Islamic State jihadists are using water as a weapon in Iraq

Iraqis take water from a humanitarian aid convoy in Amerli after Iraqi forces broke through to the jihadist-besieged Shiite town the previous day. (Jm Lopez/AFP/Getty Images)

By Erin Cunningham October 7 at 7:17 AM

BAGHDAD — The Islamic State militants who have rampaged across northern Iraq are increasingly using water as a weapon, cutting off supplies to villages resisting their rule and pressing to expand their control over the country’s water infrastructure.

Islamic State jihadists are using water as a weapon in Iraq.odt by Thavam

International prosecutors accuse Kenya of withholding evidence against president

President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta (in blue), arrives at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as he departs to attend a hearing at the International Criminal Court at The Hague, in Nairobi October 7, 2014.

BY THOMAS ESCRITT-AMSTERDAM Tue Oct 7, 2014

(Reuters) - International prosecutors accused the Kenyan government on Tuesday of failing to hand over phone and bank records they said could help them show President Uhuru Kenyatta paid people to take part in post-election violence in 2007.

Kenyatta denies charges of co-orchestrating the wave of violence in which 1,200 people were killed and a government representative dismissed the prosecutors' allegations at Tuesday's hearing of the International Criminal Court.

His lawyers say the requests are a cover for a lack of evidence and the attempt to blame the government undermines Kenyatta's right to a fair trial.

On Wednesday, Kenyatta is expected become the first sitting head of state to answer a summons to the Hague-based court, where judges are considering whether drop the case against him or delay it pending the handover of the requested evidence.

It is a major test for the 11-year-old court, which has had a string of collapsed cases and been accused of singling out Africans for prosecution.

Court filings show up to a third of the prosecution witnesses against Kenyatta have withdrawn, with some cited as saying they had been intimidated by unnamed people. Kenyatta's legal team has also said that defence witnesses had been intimidated. Each side has rejected the other's claims.

Kenyatta, who was elected president last year, and his deputy William Ruto, are not under arrest and have obeyed all summons they have received relating to the separate but similar charges they face. Ruto also denies the charges against him.

Both have pledged their full cooperation with the court while leading a diplomatic push to have their cases dismissed.

"Unfortunately, unfounded and unproven accusations are the order of the day. My accusers, both domestic and foreign, have painted a nefarious image of most African leaders as embodiments of corruption and impunity," Kenyatta told parliament on Monday.

RIVALS

Kenyatta, from Kenya's biggest Kikuyu ethnic group, and Ruto, a Kalenjin, were in rival camps in the 2007 election race. They were accused of inciting gangs who butchered people from opposing groups, using machetes and bows and arrows.

Prosecution lawyer Ben Gumpert told judges the Kenyan government had not handed over phone records and three years of bank records the prosecution needed to corroborate witness testimony that Kenyatta had approached them to "finance or ultimately coordinate that violence."

"There is a considerable body of material that the prosecutor says could have been provided, should have been provided and which hasn't been provided," he told the court.

Representing the Kenyan government, Attorney-General Githu Muigai said authorities had cooperated to the extent permitted by domestic law and provided all information available.

Muigai said there were limits to what Kenyan authorities could do to obtain Kenyatta's records.

"Where it has been possible within the law to carry out an independent interrogation of the requested subject, we have done so," he said. He had transmitted three months of Kenyatta's banking records, he said.

Kenyatta's lawyers have always dismissed the requests for his bank and telephone records as a "fishing expedition" designed to cover up for prosecutors' lack of evidence.

"Whatever evidence we produced, further inquiries were suddenly made," Steven Kay, Kenyatta's lawyer, said.

Though there is no published witness list, judges said in September 2013 that prosecutors intended to call 30 witnesses, of whom two were expert witnesses.

During 2013, four witnesses withdrew, indicating to prosecutors they were no longer prepared to testify because of various concerns, including for their safety, according to prosecutors' heavily redacted court filings.

