[Below is a note to a colleague on his way to Bangkok for discussions regarding the Rohingya situation.]

 

My esteemed colleague,

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men…”

-Lord Acton

I am keenly aware that quoting the words of a colonialist -let alone a British colonialist- to begin this message is perhaps the height of irony. Acton’s words, though, are relevant to my observations below.

I read the document you sent to me [as background for your high level meeting in Bangkok to discuss the situation in Maynmar regarding the Rohingya]. Thank you.

I have been thinking a great deal about the situation in Myanmar and what can be done to create a different political narrative in that country. Enlarging my scope of attention, I see my own country, the United States, being very much influenced by the MAGA Trump followers and those who have come to power with him. I am also looking very closely at Russia and the world that Putin has created and the narrative he is pushing in his war against Ukraine. I think these three situations, Myanmar, the United States, and Russia have a great deal in common. The only big difference is that in Myanmar, instead of having a charismatic figure in control as in the United States and Russia, there is a cabal of older men who cling onto power. They are acting as one and can hide, at least in the eyes of the outside world, in anonymity. What I see in common with these three situations is that there is an entrenched power that stays in control largely by exploiting the fears of people and, at the same time, the greed of those around them.

Let’s discuss the case of Russia for a moment. The outside world, with the exceptions of China and India and a few other countries, has largely condemned what Russia is doing and have put political and economic measures in place to punish the behavior of Putin. As I write this it appears that Putin is very willing to take his entire country down with his egotistical desire to push his narrative and retain power. All the sanctions in the world have not and will not dissuade him.

In the case of the United States, we have the charismatic figure of Donald Trump who emerged in the mid 20 teens and has virtually taken over the entire Republican Party and is controlling the political narrative of the those on the right. He will not back down, and he will not be defeated in the sense that all the sanctions in the world, just like with Putin, won’t do anything to him. He will bring down the United States and democracy before he quits his efforts to retain power.

Now, I realize I am very naïve about the inner workings of the Tatmadaw, but I must assume that those at the head of this military are psychologically very similar to both Putin and Trump. And as is with sanctions against Trump and Putin, I feel any sanctions against the Myanmar military will only yield more extreme measures on their part. Neither Trump nor Putin nor the leaders of the Tatmadaw will go quietly into the night. From a cynical perspective it appears that legal measures are impotent gestures that fall off the Trump/Putin/Tatmadaw egos like so much tiny drops of rain onto a huge umbrella, just bouncing off little noticed.

So, the question for those of us who have a humanitarian heart and seek social justice is what do we do in the face of this recalcitrance? We certainly can’t just do nothing, but we don’t want to continue doing things that are only symbolic gestures affirming our own sense of righteousness.

I have deep faith in the human spirit, and I do believe that the moral arc of the universe though long does bend toward justice. I am heartened by the news of various grassroots groups in Myanmar continuing the fight even though certain death awaits them. I have the same deep respect for the protesters recently in Moscow who were carried away to jail cells and serve as a motivation for others to come out and protest. In the United States we also have people continuing to fight for social justice. We have an election coming up in just over a month and that I’m hoping we will finally find an answer to this populist and authoritarian MAGA madness. I hope that collectively we in the US can come to our senses, so to speak.

So back to the question, what can people like you and me who believe in social justice and believe in the beauty of the human spirit do in the face of the reality that exists now on the ground in Myanmar? Just as in any battle one must be ever creative and flexible in strategies and a tactics, fighting on as many fronts as possible. Certainly, looking for legal measures such as what The Gambia has done it is necessary.

I’m sure you are aware of many of the similar kinds of legal actions being taken by individuals, organizations, and nations against Myanmar are taking place. All of these are good. All of these are necessary. All of these are good. But are all these enough?

For my part I am doing both my duty as a US citizen and as a global citizen to encourage my political representatives to take whatever actions they can change the behavior of the government in Myanmar. But as I said above, I think that the leadership in Myanmar, like Putin and Trump, will not be cowed or convinced by any such measures. Those corrupted by power do not respond to reason. They are entrenched in their power webs and will always remain blind to any moral logic other than their own twisted way of looking at the world.

So as you head to Bangkok I wish you well. I have every faith that the collective wisdom in the room will lead to some productive discussions and outline some viable actions to take. There’s a small part of me that feels that the best thing that I can do is to support the resistance movement on the ground in Myanmar, support those who are putting their life on the line to fight the Tatmadaw.

So, there you have it, the scattered thoughts of a late career sociologist.

In solidarity,

Tom

Thomas Arcaro
Professor of Sociology
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Elon University
Elon, NC 27244
He/him/his

 

“It would be advisable to think of progress in the crudest, most basic terms: that no one should go hungry anymore, that there should be no more torture, no more Auschwitz [or Gaza or Cox’s Bazar]. Only then will the idea of progress be free from lies.”   

-Theodor Adorno

 

 

 

 

On this World Refugee Day 2022 let us not forget that all refugees have a right to an education

Listen to a poet
As a sociologist I am fully aware of how complex social reality is. In this ever globalizing world where cultural histories are now blending together, the task of capturing all the detailed nuance of one’s life is a daunting undertaking. Poetry is a time honored tool women and men from all over the world have used to artfully articulate observations about their lives and about the culture(s) in which they live and act. Poets are lay sociologists using an alternate language structure to share powerful insights. My goal with this essay is to comment on education as a basic human right and I can think of no better way to start than to use poetry.

Below are two poems by Rohingya refugee Roshidullah Kyaw Naing, soon to be published by Notion Press Publishing [printed with author’s permission]. I have been asked to write the Foreword to his book entitled The Painful Life of Rohingya. I think his words are a powerful testament to why education is necessary for all.

Education For All

Education should be given to all
Education is important for all
It belongs to every humans
It’s fundamental human right

Education is important in human lives
It is the key to be successful in life
Without it life is darker
Give first priority in education

Peace through education
It can make you vigorous
It can help you to identify things
It can show you

To communicate with each other
It can help you to visit around the world
It can keep you on right way
It can keep you healthy

Never forget to learn
Education in your life
It’s the most powerful in the world
It’s the backbone of the world

 

Value Of Education

Education is a hand-light of the life
Without it the world is blind and dark
Try to be educated so that you can make
The whole world bright with your light.

 

The rights of refugees
According to the UNHCR, across the globe there are more than 84 million forcibly displaced people, 35 million (42%) of which are children. 26.4 million of those displaced are refugees. It is estimated that 6.4 million of these refugees live in refugee camps, over two-thirds (4.5 million) living in planned and managed camps, while the rest (2 million) are sheltered in self-settled camps (UNHCR).

