humanitarian and interational affairs magazine  #3/2011

PRofile
Angelina Jolie:
humanitarian superstar
Al Jazeera
A new and important
provider of global news
Libya
Refugees risk
journey of death

inter­national
International troops are preparing to leave
Afghanistan. What sort of future awaits
President Karzai and the Afghan people?
 Photo: Espen Rasmussen/Panos Pictures
Exhibition period: 13 May 2011–22 January 2012 Content  0311
PERSPEcTIVe – a humani­tarian and international affairs magazine

06 op-ed
António Guterres, the High
Commissioner for Refugees,
shares his thoughts and reflec-
tions in the aftermath of the
terror attacks in Norway.

24 profilen:
angelina jolie
Angelina Jolie has won great
respect for her humanitarian
work, and has a reputation
not only as one of the most
active UN Goodwill Ambassa-
dors, but also one of the most
powerful. This year she com-
pletes ten years of service as
Goodwill Ambassador for the
refugee cause.

© Nobel Peace Center 2011. The exhibition is sponsored by Fond for lyd og bilde, the Freedom of Expression Foundation, Norad and HP. Telenor has contributed to the educational programme Away from Home.
28 JOURNEY OF DEATH
The crisis in Libya has forced
hundreds of thousands to
flee the country. More than
a thousand have died in at-
tempts to reach Europe by
crossing the Mediterranean
Sea. Europe has responded
by tightening border controls.

32 al jazeera
Qatar-based news channel,
Al Jazeera, is no longer the
upstart of the international
media landscape. It has beco-

WILL THE FLOW OF REFUGEES NEVER CEASE?
Visit the Nobel Peace Center and see TRANSIT. The exhibition tells
the story of Nobel laureate Fridtjof Nansen’s humanitarian efforts in
the early part of the last century to the award-winning photographer
Photo: Scanpix
me an influential provider of
people have been forced to flee their homes. One of them is Rahman. global news.
Today he is living without documents in Norway – Nansen’s homeland.
Through Espen Rasmussen’s pictures, we meet Rahman and others

60 TINTIN ON TRIAL 14 EXIT AFGHANISTAN

Espen Rasmussen’s pictures of today’s refugees. whose individual stories lie hidden behind the statistics.

Nansen used surprisingly modern methods to help people in need. City Hall Square | Oslo | nobelpeacecenter.org Comic-book hero, Tintin,
For example, the Nansen passport was used to assist refugees Open Tuesday–Sunday 10.00–18.00 goes on trial accused of ra- For a decade Afghanistan has been at the centre of international attention. The withdra-
without documents. Almost a century later, more than 43 million cism. wal of foreign troops may have disastrous consequences for many Afghans civilians.
THE NOBEL PEACE CENTER’S MAIN SPONSORS:

