Musing on India - Part 2
All that glitters is not gold
All that glisters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgement old
Your answer had not been inscroll'd
Fare you well, your suit is cold.
From "The Merchant of Venice"
by W.Shakespeare
90% of what is to know about a country, you will pick up within the first minute you leave the airport. You will understand 90% of what there is to know about a hotel, within the first minute after you walk through the entrance.
"Mmmmm", says Raj as she looks up the grey facade of the "Nagpal Regency". I agree with her, and we walk in together. Kinda of marble floor. Glitters for the evening's wedding. Staff in uniform. Apparently they don't have any booking for us, but have spare rooms. Which I'd like to see first.
Shady people walk out of the elevator as we're going up. Thin foam mattresses lay against a wall on the third floor, with spotted and torn covers. The floor is covered with a filthy sheet.
The room the receptionist shows us, has no window, the bathroom is as spotless as a Delhi dark alley way, and it looks like the bed covers were white in the 18th century. Which might also be the time they were last changed, according to the spots on it. It does not look like sheets are changed after guests check out.
"Excellent, thank you very much", I say with an acid smile, and walk out as fast as I can.
"And?", my travel companions ask. "Rented by the hour", I answer, as we drive to the next hotel. "Friends Regency" looks much better. And smells better too.
Two days later, we are editing the last videos, as the car is waiting to drive us back to Delhi, an eight hours nighttime ordeal. And as a true storm engulfs Ludhiana into a dark doomsday feeling...
Dust kicks up as high as the fourth floor, while we try to cut the last video scenes. Around us, it looks like heaven got invaded by hell. Lightning crashes around us. Pieces of corrugated metal, cardboard and other undefined flying objects are kicked up by the wind, and battered down by the thick screen of rain.
Inches above us, on the hotel's roof, the huge publicity billboards collapse under the high winds, and a dozen people run around, trying to keep the boards from flying off. All on the roof just above our head.
Those are the times where one has to switch into "Ommmmm"-mode, abstracting one's self from surrounding's reality and concentrate on the task at hand. You do your work step by step, and forget about the rest. There is not much you can do about the storm, the junk on the roof, and the nightly drive.
Even though, for a moment, curiosity got the better of me, and I sneak around the corner to see what's up on the roof. And discover that most of the hotel personnel seems to live on tiny shacks on the roof. Shacks which have all but collapsed in the wind. The empty wine bottles are still neatly stacked in the corner.
False beauty is only skin deep.
(to be continued...) Read the full post...
Musing on India - Part 1
[i-Hyderabad]
Most of the time, I feel inspired when I come back from my field trips. Especially the previous trips to Kenya, Mali, Ghana and Burkina Faso have been inspiring. I had the privilege to talk to dozens of farmers on practical techniques they adopted to cope with the changing environment.
In Africa, most of these stories were encouraging, positive, with a "rolling up our sleeves"-attitude. Not so for my India trip. Not much of that "rolling up our sleeves", and me not feeling invigorated.
I realize I only saw a small part of India, and my views are just snapshots, fragmented and highly subjective. Even though it was my third or fourth trip, the time I spent there was nothing but a mini-flash of the whole picture which India represents.
[i-Map India]
We flew into Hyderabad, where I gave training sessions about social media on the ICRISAT campus, an oasis of calm and peace in a hectic Hyderabad. I loved that part of the trip. Truly inspiring to see the other side of the "food chain": the nonprofit agricultural research.
Then we flew to Delhi, drove to Punjab for interviews with farmers, drove back to Delhi, flew to Bihar for more farmer interviews, and flew back to Delhi.
[i-Man on Indian market]
Much of my impressions are the same as those I retained after my visits ten years ago: hectically busy on the streets, people wherever you look, cars honking endlessly and purposely, smoking chimneys wherever you look, smog, dirt almost everywhere.
I don't think I saw a single river which was not filled with crap. I don't think I stood at any point where I could say "this is rural". High-tension electricity poles, mobile phone towers and factories about everywhere.
[i-Punjab farmer]
Luckily, it was winter, and the temperatures were low to moderate. In Delhi and Punjab, a mist-slash-smog hung over the cities. While we did the interviews with farmers in Punjab, against the bright green wheat fields, topped with a white misty sky, I thought I could be standing in a field back home in Belgium, during spring. Not much of a difference at first glance. At least not on the surface.