Humanitarian resources devoted to caring for refugees in UN sanctioned camps are critical in maintaining a safe and healthy environment. In many cases the time spent in a refugee camp can typically be measured in years and, in some cases, even decades. This is the situation of many Rohingya refugees now in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, some of which arrived last century.

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol represent the foundation of international law related to refugees. Those recognized by the UNHCR as having refugee status have many rights, perhaps the most important of which is non-refouelment. Under international human rights law refoulement refers to

“…any form of removal or transfer of persons, regardless of their status, where there are substantial grounds for believing that the returnee would be at risk of irreparable harm upon return on account of torture, ill-treatment or other serious breaches of human rights obligations.”

A second critical right of all refugees is the right to education, especially in early childhood. Of refugee children under the UN’s care, roughly 48% remain out of school due to many factors, not the least of which is chronic underfunding. The most recent estimate puts the funding gap at 52%, and to say humanitarian resources are stretched is a gross

understatement.

Education is a basic human right as stated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1951 Refugee Convention and updated in the 1989 Convention on the Right of the Child, with the goals of protecting, empowering, and enlightening refugee children.

Over time and in various contexts there have been different interpretations and approaches concerning education at the humanitarian level. The 2018 Global Compact on Refugees and the 2030 Agenda frames education’s goal to “enable them [refugees] to learn, thrive, and develop their potential, build individuals and collective resilience and contribute to peaceful coexistence and civil society” (UNHCR 2019). Though Bangladesh, the temporary home for approximately 1 million displaced Rohingya, is not a signator of the 1951 Refugee Convention, various judicial rulings have implied broad acceptance of varying degrees on several key elements.

Here is Article 26 from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Article 26
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.

Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

World Refugee Day 2022
The theme for World Refugee Day 2022 is the right to seek safety. Becoming a refugee is a horrible forced choice taken as a last resort by people no longer safe in their homeland. Once becoming a refugee the immediate goal is safety and security. The main longer term goal, however, is repatriation, going back to their previous lives and homes but now free from danger. This dream of repatriation remains strong in the vast majority of refugees but its fulfillment is delayed, sometimes by years and even decades. The need for some level of a normal life is strong, and an educational system, especially for younger children who crave order and routine, is an essential part of that normalcy. For the older children and young adults resuming educational opportunities is a pathway toward a better future both individually and for their community.

‘Robbed generation’
Gertrude Stein is credited with coining the term ‘lost generation’, first used to describe those disoriented by the social upheaval of World War I. The term ‘stolen generation’ refers to the First Nation peoples in Australia who were taken by government officials from caring and able parents as an effort at ‘assimilation.’

What do we call the

countless children who have grown up in refugee camps, denied a normal cultural life and oftentimes lacking access to primary, secondary, and tertiary educational opportunities? ‘Culturally robbed generation’ may be accurate, if not as pity as the other two examples. In any case, the fundamental right to have a coherent cultural life with dignity is surely taken from those in refugee camps, so using the phrase ‘robbed generation’ seems accurate.

My personal connection
For me teaching sociology has always been a humanitarian act in the fundamental sense of that word. The ‘critical Hydra theory’ I have been using in my teaching the last several years explicitly emphasizes ‘respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms of all humans,’ especially those who have been historically marginalized. During my long career in all my classes I have sought to promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups and have even been more inclusive by encouraging the understanding of human diversity in all its many manifestations. In the last year I have been fortunate to partner with staff from the Centre for Peace and Justice in Bangladesh and have helped conduct two very successful online classes for Rohingya and Bangladeshi learners. Our hope is that in the future all youth everywhere will have access to appropriate educational opportunities.

As I lifelong educator I have devoted my entire career to helping shape the minds of young people. I am devoted to education because I have seen the impact the classroom experience can have both on the individual and on her/his larger community. The impacts I have seen here in the United States are the very same I have seen in Bangladesh; the importance and impact of education crosses all cultural barriers.

The impact of education
We know from various sources of data that,

• Education has many outcomes, and one obvious and important outcome is the actual content including learning to read, write, and acquire basic numeracy skills. But more importantly, being in a classroom gives learners a purpose and a future. It gives them a sense of hope and the possibility of progress and growth not just physically but intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally as well.
• Education, especially as presented the critical thinking as a major focus, is one of the main forces capable of neutralizing all of the privileging forces faced by many learners.
• Education is a radical feminist act. We know from various sources of data that young girls who attend school are empowered on many levels. SGVB is lower among educated females not just in refugee camps but in all settings and cultures.
• Children who regularly attend school are far less likely to engage in destructive and delinquent behavior that makes them easy prey for those who would exploit them.
• Children who regularly attend school are more disciplined, and have higher self esteem compared to those who do not attend school.
• Education, especially secondary and tertiary education, is critical for developing and maintaining community cohesion.
• Education, especially secondary and tertiary education, is critical for nurturing leaders equipped to listen carefully and thoughtfully to those around them and to respond to the needs of their communities. Critical thinking skills are essential for visionary and effective leaders.
• One main tool of those who seek dominance over a population, especially those who rule with an authoritarian hand, is to deny access to education. An educated population has, metaphorically, a strong immune system, able to fight off ‘infections’ like corruption and false consciousness which can lead to an acceptance of the ideas that they are inferior, less human, and less deserving than their oppressors. An educated population is more resilient and able to understand the social forces that impact their lives, becoming better able to act as their own advocates.
• An educated population has a common ‘language’ with which to communicated both internally among themselves and externally with, in the example of refugees, the humanitarian and government actors with which they must interact.

Teaching in prison
Early in my career I taught both in a women’s prison and also in a holding facility for incarcerated juveniles. My friends, family, and sometimes colleagues asked about the meaning and value of education in these contexts. As I reflected on this question I looked into my past for an answer. Coming from an extremely poor family, I never saw myself as above anyone else (quite the opposite), and the weltanschauung I developed as a young boy has had a lifelong impact on my pedagogy. Though I am certain at times I have failed, I have approached every class as a meeting of equals and have made consistant efforts to respect and value every learner in every context. I invite my learners to think with me and with each other, embracing the conceptual tools of my disciple to understand themselves and the world around them at a deeper level. I share my commitment to critical thinking and warn them that this approach to learning causes one to question themselves and the culture in which they live and act.

More thoughts on refugee education
I continue to learn more about the realities of refugee life through reading poetry written by refugees, my teaching experiences, and through countless conversations with refugees and those who work with refugees. Below are some brief points, any one of which merits a more detailed discussion. [Note: What appears above and below are some of the talking points I will use as a guest for a Webinar on refugee education to be held in late June.]