Perspective
NO. 03.2011 3
EDITORIAL
EXIT AFGHANISTAN
 F 
or
  a decade Afghanistan has been at
the top of the international politi-
cal agenda. Change, however, is just
around the corner. The countries that con-
stitute the International Security Assistance
Force are preparing to withdraw their for-
ces. If everything goes to plan, all internatio-
nal combat troops will have left Afghanistan
by the end of 2014.
In their haste to exit Afghanistan, Western
governments seem to be turning a blind eye
to the disastrous consequences the withdra-
wal might have for ordinary Afghans. There
are well-founded fears that when the troops
go home, international interest will wane,
leaving the war-tired and destitute Afghans
to fend for themselves.
Many will agree that it is high time the Afg-
hans took control over their own country.
The international forces, however, will be
leaving behind an Afghanistan no better off
than it was ten years ago.
True, over the last decade, living condi-
tions in Afghanistan have improved – but
only very marginally. The country is still at
the bottom end of the UN’s Development
Index ranking. Over three million Afghans
are food insecure. In 2010, Afghanistan was
named the worst country for women to live
in, and it also figures highly among the most
dangerous countries for children to be born
into.
Significant improvement in living condi-
tions is – of course – dependent on peace.
However, the war is now more intense than
ever. In 2010, 2,777 civilians were killed as
a result of the ongoing conflict, the highest
number of civilian deaths since 2003 - and
there are few signs that the warring parties
will be able to reach a negotiated peace wit-
hin the immediate future.
The Afghan economy is largely depen-
dent on income and funds generated by
4 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
the international war effort, together with
various forms of relief and development
support. Afghanistan, however, is a coun-
try riddled by corruption. The prospect for
economic growth post 2014 seems bleak.
Among humanitarian actors there is a wide-
spread fear that when the international
troops go home, humanitarian and develop-
ment assistance will be withdrawn as well.
In the words of Valerie Amos, head of the
UN’s humanitarian agency: “We expect that
with the military transition, aid-flows will be
significantly reduced.”
The UN has problems - huge problems - ope-
rating efficiently in Afghanistan, as have
many other organisations. The US and NATO
strategy of “hearts and minds”, i.e. using
relief and development support as an im-
portant tool to win military control over cer-
tain areas, has compromised all humanita-
rian effort. Aid workers have become targets
of war, whilst civilians receiving help come
under suspicion of being collaborators. Lack
of humanitarian access has compounded an
already difficult situation.
Afghanistan urgently needs plans and stra-
tegies that will address future humanitarian
needs and economic development. Western
governments must include these aspects
in their transition and exit planning. If not
Afghanistan may be thrown once more into
anarchy and collapse. n
n n In their haste to exit Afghanistan,
Western governments seem to be
turning a blind eye to the disastrous
consequences the withdrawal might have
for ordinary Afghans.
Perspective is on sale in the following
countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium,
Canada, Cyprus, France, Italy, Japan,
750 000 people
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and
the USA.
Editor in chief Erik Giercksky in Somalia are at risk of starvation. NRC needs more
Editor Harriet Rudd funding for immediate lifesaving response.
Production manager Erik Tresse
Writers and contributors
Marianne Alfsen, Christopher Eads,
Linda Jeanette Gresslien, António
Guterres, Ragnhild Holmås, Roald
Høvring, Ragnhild M.W. Jordheim,
Agnete Moland Klevstrand, Vikram
Kolmannskog, Tom Pilston, Espen
Rasmussen, Øyvind Strømmen, Birgit
Vartdal, Rolf Vestvik, Adam Zyglis and
Tor Øverbø
Circulation Services
Naweed Ahmed
Naweed.Ahmed@nrc.no
Sales
Pineapple Media Limited,
172 Northern Parade, Hilsea,
Portsmouth, Hampshire PO2 9LT, UK
Design Teft Design
Printing Gamlebyen Grafiske
Circulation 17,000
Cover photo 
Ben Baker/Redux/Felix Features
Publisher
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
Questions regarding the NRC should
be directed to:
Rolf.Vestvik@nrc.no
The views expressed in Perspective
do not necessarily reflect the views
of the NRC.
Norwegian Refugee Council
Box 6758 St. Olavs Plass
PHoto: NRC/Astrid Sehl sept. 2011
0130 Oslo
Norway
Support our work
www.nrc.no/donate
 he Norwegian Refugee Council
T
(NRC) is an independent, humanitarian
non-governmental organisation which
provides assistance, protection and
durable solutions to refugees and in-
ternally displaced persons worldwide.
Op-ed
Many will protest that there is no necessary link between national chauvinism and murder,
but in the perpetrator of the crimes in Norway, we see there is no incompatibility either.
Reflections on the Tragedy in Norway
 A 
t  the end of July, we marked the 60th anni-
versary of the Geneva Refugee Convention,
which sprang from the strong 'never again'
sentiment prompted by the horrific experiences of
the Second World War. It has adapted and endured
through six decades of massive changes, but contin-
ues to depend fundamentally on tolerant, open and
António Guterres
compassionate states.
is the United Nations Norway is such a state. Led by a Prime Minister,
High Commissioner whose father once headed the same organization
for Refugees and I am privileged to lead, Norway has long been re-
former Prime Minister
of Portugal. nowned for its generosity, tolerance, and devotion
to peace. It is not by accident that it is the home of
the Nobel Peace Prize.
That a country such as Norway should be subject-
ed to an attack as utterly brutal and nihilistic as the
one it endured on 22 July 2011 is the cruellest of iro-
nies. Everywhere in the world, people were incred-
ulous and heartbroken.
n n
So nearly We at UNHCR were particularly saddened. Among the
touched by the victims of the shootings on Utøya Island there are
a number of refugees and people from refugee-like
tragedy, there situations who had been resettled to Norway pre-
is inevitably cisely because of its peacefulness, tolerance and
a danger generosity.
And among those killed in the bombing in Oslo
of sadness was a former colleague. An individual who had
giving way to worked with us as a junior professional officer, one
anger. This is of the country’s best and brightest. A dynamic,
dedicated, hard-working young woman, eager to
understandable. learn and to share, multilingual, open and cheerful
But I believe – killed. Even sentences break down trying to make
it would be a sense of it.
So nearly touched by the tragedy, there is inevita-
mistake. bly a danger of sadness giving way to anger. This is
understandable. But I believe it would be a mistake.
The apparent perpetrator of the tragedy claims to
have carried out the attacks in response to the mul-
ticulturalism and pro-immigrant policies in Norway.
These he characterized as helping Muslims to ‘take
over Europe’. The individual’s voluminous online
manifesto appears to have been, at least partly, in-
spired by bloggers and writers around the world
6 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
warning of the threat posed by Islam. The alacrity
with which some media outlets initially attributed
the bombing in Oslo to Islamic extremists is telling
in this regard, although it seems that at least one ex-
tremist group had claimed responsibility for it.
Xenophobia and the vilification of Islam are not
the preserve of the wildly homicidal. Such senti-
ments are unfortunately espoused by a range of
often mainstream - if populist - politicians and by
some elements of the media, both in Europe and
elsewhere.
In my view , messages of otherness and of exclusion
and fear have consequences. They pollute dis-
course, and degrade our societies. They dimin-
ish what is best in us, what led to the convention
that protects vulnerable and persecuted refugees.
They erode the values of tolerance and respect for
human dignity that are truly universal, whether
set out in international legal instruments or in the
traditions of protection and hospitality of cultures
and religions, including Islam.
I believe that multiculturalism is a good thing, as
well as inevitable. All societies tend to be multicul-
tural, multiethnic and multireligious. The opposite
encourages conflict – a point made articulately by
Amartya Sen in his book on religious identity and
violence: “The insistence, if only implicitly, on a
choiceless singularity of human identity not only di-
minishes us all, it also makes the world much more
flammable.”
Achieving tolerant, harmonious societies requires
a commitment to economic and social inclusion,
and an investment in the policies that will bring it
about by both government and civil society.
At UNHCR , we deal with survivors of conflict every
day. Nobody who has survived war wants it. That
is why they go to places like Norway. If we are to
take something away from the desolation wrought
there, let it be a recommitment to the values of
generosity, tolerance and peacefulness that the
country is known for. Let us celebrate Norway
even as we express our deep solidarity with the
Norwegian people. n
Illustration by Adam Zyglis: Zyglis is the staff cartoonist for The Buffalo News. His cartoons are internationally syndicated and have appeared in many
publications around the world, including The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 7
 Hot Spots
Libya:
1 final phase
Syria: continued violence
2
Sudan: fighting spills over into new area
3
Iraq: Al Qaeda on the rise
4
syria
DIVIDED
Demonstrations continue in Syria
despite the Assad regime’s ruthless
crackdown on protesters. Even so,
there are still Syrians who support the
regime. The picture shows Assad-loy-
al demonstrators protesting outside
the American embassy in Damascus
in July.
According to pro-democracy activ-
ists, approximately 3,000 civilians
have been killed since the protests
started on 15 March. UN estimates are
slightly lower – they say more than
2,600 lives have been lost in clashes
between demonstrators and Assad’s
forces.
Thus far, there is no indication that
Western and Arab countries will in-
tervene in order to support the pro-
democracy demonstrators. The sanc-
tions imposed by the EU and the US
have not - so far - brought about Pres-
ident al-Assad’s departure from power.
Activists behind the Facebook page
The Syrian Revolution 2011 are now
calling on the young people of Syria
to unite in demanding an internation-
al intervention.
Photo: Scanpix
8 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
31,741
US AND ALLIED
TROOPS KILLED
Photo: Wikimedia
IN MILITARY
CAMPAIGNS
2
FOLLOWING 9/11 Source: Brown Univerity
1
4
3 US military US contractors fghan, Iraqi and Pakistani Other allie
security forces
6,051 2,300 22,198 1,192
Photo: REUTERS/AlertNet/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
iraq
FEAR OF TERROR
While August 2011 was the first
month, since the 2003 invasion,
without American fatalities in Iraq, a
total of 155 civilian Iraqis were killed
that month. The deadliest day was
15 August, when 84 civilians were
killed in 44 apparently co-ordinated
attacks across the country. The inci-
dents included car bombs, suicide
bombers and gunmen. Two weeks
later, 28 people were killed in a Bagh-
sudan
dad mosque.
BORDER CONFLICT There is suggestion that Al Qaeda
This man was displaced from was behind the wave of attacks on
his hometown of Al-Damizin, the 15 August, and this has led to
the capital of Blue Nile State, fears that Al Qaeda is stepping up its
in early September. Since July, operations in Iraq.
Photo: REUTERS/AlertNet/Ali Abu Shish
there has been fighting be-
tween the South Sudan Peo-
ple’s Liberation Army – North
(SPLA-N) and Sudan Govern-
ment Forces in the disputed
border areas of South Kor-
fodan, and the unrest has now
spread to Blue Nile state.
The conflict has displaced at
least 5,000 people, and the lack
libya
of security for non-combatants
has hindered the UN and other TOWARDS A POWER SHIFT
Photo: REUTERS/AlertNet/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
humanitarian organisations The civil war in Libya is in its final phase. Although Gaddafi’s
from coming to their aid. forces refuse to surrender, and there is still fierce fighting for con-
South Sudan declared its in- trol over some cities, analysts believe it is only a matter of time
dependence from Sudan on 9 before all resistance by forces loyal to Gaddafi will be defeated.
July this year. Many now fear Around 60 countries, among them the UK, France, Italy, Ger-
that the border conflict will many, Qatar, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates, recognise
trigger a new war between the National Transitional Council (NTC) as the legitimate gov-
South Sudan and Sudan. The ernment of Libya. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has
1983-2005 civil war resulted in also recognised the NTC.
at least 1.5 million deaths, and Other countries, like the US and Russia, recognise the NTC as
over four million had to flee a legitimate political entity, but insist that Gaddafi must capitu-
