It's a cruel , cruel Summer ...

The topic of Refugees is an uncomfortable one. The recent Xenophobic attacks have left our nation with unexplored feelings of guilt. Any psychologist worth their salt will tell you that pent up emotions can't be too healthy.



" who is The Other?"

" why are our levels of tolerance so low?"

" are WE in any way responsible for the refugees?"

While we know that the situation in South Africa is not simply about foreigners, it seems as though we have just wished away discussion around the topic once 'Xenophobia' migrated from the headlines.

The reason that we need to have 'this discussion' is because issues around migration and refugees are sure to gain more importance but less exposure. Reasons for this include nations tightening their boundaries (under the guise of national security), civil-wars, strained resources and climate change.

The first three reasons have been explored to a large extent, but I wish to focus on the last cause for the emerging class of refugees.

The definition for "Environmental Refugees" has not yet been crystallised, but there is a call for a universal definition which would entitle this recognised group to receive aid that is allocated and allowed for refugees. One definition, developed by El-Hinnawi in 1985, sees environmental refugees as: "those people who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption (natural and/or triggered by people) that jeopardized their existence and/or seriously affected the quality of their life [sic]. By ‘environmental disruption’ in this definition is meant any physical, chemical, and/or biological changes in the ecosystem (or resource base) that render it, temporarily or permanently unsuitable to support human life.” (El-Hinnawi quoted from UNU-EHS 2008). Analysis around classification of refugees would show that the classes are interlinked .

The factors driving environmental migration include 'poverty, failing Eco systems, vulnerability to natural hazards and gradual climate-driven environmental change'. (1) Climate change impacts on the environment in the following ways: warming and drying reduces agricultural potential by destroying clean water and fertile soil, it leads to extreme weather events (eg. floods) causing mass migration. Finally, rising sea levels permanently destroys coastal regions, again causing mass migration.

Questions then arise ," do we really need to intervene? will the environment not just regulate itself? can we take responsibility for natural phenomenon?"

An honest analysis would reveal that 'We' (the energy guzzlers of the modern world) , are a direct cause for many of these dramatic events. Conisbee and Simms (2), in the handbook 'environmental refugees - a case for recognition' state: more than any war or political upheaval, global warming stands to displace millions of people. And global warming is being driven by the fossil fuel-intensive lifestyles that the West enjoys."

It becomes a situation (in many cases) of the world's poorest communities paying for the mistakes of the wealthiest nations. This seems to be a recurring theme ... the economic crisis reflects this philosophy as well.

At the moment we find ourselves at the point of trying to define the problem , some circles are still trying to decide weather the problem of 'environmental refugees' actually exists.

Interventions at this point will be far from pro-active, but ignoring the importance of this , in my opinion , is negligent. We have seen (in South Africa) how refugees can bear the brunt of frustrations when it comes to strained resources. The situation globally is sure to worsen , are we prepared?

The experts have cited solutions that include advocacy around these issues. This is an area that is accessible to us. Blog it , read about it , talk to your book club about it. On a small scale, let us be more conscious about our carbon footprint, on a larger scale, let us put pressure on industrialised nations to pay carbon tax - big time .

An interesting and interrelated subject is that of food and water security - watch this space.

on a more Muslim note : Ponder over the attitude of the ansaar towards the muhajireen. They were accepting and truly made the effort to share their resources ...

(1) Morton et. al : Human Seurity Policy Challenges http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR31/FMR31.pdf
(2) www.neweconomics.org