But there are things on the surface and then there are things below the surface.
(to be continued...)
Picture of the Day: Malaysia floods
[i-Malaysia floods]
Cows and abandoned vehicles stranded on a tiny strip of land surrounded by flood water in Jeram Perdas northeast of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. (Full)
Have a close look at that picture. Surreal...
More Pictures of the Day on The Road.
Picture courtesy Reuters/The New Straits Times Press/Fathil Asri
Microfinancing at work in the Philippines after the typhoons
[i-link]
Mary is a Kiva Fellow who is currently in the Philippines. She works with ASKI, one of the Kiva's local microfinance partners. ASKI operates 24 branches of which Ilagan, Tugugraro and Cayaun were the hardest hit by the recent typhoons.
Of the 60,037 ASKI Clients, 5,943 (about 10%) were affected by the typhoons. The total damage, both personal and businesses amounts to US$1,405,808...
She wrote me an update:The standing crops were damaged due to “VERY” strong wind. Rice crops were totally damaged and lost. Vegetables crops and fishing business were totally washed out... The above villages are still in recovery especially in the village of Antagan 1 & 2 which were the most affected.
The typhoon caused a lot of damages in the people's livelihood. Most of their ricefields which were ready to harvest, were totally wash out due to flash floods. Hundreds of cows and carabaos were also found dead.
ASKI is made up of 2 arms: an Micro Finance Institute and a foundation. When things like the typhoon hits, the MFI taps on the shoulders of the Foundation so they can offer as many contingencies as possible to lenders and still remain solvent.
ASKI has responded to the storms in an amazing way: quickly and compassionately they personally delivered $26,000 of relief goods in dangerous ares to all affected communities in Central and Northen Luzon, based on need. The Foundation has also set up a Disaster Council for future financial and logistical planning.
ASKI recently implemented mandatory crop insurance (PCIP) from the government of the Philippines for all agricultural loans. They are now speeding up implementation. The ASKI board has just approved the following loan contingency plans. Together, clients and loan Officers will decide which of 3 options makes sense for each situation: a loan moratorium, a loan restructuring or a refinance.
In the mean time, our project raising funds for the microfinance entrepreneurs affected by the recent Asian typhoons generated $2,500 so far. For every comment left on this post, I will fund US$5 for entrepreneurs in the area.
Picture courtesy Philippe Martou of WFP Logistics, which set up an extensive relief operation in the region.
Picture of the day: Suicide bomb in Peshawar
A huge and lethal blast rocked a crowded market in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Friday, in what appeared to be a warning about the government’s plans to launch a military offensive against militants in the frontier region of South Waziristan.
The blast, which police and security officials suspected was caused by a suicide car bomb containing more than 100 pounds of explosives, was the biggest in Pakistan in months, killing at least 48 people, including seven children and one woman, and wounding 148 others. (Full)
A car bomb, in a public market place, on a Friday... Clearly aimed to kill as many innocent people as possible. Civilians. People like you and me, who have nothing to do with the so-called war.
Killing children has nothing to do with religion anymore. This has nothing to do with faith anymore. Not even with politics. This is about power, and money, and control. At any cost, in any way possible.
I can not imagine how vicious a mind can be to plan and execute something like this. It is a spiral that seems to be impossible control, leave alone to be stopped. Anyone can strap explosives around his waste or stuff it in the trunk of his car and blow himself up in the most crowded places, trying to kill as many innocent people as possible.
More Pictures of the Day on The Road.
Picture courtesy European Pressphoto Agency Read the full post...
Picture of the day: Manila flooding
[i-Manila Flooding Typhoon Ketsana]
Children look out from a window of a partially submerged house in floodwaters brought on by Typhoon Ketsana, in San Pedro Laguna, south of Manila September 30, 2009.
This picture is part of an excellent picture series on the Boston Globe.
More Pictures of the Day on The Road.
Picture courtesy REUTERS/Erik de Castro. Discovered via Heads Down, Eyes Open.
Climate change: 20% of China is now desert.
Sean Gallagher is a photojournalist living in China. With the support of Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting to highlight the impact of desertification in China.
Almost 20% of China's land is now desert, affecting 400 million people. In Western China over one million acres of fertile land turn into desert. Per year. Last year they suffered a peak drought.
Climate change, wind and water erosion, industrialization, agriculture, untimely policy changes, you name it.