their homes. late and leave Libya.
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 9
■  Norway terror attacks
In all probability, the Norwegian terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik, carried out his
terror attacks single-handedly. However, he is no loner in the true sense of the word.
A Wolf and His Pack
 A 
s  soon as it became clear that Anders Behring
Breivik was responsible for the terror attacks
in Oslo on 22 July, there emerged specula-
tions and information about his character. In the im-
mediate aftermath of the tragedy, some journalists
focused on Breivik’s professed Christianity and con-
servatism, and labelled him a “Christian conserva-
tive”. Others referred to him as a neo-Nazi. In ac-
tual fact, both characterisations are wrong. His own
Øyvind Strømmen 1,500-page screed places him firmly among the so-
is a journalist and au- called counter-Jihadists, a new tradition that has de-
thor. For the last ten
veloped on the European and American far-right.
years he has studied
the development of
the anti-Jihad move- CONSPIRACY THINKING
ment. In this article he For those of us who have studied counter-Jihadist
explores the correct-
ness of defining Brei-
rhetoric and propaganda, an act of terror from an as-
vik as a “lone” terrorist. sociate of this movement hardly came as a surprise.
The language and conspiracy theories to be found on
their blog sites testifies to an infrastructure of hatred,
and creates an obvious potential for violence.
What was surprising was the scope of the attacks.
The number of victims exceeds that of the 2005 Al
Qaeda attack in London, and although there have
been numerous examples of violent acts perpetrated
by similarly motivated people in the past, they have
not been on anywhere near the scale of this incident.
The scale and conduct of the bomb attack in Oslo
led many to suspect Islamist terrorists. Ironically,
some of those who most vehemently voiced this suspi-
cion were the very people who did inspire Breivik. The
Norwegian counter-Jihadist blogger, Fjordman (now
revealed to be 36-year old Peder Nøstvold Jensen from
the provincial town of Ålesund) live-blogged the bomb-
ing on Gates of Vienna, a blog which functions as a
nexus in the Muslim-phobia of blogosphere. He wrote:
“Please keep in mind that the left-wing govern-
ment of Jens Stoltenberg that was just bombed is the
most dhimmi appeasing of all Western governments,
to the extent that this is humanly possible. They even
wanted to fund Hamas openly a while ago. The most
suicidal and cowardly government in a country with
no colonial history was just attacked. How do you ex-
plain that as a response to Western ‘aggression’.”
10 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
GATES OF VIENNA
The word «dhimmi» is, in anti-Jihadist circles, a well-
known term, suggesting that Jens Stoltenberg and
his government are bound to Muslim overlords in
a vassalage-type relationship. It can easily be com-
pared with the anti-Semitic idea of ZOG, a «zionist
occupational government». Remarkably, Fjordman’s
criticism of Prime Minister, Stoltenberg, and his gov-
ernment, written shortly after the bombing in Oslo,
is the very same accusation Breivik levels at the gov-
ernment in his manifesto. It is no coincidence that
Breivik’s manifesto includes 39 of Fjordman’s essays
in full text. Breivik even calls his ideology «the school
of Vienna»; an obvious reference to the blog in which
Fjordman commented on the terror attack.
Like the violent Jihadists he so feared – though, no-
tably, did not directly target – Breivik seems to have
been radicalised via the Internet. Online, he found
a modern-day fascist ideology, an ideology preach-
ing of a Europe in decay, consumed by decadence, as
well as of a grand conspiracy to «Islamize» or «Arabi-
ze» the continent; a conspiracy not only involving Is-
lamic countries, but also leading Western politicians,
academics, journalists, and church leaders.
INTERNET RADICALISM
In their study, «Countering Online Radicalisation»,
Photo: Scanpix
a work that focuses on Islamist radicalism, Tim Ste-
vens and Peter Neumann point out several features
that explain why the internet is so potent in the con-
text of radicalisation:
n The internet can be used by extremists to illustrate
and reinforce ideological messages and/or narratives.
the attacks
Through the Internet, potential recruits can gain near- ■■ On the 22 July 2011, Norway experienced two terror attacks. ■■ A total of 77 people were killed, most of them young people attend-
■■ Both attacks were carried out by the Norwegian right-wing extremist, ing the camp on Utøya Island.
instantaneous access to visually powerful video and
Anders Behring Breivik. ■■ Just hours before the first attack, Breivik e-mailed his political mani-
imagery which appear to substantiate the extremists’ ■■ Breivik began his killing spree in the centre of the capital, Oslo, festo to several European right-wing politicians.
political claims. where he detonated a bomb outside the Prime Minster’s office. He then ■■ The fact that a 32-year old Norwegian - and not Islamic extremists -
proceeded to the island of Utøya - where he opened fire on several hun- was behind the terrorist attacks has caused much debate. One of the is-
dred young people attending a summer camp organised by the AUF, the sues raised has been the question of Breivik’s motivation; was it primarily
While Stevens and Neumann focus on video and im-
youth wing of the ruling Labour Party. ideological, or simply the work of a mad man; and to what extent are his po-
agery, there is also a vast number of ideological texts litical views and actions representative of a broader political movement?
and news reports which contribute towards the crea-
tion of a “jigsaw universe”, where all information
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 11
■  Norway terror attacks
that can be used to underscore the ugliness of Islam
and the Western world is included, but everything
contradicting this vision of the world is left out.
n The internet makes it easier to join and integrate into
more formal organisations, and provides a compara-
tively risk-free way for potential recruits to find like-
minded individuals and network amongst them.
Since Breivik’s arrest, it has been revealed that he
was active on a number of web sites. His main ideo-
logical influences came from the so-called counter-
Jihadist blogosphere. It has also been revealed that
he used the social-networking tool, Facebook, to get
in touch with others that share his hatred of Muslims
and the political left-wing.
Through Facebook, he was in direct contact with
members of the British extremist group, English
Defence League (EDL), as well as with its Norwe-
gian subdivision, the Norwegian Defence League. A
source within the anti-Islamic movement in Norway
told the Norwegian daily Dagbladet that Breivik’s Fa-
cebook profile was “one large templar-viking-anti-
Labour-profile”, and went on to describe how Brei-
vik was held in high regard.
n The internet makes it possible to create new social en-
vironments in which otherwise unacceptable views and
behaviour are normalised. Radical echo chambers are
created, where extreme ideas and suggestions receive
encouragement and support.
Certain Facebook groups clearly function as such
echo chambers, and the same can be said to apply to
the Internet discussion-forums of some established
media houses. The volume of extremist statements
on some of these sites has basically driven moder-
ates away.
NAIL BOMBER: The ‘London Nail Bomber’, David Copeland, also
had extreme right-wing sympathies. In 1999, he detonated
three bombs in central London, killing three people.
Photo:Scanpix
12 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
IDEALISING VIOLENCE
Following the attacks, many in the counter-Jihadist
blogosphere and in organisations such as Stop the
Islamisation of Norway (SIAN) and the Norwegian
Defence League (NDL) have vehemently stated that
they “never have” endorsed the use of violence. For
most of them, this is nominally true – and yet, it is by
no means difficult to find examples of violence being
idealised, and far from impossible to find outright
violent fantasies. A striking example from Norway is
the local mayoral candidate for the radical right-wing
party, Demokratene, who was exposed, on tape, by
Norwegian TV2. In the recording, he describes how
he would like to shoot a Norwegian government min-
ister, and attack the Cabinet’s Christmas party. The
mayoral candidate was also a central figure in the
NDL and, in addition, an active member of SIAN.
In spite of these facts, the description of Breivik as
a mere «loner» has been gaining acceptance. In the
light of the history of far-right terrorism in Europe,
and in the United States, this is no surprise.
RIGHT-WING TERRORISM
Terrorism and other forms of political violence from
the extreme right is – of course – nothing new to Eu-
rope. The examples are too many to list, with terror
attacks such as the 1980 Bologna massacre, the 1980
Oktoberfest attack in Munich, and the 1999 London
nail bombings being just a few deadly examples. Even
peaceful little Norway has had its share - the bomb- DEADLY TERRORIST ATTACK: Prior to Behring Breivik, the most well-known right-wing extremist was Timothy McVeigh, also
ing of a radical leftist bookstore in Tromsø in 1977, known as the ‘Oklahoma Bomber’. His attack in 1995 claimed 168 lives, among them 19 children below the age of 6.
 Photo: Scanpix
the bombing of a 1 May parade in Oslo in 1979, the
1985 bombing of a mosque in Oslo, and a series of ar-
son attacks against refugee centres during the 1980s
and 1990s. The US has experienced a number of ter-
ror attacks by right-wing extremists as well. The most thing more than loners, even when they are in fact latter do have considerable contact with other extrem-
well-known example is the Oklahoma City Bombing acting on their own and without any form of contact ists, primarily online. With regard to Al Qaeda-inspired
in April 1995, the second largest terrorist incident on with other extremists – operationally or otherwise. «lone wolves», Pantucci notes:
US soil to date, but there have also been a number of Islamist terrorism is understood in terms of ideology, “From an ideological standpoint, however, it is
smaller incidents, such as the bombing of a mosque in while extreme right-wing terrorism is often under- quite clear that the individuals within this sub-group
Jacksonville, Florida in May, last year. In addition, doz- stood in terms of psychology. In real life, neither sub- are persuaded of the justifications put forward by
ens of terror plots have been stopped in the making. ject should be left unexplored. the Al Qaedist narrative, though it may also be that
Several of the terrorists involved in the above- In the article «A Typology of Lone Wolves», Raf- personal issues underlie their receptivity to such a
mentioned attacks have been described as loners, faelo Pantucci seeks to draw up a typology between narrative. In other words, they may be troubled in-
despite having clear links to extremist groups. This four kinds of terrorists who, operationally, act on their dividuals who seek solace in the extremist ideology
is true of the London nail bomber, David Copeland, own. Pantucci’s focus lies on Islamist terrorists, but his – an ideology that, for the most part, remains self-
who belonged to the neo-Nazi political organisa- typology is equally relevant to terrorists from the ex- taught, but also appears to be reinforced through
tion, the National Socialist Movement. It is also true treme right. Pantucci speaks of four distinct kinds of online contacts with extremists.”
of Timothy McVeigh, who is sometimes portrayed as «lone wolves», calling them «loners», «lone wolves», While Breivik – as far as we know – has not been
the archetypal “lone terrorist”. In fact, McVeigh was «lone wolf packs» and «lone attackers». The latter two in contact with terrorist groups, he has clearly had
not even the only person convicted of the Oklaho- seem to be of little relevance in our case, even if Brei- contact with other extremists, even personally at-
ma City bombing; Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier vik has tried to portray himself as a lone attacker con- tending/taking part in an EDL demonstration. Thus,
were also found guilty of taking part in the attack. nected to an unknown, and probably non-existing, he is a representative of an ideological movement
network of Knight Templars. Thus, we are left with the which has largely grown forth on the Internet. To
IDEOLOGY OF PSYCHOLOGY categories «loner» and «lone wolf». The former merely understand his acts of terrorism, one cannot simply
In short, there is a tendency to visualise right-wing uses extreme ideology as a cover, and is not necessar- deal with psychological explanations. One must also
terrorists as mere “loners”, just as there is a tenden- ily ideologically motivated at all. He (or – very rarely – be prepared to dig into the murky world of a new
cy to picture Islamist (or Salafist) terrorists as some- she) has no actual contact with other extremists. The wave of extreme-right philosophies. n
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 13
■  Afghanistan