One major question is funding for any educational structures for refugees. This question cannot be separated from the issue of how refugee populations put stress on the cultural, social, economic, and political fabric of their host communities. The dynamic of this question changes in the two fundamentally different types of hosting. By sheer numbers, the more common model is where the refugee population is absorbed into the host community such as is the case of many Palestinian and Syrian refugees working in and around Amman, Jordan or Kurdish and Syrian refugees in and around Erbil, Iraq. The second model, and the one with which I have the most personal knowledge, is where refugees are gathered in what are effectively open-air prison camps, their rights -most dramatically their right to move about- being dramatically curtailed.

In the most common model, the cost of education must be largely absorbed by the host communities thus making scarce resources such as classroom space and qualified teachers spread even more thinly.

In the refugee camp model the cost of education is borne by the international humanitarian system overseen by the UNHCR with outsourcing to INGOs like World Vision, Save the Children, and the Danish Refugee Council.

In both models, the cooperation of and permission from the host government (and relevant Ministries) is necessary and can sometimes be contentious. At issue are many factors, the most obvious of which is the economic impact.

Although at least some level of primary education is almost universally accomplished in both settings, secondary and tertiary education opportunities are severely limited, especially so for females. The humanitarian sector is chronically underfunded and whatever limited resources are available are allocated to the most pressing needs of the refugees with education -especially anything beyond primary school- almost always being at the end of the funding queue.

Given that many refugees remain in contained camps for 10+ years, one main negative consequence of having education be such a low priority is, as mentioned above, that there are ‘robbed generations’ of children never having had the chance to receive any formal education beyond the first few years. That said, everyone, especially the young, are sponges of information from the media, especially social media. These sources of passive education are highly questionable in their value and are prone to bias and creating a skewed world view. Social media is no replacement for a thoughtful liberal arts-type curriculum where critical thinking skills are learned and honed. Not so with a ‘media’ education.

In my opinion education for refugees cannot and should not be limited to solely Quran-focused madrasas, but rather should be focused on core academic skills and perhaps vocational training. Critical thinking must be free from dogma. There is a need for any curricula used for refugees to be culturally sensitive. In my experience there is a fine line, for example, between respecting cultural practices and condoning overt misogynistic policies and practices, especially in contexts where the refugee population adheres to fundamentalist religious practices. To be specific, in the critical Hydra model that I use in my classes, two of the eight ‘privileging forces’ heads of the Hydra are patriarchy and hetero/cisnormativity. That both of these privileging forces are supported by much fundamentalist dogma can create a challenging classroom situation.

Learning from Pedagogy of the Oppressed
My views on the purpose and pedagogical approach that should be taken in the classroom are informed by and most closely align with the sentiments found in Paulo Frire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. According to Frire, the central focus of any educational experience, especially of those most commonly marginalized, is to have the educator and the learners join hands in an effort to humanize themselves and to address the very process of oppression. Addressing and then effectively neutralizing the issue of power differences within the classroom is essential, and accomplishing this goal helps address power issues in the larger sociocultural context. No easy task, that.

It is very likely that Frire heard the words of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara who said “I am not a liberator. Liberators don’t exist. The people liberate themselves”. As an educator from the Global North I make efforts to fully understand my positionality and to constantly work to move beyond the false messages that my cultural indoctrination provided to me regarding all aspects of human diversity. My interaction with marginalized learners is not an act of ‘saviourism’ but rather a humanitarian partnership to expose oppression at all levels.

One tool that can be used is to have a learner based model. Not students, but rather learners, including and emphasizing a two way, non-hierarchical learning process.

The gap between the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’
There is a constant and even epic struggle between what our aspirational documents (the quintessential example of which is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) advocate and what, given practical and political realities, is being accomplished regarding all social justice issues. Sociologists use the terms ‘ideal culture’ and ‘real culture’ to make this distinction, with ‘ideal culture’ reflected in our mission statements and constitutions and ‘real culture’ the actual state of human affairs. Indeed, much social justice work can be seen as efforts to close the gap between the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’. Assuring the right to education is clearly no exception.

Providing education for refugees is one dimension of fulfilling the humanitarian imperative, the enactment of which is guided by core principles. The humanitarian principles have historically been listed as humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence. Expanding on the principle of impartiality, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) states,

“Humanitarian actors must not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.”

Regarding the principle of independence they say,

“Humanitarian action must be autonomous from the political, economic, military or other objectives that any actor may hold with regard to areas where humanitarian action is being implemented.”

Adhering to these principles, especially impartiality and independence, is more aspirational than practical; humanitarian efforts are always complex and any actions taken -or, for that matter, not taken- are deeply impacted by both international geopolitics and the regional/national political realities. Providing education to refugees though a seemingly neutral humanitarian act can become very political on many levels.

One need only look at the situation in Bangladesh and the controversies surrounding education within the sprawling Rohingya refugee camps near Cox’s Bazar. Not a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the Bangladeshi government avoids the word ‘refugee’ referring rather to “Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals” (FDMN). Since the UN and INGO entities that would provide education in the camps are there at the invitation of the Bangladeshi government and can be ‘disinvited’ if they do not follow Bangladeshi government policy, education in the camps has become inherently and increasingly challenging as the humanitarian actors walk a delicate balance between the principled and the practical.

In an attempt to provide educational opportunities, an Orwellian-esque game of chess is currently being played where NGOs and INGOs label some education focused activities using language that avoids being red flagged by the Bangladeshi government.

As a side note, several years ago I worked on a documentary describing the educational efforts of the EZLN, the ‘Zapatistas’, in Chiapas, Mexico. The main focus of the documentary was on a group of Elon University students who had partnered with the Zapatistas and helped paint a small school near Oventic. The title of the documentary was Painting Without Permission. Those of us making efforts to provide educational opportunities within the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar could be described as ‘teaching without permission.’

Final note
If you have made your way through all of the above, kudos to you! This post is a ‘brain dump’ of reflections related to the basic human right to education, specifically as it relates to the nearly 1 million refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. I beg you patience and your comments. Feedback can be sent to arcaro@elon.edu.

Dispatches from the Margins of the Humanitarian Sector

Available now on Amazon and Kindle is my latest book Dispatches from the Margins of the Humanitarian Sector. This is a beta version and I will be deleting, editing, and perhaps adding in the next several months. Please let me know if you’d like to be a beta reader or would like a review copy. This is a compilation of blog posts from the past several years covering a wide range of topics.

