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| Father Prem returns after being abducted for 8 months (Photo credit: BBC News) |
Prepared by: Virginia Turner
Before attending the AGI / Rome program I had a fairly romanticized notion regarding humanitarian aid work. Like others, I knew the work was difficult and challenging but I had images of traveling to beautiful and exotic places. While this may be true, the often harsh conditions and safety considerations were, let us just say, not part of my mental calculations when considering aid work. The AGI / Rome program has shown me that, in fact, aid work can be extremely dangerous and those of us considering this type of work should be fully cognizant of these hazards to our personal safety. Below are a few news stories and other source documents that helped me get a more realistic view of humanitarian worker jobs:
Before attending the AGI / Rome program I had a fairly romanticized notion regarding humanitarian aid work. Like others, I knew the work was difficult and challenging but I had images of traveling to beautiful and exotic places. While this may be true, the often harsh conditions and safety considerations were, let us just say, not part of my mental calculations when considering aid work. The AGI / Rome program has shown me that, in fact, aid work can be extremely dangerous and those of us considering this type of work should be fully cognizant of these hazards to our personal safety. Below are a few news stories and other source documents that helped me get a more realistic view of humanitarian worker jobs:
In reviewing the Jesuit Refugee
Services materials that we received from Father Ken Gavin (JRS
International Director Assistant), and Mr. Ernesto Lorda (JRS International
Programmes Coordinator) as part of our Rome /AGI program, two articles caught
my eye. The first had the interesting
title of: “Give us back Mr. Prem”
(Jesuit Refugee Services, Nov. 2015, Issue 58, pg. 19). There is a photograph of Mr. Prem in the
brochure and he is described as the “kind Indian aid worker” who had been
abducted, as in kidnapped. Fortunately
for Mr. Prem he was
returned eight months later, after much negotiations. In the same Jesuit
Refugee Services newsletter (pg. 9) the title reads “A hope that refuses to
die” and the main topic of this story is how the author Pau Vidal (JRS Maban
Director) had to run for his life due to “heavy fighting in Bunj” which is a town
near Maban a ‘remote area’ of South Sudan.
The author elaborates “Running for my life with those women and children
I felt a knot in my stomach…..Five humanitarian workers were killed during the
mayhem. Due to the insecurity the JRS
team (along with 240 humanitarian staff) was evacuated from Maban.” (Vidal,
P., A Hope That Refuses to Die” Jesuit Refugee Services SERVIR, Nov. 2014,
Issue 58). Clearly Jesuit Refugee Services has been at the forefront of dangerous
interventions as they are known for going into places no other humanitarian aid
organizations would venture.
Threats to Health Aid Workers: According to Aljazeera.com
(2014) and
other sources, humanitarian aid workers providing polio vaccinations Pakistan
and Nigeria
were murdered. Some sources indicate that
the deaths were due to the CIA posing as an aid worker which led to the
assassination of Osama Bin Laden drawing the attention of those loyal to
al-Qaeda. Others attribute the killings
(Nigerian women shot by motorcycle gunmen) to opposition to polio vaccines from
radical Muslim clerics who claim that the vaccinations will cause
infertility. Failed State
Regions are very dangerous regions for humanitarian aid workers due to the
lack of strong stable governments, thus these regions require aid workers to be
especially diligent to avoid being caught in rival crossfire. I suspect that these situations would demand strict adherence to the
concepts of neutrality and impartiality concerning all interactions.
UN Workers: As has been
recently reported, the World Food Program’s (WFP) supply lines to Syrian cities
had been reduced to the point where “over
one million people who need food are not getting it.” In addition to
funding difficulties, another reason the supply lines were cut was due to security
concerns, that is, the
UNWFP had to pull workers out of Syria due to security threats. Syrian rebels
have been known to kidnap United Nations peacekeepers and deaths are also an
issue for these aid workers.
In reviewing only a few incidents obviously
humanitarian aid work is not to be entered into lightly and I commend those who
persevere and continue this important work.
For those that are considering applying for Humanitarian Aid positions,
they may be aware of the risk of death, injury, or kidnapping. If they are not, hopefully this brief article
will prompt additional questions and research.
King,
D. (2002). Paying the ultimate price: An analysis of aid-worker fatalities. Humanitarian
Exchange, 21.
Sheik, M., Gutierrez, M. I., Bolton, P. A.,
Spiegel, P. B., Thieren, M., & Burnham, G. M. (2000). Deaths among
humanitarian workers. Emmitsburg, MD: National Emergency Training Center. For more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/11/polio-workers-killed-pakistan-attack-20141126556854951.html
For more: http://www.healthmap.org/site/diseasedaily/article/least-nine-polio-workers-killed-nigeria-21113
For more: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50550
For more: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article55826
For more: https://aidworkersecurity.org/incidents/report/summary
For more: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/press-release/three-msf-aid-workers-killed-serious-incident-kismayo-somalia
For more: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/press-release/three-msf-aid-workers-killed-serious-incident-kismayo-somalia
For more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/20/africa/somalia-violence/
For more: http://www.borgenmagazine.com/the-dangers-of-humanitarian-aid-work/
Note: Some of the idea for this story came from:http://www.borgenmagazine.com/the-dangers-of-humanitarian-aid-work/
