He aint heavy he is my brother. Those lyrics underscored the need for our world to come together and stand by fellow human beings in their hour of need so we could make this globe a better place. According to the UN our brothers are too heavy for us and we are not doing enough to address the imbalance. Those of us fortunate enough to have food, a roof and a job are doing nothing for those who do not. In 2014 the world divided sharply into two groups hitting a new high (low) in international aid co-operation. We were heavy on talk but light on putting our money where our mouth is.
The statistics are sobering. In fact, after a fashion they are damning of general thoughtlessness. There are currently 45.2 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, the highest number of its kind since 1994, the year of the Rwandan genocide and civil war in the former Yugoslavia.
The UN report says: The total figure includes 28.8 million internally displaced people, 15.4 million refugees who have crossed borders, and 937,000 asylum seekers. This year alone, 1.1 million people fled across international borders while another 6.5 million were displaced in their home countries. “This means one in each 4.1 seconds,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told reporters. “So each time you blink, another person is forced to flee.”
Conflicts in Syria, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic were responsible for the high number. The situations of Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan and Syria have added huge numbers.
As a world we tend to turn a blind eye to these issues.
This week the UN aid agencies have called for cross border humanitarian help and it required a Security Council enforcement to let that happen. Even then, the displacement is so intense and its ripple effect includes murder, pillage, rape, arson, scorched earth swathes and trafficking as well as the staples of hunger and disease.
All these are wrapped up in corruption of the highest level.
How much do you and I even think about the harsh reality of 12 million people in Syria out of synch, even that many again in Africa, a total of 30 million and rising and what have we done as individuals or a community to hold out a hand?
The situation will worsen. Like a virus it nibbles at the safe zones widening the disaffected and the range of the victims. Many of these new diseases we are dealing with and the return of the old ones in more virulent form are spawned in refugee camps.
So if we don’t wise up we may not be as safe as we think we are.