Here is the the Introduction

Since publishing Aid Worker Voices in 2016, I have been blogging frequently about the humanitarian aid world. In addition to interviewing countless humanitarians, reading a constant flow of books, articles, and web pages, I have also taught a global social problems course for the last five years. In this class, I have always focused on the nature of the humanitarian system and have frequently invited into my class as guest speakers some of the humanitarians with which I have had the honor of speaking.

This book is a compilation of some of the blog posts that I have written and published in the last seven years. These posts have focused on various aspects of the humanitarian aid system and frequently on things that most would consider to be on the margins of the humanitarian system. As an academic, I squarely inhabit one of these margins, that is, those who study and write about the humanitarian world.

For the most part the chapters are in chronological order based on when they were written, with changes in this pattern due to a clustering of chapters based on topics or themes addressed.

As I write this, the Covid crisis is still impacting the entire world. In my part of the world it is a major public health crissue, but also very much a crisis that disproportionately affects those who have been marginalized. This is true around the world, and in fact, in many places in the world it’s not necessarily a health crisis but rather a poverty crisis. For instance, in Ghana they are calling it the poverty virus. The first section of this book takes a look at some aspects of how the coronavirus has impacted the world.

Through my research, I have been honored to meet online and speak with a large number of Rohingya refugees, most of which are living right now in Bangladesh in Cox’s Bazar. As part of my interviews with these young men and women, I learned that they were doing a good deal of work with and for major INGOs in the camp. That is to say, they were doing humanitarian work. Without permission, I have coined the term ‘refugee humanitarian’ to describe these people. In this section, I report on some of our discussions and describe the pressures under which they live their lives.

I’ve had many humanitarians visit my classes via various platforms like Skype, WhatsApp, and Zoom. These discussions have always been very rich, and I have learned along with my students things about the sector that you can’t find in books. I have also looked at what I’ll call local humanitarian workers in one section where I have the opportunity to become friends with interview officials who are dealing with refugee placement within the United States.

All in all, what you will find in this book are ruminations from a sociologist and researcher about the humanitarian sector. My goal has always been to act as a conduit of information from the sector to whatever public was reading my work.

In several chapters you will find references to the ‘Hydra’ of privileging forces. I have recently published Confronting Toxic Othering which is a compilation of blog posts about the Hydra and how this monster is fueled by toxic othering.

A special feature of this book is that it will continue to expand as the weeks and months pass. As I have time and motivation to tell more stories and to analyze the sector based on interactions I have with humanitarians in the field, refugees in camps, or students in my classes I will add more chapters. Look for a second edition in about a year.

This book is dedicated to humanitarian workers everywhere.

Tom Arcaro

January 2022

 

 

“I cannot be an optimist but I am a prisoner of hope”

-Cornel West, American author and activist

Thoughts on witnessing

 

The act of witnessing
As a first year grad student in 1975 I served as a teaching assistant to a large lecture section of Introduction to Sociology. Mid way through fall semester the professor covered the topics of race and ethnicity. One bright fall day, without much contextualization, he screened for the class the very powerful 1955 documentary “Night and Fog.” I had not seen this film before nor any like it. I was struck by the stark, brutal, raw, and emotionally wrenching depiction of Nazi death camp atrocities and, frankly, did not know how to react, how to process what I had seen or to deal with what I had witnessed. I had no idea this was just the beginning of a lifetime of intense exposures to humanitarian disasters, a lifetime of witnessing. I was too young then to realize that the Holocaust was not the first or even biggest genocide. Belgium’s King Leopold killed approximately 10,000,000 in the Congo decades earlier. Mass killings justified by racism fill human history.

One essential aspect of witnessing is empathy, the capacity to place oneself in another’s position. In sociology we are taught about Max Weber’s use of the concept of Verstehen or ‘interpretive understanding.’ Later, deepening this concept, the sociologist George H. Mead argued that to truly understand the world we must ‘take the role of the other.’

All humans have the capacity for empathy, but what we do with that insight is situational. It can lead to the positive and caring emotion of sympathy or, just the opposite, to hatred or “…by counter‐empathic responses, like Schadenfreude and Glückschmerz, which may facilitate hostility.”1

Witnessing, in the manner I describe below, is positive, mindful, and empathetic understanding. But sometimes this can be emotionally and intellectually hard, and empathy overload can become real, numbing, and even debilitating.

Fast forward to the spring of 2021, and I was then watching in real time the slaughter of protesters in Myanmar and the death of yet another black man at the hands of the police here in the United States.

For my entire life I have watched with horror genocide after genocide, pogrom after pogrom. The killing fields in Cambodia (1975), Rwanda (1994), Srebrenica (1995), Kosovo (1999), Darfur (2003), and Myanmar (2017) grabbed headlines, but for each of these examples are dozens of lesser know mass killings of one group or tribe by another.

Though films like Night and Fog were intended to shock the world into confronting racism, the killing keeps happening all over our globe.Though the trope ‘Never Again’ is repeated after each major tragedy, it is, sadly never true.  Perhaps Adama Dieng, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide got it right when he said “‘Never again’ has become ‘time and again.’”

Prisoners of hope
My acts of witnessing over the years have beat me down, and I struggle watching ‘time and again’ a humanity capable of deep and disturbing depravity. But here I am, working always for a more just world. Why? Those wiser than me provide guidance:

“I cannot be an optimist but I am a prisoner of hope” wrote American activist Cornel West. I find myself grateful to him for perfectly capturing my sentiment.

No one can speak for all humanitarians, but in my 2014 survey of over 1,000 practitioners I heard this basic message again and again in their answer my question about how their sense of idealism has been impacted by working in the sector.  One middle aged male expat said,

“The more I see, the more it is clear needs to be done, there is a sense you can’t let the beneficiaries down; also you feel driven by the poor decisions of politicians, to be there to pick up the pieces: provide physical aid, but also provide hope to the donors and the beneficiaries, that no matter how awful it is, someone came forward, when I see other humanitarians doing that it also restores my hope and a sense of even though it is awful the symbol of taking action against it is a powerful force for positive change. This gets me deeper into the job, no turning back.” (emphasis added)

Another, a young female, offered,

“My idealism is more informed than before I became an aid worker, and more aware of the difficulties/realities of being one, but overall I still have the same level of hope that keeps me here even when the going gets tough (which is often).” (emphasis added)

Like Cornel West, after a lifetime of witnessing large scale grotesque atrocities, I find it hard to be optimistic. But, yes, to ward off the terror of chaos, hope allows for one more day of watching, working, and, in my case, teaching about global social issues and the humanitarian imperative as a way of responding. Those working in the humanitarian sector must constantly bear witness to human disasters, many of which are conflicts borne of hate and racism, but they must show up day after day doing their job, easing pain whenever possible, at least for a moment. Though many become realists and pragmatists after months and years on the job most are also prisoners of hope.