[Loband: Object Removed -]
China's desertification is not only a problem for the Chinese. It impacts the world as a whole. I am not talking about what 1,000,000 acres of desert mean to the world's climate, alone: the more fertile land turns into sand, the more China is looking for agriculture land abroad, competing with European biofuel companies and Arab countries trying to secure their food production too. And money buys land in Africa. Easily. Even if this means they need to reduce their own food production.
Video courtesy Sean Gallagher. Discovered via Resolve and Duckrabbit
Burger King: Food or Sex?
[i-Singapore Burger King ad sexually inspired]
Seems everything is sold through sex these days. This Singapore Burger King ad promises "the Super Seven Incher" will "blow your mind away".
The smaller text reads:
Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled with the NEW BK SUPER SEVEN INCHER. Yearn for more after you taste the mind-blowing burger that comes with a single beef patty, topped with American cheese, crispy onions and the A1 Thick and Hearty Steak Sauce.
Did they forget to add: "Don't squeeze it too hard or the mayo will run off your hands"?...
Discovered via Global Voices Online Read the full post...
Acute hunger spots in the world
[i-Drought in Karamoja - Uganda]
Myanmar faces food shortages in many parts of the country, largely because of last year's cyclone Nargis destroyed most of the delta's harvest and a rat infestation wiped out most of the remaining crops.
A total of 2 million acres (800,000 hectares) of rice paddy were submerged saltwater waves and 85 percent of seed stocks were destroyed. A shortage of labor - 130,000 were left dead after Nargis - higher fertilizer prices and lower rice prices have dissuaded delta farmers from planting, causing about 185,000 tons of emergency food aid needed this year. (Full)
There is a general alert going out for an upcoming wave of hunger due to a drought in the Horn of Africa:
In Uganda's Karamoja region 970,000 people are heading towards starvation. The Government declared the whole region as an emergency area and said "food must [quickly] be distributed to this area to avert this problem." Drought conditions will cause conditions unlikely to improve before October when the next harvest is due. (Full)
The same regional drought also hit Kenya hard. In the South-eastern regions, the third consecutive bad crop will force 3.2 million people to resort to food aid. (Full)
Since August last year, WFP, the UN's main food assistance agency, has lost 4 staff in Somalia due to security incidents. Last week they said if the situation does not improve, they will be forced to cut their food aid, which will affect 2.5 million people. (Full)
In Zimbabwe, the hunger figures are even worse. The prolonged political turmoil has turned Africa's former breadbasket into one of the continent's poorest countries. Currently 4.5 million Zimbabweans are fully dependent on food aid, a figure expected to raise to 6 million in the next month.
Due to lack of donor funding, WFP has been forced to cut core monthly maize rations from 10kg -already 2kg below the recommended ration- to 5kg a month for adults. That is just about 600 calories a day. (Full)
News discovered via NewsFeeds and AidNews.
Picture courtesy James Akena (WFP)
Picture of the day: Survivor
china earthquake survival[i-china earthquake survival]
A quake survivor tries to make the most of what is left of his home in Yinghua, China. The earthquake on May 12th killed 65,000 people and left 5 million homeless.
More Pictures of the Day on The Road.
Picture courtesy Oded Balilty (AP/Times)
News: From Cyclone Sidr to Cyclone Nargis - an aidworker's perspective
Cyclone victims[i-Cyclone victims]
An aidworker from Oxfam explains how the immediate effect of the cyclone devastation is only the beginning of misery for those affected.
Those on the ground (in Myanmar) are estimating that at least 100,000 people were killed by the storm. The numbers are devastating, each one of them painfully reminding me what a difference an investment into disaster preparedness and early warning systems — like those that have been implemented in Bangladesh — could have made for the families in Myanmar.
Surface water that people are used to drinking is likely to be contaminated not only by dead bodies and livestock carcasses, but also human and animal waste spread by floodwaters and overflowing latrines. The weather forecast for this week predicts more heavy rain, and even a new storm approaching the cyclone-affected area. With people’s resistance to disease already weakened after days of living in overcrowded conditions without food and proper roofs over their heads, the children and elderly are likely to be among the worst affected.
Even once the floodwaters recede, they will leave behind a fertile breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes — bringing with them deadly threats like malaria and dengue fever (dengue season in Myanmar runs from May to October, the country had a major outbreak only last year). And I haven’t even begun to think about the psychological and emotional trauma that the storm has left behind. (Full)
Picture courtesy New York Times. Read the full post...
