Kaburu Anthony: The Global Refugee Crisis — Why it’s important tha...

Kaburu Anthony: The Global Refugee Crisis — Why it’s important tha...: A disturbing fault line is at the heart of global politics today. Our world is more interconnected than ever before, and yet the mechanisms...

The Global Refugee Crisis — Why it’s important that we all Care

A disturbing fault line is at the heart of global politics today. Our world is more interconnected than ever before, and yet the mechanisms and means for managing globalization seem less adequate to the challenges. The result is predictable: a backlash against global engagement born of frustration, fatigue, and fear.

Introduction;

By the end of 2019, 70.8 million individuals had been forcibly displaced by conflict or violence, and the number of refugees globally rose to 25.9 million in 2018, up from 25.4 million in 2017, and setting a new record, according to newly released UNHCR report and World Bank estimates. The number of people seeking international protection outside of their country of origin has increased 70% since 2011.

More than half of the world’s refugees came from three countries: Syria (5.5 million), Afghanistan (2.5 million), and South Sudan (2.3 million). And most refugees—84% of the ones under UNHCR’s mandate—remain in low- and middle-income countries, close to conflict, The number of refugees from Syria, South Sudan, and Myanmar has increased rapidly over the last couple of years.

This crisis, however, is much deeper than sheer numbers or unimaginable human suffering. It is:

·         a crisis of the post-World War II paradigm underpinning our refugee structures, which has been unable to cope with globalization’s complexities and is now struggling for relevance

·         a crisis of the conflicting narratives for some of the greatest social challenges exemplified by national and international responses to refugees: from issues of human rights, xenophobia, sexism and economic protectionism, to terrorism and climate change

·         a crisis of the lack of easy solutions to the main root cause of mass migration — growing and radical global inequality that includes the absence of civil order, physical safety and social and cultural structures necessary for people to live a dignified, fulfilling life, made ever more widely known through digital media of a hyper-connected world.

So what are some of the fears that are stirred up by refugees? Are they justified? What do they lead to?

The economic argument:

A widespread, but unfounded, fear is that an influx of refugees will drive up competition for work, push down wages, or drain the public coffers — a notion that feeds a rising global appetite for economic protectionism. The IMF has estimated that in the short term, the macroeconomic effect from the refugee surge is likely to be a growth in GDP of 0.1% for the EU as a whole and short-term cost to the EU will be 0.19% of GDP to public expenditure. We are talking about fractions of 1% net cost.

Australians know the economic dead-end folly of protectionism. In 1890, Australia was the richest country in the world when it chose to protect that success with quotas, tariffs, and regulations — a misadventure that dropped it to 20th and took decades to reverse. False emotive perceptions must not drive the economic trajectory of our countries.

The refugee crisis is also fueling the rise of racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia. The attempted US travel bans have been characterized as a response to a ‘phantom menace’, given that the chance that an American is killed by a refugee terrorist is one in 3.6 billion per year. Yet inciting Islamophobia plays into the ISIS recruitment strategy: the more a group can be seen to hate Islam, the more certain Muslims are likely to accept that their future is in joining, not rejecting, the Caliphate. Pointing the Islamophobic or xenophobic finger at refugees and immigrants exacerbates the conditions leading to radicalization and will backfire when preventing the rising phenomenon of homegrown terrorists.

At the same time it is unhelpful and unfair to lump all concerns raised about certain behaviours or belief systems of refugees and immigrants onto the racist pile. There is a pervasive tension between “freedom of speech” and offensive, discriminatory or racist talk. Expressions of “culturally-correlated irritations” could be more productively engaged with scientifically, examining whether or not they really pose any threat to existing societal values. Concurrently, host countries should be able to have open debates and evidence-based policies as to how to uphold the cultural and societal norms that attracted refugees in the first place, with a focus on promoting societal cooperation and peace..