An Angel
In the spring of 2021 as I watched the news coming out of Myanmar I found myself paralyzed by too much information. I remain in contact via WhatsApp, Facebook and other communication platforms with many in -or with intimate knowledge about- Myanmar. I hear and see in real time news of shootings in Rangoon, Sittwe, and other locations, including Mandalay where Angel, a young activist, was killed. I am watching another genocide, this time against the various ethnic groups in Myanmar and now survivors of this horror now refugees are recovering from a devastating fire in their refugee camp homes near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, this at the same time as the Myanmar military fire live ammunition at innocent protesters.

Made famous by a series of photographs capturing her death, the young woman “Angel” gave her life protesting the military coup, fighting for a real democracy in her homeland, hope in her heart.

“Everything Will Be OK” only if we show the same level of courage that she did, fighting to her last breath for democracy in Myanmar. She witnessed injustice and responded with her life. Should any of us do less?

Witnessing by seeing each other
When one bears witness they engage in contact with another. This engagement, if it is truly witnessing in the sense that I’m talking about it here, means that there will be appropriate follow-through regarding what has been witnessed. This witnessing can be face-to-face or, increasingly in this cyber connected globe, it can be virtual. A WhatsApp or FaceTime conversation can bring two people together and serve as a witnessing moment, albeit digitally so. That an exchange of witnessing is done virtually does not or should not diminish the sense of responsibility that is inferred by the act of witnessing.

Over the last couple years I have been doing an incredible amount interviewing with humanitarians from places like Bangladesh, Jordan, Iraq, Ethiopia, and Myanmar etc., and each time I have borne witness to what is happening to them and they in turn have borne witness to what is happening with me here in the United States, most specifically regarding how we are responding to the Covid pandemic. Many of them responded to our discussions by emphasizing that since I am older and immunocompromised I needed to take care of myself and to avoid becoming Covid positive. I am frequently reminded to wear my mask, socially distance, and take other appropriate precautions. We saw each other. But those acts of witnessing have been hard in that all that I have been able to provide in response to that witnessing is verbal support, in my writing, and on rare occasion working on small fundraisers that support this or that cause (most recently in an emergency response to needs generated by fires in the refugee camps).

Inherent in being a witness on the global scale is that you always see much more need than can be addressed. Humanitarians always fall short of their goal. Humanitarians always fail to meet all needs, that is implicitly scripted into virtually every humanitarian response. Perhaps the best that can be done is to make explicit the limitations of humanitarian efforts, but even in that case the feeling of falling short is palpable.

Témoignage, sawubona, and George Floyd
Within the humanitarian sector it is MSF (“Doctors Without Borders”) that is most known for being directed by the call to speak out when atrocities occur. They explain,

“We believe that the principles of impartiality and neutrality are not synonymous with silence.”

And further,

“The word témoignage comes from the French verb temoigner, which literally translates as ‘to witness’. MSF practices témoignage by acting as a witness and speaking out—whether in private or public—about the plight of the people we treat.”

Another instructive definition of witnessing is the Zulu greeting ‘sawubona’ literally translated as ‘I see you.’ This traditional greeting is more than pro forma politeness. Used when greeting a friend or stranger ‘sawubona’ infers a deep recognition of the connection that has been created; each making the greeting come into being to each other complete with full human dignity . It says, “I see the whole of you—your experiences, your passions, your pain, your strengths and weaknesses, and your future. You are valuable to me.” Seeing another, in this sense, is a dialogue, an act of acknowledging the humanity of the other.

“By bearing witness — and hitting ‘record’ — 17-year-old Darnella Frazier may have changed the world,” wrote Washington Post journalist Margaret Sullivan. Ms Frazier, the teen who filmed George Floyd’s murder and helped insure the conviction of Derek Chauvin, has emerged as a cultural hero to many. She took out her phone and pressed ‘record’ because she ‘saw’ George Floyd and reacted by an act of witnessing that indeed changed the world. I’ll repeat the rhetorical question I asked above about Angel’s action: should any of us do less?

Empathy and witnessing
Although humanitarians working in ‘the field’, especially in conflict zones, frequently encounter  human suffering, the sheer volume of what they experience for the most part precludes authentic one-to-one sawubona-esque witnessing. Indeed, the témoignage approach used by MSF is much more commonly employed relative to the plight of classes of people like victims of sex and gender based violence (SGVB). Indeed and ironically, quickly and efficiently getting the most support out to the highest number of those in need in any humanitarian response involves not seeing individuals. The humane and human act of slowing to make an authentic connection to one person is irrational in the larger scheme of effective aid delivery. Bizarrely, empathy toward one individual can indicate a lack of empathy for so many others. In this situation the humanitarian is caught in what sociologist would term ‘role conflict’ where the role professional conflicts with the the role friend, neighbor, or simply fellow human.

All that said, the humanitarian -and all of us- are called to see other as subjects, not objects, and living up to this calling can be difficult and trying.

As the saying goes, we all do what we can. At the end of the day if we have made every effort to acknowledge and respect the humanity and dignity of those around us, bringing out our inner Angel or Darnella as much as possible, we are part of the global humanitarian and humanization process much needed in our world.

For my part I have found myself increasingly making efforts to witness. On several occasions I have pulled my car over when observing a police interactions, most especially those involving BIPOC^2, now acutely aware that these interactions can turn violent or fatal for the person being interrogated by the police. I don’t claim to be as thoughtful and courageous as Darnella Frazier, but I will admit to being inspired and motivated by her actions.

As we walk through the night and fog which is our world today should any of us do less?

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¹Both German words, Schadenfreude means taking pleasure in the misfortune of others and Gluckschmerz means being upset by the luck or fortune of another person.

²Black, indigenous, people of color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martian thoughts on the humanitarian sector and humanity

Nearly a year ago in February 2021 three vehicles launched from Earth visited Mars, and two of them landed on the surface. For some of us, these events served as a small respite from COVID worries, impeachment trials, military coups, and far too many massive humanitarian needs across the globe.

Talk of space travel has always excited my imagination and so, in that spirit (and as an homage to Horace Miner) I offer my thoughts on what a Martian might think if they were to visit their neighbor and ask about this idea called the ‘humanitarian imperative’ and other related matters.

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Martian:  Thank you for allowing me this visit to Earth. Since humans seem to be the apex life form in terms of brain power, may I ask you some questions about ‘humanity’?

Sociologist Arcaro: You are very welcome. Please feel free to ask anything you’d like.