News: Myanmar - begging to aid or forcing to aid?
Myanmar Cyclone Nargis victim[i-Myanmar Cyclone Nargis victim]
From the UN press briefing in Geneva on May 13:
The UN Secretary-General registered his deep concern —and immense frustration— at the unacceptably slow response to the grave humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. They were at a critical point, and unless more aid got into the country —very quickly— the people faced an outbreak of infectious diseases that could dwarf today’s crisis. The Secretary_General called, in the most strenuous terms, on the Government of Myanmar to put its people’s lives first. It must do all that it could to prevent this disaster from becoming even more serious.
From the same briefing:
Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, responding to a question on the fact that it was strange that the Human Rights Council would be holding a Special Session on the global food crisis, but not on the current situation in Myanmar, said (..) there had been discussion to some extent on the possibility of talking about Myanmar, but the Council had a very full programme, including the Universal Periodic Review, so it was a pretty packed schedule at the moment and it would be difficult to fit (the issue of Myanmar human rights) in.
What do we read in this? Is the international community "begging to aid"? But not "forcing to aid" by stating more explicitely that a regime denying its citizens the "right to sufficient and effective aid" is a violation of human rights? Up to what level is this morally and ethically acceptable?
Donate to the Myanmar Cyclone Nargis victims[i-Donate to the Myanmar Cyclone Nargis victims]
Picture courtesy AP (New York Times)
Picture of the Day: Trapped in China
china earthquake[i-china earthquake]
A rescuer holds the hand of a trapped student at Wudu Primary School on the outskirts of Mianzhu, in Sichuan Province, China.
Rescue workers across southwestern China struggle to reach the tens of thousands of people who remain buried in the aftermath of the earthquake, as the death toll climbs above 13,000. (Full)
More "Pictures of the Day" on the Road.
Picture courtesy of Chen Jianli (Xinhua via Reuters)
Picture of the day: Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar
Myanmar Cyclone Nargis[i-Myanmar Cyclone Nargis]
Almost a week after Cyclone Nargis inundated Myanmar’s densely settled coast, wiped out villages and left untold tens of thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless, the first two United Nations flights carrying relief supplies arrived in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, on Thursday. (Full)
More "Pictures of the Day" on the Road.
Picture courtesy Andy Newman (New York Times)
Picture of the day: Pakistan food queues
Islamabad food queues[i-Islamabad food queues]
People queueing for food at the entrance of a shop near Islamabad. The cost of food and fuel increased significantly in Pakistan, forcing more and more people to turn to public aid.
Check for more "Pictures of the Day" and other posts about the global food crisis on The Road.
Picture courtesy AP/Morenatti, Source: Le Figaro
Picture of the day: World Malaria Day
world malaria day[i-world malaria day]
Indian flood victims suffering from malaria lie on hospital beds in Alindra (India) after the 2004 floods. Malaria kills 1 million people every year. Today is World Malaria Day. (Full)
More "Pictures of the Day" on the Road.
Picture courtesy Amit Dave/Reuters
News: Bangladesh Not Recovered from Cyclone Sidr
Cyclone Sidr left many without a home[i-Cyclone Sidr left many without a home]Cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh on November 15 last year, causing massive flooding in the world's 7th most populated country. After the initial response, this emergency disappeared from the world's TV screens, as emergencies often do. And they should not. The effects of natural disasters like the flooding of this size are far more profound than merely the dead to be burried, the homeless to be sheltered, and the sick to be cured.
Homeless after Cyclone Sidr[i-Homeless after Cyclone Sidr]A massive amount of farmland was flooded (553,000 hectares to be exact) by the surge waters and rains, a large part of the rice crop was destroyed. Rice being Bangladesh's staple food, the "real emergency effects" start to surfice now through the food shortages. Rice prices have shot up. Aid agencies are bringing in over half a million ton of rice.
But this time, I don't want to talk much about these massive aid operations. I wanted to show you one thing that I found while browsing on the topic of Cyclone Sidr: how one individual tried to make a difference, with the tools he has at his disposal, answering the question people often as us, aid workers: "How can *I* make a difference?" Well, here is an example how one can:
An article about Sidr's relief efforts I found in Globalvoices, pointed me to Vlogger Shawn's Uncultured Project. Shawn is a 26 year old former graduate student from the University of Notre Dame. After a presentation about the "This generation's home work to end poverty", he was inspired to go to Bangladesh for a self-funded project to see what difference HE could make in helping some of the world's worst off under the motto: "Are we doing enough to make a the world a better place?" Here is his video story:
[Loband: Object Removed -]
Rumble: Ham radio, anyone?