Exit Afghanistan
The withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan may have
disastrous consequences for Afghan civilians.
by: Marianne Alfsen/Felix Media
Ten years after the US, with support from
its allies, invaded Afghanistan, the foreign
troops are preparing to withdraw. They
leave behind a war-tired and impover-
ished population, not to mention several
hundred thousand of people displaced by
war or destitution. For a decade Afghani-
stan has been at the centre of internation-
al attention. Now, the Afghans must fend
for themselves. The prospects for democ-
racy, unity and economic growth, how-
ever, are bleak.
Despite plans to withdraw their troops
by 2014, both the US and NATO have
signed long-term military agreements
with the Afghan Government. Situated,
as the country is, at the cross-roads be-
tween east and west, Afghan security is
too important to be left entirely in the
hands of the Afghans. On the other hand
transition and exit planning largely ig-
nore humanitarian issues. The conse-
quences may be disastrous.
“How the humanitarian situation de-
velops, depends largely on whether the
parties succeed in promoting a politically
negotiated end to the conflict in Afghani-
stan. This is where the international at-
tention, the Afghan attention and the at-
tention of neighbouring countries should
be focussed,” says Dr Andrew Wilder,
Director of the Afghanistan and Pakistan
Programmes at the United States Insti-
tute of Peace.

FEAR OF COLLAPSE
Wilder points out that if the parties do
not achieve a minimum of common, po-
litical understanding and co-operation
between the differing power factions,
the result may well be as catastrophic as
when the Soviet Union, in 1989, withdrew
in great haste. During the civil war that
followed, Afghanistan was thrown into
anarchy and collapse, which resulted in
the escalation of an already severe hu-
manitarian crisis. The civil war more or
less came to an end in 1996, when Tali-
ban gained control.
Few people know Afghanistan as well
as Dr Wilder. His track record as a hu-
manitarian worker and researcher in Af-

14 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 15
■  Afghanistan
ghanistan and Pakistan is extensive and
Wilder founded and headed the first in-
dependent political research institute in
Kabul – Afghanistan Research and Evalu-
ation Unit (AREU).
Wilder is one of many experts who
foresee dark clouds forming over Afghan-
istan. “The prospects of achieving a dura-
ble political settlement are slim,” he says.
“But it is what policymakers must priori-
tise in order to prevent a collapse of the
current political order and descent back
into anarchy,” he says.
Adding to the gloom is the fact that
Afghanistan’s national government can
claim little legitimacy or trust, and is
permeated by corruption. There is wide-
spread fear that the Afghan government
will prove too weak to govern without an
international presence, and that the cur-
rent fragile political consensus will be
shattered.
Despite the obvious risk of an escalat-
ing humanitarian crisis, humanitarian is-
sues are not being adequately addressed
by donors. “The narrative about Afghani-
stan in the international community is
about how to succeed, not fail. It is not
politically realistic for policymakers to
talk about what to do if one fails,” Wilder
explains.
QUICK AND DIRTY
“Afghanistan will have to function as a
state after 2014. However, the strategic
thinking pertaining to the construction
of something long term has disappeared
during the past few years. Intentions to
help build a state have been cast aside.
All focus is now on how to exit rapid-
ly, not on how to exit in a good manner.
This constitutes a big problem, as it cre-
ates great uneasiness about the future
in Afghanistan,” says Dr Arne Strand at
the Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI)
in Norway. Michelsen has lead several re-
search projects in
and about Afghani-
stan.
“This was a
prestigious pro-
ject, which has
lost all prestige,”
Strand continues.
ARNE STRAND,
According to CMI
Andrew Wilder, – This was a pres-
non-governmental tigious project,
humanitarian or- which has lost all
prestige.
ganisations (NGOs)
16 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
have an important role to play in the
coming months and years by clearly voic-
ing their concerns, forcing attention to-
wards the possible deterioration of living
conditions for Afghan civilians.
Among those trying to create higher
awareness of the current situation in Af-
ghanistan, is Elisabeth Rasmusson, Sec-
retary General of the Norwegian Refugee
Council.
“I am worried that everything is hap-
pening so quickly, and that, at the same
time, the countries participating in the
ISAF forces are ignoring the humanitar-
ian situation for Afghan civilians in their
planning and budgeting of exit strate-
gies,” Rasmusson says.
INSIGNIFICANT PROGRESS
When US and allied troops, in co-opera-
tion with Afghan military groups opposed
to the Taliban, invaded Afghanistan on 7
October 2001, they found an overwhelm-
ingly poor population. Child mortality
rates were high, a majority were illiter-
ate, and girls were not allowed to attend
school.
Since the first development report was
published in 2004, Afghanistan has mar-
ginally climbed up the UN Development
Index. More children attend school,
the economy has improved, fewer chil-
dren die shortly after birth, and women
have been allowed into the corridors of
power. However, Afghanistan still hov-
ers close to the bottom of the Index – in
2010, it ranked no.155 out of 169 coun-
tries. Living conditions for Afghans are
still among the worst in the world. Ac-
cording to the UNs humanitarian agency
(OCHA), 3.2 million Afghans experience
food insufficiency. Three decades of
wars, coupled with dramatic natural dis-
asters, has left Afghanistan underdevel-
oped, and has created massive, humani-
tarian needs.
Afghan authorities point to the lack of
security as its biggest challenge and the
greatest obstacle for development. The
last war, which began as a revenge mis-
sion in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist at-
tacks, developed into the ongoing UN-
authorized intervention with the aim of
creating “increased security” and a new,
peaceful and stable future for Afghani-
stan. So far it has only had marginal suc-
cess. In fact, in the words of Arne Strand:
“The war is now more intense than it has
ever been in the past decade.” Among
Here to help: Afghan children curiously approach a NATO soldier. Although the invasion has marginally improved living conditions, the decades of war has created massive, hu-
manitarian needs.
those paying the highest price are Afghan catch. “An esti-
civilians. In 2010, 2,777 civilians were mated 40 per cent
killed, the highest number of civilian fa- of those who have
talities since 2003. returned have not
been able to fully
inTERNALLY DISPLACED integrate into the
If the humanitarian crisis escalates, the community,” Ras-
ELISABETH
internally displaced will be the most vul- musson continues. RASMUSSON, NRC
nerable. Few peoples have experienced In addition, – From experience
displacement to such an extent as the Af- there are 435,000 we know that   ity has ended up
ghans. In 2001, an estimated 5 million Af- internally dis- massive internal
displacement is in
ghans had fled the country, and another placed Afghans. itself destabilising.
800,000 were internally displaced. Rasmusson fears
While the current war in Afghanistan that their situation will continue to be
led to some new displacement, it also undecided after 2014. “From experience
made it possible for refugees to return. we know that massive internal displace-
“The massive return of refugees to Af- ment is in itself destabilising,” she adds.
ghanistan is among the few success sto- Arne Strand points out that the re-
ries of this last war. 5.6 million people turn of more than five million people
have returned home as a result of the big- constituted between 20 and 25 per cent
gest voluntary repatriation programme of the entire population of Afghanistan
ever conducted ,” says Elisabeth Rasmus- – which in 2001 was estimated to be 20
son in the Norwegian Refugee Council. million.“This is a large group of people,
However, the success story has a who need to get their homes and land
AFGHANISTAN
■■ Population: 27.1 million.
■■ The UN Development Index ranks Afghani-
stan number 159 out of 165 countries.
■■ Life expectancy at birth is 44.6 years.
■■ Adult Afghans have attended school for an
average of 3.3 years.
■■ An estimated 3.2 million Afghans are food
insecure.
■■ 435,000 people are internally displaced –
the number is expected to rise to 440,000 in the
course of 2011.
■■ More than 3 million Afghans are living in ex-
ile, 2 million of them in in Iran and Pakistan.
■■ Afghanistan is the third most corrupt coun-
try in the world, only surpassed by Somalia and
Burma.
Sources: CIA, OCHA, UNHCR, UNDP and
Transparency International.
PERSPEcTIVe FAcTs
Photo: Scanpix
back, get access Afghanistan. “We do expect an increase
to education and in the number of internally displaced
health care, and people”, he adds.
to emergency as- The future fate of more than three mil-
sistance if they lion Afghan refugees, who primarily live
cannot establish a in Iran and Pakistan, remains an open
livelihood,” says question. They are unwelcome in their
ANTÓNIO
Strand, adding GUTERRES,  host countries, but continued insecurity
that the major- UNHCR and instability in Afghanistan means that
– We do expect an return is not a viable option either. “Our
in Kabul, where increase in the num- strategy has been to work for integra-
ber of internally
most find it hard displaced people. tion in Pakistan and Iran,” says Guterres.
to establish a per- However, there are grave concerns that
manent existence. Afghanistan is ex- the remaining Afghan refugees in Iran
periencing rapid and uncontrollable and Pakistan will be forced back across
urbanisation and job and housing pos- the border because they are denied sup-
sibilities in Kabul are stretched to the port, shelter and the possibility of mak-
limit. ing a living.
At the start of 2011, 3.1 million Afghans
still lived in exile. The UN High Commis- ECONOMIC BUBBLE
sioner for Refugees, António Guterres, Afghanistan’s bleak economic outlook
says to Perspective that, regardless of fu- is also a matter of great concern, and in-
ture scenarios, he does not expect a re- creases the risk of more instability and in-
newed, massive exodus of people from security following the transition period. “A
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 17
■  Afghanistan