One particular societal value — that of gender equality — is worth specific mention. #ValerieHudson, co-author of the 2012 book #SexandWorldPeace, demonstrated through empirical evidence how “the very best predictor of a state’s peacefulness is not its level of wealth, its level of democracy, or its ethno-religious identity … it is how well its women are treated”. As we incorporate refugees and immigrants in the evolution of our multicultural societies, a core objective must be the empowerment of women.

‘Real refugees’ vs ‘economic migrants’:

At the heart of the breakdown of our existing refugee processes is a lack of solution for the fundamental dichotomy of the modern migration narrative — how do you determine whether someone is a ‘real refugee’ in distress, or a ‘fake refugee’ pursuing economic advancement not available at home? Yet this is a false dichotomy.

This breakdown is, I believe, symptomatic of an ever-rising key tension between two deeply held values in our existing liberal world order: human rights and the existence of sovereign nations. In the aftermath of World War II, Western policymakers set out to build a global system that would prevent a repeat of the disastrous failures of international diplomacy during the interwar period. They concluded that achieving both economic development and world peace needed free markets, human rights, the rule of law, and elected governments held accountable by independent judiciaries, free press and vibrant civil societies. The main institutions created as part of this post-war liberal order — the UN, NATO, WTO, IMF, World Bank and the G-20 — together have influenced almost every aspect of the modern world but now are under attack by countervailing forces.

Rising domestic hostility towards refugees and immigrants is fuelling resentment towards supranational authorities and their ‘irritating meddling’ in the ability of sovereign nations to deal with refugees and migrants as they see fit. Emphasis on the tension between individual rights to seek asylum and self-governance by sovereign nations as seen through the lens of the refugee crisis is, therefore, self-serving in the current political climate.

By constantly challenging the legitimacy of refugee claims, governments can delay and stall meeting their international obligations, creating the possibility of by-passing them altogether. Increasingly, governments see political advantage in being hard on refugees as citizens priorize their own interests over any moral imperative to help needy foreigners and reward their governments for standing up to supranational authorities.

Our world order’s legitimacy is undermined when leaders consistently seem to interpret the rules as they see fit, ignoring key norms. Using the refugee crisis to delegitimize our global authorities and historical agreements slowly but surely chips away at the foundations of our post-war prosperity, democracy and peace. While the current world order is by no means perfect, it is all that we have in terms of fora and structures for international negotiations and accountability and we strike it down, consciously or unknowingly, at our peril.

The perverse triad — oil, instability, refugees:

The final, most fundamental, reason we must care about the refugee crisis is its relationship with oil. A perverse triad links refugees and oil: our dependency on it produces both political and environmental instability which generates refugees, and terrorist groups sell oil to fund conflicts which generate yet more refugees.

ISIS, which controls many oil fields in Syria, see oil as critical for financing its vision of an Islamic state. In Syria today, ISIS produces an estimated 40,000 barrels per day, earning about $1.5 million per day. They sell their oil at the wellhead to traders as well as to the Syrian rebels fighting them. Local hospitals, shops, farming and industrial machines are fuelled by ISIS oil. This has created a central dilemma in the international coalition’s fight against ISIS: how to bring down the Caliphate without fundamentally disrupting the life of the estimated 10 million civilians in areas under ISIS control?

Not only do conflicts over oil directly generate refugees, the climate change caused by burning oil will be a “threat multiplier” in creating resource conflicts and mass refugee populations fleeing droughts, firestorms, heatwaves, floods and desertification.

Exemplifying our greatest challenges:

In conclusion, then, we must care about the global refugee crisis because it exemplifies some of the greatest challenges facing our global institutions and liberal world order today.

·         A root cause is growing global inequity fuelled by our addiction to oil. Remedies lie in global human development efforts, especially in educating and empowering women, and a definitive transition to a sustainable energy paradigm.

·         Concurrently, we need to reject use of the refugee crisis as pernicious justification for economic protectionism, racism and Islamophobia, as well as the toxic undermining of our supranational authorities.

·         If we do want to restructure our current world order, we must do this conscientiously, with thought and consideration for the hierarchy of moral and social priorities we are willing to live by.