Another three withdrew over the course of 2013 because they were found to have lied, changed their stories or because they were no longer necessary to the prosecution's case. Three witnesses withdrew in 2012 out of fears for their safety, according to prosecution filings.

Presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu dismissed any suggestion witnesses had been intimidated saying: "There is no proof, these are just allegations."

Kenyatta's lawyer Kay said it was "completely misleading and untruthful" to suggest that witness intimidation and government obstruction had undermined the case.

Judges are expected to rule on the future of the case at some point after Wednesday's hearing. Its collapse would be a severe blow to a court that has handed down just two guilty verdicts, both to little known Congolese warlords, and one acquittal since inception in 2003.

The court has struggled to make its writ run in many countries. Indicted suspects such as Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir or Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the slain former Libyan leader, remain at large because their governments refuse to hand them over.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair in Nairobi, editing by Anthony Deutsch and Philippa Fletcher)

You Should Still Be Scared of Pyongyang

Five reasons a quiet North Korea is still a deadly North Korea.

• BY JOEL S. WIT , JENNY TOWN -OCTOBER 7, 2014

It has been 18 months since North Korea's last major provocation, a nuclear test in February 2013. Aside from periodic rhetorical outbursts from Pyongyang that the world has come to know and love, North Korea has since then been surprisingly quiet: no nuclear tests, no long-range rocket tests, and no attacks on South Korea. Leader Kim Jong Un remains AWOL. And over the weekend of Oct. 4, North Korea's number two official Hwang Pyong So met with his South Korean counterparts --  a rare high-level exchange between the two sides. What accounts for Pyongyang's relatively good behavior?
You Should Still Be Scared of Pyongyang by Thavam

Walk Without Borders Challenge:

From September 15 to October 30, 2014, we’re asking Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) supporters across Canada to raise money and help deliver healthcare to people in need by participating in the Walk Without Borders Challenge.

On September 15, sign up for the Walk Without Borders Challenge and show your solidarity with MSF patients all over the world who walk long distances to access lifesaving medical treatment.

Photo: Solenn Honorine/MSF

Walk in solidarity with Lorraine, A young HIV-positive mother from Zimbabwe who had to walk 7 kilometres each way, every day, to get medication to treat her drug-resistant tuberculosis.

You can walk alone or as part of a team. You’ll choose the distance you want to walk, and you’ll collect pledges from family, friends and acquaintances. They’ll follow your progress on your personal campaign webpage. 

Walk, run, or roll in a wheelchair. Spread your challenge out over seven weeks, or finish the whole thing in one day. Walk by yourself, with a friend, or organize a group walk. Come up with creative ways of completing your challenge and getting others to participate or donate. Anything goes, as long as it’s consistent with the spirit of MSF. What’s important is that you’re raising money to provide healthcare for people in need.

Photo: Julie Remy

Walk in solidarity with Aboubacar, a father in Niger who traveled long distances to get treatment for his malnourished two-year-old daughter. 

The Walk Without Borders Challenge is easy and fun – and it’s also directly connected to the lives of the people that MSF serves. You’ll read the stories of real MSF patients who have walked great distances to get treatment, and then choose one to walk in solidarity with on your personal campaign webpage.

Even if you’ve never raised money before – don’t worry. We’ll provide you with the tools you need to make your walk a success.  The Walk Without Borders Challenge begins on September 15. Get ready!

Photo: Robin Meldrum/MSF

Walk in solidarity with David, an MSF clinician from South Sudan who fled militia attacks along with his patients, then trekked for days to get medicines for the clinic he set up in the bush.

 

Walk Without Borders Challenge: What Should You Do?

1. SIGN UP at WalkWithoutBorders.ca starting on September 15. You can sign up on your own or as a team.
    
2. TELL PEOPLE via email, social media, in person, or by putting up posters. Challenge your friends and family to sign up. Compete against others to see who can raise the most money. We’ll provide tools to help you atWalkWithoutBorders.ca.
    