I am not a happy camper. And that is an understatement. Before we left, I emphasized them to keep a watch for us on our monitor frequency. And now, I call them, and … nothing, nada, ziltch. The sun is already set behind the mountain tops. Even though the sky still has a hint of a dark-blue afterglow, it is already dark. And when I say dark, I mean pitch dark. There is not a single light. The headlights of the trucks in our convoy beam into a void as they negotiate twists and turns of this bombed road. They light up nothing but emptiness. And bomb craters. And little flags marked ‘Mines’. But for the rest, I can not describe it in any other way but “Void-ness”. Absolute empty-ness. There is nothing in this part of the world. There is nothing that grows. There are no houses. No-one lives here. There is only light brown dirt. Dirt and bits and pieces of mangled war-toys. A rusted tank, half buried in the sand. Or a rotor blade from a helicopter sticking from a pile of rubble. But for the rest, dirt. I can not believe this part of the world has been a battleground for the past twenty years.(full story)
Lost Connection
Dubai airport at night[i-Dubai airport at night]
I step out of the plane and look at my watch. 10 pm. Two hours to shop in the Dubai Tax Free before boarding my connecting flight to Islamabad, Pakistan.
I follow the stream of arriving passengers moving along on the first floor of the airport, overlooking the shopping area. I look at the vast crowd below. A dense mix of every possible Dubai Duty free shopping are[i-Dubai Duty free shopping are]nationality, religion and ethnicity in the world, expressed through a myriad of dress codes. From formal western suites, the traditional Arab dishdashahs, women in mini skirts mixed with those fully veiled. Rough Afghani chupans, expensive Indian silk sari’s, Berber djellabas, Australian safari shorts, Sudanese turbans, American baseball caps and Arab hijabs. This crowd seems to represent the world within one space. But the crowd is not strolling along from one shop to another in its usual way. The people are talking in groups, some with raised voices and expressive hand gestures, and others whisper. There is no laughing, nor joy but a nervousness makes the tension in the air so thick one could cut it with a knife. You do not have to be a clairvoyant to feel something is wrong.
Hundreds of people are lining up at the transit counters, below large displays listing numerous cancelled and delayed flights. The atmosphere is grim. Utter grim. I grab hold of someone in an Emirates Airlines uniform and ask her what is going on. She answers: “Have you not heard? The US started bombing Afghanistan a few hours ago. They closed the airspace above Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and all Gulf countries. No civil plane will be flying anymore for a while!”.
For a moment, I feel like the ground is pulled away from beneath my feet. “The US started bombing Afghanistan… This, we have feared since 9/11, a month ago. Retaliation. The beginning of the turmoil in the region, which will last for years. What will happen with Pakistan? How will the government react, how will the people react?”, thoughts flash through my mind as the lady explains the airline has booked hotel rooms, and buses are waiting outside.
I act like a robot: I walk through immigration, pick up my bags, and walk outside. The heat, humidity and mere mass of people crowded at the airport exit cuts off my breath. I get onto the bus and let myself fall into a free seat. I look at the crowd, the stuck traffic,…
- “Not flying tonight, are you?”, a voice says. I wake up from my reverie and look at the guy next to me. American accent.
- “No, apparently not!”, I mumble.
- “Harry”, he says as he holds out his hand.
- “Peter”, I answer, “where were you supposed to fly to?”
- “Oh, I was supposed to fly to Uganda”, he says, “my wife works there.”
- “Oh, really”, I answer, “I worked there too, left two years ago”. I try to make conversation, killing the time waiting for the bus to leave..
- “Really? You work for the UN?”
- “Yes, I do, for WFP”.
- “Oh, my wife works in the same building.. Cathy Ashcroft, maybe you know her!”. It turns out Harry is the husband of Cathy I know since years, the same Cathy I helped setting up the OCHA office in Kampala. We engage into a vivid conversation of Kampala, life in Africa, relief work and of course come back to the subject of the US bombing campaign.