Transition and exit

■■ In 2010, the Afghan government and
the international community agreed on
a plan by which the Afghan government
would gradually assume full responsibility
for security, governance and development
in Afghanistan.

■■ Transition has already started, and with

it the gradual drawdown of international
troops. According to plan, most internation-
al combat troops will have left Afghanistan
by the end of 2014.

■■ A total of 48 countries have contribut-

ed to the International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF). The US and the UK have
provided the two largest contingents. The
US currently has some 100,000 troops in
Afghanistan, 33,000 of these are sched-
uled to be withdrawn by the end of summer
2012, the rest in the course of 2014. The
UK presently has 9.500 soldiers in Afghan-
istan, and plans to reduce that number to
2,000 until all combat units are withdrawn
by 2015.

Packing bags and leaving: 33,000 US troops will withdraw by the end of Displaced: A Kuchi girl walks through a camp for internally displaced persons on the outskirts of Kabul. Some 435,000 Afghans are internally displaced, and the number is expected to rise when foreign
summer 2012. The remaining US combat troops are scheduled to leave by troops withdraw. Photo: Jared Moossy/Redux /Felix Features
2014.  Photo: Scanpix

war and aid-bubble ordinary people, aid in order to reach strategic, military current level of in- In the future, development funds will restricted access to many civilians in ur-
economy exists in who for some goals has been a core element of interna- ternational aid to to a larger extent be channelled through gent need of assistance. If Afghanistan
Afghanistan. Now, years have been tional strategies to achieve increased se- Afghanistan - a to- the Afghan government, both national- becomes fragmented, and the national
we must find a way able to make ends curity in Afghanistan. As troops withdraw, tal of around 10 bil- ly and in the provinces. Many agree that government loses control over a large
to let air out of the meet, will no long- and the military rationale for committing lion dollars - may it is about time that the elected govern- number of territories to warlords and
bubble gradually, er be able to do so. funds disappears, the willingness to con- drop by half. ment is given control. However, there armed opposition groups, the question
rather than inflate As a result, their tribute to Afghanistan’s development is “It has already are concerns that Karzai and his people remains whether international aid organ-
ANDREW WILDER, RETO STOCKER, VALERIE AMOS,
it further and let it needs will grow. likely to fade. become harder to OCHA are not up to the task. Afghan politics isations will be allowed access.
USIP ICRC
pop in an uncon- – A war and aid-bub- It is a quite a wor- – It is quite a worry- The UN is also worried: “We expect raise humanitarian – We expect that lack transparency, the judicial system is “As an aid organisation, we must relate
trolled manner, ble economy exists rying prospect, ing prospect, know- that with the military transition, aid- funds for Afghani- with the military weak, corruption is rampant, and the Af- to whoever controls the territories where
in Afganistan. ing that people will transition, aid
with potentially dis- knowing that peo- flows will significantly reduce,” says stan,” says Elisa- ghan elite have considerable political in- we work. First and foremost we are talk-
turn to us more and flows will signifi-
astrous humanitari- ple will turn to us Valerie Amos, Head of the UN Office for beth Rasmusson cantly reduce. fluence outside of democratic control. ing about local government and authori-
more…
an consequences,” says Dr Andrew Wilder. more and more as the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Norwegian ties,” says Elisabeth Rasmusson.
An ongoing World Bank study esti- they become more vulnerable, and our (OCHA). Refugee Council. RESTRICTED ACCESS
mates that total aid to Afghanistan was ability to respond will be stretched to the US aid to Afghanistan has already been Dr Arne Strand is less concerned about Whether international aid organisations NEUTRAL AID
equivalent to 91 per cent of the Afghan limit when it happens,” Stocker contin- significantly reduced – from 4.2 billion cuts in aid from the countries that were will have sufficient monetary means to as- There is, however, reason to hope that
Gross National Product in 2010-2011. ues. US dollars in 2010 to 2.5 billion in the involved in the development of Afghani- sist those in need after 2014, is one ques- irregular groups will, for the most part,
“One of the greatest concerns relates 2011 budget. In the light of the current stan long before engaging themselves tion. Another is whether the international welcome the humanitarian organisations
to the effects of what is essentially a war AID FLOWS EBBING OUT economic crisis and an increasingly skep- militarily, such as the Scandinavian coun- community will be able to operate in ar- into “their” territories – as they did prior
economy here in Afghanistan,” says Reto There is every reason to believe that the tical US Congress, the budget is expected tries. “I believe they will continue their eas where the population are in need of to the 2001 invasion.
Stocker, the International Committee of international community’s readiness to to take a further dive. support. However, those who only joined help. Afghanistan has been, and is, one of “From experience, we know that when
the Red Cross’ (ICRC) Head of Delegation provide aid money for Afghanistan will According to Reuters, Michael O’Hanlon, in on the humanitarian efforts in solidar- the most difficult countries to work in for we explain the urgency of providing life-
in Afghanistan. diminish. a defense analyst at the US-based think ity with the war on terror, will probably aid organisations. saving assistance to people, armed oppo-
“The economic boom will end, and Using humanitarian and development tank the Brookings Institution, thinks the withdraw,” he says. Armed conflict and lack of security has sition groups, like the Taliban, are willing