Martian:  A quick scan of your planet indicates there are about 8 billion humans and that many hundreds of millions are at mortal risk due to both natural disasters and human to human conflict. Our data also indicate that over 5 million human children under the age of 5 die each Earth year -nearly 14,000 every 24 hours-  from preventable causes. Are you taking care of those most in need of assistance?

Sociologist Arcaro: Yes, we have a comprehensive system of humanitarian organizations providing aid to many in need. About $35 billion USD is required this year by the aid industry to provide food, shelter, medical care, education, security, and other needs to about 160 million people targeted for aid.

Martian: Our research revealed that this ‘humanitarian system’ is chronically underfunded by as much as 40%, and that many in dire need remain unseen by this system due to a curious and inefficient prioritization system. Why isn’t there full funding for all who need humanitarian assistance?

Sociologist Arcaro: The humanitarian organizations are doing as much as then can with limited resources.

Martian: Contradiction. You appear to have ample resources. I see that in one nation alone nearly that much -$21.5 billion dollars- was spent on this mysterious Valentine’s Day holiday. The profits for the makers of a game called Fortnight make about $5 billion in one year. You humans spend about $12 billion per year watching each other have sex. Your ‘humanity’ seems quite full of contradictions. One of your great leaders made a point of saying that all oppression is bad in obvious ways for the oppressed but also hurts the oppressor, draining their humanity.

Also, we see that one of your humans had their net worth increase by $121 billion dollars in one year. This is 3.5 times more than the entire ‘humanitarian aid industry’ spends in one year for over 160 million people. How can you humans justify a system which allows for such an immoral accumulation of wealth?

Sociologist Arcaro: There’s a long answer to that question involving many social forces fueled by deeply entrenched economic and political ideologies, most prominently neoliberalism. In short, neoliberalism argues that the free capitalistic market will efficiently identify and find a way to effectively monetize the satisfaction of all human needs and that only a bare minimum of government regulation is needed. To insure proper motivation individual entrepreneurs must be rewarded for their ideas and efforts based on what this free market allows. Humanity has not systematically addressed the morality issues around massive pooling of wealth. The assumption is that jobs that hold high responsibility and take extensive training or exceptional skills are paid proportionately more for their work.

Martian: Given the life-critical work that they do are humanitarian workers paid well?

Sociologist Arcaro: Some of the very top positions like Country Director or Chief of Party can make nearly $100,000 per year or more, but the vast majority of humanitarian workers, especially those from and working in the Global South (also know as the majority world) make far less, likely about USD$20,000 per year. Relative to the importance of the work they do humanitarian workers are not paid much, I guess.

Martian: Contradiction. Your free market system pays essential workers like humanitarians or teachers far less -by orders of magnitude- than the basketball players we see on your broadcasts. Humanitarians get small compensation -USD$10,000 per year- where the average NBA professional basketball player makes nearly USD$8,000,000. You are telling me that men that play games are worth 800 times more than men and women who save lives?

We also see that your local, national, and international media reports extensively on various sporting activities and individual athletes, and in the US of A you have an unofficial holiday called the ‘Super Bowl.’ Why is there no such coverage of the activities of humanitarians? Who tells their stories? Your way of prioritizing the distribution of both material and non-material wealth and status are riddled with contradictions.

Sociologist Arcaro: That’s a pretty broad statement, but you may be correct.

Martian: You have a United Nations that produced a detailed ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights‘ that is a wonderful statement demanding a just world for all humans, but since that document was published in your year 1948 there have been dozens of genocides and wealth disparities have gotten so much more extreme. Contradictions.

We see that you have sent yet more vehicles to our planet. This effort surely came as the fruit of much cooperation. We also see that you have an international space station orbiting your planet. How is it that you can have that shining symbol of cooperation and coordination above you and quite the opposite on the planet below?

Sociologist Arcaro: We do have moderate to good cooperation and coordination among those in the scientific community, and there are some transnational organizations, notably the United Nations, whose mission is to facilitate unified actions, but ‘free enterprise’ and hyper aggressive nationalism retards many efforts to address major global issues.

Martian:  Yes, we see this.  One major example is a tragic and flaccid response to your climate crisis problems. If current trends continue human life will barely be possible on your planet by the year 2100. How is it possible that you are not responding to this suicidal behavior?

Sociologist Arcaro: Many on our planet are afflicted with what I can the ‘mentality of exploitation’ that allows for and even encourages environmentally irresponsible behavior. Many would agree that you are right, that collectively we are committing suicide. A recent movie -‘Don’t Look Up’ provides one description of the mentality that grips our planet. Many scientists agree with the premise of the movie. Sad, I know.

I am assuming that Martian nature is similar to human (Earthling) nature. Have you done a better job on your planet caring for those in need? If so, how? Is there a ‘Martianatarian imperative’ like our humanitarian imperative?

Martian: We have what is called the Wholeness Award. It goes to the person or organization whose way of being-in-the-world is such that their words and actions match most perfectly. Although in our early history we went through a period where basic Martian feelings like greed, lust, and gluttony were able to flourish, various positive rewards like the Wholeness Award slowly moved our global Martian culture in a positive direction. Whenever we interact with each other in any situation -work, family, recreation- we all give positive reinforcement when positive Martianistic words and actions match. Over time we slowly tamped down negative and destructive Martian impulses of gluttony, greed, and lust. Our social institutions found ways to reward positive behavior and shame behavior that reflected these counter-Martianistic behaviors. We also developed many norms, policies, laws, institutions and rules for behavior which fight against any actions which marginalize other Martians or the Martian planet itself.

The difference between the Martianatarian imperative and humanitarian imperative is that your humanitarian imperative has a wide gap between what you say and what you do. The Martianitarian imperative has no such gap. Your planet has normalized and glorified gluttony and greed, ours has normalized and glorified wholeness values.

Arcaro sociologist: I hear you. There are some humans who believe as you do, but they are not in major positions of power, alas.

Martian: We still have so many questions for you Earthlings….

How is it that you have such awards for people like the Nobel Peace Prize but some of the winners have acted in a way that is directly contrary to your humanitarian imperative? There are many examples of this, most recently the 1991 Peace Prize winner was directly involved in a genocide. Aung San Suu Kyi was lauded “for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights” but supported the marginalization of many ethnic groups in Myanmar and the genocide of the Rohingya.

How is it that you have so many pogroms and genocides, people killing other people just because they worship a different God or have a different color skin?

How is it that you seem to worship national sovereignty? On Mars we see ourselves as one family whose fate is jointly shared. You seem mired in nation versus nation competition that is wholly dysfunctional.