After checking into the hotel, Harry and I walk to the night club, the only place we can still get a drink. In the mean time, it is already 1 am. A few men and a couple form the meagre audience, spread over a dozen tables. A small live band is playing without much enthusiasm. We take a seat in the back, and order a drink. I really really need a drink.
US bombing campaign[i-US bombing campaign]I tell Harry about how we feared for the retaliation, how we feared how the whole region was going to react. No matter how much everyone hated the Taliban, it was still an attack on a sovereign country. A Muslim country. Would countries in the region now choose sides? Be forced to choose sides? Above all, it would mean that masses of people would be killed. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands would start moving within the country, trying to find refuge. It could possibly cause an exodus into all countries around Afghanistan: Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran,... Working for a front-line humanitarian organisation, I know what this would mean for us: we would go and provide aid, close to the line of fire. I think of all our national staff who is still in Afghanistan.
All of a sudden the band changes beat and a belly dancer starts her act. There is something wrong with this picture… A war has started tonight. A big one. And here we are in a dark bar, watching a belly dancer…
Tomahawk missile launched from a war ship[i-Tomahawk missile launched from a war ship]I find no joy, pay for the drinks, say good-bye to Harry, and walk outside. Sitting on a bench near the hotel entrance, I lit a cigarette. I close my eyes, and imagine the infernos of fire, explosions, shrapnel in the black night around Kabul, Jalalabad and Kandahar. All places I have visited in Afghanistan. I can see families trying to seek refuge in their homes. I can see their fear not knowing what is going on, how long it would last, and what this would mean for them, and their livelihood. I can smell their fear even where I was sitting.
I look up. The night sky is clear. I imagine the Tomahawks launched from war ships close by. I imagine war planes rushing overhead, ten miles up in the sky. The pilots looking down at Dubai, this city of light and splendour, as they bank left and turn the direction of Afghanistan.
Postscript.
I was blocked in Dubai for three days. Spent the whole time in my hotel room, on email and telephone, coordinating with my team in Islamabad and with my counter parts in Rome. After three days, the air space was re-opened. I got onto the first plane that flew from Dubai to Islamabad. People were so anxious to get back home, they started a fight while boarding.
One month later, I landed in Kabul. As the Taliban retreated, they suffered quite some losses. People took the turbans from the bodies and threw them up in the trees. The turbans unruffled and for months long strips of shiny turban cloth were weaved in between the branches, floating in the wind.
It made me think of the start of the war and the belly dancer. The same contrast I found in dead bodies and their turbans floating in the wind, dangling from a tree. There is nothing poetic about the horrors of war. I understood what Marlon Brando meant in “Apocalypse Now”.
Pictures courtesy theme.cc (bombing), CNN (Tomahawk), umami.co.nz (Duty free zone)
Continue reading The Road to the Horizon's Ebook, jump to the Reader's Digest of The Road. Read the full post...
Rumble: Refugees for Life
My friend E. commented in one of my previous posts: "Some groups have been refugees for so long (for example, the Palestinians in Lebanon have been displaced for almost 40 years) that people (including yourself) have already 'forgotten' their plight. Did we all become immune or saturated already?"
And she is right. Read this article: "Protracted refugee situations: Millions caught in limbo, with no solutions in sight".
link[i-link]While worldwide refugee numbers have fallen to their lowest level in 25 years, a larger percentage of asylum-seekers are spending a longer time in exile in an often-overlooked plight of subsistence living in a virtual state of limbo. Excluding the Palestinians, they account for 5.7 million of the world's 9.2 million refugees.
The root causes of long-standing refugee populations stem from the very states whose instability engenders chronic regional insecurity. Most of the refugees in these regions - be they Somalis, Sudanese, Burundians or Burmese - come from countries where conflict has persisted for years.
East and West Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East are all plagued by protracted refugee situations. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number, 17, involving 1.9 million refugees. The countries hosting the biggest groups are Guinea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
In Asia (China, Thailand, India and Nepal) there are five protracted situations and some 676,000 refugees. Europe has three major cases involving 510,000 refugees, primarily in the Balkans and Armenia.
Although the measure of at least 25,000 refugees in exile for five years is traditionally used to define such situations, UNHCR argues that other groups should not be excluded. For example, of the Rohingya who fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh 12 years ago, 20,000 still remain. Similarly, there are 19,000 Burundians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 16,000 Somalis in Ethiopia, 15,000 Ethiopians in Sudan and 19,000 Rwandans in Uganda.
Picture courtesy UNHCR.