3. RAISE MONEY from friends, family and acquaintances to help MSF provide healthcare for people in need. If you are unable to participate, support someone who is participating

Where will the deadly Ebola virus strike next?

TUESDAY 07 OCTOBER 2014

The deadly Ebola virus has the potential to spread across the world in just three weeks, infecting people from places as far apart as the United Kingdom and China, scientists warn.

On Monday a Spanish nurse tested positive for Ebola after helping treat a missionary doctor who was repatriated to Madrid last month. It was the first case of the virus being spread from one patient to another outside west Africa, and the news has raised fears that the Ebola virus is about to spread across Europe.

Scientists have used Ebola disease spread patterns and airline traffic data to predict a 75 per cent chance the virus could be imported to France by 24 October and a 50 per cent chance it could hit Britain by that date.

These numbers are based on air traffic remaining at full capacity. Assuming an 80 per cent reduction in travel to reflect the fact that many airlines are halting flights to affected regions, France's risk is still 25 per cent and Britain's is 15 per cent.

The deadly epidemic has killed more than 3,400 people since it began in west Africa in March and has now started to spread faster, infecting almost 7,200 people so far.

Nigeria, Senegal and now the United States - where the first case was diagnosed on Tuesday in a man who flew in from Liberia - have all seen people carrying the Ebola haemorrhagic fever virus, apparently unwittingly, arrive on their shores.

France is among countries most likely to be hit next because the worst affected countries include Guinea, alongside Sierra Leone and Liberia, which is a French-speaking country and has busy travel links back, while Britain's Heathrow airport is one of the world's biggest travel hubs.

France and Britain have each treated one national who was brought home with the disease and then cured. The scientists' study suggests that more may bring it to Europe not knowing they are infected.

Ebola study: MoBS laboratory and PLOS Currents Outbreaks.

GOVERNMENT’S TIGHTROPE WALK BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL PLEDGES AND ELECTORAL PRESSURES--JEHAN PERERA

06 October 2014

While in the United States to attend the UN General Assembly, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa 

assured the international community that he would look after the Muslim people in the country when he met the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The meeting took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Discussing religiously-motivated incidents that have occurred in the recent past, which he described as “isolated incidents” President Rajapaksa assured the international Muslim leader that the government will take immediate action to deal with any incidents against the Muslim community. "I will look after the Muslim community like my own brothers," President Rajapaksa said. He also encouraged Mr. Madani and other OIC member countries to visit Sri Lanka to see for themselves the ground realities in the country and how many diverse communities coexist peacefully.
Government’s Tightrope Walk Between International Pledges and Electoral Pressures--jehan Perera by Thavam

ஜெயக்குமாரியின் விடுதலையை கோரி ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் 

 அக்டோபர் 2014, திங்கள்

கிளிநொச்சி தர்மபுரம் பகுதியில் கைது செய்யப்பட்ட ஜெயக்குமாரியின் விடுதலை மற்றும் விசாரணைகள் இன்றி பல ஆண்டுகளாக சிறைகளில் தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள அரசியல் கைதிகளின் விடுதலை ஆகியவற்றை வலியுறுத்தி வவுனியா மாவட்ட பிரஜைகள் குழுவின் ஏற்பாட்டில் வவுனியா மாவட்ட நீதிமன்றம் முன் மாபெரும் கவனயீர்ப்பு போராட்டம் எதிர்வரும் 10 திகதி காலை 09.30 மணியளவில் இடம் பெறவுள்ளது. 

