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PONDERING PANDITJI |
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Hey folks,
Weeks after the mega disaster, the quake ravaged Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince continues to be shaken by after shocks. And the media’s attention remains riveted on it. But you know what actually keeps me awake at nights? The vision of the hundreds of thousands Haitians whose homes were reduced to rubble in the throes of the killer shake.
Yes, this ‘after shock’ trails all natural calamities. It might be a flood, or a drought or a quake, the impact is the same – a fresh batch of the homeless. More environmental refugees. And their numbers are far higher in poorer nations. Why? Because here more people live crammed in smaller pieces of land. Also, shanties in cities like Port-au-Prince are hardly equipped to weather the brunt of nature’s fury. So loss of life and property is colossal.
But there is even worse news than this. ‘Environmentally’(as opposed to ‘politically’) displaced people are not recognized as ‘refugees’ by law, at all! Either nationally or
internationally. In other words, no country has any legal compulsion to offer them shelter or land. So where will these millions, whose count is rising every year, go?
I have heard that Senegal has offered land to the Haitian victims who are willing to resettle in Africa. Do I hear more voices of volunteers? Or is the silence of the refugees still deadly?
– Pandit Gobar Ganesh
E-mail:
panditji@cseindia.org |
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