18 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 19
■  Afghanistan
to engage with humanitarian organisa-
tions and other social service providers,”
says Valerie Amos in OCHA. She adds
that, by establishing acceptance with lo-
cal warlords, non-governmental organi-
sations have had relatively good access to
Taliban-controlled areas.
Amos’s analysis is supported by Nick
Lee, chief executive of the Internation-
al NGO Safety Organization (INSO). He
says that there is no reason to think that
the opposition will take an “anti-NGO”
stand. “We think they will recognize the
need to deliver services to the people.
In the longer term, it may actually mean
that the humanitarian space will increase
with the departure of troops,” says Nick
Lee to AlertNet.
However, Lee underlines that much
depends on what happens over the next
two years. As long as the international
forces, in the run up to 2014, continue to
use development assistance and humani-
tarian aid to pursue military goals, and
thus continue to challenge the princi-
ples of humanitarian neutrality and inde-
pendence, the trust in the humanitarian
community as a whole will continue to
be undermined.
A WING-CLIPPED UN
The UN has had a tough time in Afghani-
stan, and, as a result, their presence there
is weak. The UN has struggled to keep its
different roles separate and, consequent-
ly, its humanitarian work is perceived as
part of the Western political agenda. As
a result, it is not safe for UN personnel to
travel around the country and the UN is
largely restricted to working from its bun-
ker in Kabul.
“Seven UN international staff were
murdered in Mazar-i-Sharif on 1 April, the
third direct attack against UN premises
in 17 months. Although risks remain, we
continue to build acceptance within com-
munities in order to provide humanitar-
ian assistance,”says Valerie Amos.
“We have improved the way we co-
ordinate our activities with the military,
recently clarifying the separate roles of
international military forces and humani-
tarian organisations,” Amos adds.
The UN High Commissioner for Refu-
gees (UNHCR) is also working hard to
increase its access. The High Commis-
sioner, António Guterres, underlines
that the UNHCR continuously works to
consolidate the awareness of the purely
20 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Civilian deaths as
a result of war
2,777
1,523
2,412
2,118
929
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
 uring the first six months of 2011, the
D 1992: The communist regime is defeated
number of civilian deaths has increased
by 15 % compared to the same period
last year.
Source: UNAMA
Afghan Refugees
Internally displaced: 435,000
Refugees: 3, 500, 000 – living in 75 dif-
ferent countries. 96 per cent of all Afghan
refugees are in Pakistan and Iran.
humanitarian mandate of the agency. “It
is hard, however”, admits the High Com-
missioner.
“We need a strong UN in Afghanistan,”
says Elisabeth Rasmusson in the Norwe-
gian Refugee Council, underlining that in
order to fulfil its vital role, the UN needs
to succeed in creating a sharper divide
between its political, military and hu-
manitarian activities.
AGHANISTAN POST 2014
“I believe that principled, trustworthy hu-
manitarian organisations will be the most
able to continue their work in Afghani-
stan,” says Elisabeth Rasmussson. In oth-
er words, she is referring to organisations
that have not accepted counter-insur-
gency money aimed at fulfilling military
goals. The dangerous security situation
has made it difficult for humanitarian
workers to travel in the field to assess hu-
manitarian needs – a big challenge when
planning for the future.
“It is therefore vital that gaining a bet-
ter overview and gathering information
about humanitarian needs becomes part
of the transitional planning”, says Elisa-
beth Rasmusson. n
Timeline
1979: SOVIET INVASION. On the 24 December, Soviet troops
march into Kabul and install Babrak Karmal as President.
1985: UNITED OPPOSITION. Seven opposition groups come
together to form the Mujahedin alliance in order to defeat the
Red Army. Several countries, among them the US, provide the
alliance with money and arms.
1988: SOVIET TROOPS WITHDRAW. The Soviet Union starts
withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.
1989: FRAGMENTATION AND COLLAPSE. The last Soviet
troops leave Afghanistan. The Mujahedin continues to fight
the Afghan communist regime in Kabul. However, the Mu-
jahedin alliance splits into two rival groups - the Northern Alli-
ance and the Taliban.
1993: The Mujahedin form government.
1996: TALIBAN TAKES POWER. The Taliban takes control of
Kabul and imposes strict Islamic law.
2001: Operation Enduring Freedom. On October 7,
the US together with its allies and armed Afghan opposition
groups, go to war against the Taliban-regime. The invasion
comes as a response to the Taliban’s refusal to turn over Osa-
ma bin Laden following the 9/11 terror attacks in the US.
In December the invasion is endorsed by the UN when the
Security Council approves the establishment of “The Interna-
tional Security Assistance Force” (ISAF).
On 7 December, the Taliban surrenders Kabul, but continues
to fight a guerilla war.
Hamid Karzai - who also has close links to the US - is ap-
pointed head of an interim national Afghan government.
2002: ISAF. The first ISAF troops are deployed. The US con-
tributes large contingents to ISAF, but continues its own “En-
during Freedom” operation to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
2003: NATO relieves the US of command over ISAF. The Tali-
ban intensifies its military efforts.
2004: NEW CONSTITUTION AND PRESIDENT. The Afghan
assembly, Loja Jirga - headed by Karzai - adopts a new con-
stitution. Later in the year, Karzai wins the presidential elec-
tion.
2005: ELECTIONS. Afghanistan holds its first parliamentary
and local government elections in 30 years.
2009: CONTROVERSIAL ELECTIONS. Despite allegation of
widespread election fraud, Hamid Karzai declares himself win-
ner of the presidential election.
2009: SURGE. President Barack Obama orders a surge of
US troops to Afghanistan in an effort to bring the Taliban on
the defensive. Obama also announces that the US will start
withdrawing troops in 2011.
2010: TRANSITION. A plan is drawn up for the Afghans grad-
ually to assume full responsibility for security. Consequently,
several countries contributing troops to ISAF announce that
they intend to withdraw their forces by the end of 2014.
The security situation deteriorates. 2010 is the worst year
since 2003, both in regard to the number of fatalities among
coalition forces and civilians.
The Afghan government engages in peace talks with the Tali-
ban.
2011: NEGOTIATIONS. More than 130,000 NATO-led troops
and 300,000 Afghan security forces are deployed in an offen-
sive against the Taliban. The civilian population is severely af-
fected, and the number of civilian deaths rises yet again.
PERSPEcTIve FAcTs
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 21
■  Afghanistan
Aid has not contributed to improved security in Afghanistan.
Rather the opposite, a recent study concludes.
Failing to Win “Hearts
and Minds”
by Marianne Alfsen/Felix Media
The study conducted by the Fernstein In-
ternational Centre at Tufts University in
the US, and financed by the Afghanistan
Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) and
the governments of Sweden, Norway and
Australia, undermines one of the key in-
ternational strategies on how to win the
war in Afghanistan.
“In Afghanistan, we have operated un-
der the assumption that spending more
aid money in insecure areas improves
security,” says Dr Andrew Wilder, who
headed the two year research project. “A
lot of research has been done on the effec-
tiveness of aid in promoting development
objectives. However, there was no empiri-
cal evidence on the effectiveness of aid in
promoting security objectives,” he says.
A matter OF TRUST
When the US-led alliance attacked Af-
ghanistan on 7 October 2001, President
George W. Bush promised to deliver
more than just bombs and bullets. Bil-
lions of US dollars were directed towards
humanitarian assistance and develop-
ment aid for the impoverished Afghan
population. Throughout ten years of war,
the US mantra for achieving “security”
in Afghanistan has been to combine mili-
tary action with efforts to win the trust of
the Afghan people – to “win hearts and
minds”.
The “hearts and minds” strategy was
quickly adopted by ISAF - the NATO-lead
International Security Assistance Force
mandated by the UN Security Coun-
22 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
cil - to support the endeavours of the
Afghan government to achieve “securi-
ty” in Afghanistan. The “Provincial Re-
construction Teams” (PRTs) which have
been established in 25 of Afghanistan’s
34 provinces are, in practice, the ISAF’s
relief and development arm. Apart from
contributing to reconstruction and devel-
opment, the PRTs contribute “support
for humanitarian assistance efforts con-
ducted by Afghan government organiza-
tions, international organizations, and
NGOs.”
A strategic weapon
As a result, aid has become an important
counter- insurgency tool in Afghanistan
– and aid has been dispersed strategical-
ly in order to support military efforts to
combat armed opposition groups.
“We found little evidence, however, that
development assistance is an effective tool
to promote short term stabilisation and se-
curity,” says Wilder, adding that the most
stable regions of Afghanistan have received
the least amount of aid.
The “hearts and minds” logic implies
that the main reason for instability and
war is lack of development. However, ac-
cording to Wilder, who collected testimo-
nies from a wide range of national and
international actors in Afghanistan, the
main conflict drivers in Afghanistan are
not poverty, hunger and unemployment.
“The number one driver of insecurity in
Afghanistan is a bad, predatory and cor-
rupt government,” says Wilder.
In addition, ethnic and tribal rival-
ries, interference from neighbouring
countries, land conflicts, and fighting
over scarce water resources also play a
part.“In other words, the conflict drivers
are primarily political, geopolitical and
ideological,” says Wilder, who also found
that the presence of international troops
in itself promoted insecurity.
“The international troops, who initially
were welcome, over time became a mag-
net that brought insurgents into areas
where there would not have been fight-
ing without them,” he continues.
Nothing new
Politically motivated humanitarian and
development support is nothing new.
“It dates back to the Cold War era.
However, in Afghanistan and Iraq it be-
came something much more than sup- Blurring the lines: an Afghan family together with ISAF forces. The “Hearts and Minds” strategy has blurred the lines between humanitarian
porting a political ally, like Israel or assistance and military operations.  Photo: Scanpix
Egypt. It was explicitly used to promote
stabilisation in a counter insurgency en-
vironment,” Wilder explains.
According to the study, the US has
n n  Firstly, I think ing more security, it has actually caused
more insecurity.
Controversial strategy
The blurring of lines between humanitar-
channelled most of its relief and devel-
opment support into areas facing grave
expectations were “Aid money has fuelled discontent,”
claims Wilder, because the Afghan peo-
ian and military tools has created contro-
versy.
security challenges, while relatively sta- raised too high. ple have not been satisfied with the ser- Many feel the “hearts and minds” strat-
ble and peaceful regions have received vices (e.g. the building of schools and egy has weakened vital humanitarian
significantly less aid – in effect, penalising Secondly, people feel roads) rendered by their government, principles – in particular the principles
such regions for being peaceful.
“Initially, the “hearts and minds” strat-
that aid money has but financed with foreign money.
“Firstly, I think expectations were
that aid should be given impartially and
to those most in need, and not to those
egy was used to gain support for the in-
ternational troop presence. But with the
strengthened cor- raised too high. Secondly, people feel
that aid money has strengthened corrupt
who fit best into a military or political
strategy.
rollout of the counter-insurgency strat- rupt and powerful and powerful individuals within the ad- As a result, it is said, both Afghan ci-
egy it became much more about getting ministration. Aid projects also very often vilians and humanitarian workers have
the Afghans to support their own govern- individuals within created destabilising winner-loser dy- been put at risk because armed opposi-
ment,” Wilder explains.