 

குறித்த போராட்டம் தொடர்பில் வவுனியா மாவட்ட பிரஜைகள் குழுவின் முக்கியஸ்தரான கி.தேவராசா கருத்து தெரிவிக்கையில்,

 

கிளிநொச்சி, தர்மபுரம் பகுதியில் வசித்து வந்த ஜெயக்குமாரி பயங்கரவாத தடுப்பு சட்டத்தின் கீழ் கைது செய்யப்பட்டார். ஜெயக்குமாரிக்கும் விடுதலை புலிகளுக்கும் தொடர்பு உண்டு என கூறி இராணுவத்தினரால் கைது செய்பட்ட ஜெயக்குமாரி 200 நாட்களுக்கு மேலான நிலையில் இன்னமும் விடுதலை செய்யப்படவில்லை.

 

இவரை நீதிமன்றத்தின் ஊடாக விடுதலை செய்வதற்கும் மற்றும் நீண்டநாட்களாக தடுத்து வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள அரசியல் கைதிகளையும் விடுவிக்க அரசாங்கம் முன்வரவேண்டும் என வலியுறுத்தி வவுனியா மாவட்ட நீதிமன்றம் முன் கறுப்பு துணிகளால் முகத்தை மறைத்து மக்கள் தமது துக்கத்தை வெளிபடுத்தும் கவனயீர்ப்பு போராட்டம் ஒன்றை நடத்தவுள்ளோம்.

 

வடக்கு கிழக்கில் உள்ள சகல பிரஜைகள் குழுக்கள், அரசியல் கட்சிகளின் தலைவர்கள், செயலாளர்கள், உறுப்பினர்கள், முதலமைச்சர், பாராளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர்கள், மாகாண சபை உறுப்பினர்கள், உள்ளுராட்சி மன்ற உறுப்பினர்கள், மனித உரிமை அமைப்புக்கள், பல்கலைக்கழக மாணவர்கள் மற்றும் பாடசாலை மாணவர்கள், கல்விச் சமூகத்தினர், அரச மற்றும் அரச சார்பற்ற நிறுவனங்களை சார்ந்தோர், ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் என அனைவரையும் ஒன்றிணைந்து அவர்களின் விடுதலைக்காக குரல் கொடுக்குமாறு வவுனியாமாவட்ட பிரஜைகள் குழுவின் சார்பாக கேட்டுக்கொள்கின்றேன்” என்று தெரிவித்தார்.

Tamils – Don’t Fall For The Unity Lie

By TU Senan -October 6, 2014 

TU Senan

Unity makes us stronger. But not always. All those fighting for their rights must choose their alliances wisely or risk swapping one oppressor for another.

The old adage of by your friends shall you be known is sometimes useful. Recently at the UN, Rajapaksa’s Sri Lankan regime managed to mobilise some of the most undemocratic countries to its support. The 21 nations, including North Korea, Iran, etc, who supported Sri Lanka, have consistently opposed western governments on almost all issues in the past. That does not mean that they offer any challenge to the horrors perpetrated by western imperialism against the peoples of the world, at home and abroad. Far from it.

But it was no surprise that they took the side of the dictatorial Rajapaksa as part of opposing what they portray as the US-led domination against them, in reality the struggle for power and influence in a world wracked by crisis and instability. This represents a significant defeat for Sri Lanka. These states, who deny democratic rights to their own people, have no problem tolerating the heinous crimes of Sri Lanka and to use this opportunity to advance their own political agenda against the west.

The Indian government were even more deceitful in their abstention. They argued that they took “positive note of Sri Lanka’s engagement with the UN” and criticised the absence of UN cooperation with Sri Lanka. They urged that India and Sri Lanka “should be given all necessary assistance in a cooperative and collaborative manner.” Of course the western countries, also advancing their “politically motivated agenda”, would use all they can to nail the current Sri Lankan regime as it moves closer to China. The casualty of this ongoing game is ‘human rights’ – the rights and justice of Tamils in particular in this instance.