So, on Mars it does not matter where are you are born. You have the same rights and same opportunities to live a life of dignity. It appears that on your planet where are you are born can lock you into a life of marginalization on one hand or, if you’re born in certain what you call ZIP Codes in the United States, your future seems quite bright. How is it that a mere accident of birth can either doom or bless a person for their entire lifetime?

In your language you would say ‘hypocritical’ that there is a very disturbing inconsistent gap between how you describe the world in your documents and how you act, that is, the gap between your ideal culture -what you put into your official documents-, and your real culture, your actual behavior. Why is there such a gap?

I see that you talk about this idea of a humanitarian imperative. On Mars we have the Martianitarian  imperative. What that means is that we all have a responsibility to each other to provide basic dignity, basic needs, and basic opportunities for growth on all levels. It appears in your documents that the humanitarian imperative implies the same thing, but your actions do not make sense to us.

I am very curious about why extraordinary sums of resources are put into war and comparatively little (by orders of magnitude) resources are put into maintaining peace and maintaining justice, living up to the humanitarian imperative. Just the top ten nations on your planet spend nearly $1.4 trillion dollars per year on weapons and defense and yet only $35 billion is spent on humanitarian aid. How can you explain that massive gap to me, please?

We have more questions, but let us make an observation. Your humanity seems in trouble. We are sorry to see your plight. But it is of your own making and all we can say in terms of advice is to listen to your wise leaders who preach love and acceptance and reject ideologies that lead to global suicide. Find ways to denormalize gluttony and greed, to tamp down the more negative parts of your nature, and to flourish as a species in harmony with the other life forms on your planet.

Arcaro Sociologist: Thank you for your observations and your advice. For the sake of humanity I hope that if you visit us again in the future we will have addressed our many cultural contradictions and some of the important questions you pose.

 

 

 

“We must make public health decisions based on science, on fact.”

-humanitarian worker with a major INGO

To know the world as a humanitarian

Some general thoughts on epistemology
“How do you know that?” is one of the most common questions we ask each other. Stated in its simplest terms epistemology is the study of how we know what we know and how we know we know what we know.

Recently I was fortunate enough to get my second Covid-19 vaccine shot; I am now fully vaccinated. When someone asks me how I know that the vaccine works they are asking essentially an epistemological question. My answer is that I know based on the science behind the vaccine and the testing that was done in numerous and ongoing studies to amplify, clarify, and extend the information we have on the efficacy of the vaccine.

That is to say, I am using science as my epistemological foundation. Science gathers information systematically, objectively, and thoroughly. Science is also open to changing conclusions based on new results and new information. Facts remain ‘true’ unless or until they are contradicted by new scientifically gathered data. Scientific knowledge in this sense is not necessarily static, but rather but rather a dynamic and flexible way of knowing the world.

Some scientific facts have stood the test of time. For example we do not disagree on the basic chemical elements and their composition in terms of electrons and protons. These are established facts that transcend history, ideology, culture, or nationality. Other scientific facts, particularly those based on human populations, can be more slippery to pin down and demand ongoing investigation, questioning, and revision concerning what is considered fact.

When you get into social scientific information the problem of fact is even more slippery. Human society is both reflexive and nonlinear as a system; it changes very rapidly and often unpredictably.

Another one way of knowing is faith. Faith simply asks you to take truth as it is given by some external source or higher power, be that a god or a news channel, and take that as reality. The contrast between science and faith as epistemologies could not be more stark. One is flexible, rigorous, objective, thorough, and ongoing, and the other one is dogmatic, relatively inflexible, and demonstratively not grounded in empirical fact.

As we have conversations with our friends, neighbors, colleagues, and associates it is incumbent upon us to consider the epistemological foundation of the ‘facts’ they cite. The epistemological source makes a difference. This is especially true when talking about public health concerns. I took the vaccine and continue to practice social distancing and mask wearing because the science behind these protocols is sound.

Discussion with a humanitarian worker
RecentlyI had the pleasure of talking with a colleague and friend from Bangladesh.  We first talked about  general matters of our families etc. but then turned to the Covid pandemic and how the number of positive cases are rising rapidly in Bangladesh.

This global pandemic is influencing the entire world, but unevenly so. Many nations are having difficulty gaining access to the vaccine, and the distribution of shots is incomplete, difficult, and sometimes politically contentious.

We talked about a couple matters, including the fact that one of the biggest hurdles in this pandemic is the information -or lack thereof- that is being passed on from the public health sector to the population. On example is  when and to what degree one is protected from the virus after being vaccinated. There are some people who believe that immediately after getting the vaccine they are fully protected, which is demonstratively and scientifically not the case. There are many stories in the press both in the US and in Bangladesh about people dying after getting vaccinated, and these stories cause concern because they may be true but ignore the fact the vaccine is not fully effective until two weeks post second shot and, in any case are not 100% effective. These stories create the public perception that the vaccine does not work, but the fact is that protocol was not followed and the individual was not fully protected after one or two days post first shot.

Another topic we talked about was the matter of faith. After my friend was vaccinated a neighbor questioned his wife about his faith. She asked if he really had faith he did not need a vaccination because God would protect him. He explained me that his interpretation of the Koran was such that Allah would protect, but first humans need to to protect themselves. That is to say there were different interpretations of religion, one of which matched with the scientific protocols and the other one demonstratively did not. Religion, when interpreted in such a way as it complements of scientific knowledge, can be a very powerful tool in helping to control the Covid pandemic. But when religion is interpreted in such a way as it contradicts science this is a major problem and public health issue.

We talked about how the situations were very similar between the United States and Bangladesh, and that in both countries there were those perpetuating information not based on science and hence harming the effort to save lives through good protocols and good vaccination acceptance. We need to live in a world where the epistemological bases upon which people make their decisions is sound, grounded in fact, and introduces truths that we can all live with.

Making sure that your humanitarian response is relevant includes understanding how those you work with and for know the world in which they live and act, most definitely so the affected populations. At times creating bridges between faith based and scientific ways of knowing is the most important work that can be accomplished.

 

 

 

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is active in Cox’s Bazar and in the US
Covid-19 continues to impact all our lives, unevenly so, with those historically on the margins being hit the worse. Many who live in poverty are often forced to make a choice between working wherever they are able and thus risking infection or isolating, staying safe from the virus only to face starvation. MSF, active in nations around the world, has been responding to the coronavirus health needs of millions, including those affected in the United States.