As #HannahArendt wrote, “The manifestation of the wind of thought is not knowledge but the ability to tell right from wrong, beautiful from ugly. …Thinking gives people the strength to prevent catastrophes in these rare moments when the chips are down”. It is now critical that wherever we come from, we both care and think deeply about our attitudes and policies towards refugees.

Furthermore, even though we live in an era where more walls are going up between nations, but its evidence that this does not stop migration. And the evidence for the economic benefits for open borders is unambiguous. According to some estimates, opening the world’s borders could increase global GDP by US$100 trillion. We just need to take a bold step and give refugees a right already enjoyed by some – the right to move.

Finally, we must find ways to lower the number of displaced people worldwide, by preventing and solving the conflicts that drive them from their homes. We must try to rally people and nations to act together based on common interests and universal aspirations for security, dignity and equality: understanding that this does not come at the expense of our safety and economic well-being at home, but is an essential requirement when facing problems of international dimensions. #GlobalCrisis  #Refugees #HumanRights #Humanity #StandWithRefugees

Kaburu Anthony: Government actions aren’t enough for climate chang...

Kaburu Anthony: Government actions aren’t enough for climate chang...: Climate change as a consequence of global warming is now with us, and the sooner we act the less damage will be done to our society, econom...

Government actions aren’t enough for climate change.

Climate change as a consequence of global warming is now with us, and the sooner we act the less damage will be done to our society, economy and environment, and to us. With the increasing greenhouse gases and declining glaciers, the threat of our green planet becoming a barren land in future seems real. The elevation in the pollution levels due to the reckless use of the Earth’s resources has created an alarming situation for the people inhabiting the planet.

If this misuse of the resources continues in the future, chances are that our planet might be amongst the other seven planets where life is not possible. To prevent this, Governments, as leaders of this green planet should take strict steps to guard the uniqueness of our planet and let it be green and full of life forever.

Below are the steps governments can take to save our planet earth;

·         Governments must put Climate Change and Sustainable Development at the centre of national policy development.

·         Strive for integrated policy development across departments and functions and avoid negative environmental externalities of poorly planned policy interventions.

·         Eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies.  

·         Take the long term view embracing multiple electoral cycles.  

·         Plan and most importantly, implement.  

·         Governed people must be enabled and encouraged to make sustainable choices.

·         Set ambitious goals for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy conservation in electricity production, energy systems and buildings.

·         Establish mechanisms to track and enforce progress towards these targets.

·         Phase-out investments in and subsidies for fossil fuels for energy generation. Transition financing to the technologies and infrastructure needed for development, adoption, and scale-up of renewable energy sources and investments in energy efficiency.

·         Ensure that climate policies support energy access and sustainable energy for all by promoting distributed renewable energy technologies in energy-poor communities while enabling countries to meet energy needs for development

In addition, improvements in energy efficiency, coupled with widespread use of alternative energy sources, will also be needed. Sustainable transport and agricultural practices aimed at reducing emissions are also urgently needed.  Possibilities for development and deployment of low carbon technologies and new technologies such as carbon capture and storage and management systems will also arise.

We’ve been exploiting the natural resources since long, and it is high time we realize the damage it has done to the planet and takes necessary steps to protect our only shelter, if we hope to combat climate change, concerted efforts will need to be made locally and internationally by governments, public agencies, businesses, industries, communities and individuals.

Achieving major reductions in the use of fossil fuels is essential if the world is to secure the major cuts being sought in GHG emissions. Let’s all remember that ensuring good health of our planet is for our own good. #ClimateChange #Adaptation #ClimateAction #SDG13 #Sustainability #UrgentActions #Time4ClimateActionIsNow #WeCanSaveOurFutureTogether #DemandforClimateAction #GovernmentActions #United4ClimateAction

Kaburu Anthony: Why 2020 is a key year for the future of the plane...

Kaburu Anthony: Why 2020 is a key year for the future of the plane...: We need to stop destroying our precious environment and start to restore nature so it can keep providing us with essentials such as food, t...