It is absolutely clear that the western governments are not ready to surrender their interests in Sri Lanka to regional powers. The UN-led investigation, Tamils in Sri Lanka, the Tamil diaspora will continue to be their tool to find a way in. The TNA reveals itself to be absolutely hopeless, with no understanding of these processes. It has become voluntarily submissive to the aims of the Indian government.Read More

றோலர் மீன்பிடியை அனுமதியுங்கள்; வல்வெட்டித்துறை மீனவர்கள் போராட்டம் 

06 அக்டோபர் 2014, திங்கள்
இழுவைப்படகு மீன்பிடி முறையினை அனுமதிக்கக் கோரி வல்வெட்டித்துறை கிழக்கு மீனவர்கள் வல்வெட்டித்துறை தேவடி கடற்கரைப்பகுதியில் ஒரு நாள் உணவு தவிர்ப்புப் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ளனர். 

இழுவைப்படகு மீன்பிடி தடைசெய்யப்பட்டுள்ளதால் தங்களுடைய வாழ்வாதாரம் பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது என்றும் மீண்டும் குறித்த மீன்பிடி முறையினை அனுமதிக்குமாறு கோரியுமே மீனவர்கள் போராட்டத்தில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ளனர்.

வல்வெட்டித்துறை கிழக்கு மீனவர் சங்கம் இதற்கான ஏற்பாடுகளைச் செய்துள்ளது. இன்று காலை 9 மணிக்கு ஆரம்பமாகிய உணவு தவிர்ப்புப் போராட்டம் மாலை 5 மணிவரைக்கும் நடைபெறவுள்ளது.

போராட்டத்தில் அடிக்காதே அடிக்காதே எங்களின் வயிற்றில் அடிக்காதே, தென்னிலங்கையில் ஒரு சட்டம் எங்களுக்கு ஒரு சட்டமா? இழுவைப்படகின் அனுமதி வேண்டும், மாகாண சபையே எங்கள் நிலையறிந்து நீதிதாருங்கள், வழி விடு வழிவிடு மாகாணசபையே விடைகொடு போன்ற சுலோகங்களைத் தாங்கியவாறு ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தில் கலந்து கொண்டனர்.

இதன்போது வீட்டு வறுமையால் பாடசாலை செல்லும் மாணவர்களும்  பெரிதும் பாதிக்கப்படுகின்றனர் என்பதைக் காட்டும் முகமாக பாடசாலை சீருடையணிந்து மாணவர்களும் போராட்டத்தில் கலந்து கொண்டுள்ளமை குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

- See more at: http://onlineuthayan.com/News_More.php?id=825333517406296428#sthash.OKswyJ8p.dpuf

Human Rights Council Adopts the Safety of Journalists Resolution Unanimously

06/10/2014

In a resolution (A/HRC/27/L.7) on the safety of journalists, adopted without a vote, the Human Rights Council condemned unequivocally all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers and called upon States to develop and implement strategies for combating impunity for attacks and violence against journalists; and decided to continue its consideration of the safety of journalists no later than at its thirty-third session.

Not a single country in the like minded group countries that supported Sri Lanka at the 27th session of the HRC cosponsored this resolution.

Bearing in mind that impunity for attacks and violence against journalists constitutes one of the main challenges to strengthening the protection of journalists, and emphasizing that ensuring accountability for crimes committed against journalists is a key element in preventing future attacks the resolution:

1. Condemns unequivocally all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers, such as torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, and intimidation and harassment in both conflict and non-conflict situations;

2. Strongly condemns the prevailing impunity for attacks and violence against journalists, and expresses grave concern that the vast majority of these crimes go unpunished, which in turn contributes to the recurrence of these crimes;

3. Urges States to promote a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference, to prevent attacks and violence against journalists and media workers, to ensure accountability through the conduct of impartial, speedy, thorough, independent and effective investigations into all alleged violence against journalists and media workers falling within their jurisdiction, to bring perpetrators including, inter alia, those who command, conspire to commit, aid and abet or cover up such crimes to justice, and to ensure that victims and their families have access to appropriate remedies;