Talking with Hannan in Bangladesh
Muhammed Hannan and I have talked many times over the last year or so, mostly about the MSF response to COVID-19 in Bangladesh where he works as a Personnel Administration Manager for Doctors Without Borders (MSF).¹ Based in the capital city of Dhaka, Hannan lives with his family. Thankfully, he and his family have remained free of the virus.

We first talked about the COVID-19 outbreak back in April when the numbers were just beginning to rise. As the COVID-19 pandemic has gotten worse, Hannan and I have talked frequently, and he regularly asks about how I am doing, admonishing me to ‘be careful’ and to always take precautions. Indeed, in my semi-rural North Carolina county the numbers are quite dramatic. With a population of just 160,000 we have had 15,000 cases and over 200 deaths, and the numbers are only now beginning rend slowly downward. The first vaccines have arrived at our local medical center, so there is now a dim glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. I am one of the lucky ones having received the first of two vaccinations, my second coming in a couple weeks.

The overall numbers in the US may not have yet reached their peak in this current massive second wave of infections. According to the most recent data collected by Johns Hopkins University there have been over 108 million cases globally with the US accounting for nearly a quarter of all cases with well over 27 million infections. By contrast Bangladesh has ‘only’ 540,000 cases. Some quick mental math leads me to the fact that with about half the population of the US, Bangladesh has proportionately far fewer cases. The US infection rate (population/number of infections per 1 million) is 56,291 compared to 3,262 in Bangladesh, 28 times higher than in the US.  This is an astounding contrast, even accounting for the lower percentage of individuals being tested there.  No wonder Hannan worries about my health and safety.

MSF in the US
Nearly a year ago in April 2020 MSF began operations in the US. Here is their public statement:

“In response to the unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) began working in key sites across the United States to reach vulnerable groups that often lack access to health care. We ran limited operations in the US between April and October and have now concluded these activities.

MSF teams collaborated with local authorities and community-based organizations on a wide range of projects, including work with people who are homeless or housing insecure in New York; migrant farmworkers in Florida; Native American communities in the Navajo Nation and Pueblos; and neglected and marginalized communities in Puerto Rico. Our teams also worked with staff in nursing homes and long-term care facilities in Michigan and Texas to offer training in infection prevention and control measures and support for mental health and wellness.”

I was first made aware of MSF’s efforts in the US after watching one of their videos on Facebook. After researching and teaching about the humanitarian sector for over a decade it was striking to see that my home nation, typically in the donor or giving role² was now on the receiving end of humanitarian aid from MSF, an organization I had mostly associated with efforts in places like Yemen, South Sudan, and, yes, Bangladesh.

Asking Hannan for his opinion
I asked Hannan what he thought about the fact MSF has been operating in the US doing COVID-19 related work. His response was serious, measured, and straightforward.  MSF, he described, goes where there is need and the local actors can use assistance. He pointed out that in the US the COVID-19 situation is “kind of a disaster”, and that

“MSF always provides medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare; so considering these things MSF might need to working USA too. We always work based on needs. We have a pool of human resources and can respond. MSF goes for an assessment to see what the various actors are doing, what they are capable of, and many other factors. MSF has worked in France and elsewhere in Europe, so why not in the US?”

I asked if he had a reaction to the irony that the US is typically a donor country, the one giving aid. Without even a trace of schadenfreude he said,

“Actually, I think we can consider these things the other way. It’s not about the aid or wealth or some other things, it’s about the human resources and level of experience dealing with this kind of situation. So considering all of these things it is OK for MSF to be there. The US is always helping people around the world but in this case they asked people to help them.”

We also talked about the MSF COVID-19 responses in Bangladesh. He noted that MSF had set up two hospitals in Cox’s Bazar dedicated to COVID-19.

“MSF collaborated with the UN and the Bangladeshi government. In Cox’s we expected a lot of patients especially from the Rohingya communities, but lately we have not seen that many.  There are few cases actually. That is why we put two of our facilities to hibernation, if needed we will re-open it.” 

Impact on the workplace
I asked Hannan how COVID-19 had impacted his work, and I learned that indeed some things are universal; his answers reflect the situation of people all around the world just now. He pointed out that it is harder to work remotely, working from home can alter when work gets done and imposes on family life, most meetings are online, socializing with co-workers is minimal, no shaking hands when you do see colleagues face to face, and so on. He describes how MSF in Bangladesh is impacted by COVID-19,

“Working remotely makes it so we must change how we work and so the outcomes are not the same. Also, some of our staff are international workers, expats, and many of these work at the higher managerial levels. So because of quarantine and other factors the expat numbers are down and inconsistent and that has had a negative impact on how well we are able to work, the overall quality. Because of COVID precautions both national and expat staff are taking lots of sick leave and that impacts everything also.”

Turning to an even harder topic: witnessing and advocacy
I asked Hannan about the sociopolitical realities in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, specifically about the stance MSF takes regarding various issues in the camps. The MSF goal is to always maintain good relations with all of the actors in any location, and in this case that means the Bangladeshi government and other govt. officials, stakehlders and actors in the camps. At the same time, the mission of MSF demands being critical and witnessing.

We talked about the issue of témoignage – or witnessing, a stance that has long been a hallmark of the MSF approach to humanitarianism. Here is the explanation from the MSF web site:

“The word témoignage comes from the French verb temoigner, which literally translates as ‘to witness’. MSF practices témoignage by acting as a witness and speaking out—whether in private or public—about the plight of the people we treat.”

Daily realities make adhering to this witnessing stance highly nuanced and complicated. Information is power and must be used wisely, carefully, and with all perspectives considered.

Hannan explained in vivid detail how MSF collects data on what is happening in the camps. This function largely happens organically as cases come to the clinics and MSF staff hear and record the stories of each patient. Of course these data help track public health related issues , e.g., how diseases are transmitted, where there are ‘hot spots’ of infection, patterns that shed light on sanitation issues that contribute to illnesses.

Earlier in his MSF career Hannan worked as a translator and collected many stories from the Rohingya, at times liaising with journalists to help get specific stories into the media. Even though now he works in Personnel Administration, he knows first hand what is going on in the refugee camps and how MSF acts as an advocate.

Final thoughts
In the last moments of our conversation I asked if simply writing about problem issues in the Rohingya refugee camps would be a problem. Hannan gave no clear answer. Humanitarian work is never simple or apolitical, especially when it comes to work in conflict areas. The ethics of humanitarian work are dense with complex issues and very rarely are there easy answers.  The same can be said for writing about humanitarian work and sharing the stories of men like Hannan.

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¹  Known internationally as MSF, Médecins Sans Frontières was founded in 1971 by French doctors and humanitarians.
²  As I write this the current draft of The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 from Congress includes aid to many low income nations.