US Halts Family Reunification of Refugees

The US State Department has halted the family reunification of African refugees due to their belief that the participants were creating fraud. The article by BBC did not say what prompted it, but DNA tests were issued on samples of applicants and showed that only about 20% had blood relation. The State Department and Homeland security thus deemed this a fraud and have halted the program.
It is clear that the implementors of this investigation are ignorant of African kinship networks. Family is regarded as anyone who comes from the same village, compound, or community as you and is very rarely genetically defined. Also, as the African diaspora expands, Africans define family even more loosely. I, myself, who was not brought up in Cameroon refer to my family members as fellow Cameroonians that I've known since childhood, those who come from the same village as my parents, and even those who share the same dialect as my parents. I often and easily refer to someone that I may have met that same day as my cousin, aunt, or uncle.
Likewise, I come from a very large family and have more cousins than I can count. My mother being the most successful of the family has financially supported almost all of my cousins. For this reason many of them view her as their mother and if they were to immigrate to the US, she would call them her daughter or son.
Ultimately, I understand why an African refugee would refer to an extended relative or someone that is not a blood relative as their child or daughter. There is a good chance that they raised them! Especially in communities ravaged by warfare, such as the ones tested, where a child may have been orphaned. But I think that the US should rethink its labeling of this frequency of occurrences as a fraud and instead realize that if the pattern was found in so many countries (Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Guinea, Gambia and Ivory Coast), perhaps there's a gap in intercultural communication. And more importantly, if the resources and opportunities already exist for these people to be resettled and removed from potentially violent situations- why prevent it on such an arbitrary basis?

Bakassi: A Conflict for Land and Identity - But What Does This Reveal About Governance?

The situation in Bakassi Peninsula goes beyond that of land allocation, conflict over resources, or even development. It is clearly an issue of the effects that governance has on national identity.
The people of Bakassi have inhabitated an area that has been contested by Cameroon as theirs but claimed by Nigeria for decades. However, in 2002, after 15 years of political debate, the International Court of Justice awarded the land to Cameroon, much to the dismay of Nigeria and most of the inhabitants of Bakassi. On August 14, over 5 years after the court decision, the land was finally handed over to Cameroon.



The region was home to about 300,000 but in the months leading to the handover, over 100,000 people fled due to a desire to maintain their Nigerian citizenship as well as fear that during the hand over there would be violent clashes between Nigerian and Cameroonian factions in dispute over the handover. Though this fear was warranted due to a few skirmishes during the past year, on the actual day of the handover, things were relatively peaceful and the international community has congratulated both parties for the successful and most importantly peaceful implementation of the agreement.
But still, many residents of Bakassi are adamant about retaining their Nigerian citizenship. To the point that many of them have moved to overcrowded transit camps in Nigeria, abandoning their homes and businesses in Bakassi. In attempts to appease them, Nigeria began constructing a "New Bakassi", but this plan has been largely unsuccessful and even resulted in the displacement and destruction of homes and property of the original inhabitants of the land in an effort to make space for migrants from Bakassi.
This massive move of the inhabitants of Bakassi to Nigeria is a clear indication that their grievance with the handing over of the land is not rooted in their desire to occupy the assumingly oil rich peninsula and lucrative fishing economy, but rather feelings that they were betrayed by the Nigerian government (specifically former President Obasanjo) due to the ease in which they handed the land and thus the citizens over to Cameroon. The battle for land was in principle to those in Bakassi, a battle for the people who identified themselves as Nigerian.
Many Nigerian politicians as well as former community members of Bakassi have vowed to continue to contest the decision of the court even though the land has been handed over. However, the Cameroonian government and media has remained largely silent on the topic and assert that peace should be maintained in the region and Cameroonians and Nigerians should continue to coexist as they do along much of the border that they share.
I can't help but feel that the Cameroonian government is slightly embarrassed by how adamant the residents of Bakassi are about maintaining Nigerian citizenship. Perhaps this will give the government of Cameroon and impetus to investigate its treatment of its own citizens and why inhabitants of a neighboring village would rather become refugees than secure claim to their land. Sam Nuvala Fonkem compares the plight of Bakassi residents to that of Southern Cameroonians and the social division that developed after Cameroon's 1961 plebiscite, resulting in a longstanding political and economical marginalization of the group. Inhabitants of Bakassi have also expressed their fear of treatment they will receive from the Cameroonian government as well as the treatment they have witnessed of those living in parts of Bakassi, which had been previously ceded to Cameroon.
Ultimately, it is amazing how the creation of the nation state has developed identities- though officially controlled by its current inhabitors for less than 50 years- that are powerful enough to trump individuals' loyalty to land and history. During colonialism borders were so fluid and often changed without notice to the actual inhabitants. But today, we see country after country battling to rewrite borders that didnt exist during their initial inhabitance and were drawn by foreigners who no longer (and maybe never) inhabited it!

Difficulties Returning Home

There are at least 40 million refugees and internally displaced people through out the world. And the goal of most is to be able to return home. However, because conflict and natural disaster are usually the source of their displacement, returning home is not as simple as many think. Once the war is over or the lands have dried, many people have nothing left to return to. This has been a huge challenge of the humanitarian community and unfortunately continues to compound.

Liberia has been heralded for resolving its conflict and soaring economically in the last year. However, the effects of displacement still linger. This week 12 farm workers and may be more were killed over land disputes and citizens in the DRC are facing the same issue.

I suggest that in addition to creating land distribution programs, governments need to encourage formal land ownership documentation and archives. Too often land ownership in rural settings has been relied on oral history and communal networks, which were severely fractioned and even destroyed during longstanding conflicts.