4. Takes note of the good practices of different countries aiming at the protection of journalists, as well as, inter alia, those designed for the protection of human rights defenders that can, where applicable, be relevant to the protection of journalists;

5. Calls upon States to develop and implement strategies for combating impunity for attacks and violence against journalists, including by using, where appropriate, good practices such as those identified during the panel discussion held on 11 June 2014 and/or compiled in the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on good practice on the safety of journalists, inter alia:

(a) The creation of special investigative units or independent commissions;
(b) The appointment of a specialized prosecutor;
(c) The adoption of specific protocols and methods of investigation and prosecution;
(d) The training of prosecutors and judiciary regarding the safety of journalists;
(e) The establishment of information-gathering mechanisms, such as databases, to permit the gathering of verified information about threats and attacks against journalists;
(f) The establishment of an early warning and rapid response mechanism to give journalists, when threatened, immediate access to the authorities and protective measures;

6. Emphasizes the important role that media organizations can play in providing adequate safety, risk awareness, digital security and self-protection training and guidance to employees, along with protective equipment, where necessary;

7. Welcomes the proclamation by the General Assembly, in its resolution 68/163, of 2 November as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists;

8. Stresses the need to ensure better cooperation and coordination at the international level, including through technical assistance and capacity-building, with regard to ensuring the safety of journalists, including with regional organizations, and invites United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, other international and regional organizations, Member States and all relevant stakeholders, when applicable and in the scope of their mandates, to cooperate further in the implementation of the United Nations Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, and to this end also calls upon States to cooperate with relevant United Nations entities, in particular the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, as well as international and regional human rights mechanisms, and to share information on a voluntary basis on the status of investigations into attacks and violence against journalists;

9. Acknowledges the importance of addressing the issue of the safety of journalists through the process of the universal periodic review;

10. Encourages national, subregional, regional and international human rights mechanisms and bodies, including the relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council, treaty bodies and national human rights institutions, in the framework of their mandates, to continue to address the relevant aspects of the safety of journalists in their work;

11. Decides to continue its consideration of the safety of journalists in accordance with its programme of work, no later than at its thirty-third session.

Read the complete  resolution here

IATAJ Conference to discuss media challenges of covering events in Sri Lanka

 Monday, 06 October 2014 

Journalists and scholars will gather this Saturday, October 11, to discuss the challenges of covering issues in Sri Lanka in the current global context.

The conference, titled “The media in post war Sri Lanka: supporting democratisation in the era of the ‘War on Terrorism’” will take place at the West London University in London. It aims to generate an exchange of ideas and insights between academics and professionals on the role of media for counteracting the delegitimisation of democratic process in post-war Sri Lanka in the Age of the ‘War on Terrorism’.

The one-day conference seeks to uncover the challenges, difficulties and obstacles faced by media and journalists in upholding international human rights norms and their implications for democratisation in Sri Lanka. Thus, beginning with the media, which has a role as a social institution in promoting democratisation, the conference seeks a broader understanding of the issues facing those seeking to promote international human rights norms in Sri Lanka today.

Journalists, media scholars and media activists from Sri Lanka, India, Europe and North America will present papers at the conference, with the opportunity for discussion between the audience and speakers after the sessions. Speakers include Professor Rune Ottosen from Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Dr Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, Lecturer in Media, Human Rights and Politics at Northumbria University, Dr. Walid Al-Saqaf, Director of the Master of Global Journalism Programme at Orebro University, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, Executive Director of Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Mr. J.S. Tissainayagam, an award-winning journalist in exile and Dr. Jude Lal Fernando, Assistant Professor in Intercultural Theology and Inter religious Studies at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin.

Students Forced To Kneel In School For Failing To Bring Money

October 6, 2014

Good governance activist Chandra Jayaratne has written to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka seeking a public clarification on promoting awareness and educating all citizens on human rights, following on an incident in a leading government school where students had been publicly humiliated simply because they failed to bring a certain amount of money they had been instructed to bring.

