which makes the international community absolutely helpless. Deliberate destruction of hospitals, schools and refugee camps, and killing of health workers, teachers, journalists and civilians are against all international laws and outside the moral boundaries. Yet, these actions are carried out with full impunity. It is like watching a new version of Hollywood blockbuster Godfather.

The former UN Secretary General late Koffi Anan while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on 10th December 2001, said that "today's real borders," he said, "are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless, free and fettered, privileged and humiliated. Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in the other."

Indeed, most of the crisis surrounding us in recent decades are the results of domination of the weak by the powerful, be it between communities or between nations. Depending on how one perceives the issue of national security, the second part of the above quote is controversial as the countries' definition of national security has become too elastic; it has been justified as anything and everything. For leaders with convoluted minds the idea of rights, sovereignty and national security could often be on a collusion path leading to disasters. Similarly, when the humanitarian interventions are forced upon with political motives contaminated with economic interest it leads to catastrophe. Ultimately humanitarianism becomes the victim no matter howsoever the humanitarian workers maintain neutrality, they fare no chances in front of the war lords or the extremism of the authoritative governments. But there is always hope.

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