Why 2020 is a key year for the future of the planet's environment

We need to stop destroying our precious environment and start to restore nature so it can keep providing us with essentials such as food, timber, water and clean air. Otherwise we risk losing the life support system offered by our shared home.

We’ve got a big task for 2020 and it’s too urgent and important to ignore − we need world leaders to do the right thing and it’s up to all of us to make sure we take action and held to account.

We’ve succeeded before in getting important decisions agreed on environmental issues − back in 2015 when the climate change agreement was signed in Paris and when the Sustainable Development Goals were agreed at the UN. So we can do it again! We need to build on those successes and push nature to the top of everybody’s to-do list.

Why is 2020 different to any other year?

Time is running out. We’re losing biodiversity – the precious web of life – which means we’re losing wildlife and nature. In my lifetime we’ve lost two thirds of global wildlife populations and carbon emissions have risen by 90%. To pull our planet back from the brink of collapse, we need to put an end to this, starting now and before the end of 2020.

I call 2020 the ‘super year’ because for nature, and therefore for us humans, this is the year it could all change. There are two significant reasons why 2020 matters:

1) If we want to reverse the trend of nature loss by 2030, we need urgent action in 2020. It will take some time to turn this ship around so we need to start now to restore nature so that people and wildlife − that so depend on nature − can thrive now and in the future. And we need everybody – individuals, citizens, governments, businesses, mayors, everybody – to step up in 2020 and take urgent action to protect and restore nature, before it’s too late.

2) 2020 is also the year of important global moments for the environment. And if we manage to push decision-makers to achieve positive results in all those meetings, we will help create a more sustainable future.

Those moments include:

·         Africa Climate Week 2020 will convene starting April 20^th to 25th under the theme, ‘Partnering for Transformation towards a Low-carbon Climate-resilient and Prosperous Africa: Managing Risks, Seizing Opportunities’. The event aims to mobilize and enhance partnerships and collaborative approaches, including to respond to the urgent need to understand the risks and impacts of climate change and integrate this knowledge in planning at all levels and in all sectors. These 2020 events will build on the success of the 2019 Regional Climate Weeks in: Accra, Ghana; Salvador, Brazil; and Bangkok, Thailand. 

·         The 75th birthday of the UN which is celebrated during the opening of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2020 in New York as well as the Biodiversity Leaders’ Summit which might take place at the same time and place. These will provide prime opportunities for world leaders to declare that it is no longer acceptable to continue to degrade our planet and that urgent action to restore nature starts now.

·          The UN deciding on a new 10-year framework for biodiversity under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at its 15th Conference of Parties (COP-15) in October 2020 in Beijing. These goals and targets need to set the path for nature recovery around the world and reflect the reality that healthy economies and societies are dependent on healthy natural systems.

·         At the 26th Conference of Parties (COP-26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2020, countries will have the opportunity to enhance their national action plans to ensure that the goals of the Paris Agreement are achieved. Currently, country plans do not add up to keeping global warming below 1.5 or 2 degrees which is necessary to avoid catastrophic change. So we need more ambitious plans that also recognise the critical links with restoring natural systems and achieving sustainable development.

·         Some of the environmental targets under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will expire in 2020. At the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) in July 2020 in New York, countries need to extend them meaningfully up until 2030, the overall deadline of the SDGs and recognise that achievement of the SDGs will depend on successfully restoring natural systems and addressing climate change.

We have about 10 months until the end of 2020. We’ve got a lot to get done in this time, so we better get started. And I know we can do it, if we put our minds and hearts into it! #SaveOurEnvironment #SDG15 #SDGS #Sustainability #Ecosystems #Biodiversity #EnvironmentalAction2020 #ClimateChange

Kaburu Anthony: Why Cities Matter for Sustainable Development

Kaburu Anthony: Why Cities Matter for Sustainable Development: The rapid growth of cities in the developing world and increasing rural-to-urban migration has led to a boom in urban sprawl and mega-citie...