Jayarathne, in his letter to the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has stated that he noticed this incident when the school had made an announcement – which even those who are residing in the vicinity of the school could hear – listing out all the names of the students who failed to bring a certain payment while ordering them to kneel before the school administration and the peers.

He says that thereafter the students had been informed to bring the money to the school without fail on the first working day this week, although it is illegal to collect money from students in government schools according to the various circulars that have been issued by the Education Ministry.

Jayarathne has questioned that in a day and age where school teachers are made to kneel before students by politicians, the kind of precedent this incident has set by forcing students to kneel and feel humiliated simply because they failed to bring money to the school.

He has requested the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka to issue a public clarification on the incident along with necessary recommendations on the rights and obligations of the stakeholders of schools, so that it would help effectively promote ‘respect for, and observance of, fundamental rights’.

We publish below the statement in full;                                                    Read More

Vulnerable guests

A Reflection on social hospitality

October 3, 2014, 7:19 pm 

The Government’s decision to arbitrarily deport Pakistani refugee-asylum seekers is unacceptable and wrong.

Local stress

Asylum seekers usually leave their home countries due to fear or deprivation, or both. The Pakistanis on our soil are mostly from religious minorities (Christians and Islamic sects) who face immense hardship and discrimination under the harsh "Blasphemy Law"; questioned by a cross section of reasonable Pakistanis.

Global care

There is a standard procedure for dealing with refugee-asylum seekers. After their stories are processed by the UNHCR they are either sent to a third country or returned home. In some instances some are absorbed into the receiving country. Till these decisions are taken the role of the receiving country is to provide these vulnerable visitors with refuge.

If during this interim period any of them flout the law of the receiving country or the terms of interim refuge,these persons only,are to be dealt with in consultation with the UNHCR and in accordance with the law. A breach of the law,while applications are being processed should however not be a reason for deportation.

Inclusive compassion

This procedure does not ask too much of us. We are a paradoxical people who in-spite of the violence and hardship of decades have not lost our traditional sense of hospitality. This is largely because of the influence of GautamaBuddha, "The Compassionate One," whose teaching on loving-kindness (metta) embraces all life including the stranger. It is not by accident that we refer to the stranger (amuththa) in our midst, as guest (amuththa) also. She is to be received with loving-kindness.

This call to inclusive compassion is echoed by Jesus, "The Man for others" who advocated for dignity for those the Bible calls the "helpless and harassed" (S. Matt. 9.36). In doing so Jesus endorsed a central Biblical theme which repeatedly stresses our obligation to provide protection and dignity for widows, orphans and strangers in our midst.

Test of civilisation

These three human categories remain the continuing vulnerable in any society. Their safety and dignity depends on the compassionate collective conscience of a nation. The extent to which this happens reflects the civilisation of a people. Correspondingly,a government which arbitrarily punishes vulnerable stranger-guests at our doorstep, (regardless of not being signatories to the Refugee Convention)has lost its soul.

Selective advocacy

But it is not the government alone that is accountable. Other political and religious voices, that remain silent in this instance, are also accountable. Selective advocacy, that by passes the cries of vulnerable others simply because they are not our own, amounts to expedient advocacy. It exposes a lack of consistency and undermines our credibility when we raise issues that affect our own well-being.

Courage to change

While a more lasting solution clearly lies in the review and repeal of the Blasphemy law in Pakistan, we can still make an interim difference by going the first mile. This would require that the deportation be stopped and the fifteen hundred plus insecure Pakistani strangers-guests at our doorstep be given refuge under customary international law flavoured with Sri Lankan hospitality till their cases are processed and decisions made.

Sanity to protect

Inclusive compassionis not a one way street. It teaches us new lessons on human kindness and makes us a more integrated people. Above all, it helps us retain our sanity to protect one another regardless of who we are, and where we come from.

With Peace and Blessings to all

Bishop Duleep de Chickera