Yes, Mugabe, You've Officially Lost Your Mind!

CARE provides assistance to 500,000 of Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable people, including orphans, the sick and the elderly. This month, it would have fed more than 110,000 people in schools, orphanages, old age homes and through other programs.

And last week, President Mugabe suspended CARE from operating in Zimbabwe. He asserts that CARE has been financially supporting opposition parties in Zimbabwe and encouraging people to vote against the ZANU-PF, the current ruling party, which has been in power for almost 30 years.
CARE, like most humanitarian aid organizations are nonpartisan and deny the accusations levied against them. Of course, I do not know whether or not CARE staff was speaking against the government in the name of CARE, but what I do know is that President Mugabe and the ZANU-PF have been institutionally silencing all citizens and organizations that have criticized their regime. I have spoken out about this in previous posts, especially when their abuse extended to US Ambassadors and diplomats, but if I thought they crossed the line before, now they've completely erased it.
To suspend the operations of a leading and reputable humanitarian organization is blasphemous, especially on the brink of a mass repatriation of tens of thousands of citizens who have been run out of South Africa and seek support at all levels.
When will our leaders embrace a true democracy that involves a critique of our leaders and support of opposition groups?!?!? Why is it a crime to have a differing of opinions? For centuries we've sought to be viewed as a diverse people and not one monolithic group, yet we persecute those who challenge our perspective. But to continually risk the livelihoods and development of your people is sick. And all I am left to believe is: Yes, Mugabe, You've Officially Lost Your Mind!

Operation Rudi Nyumbani

Kenya has begun the process of resettling those displaced due to election violence, dubbed: Operation Rudi Nyumbani. Though, many have told the government that they will not return home until they are compensated for their loss. They say that they are not being properly ensured that their resettlements will be facilitated. and have also complained of inadequate protection in their home communities.
In response, the government has begun a quest to raise $500 million to help the IDPs return home. Some feel that though this may be necessary because of the loss many IDPs have suffered, the Kenyan government has dug a deep hole for itself by promising compensation to those that were displaced. There has already been a trend of people not living in camps, traveling to them in order to receive aid. How will the government control and verify that those who were actually displaced receive compensation. More importantly, where will the government get the funds to compensate the hundreds of thousands of people who were displaced? Election violence is nothing new to Kenya. And though the most recent wave of violence was on a larger scale, political conflict has plagued the region since its independence and is highly foreseeable in the future. As well intentioned as compensation is, it is not a wise precedent to set if it cannot be immediately fulfilled or maintained in the coming years.

Hostility Hurts the Needy

Humanitarian aid workers often find themselves torn in hostile situations, where the most needy are often the hardest to reach due to security issues. Yesterday, an aid worker with Save the Children was shot and killed when her convoy was attacked by gunman. Rebels often attack aid fleets in order to steal food, medication, and other supplies, making it difficult for aid workers to reach the most needy. As a result of this fatal attack, Save the Children has suspended their operations in Eastern Chad, indefinitely, and other aid organizations have suspended their operations there for two days. This a region overwhelmed with about 250,000 refugees from neighboring Darfur and over 100,000 displaced Chadians. Unfortunately, though the fatality of this attack was shocking, there have been at least 70 aid agency vehicles hijacked in Chad in the past two years, including the non-fatal shooting of a UNICEF worker.

Horses More Important Than People

The recent displacement of tens of thousands of Chadians is completely despicable and unimaginable. After a failed coup attempt, residents were given 30 days to evacuate and over 2000 homes were destroyed.
The government stands by its word that the residents inhabited the land, unlawfully and it was needed to build a massive horse-racing track…
The government has not provided shelter for those it has made homeless and many are leaving next to their demolished property or have traveled to Northern Cameroon to join other refugees who fled during fighting in early February.

Are they Displaced the Only Ones Who Deserve Aid?

Currently, there is conflict surrounding refugee and displaced people, where locals who are still fortunate to live in their homes, feel that those in camps are receiving better treatment than they are. Aid agencies often overlook the fact that though those that are living in camps are obviously unable to provide for themselves, due to their displacement, most likely those living in the communities surrounding the camps are struggling as well, but were fortunately located in areas that were not directly impacted by conflict, but they still lack basic needs.
Some community members feel so neglected that they often go to camps and pose as dwellers in order to receive the rations given to those who actually live there. Should this be viewed as theft, greed, or perhaps an unavoidable issue that needs to be addressed?


Kenya: Red Cross Complains of Fake Refugees

The East African Standard (Nairobi)

13 April 2008
Posted to the web 14 April 2008

Peter Mutai And Roselyn Obala
Nairobi

The Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary-General Mr Abbas Gullet says half of the 14, 000 people camping at Nakuru Showground are not genuine internally displaced persons.

Gullet said an estimated 7,000 people were taking advantage of the situation to get free food and other humanitarian assistance. He said the masqueraders wanted to use the opportunity to get compensation from the Government.

Speaking at the Nakuru DC's office on Saturday morning, Gullet said the alleged IDPs were only found at the camp during the day and retreated to stay with relatives at night.

Accompanied by a representative of the UNHCR, Mr Liz Ahua, they were received by senior DO 1, Mr Albert Mulita.

He called on the Government to look for ways of getting rid of the masqueraders. At the same time, Gullet said some militia groups have infiltrated the camp.

Separately, IDPs at Kakamega Police Station have expressed fears of disease outbreak due to adverse weather conditions.

Their spokesman, Mr Peter Munyiri, said more than 400 people at the camp have leaking tents.

Munyiri said the IDPs were being forced to sit all night due to the heavy rains. "Children are the worst affected and are prone to malaria and pneumonia," he said.