He claims that not only has the strategy the administration. namics by fuelling perceptions that some
individuals and groups received more
tion groups equate the giving and receiv-
ing of aid with supporting international
been inefficient with regard to achiev- Dr. Andrew Wilder United States Institute of Peace than others.” military and political objectives. n
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 23
■  profile Angelina Jolie
Tomb Rider made Angelina Jolie world famous. The time she
spent in Cambodia, filming the movie, also triggered her strong
commitment to the refugee cause.
Humanitarian
Superstar
By Harriet K. Rudd
In 2001, Angelina Jolie was named Goodwill Ambassador for the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The
appointment was the starting point of what has become an im-
pressive career as a champion of refugee rights. In connection
with her ten-year celebration as Goodwill Ambassador, Perspec-
tive was granted an interview.
Jolie has won respect and admiration, not only among the pub-
lic, but throughout the humanitarian world, for the dedication
she has shown in her role as Goodwill Ambassador. She has ac-
quired a reputation not only as one of the most active Goodwill
Ambassadors within the UN family, but also as one of the most
powerful. When asked what motivates her
to bring such a degree of commitment to
the job, Jolie replies: n n  The refugees
“The refugees themselves are what
motivate me. During my travels I have themselves are what
had the honor and the privilege of meet-
ing thousands of refugees, and to spend
motivate me. During
time with them. Refugees are among the
most vulnerable and yet the most resil-
my travels I have
ient people on earth. I want the world to had the honor and
understand and see that they are not just
numbers.” the privilege of
DEVOTED AMBASSADOR
meeting thousands
On average Jolie goes on four field mis-
sions a year and she has visited some of
of refugees.
the most dangerous and outlandish plac-
es in the world. Among the countries she has visited are Paki-
stan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and Haiti.
Jolie also advocated the refugee causes at the political level.
In 2007 she became a member of the think tank, the Council
on Foreign Affairs, which also counts Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter
and Condoleezza Rice among its members. When they selected
her the council said:
“Angelina Jolie is accomplished in her field and has demon-
strated serious interest in issues such as Darfur, international
education and refugees. As such, her profile fits very well with
24 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
other young professionals we’ve selected as the next generation
of foreign policy leaders.”
IN THE WAR ZONE
In August 2003, two days after the bombing of the UN com-
pound in Iraq, an attack that killed 22 UN staff, Jolie was sched-
uled to travel to the Caucasus, an area riddled by conflict. The
day before she was supposed to leave she received a phone call
from the UNHCR warning her that extremists might not look
kindly on her visit. Her schedule had been leaked and she was
high-profile – an obvious target. Did she want to cancel the trip?
“No,” Jolie replied.
That was not the first - and it would not
be the last - time Jolie travelled to a high-
risk area.
Whenever she goes on mission for the
UNHCR, Jolie insists on sharing the ac-
commodation and working conditions of
the local UNHCR staff. She always under-
lines the importance of their work, and
how much they inspire here.
“They serve in far-away places, sepa-
rated from family and friends, and work
under difficult and sometimes dire condi-
tions. They are, in fact, willing to sacrifice
their own lives to help others. I am proud
to be associated with them.”
She stresses that many refugees have
no one to help them, except UNHCR staff, and safeguarding the
lives of aid workers is essential to the task of delivering support
and protection to millions of refugees and displaced persons.
“Therefore, we must demand greater respect for the princi-
ples of independence, impartiality and neutrality in order to
ensure the lives of humanitarian workers,” she emphazises.
APPRENTICESHIP
Jolie’s commitment to the refugee cause started shortly after she
had completed filming Tomb Raider, the movie that made Jolie POWERFUL AMBASSADOR: this year, Angelina Jolie completes ten years as UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. Photo: Scanpix
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 25
■  profile Angelina Jolie
IN THE FIELD: Jolie has carried out more than 40 field missions for the UN-
HCR, and has travelled to some of the most dangerous places in the world.
In March 2011, she visited returned refugees living in a dilapidated ware-
house in Kabul, Afghanistan.  Photo: UNHCR/L. Taylor/2001
– already well-known in the US - a global megastar. Tomb Raider
was filmed in Cambodia, a country deeply scarred by war and the
terror regime of the Khmer Rouge. During her stay there, Jolie
was greatly impressed by the Cambodian peoples´ ability to cope
under very difficult circumstances. It made her realize that she
wanted to learn more, and soon after she approached the UNHCR.
She came to the agency with a burning wish to discover more
about their work and, in the first months of 2001, she made sev-
eral field trips to meet refugees around the world. In August 2001,
she was officially named UNHCR’s Good-
will Ambassador at a ceremony in Geneva.
Over the years, Jolie has visited Cam- n n  Refugees are
bodia several times, and in 2005 she was
awarded Cambodian citizenship for her among the most
extensive work in helping the Cambodian
people.
vulnerable, and yet
CLOSE AND PERSONAL
the most resilient
No one observing Jolie in the field can people on earth.
doubt her deep-felt interest and concern
for the people she meets.
“Refugees are among the most vulnerable, and yet the most re-
silient people on earth,” she says. “All are extraordinary people
who have a remarkable story that tells of strength in the face of
great loss. When you ask the children what they want to be when
they grow up they say ‘doctors, engineers and pilots because I
want peace and I want to help rebuild my country and I want to
help my people’. “
Angelina Jolie is - as everyone knows- an extremely successful
26 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
WORLD HAS NOT IMPROVED: over the last ten years, Angelina Jolie, has per-
sonally witnessed refugee crises all over the world. In those ten years she
says, the world has not become a better place, simply a different one. Here
she is with Congolese refugees in Tanzania in 2003.
 Photo: UNHCR/N.Behring-Chisholm
actress and a mother of six. These facts make her extensive ad-
vocacy work even more impressive, but Jolie says that refugees
have profoundly changed her life.
“They have taught me such an extraordinary amount. They
have been remarkable, showing me what it is like to be brave -
what it is to be a mother, a father, or a sister - in times of trouble.
They have taught me the strength of an unbreakable spirit.”
A CHANGING WORLD
Over the course of the last ten years, Jolie
has personally witnessed the humanitar-
ian consequences of war. Since she be-
came Goodwill Ambassador, ten years
ago, the landscape of conflict and dis-
placement has changed. Does she think
the world has become a better place?
“No, unfortunately, the world has not be-
come a better place; it has simply become
a different place,” she says. “Of course, the
situation for refugees is not what it was a
decade ago, or even 60 years ago when the
UNHCR was founded. At that time there were around 2 million Eu-
ropean refugees, whereas today we are talking about more than
43 million displaced people around the globe. “
The big difference, however, Jolie points out, is that, now
more than 60 years after World War II, Europe no longer hosts
the majority of the world’s refugees - 80 per cent of refugees are
now to be found in developing countries.
“In today’s world there are many misperceptions about ref-
CONCERNED FOR AID WORKERS: in 2007, Jolie visited Iraq to draw attention to the humani-
tarian crisis caused by the ongoing conflict there. Iraq is one of the most difficult coun-
tries for aid organisations to operate in. Jolie often underlines how essential it is to safe-
guard the lives of aid workers if one is to to protect refugees.
 Photo: UNHCR/Morris Bernard
ugee flows, and the poorer countries are left to cover the
costs,” says Jolie. “The majority of those that fled Libya went
to Tunisia and Egypt. These countries kept their borders
open and their people opened their homes to those arriving.
We really do need to insist on more international burden-
sharing and greater solidarity.”
She also wants to draw attention to the fact that many of to-
day’s refugees have been displaced for years, or even decades.
“The nature of conflict has changed - some wars have be-
come endless. This is especially the case in places like Afghan-
istan, Somalia or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Old wars
are not even near to being resolved, instead they are just be-
ing forgotten - as are the refugees - and the endless violence
prevents millions of people from returning home,” Jolie says.
BIGGEST IMPRESSION
I ask Jolie what, in her capacity as Goodwill Ambassador, has
made the biggest impression on her.
“On my recent trips to Malta and Tunisia, I met with fami-
lies who fled from North Africa. Many of them had escaped
earlier conflicts - including Somalia - to find safety in Libya.
When Libya explodes they have to flee yet again. I tried to
imagine what that must have been like – for example for a
mother with children. What must her life be like that her best
alternative for her and the children is to risk drowning and
suffocation only to be brought to a new country where she
could be turned away, and sent back to sea”, Jolie asks.
“Very few of us can even begin to understand that very
painful existence.” n
ANGELINA JOLIE
Name: Angelina Jolie
Born: 4 June1975
Family: lives with her partner Brad Pitt. They have six
children.
Career: trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute
and started appearing in films and TV productions in the
mid 1990s. Her big breakthrough came in 1999 when
she appeared in the film Girl, Interrupted, and she went on
to become a global superstar with Tomb Raider in 2001.
She won an Oscar for Girl Interrupted, and has also won a
Golden Globe and A Screen Actors Guild Award.
Humanitarian work: UNHCR’s Goodwill Ambassador
since 2001. Together with Brad Pitt she supports several
other humanitarian causes and established humanitarian
foundations. The Jolie-Pitt Foundation gives generously
to numerous humanitarian causes.
Humanitarian Awards:
Citizen of the World Award (2003) by the United Na-
tion’s Correspondents’ Association
Global Humanitarian Award (2005) by the United Na-
tions Association of the USA and the Business Council
for the United Nations,
Citizenship of Cambodia (2005)
Freedom Award 2007 (together with the High Com-
missioner for Refugees, António Guterres) by the Inter-
national Rescue Committee.
Angelina Jolie’s own reflections
In 2003 Angelina Jolie published Notes from My Travels: Visits with
Refugees in Africa, Cambodia, Pakistan and Ecuador, and she has also
published journals from several of her other field missions. This extract
is from her visit to the Ruweished Camp in Jordan in 2003. Most of the
refugees in the camp are Palestinians, but there are also a number of
other refugee groups, among them Somalis.
The next man speaks, he has broken English. His hands shake as
he talks. “We have lost our families – we now go from country to
country to find way to live as human being. We are beginning to
lose hope.”
A little girl motions for my pen and notebook. I give it to her.
Letters thrust at me. A man with tears in his eyes says, “I lost two
children during the war,” he pulls out old dusty pictures and un-
folds them.
The little girl hands my notebook back to me. She has written
me a letter in Arabic. Later at home I have it translated.
We race back to the helicopter before sunset. I meet with my
friend, Holly, whom I traveled here with. She has just witnessed
the same last few hours as I did. She also has tears in her eyes.
“It’s so sad.” Why is there so much suffering? There is silence all
the way home.
At home, I looked up Human Rights Day it led me to the Uni-
versal Declaration of Human Rights. It begins, “Whereas recog-
nition on the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of
freedom, justice and peace in the world.” I encourage anyone
reading this to look it up if you haven’t already. And if you have
maybe read it again as I did.
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 27

By: Marianne Alfsen/Felix Media
Since March, when the war in Libya broke
out, tens of thousands of people have at-
tempted to flee the country and seek ref-
uge in Europe by crossing the Mediterra-
nean Sea. Many have died in the attempt
and, among those who have succeeded
in reaching Europe, there are harrowing
tales of suffering and death.
In late March, early April, a party of
72 people set off from Libya in a small
boat with the intention of crossing the
Mediterranean. The boat proved un-
equal to this task and those on board
soon found themselves drifting help-
lessly, unable to reach their destination.
They very soon ran out of food and wa-
ter. Eventually, after 14 days, they were
28 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
at least 1,500
refugees have died
at sea whilst trying
to reach safety in
Europe
picked up by a ship. Only nine of the
original 72 persons lived to tell of the
ordeal. One of them, a young Ethiopian
man, told a UN official about the trau-
matic crossing.
“On board people died every day - of
dehydration, sunstroke, or hunger. One
Ethiopian woman died from her two year
old son. The boy cried and cried as he
searched for his mother, until, finally, he
also died - three days later.”
In their desperation to survive, the peo-
ple on board had eaten toothpaste, and
drunk sea water and their own urine.
ISLAND OF DESPAIR
Bodies of those that perish at sea are
frequently washed up on the shores of
Lampedusa, and find their last resting-
place in the graveyard there. Their graves
are marked by simple, white crosses and
decorated with wild flowers. Hardly any
of the crosses bear a name. The bodies
that are washed up seldom have identifi-
cation papers on them.
This small Italian island is situated
closer to Africa, than to Europe. Wrecked
boats litter the island’s southern coast-
line. Among the local inhabitants, this
part of the shoreline is known as the
“graveyard of ships”.
Since the unrest in Libya started, there
have been numerous incidents of refugee
boats sinking in the Mediterranean. Of
the most serious incidents so far, some
220 people lost their lives on 6 April, and
on 1 June, a boat carrying approximately
250 refugees originating from Somalia,
tightening border
Eritrea and Ivory Coast, capsized off the
coast of Tunisia.
EUROPEAN CYNCISM
By the end of August, more than 26,000
people displaced by events in Libya had
arrived in Europe. A small number had
landed in Malta, but the majority - some
25,000 - had arrived on Lampedusa.
The European countries are not en-
thusiastic about providing protection for
these new arrivals, and the asylum seek-
ers have become caught up in a Europe-
an asylum-policy vacillation.
The first influx of people to arrive on
European shores in the aftermath of the
so-called ‘Arab Spring’, were Tunisian
migrants. The unseating of the Tunisian
president in January threw the coun-
Europe has
responded by
controls
try into economic and political turmoil,
and the Tunisians were primarily seek-
ing better conditions of employment.
Few of them were in need of protection
as defined by the UN Refugee Conven-
tion.
For a large number of those arriving
from Libya, however, the situation is very
different. All have an immediate need of
protection as they are escaping from the
misery and danger of an on-going war.
Most are also third-country nationals –
originating in conflict-ridden countries,
such as Eritrea, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia,
Sudan and Yemen - and marooned in Lib-
ya when the uprising started.
“The debate quickly derailed,” says
Bjarte Vandvik, Secretary General of the
European Council on Refugees and Ex-
iles (ECRE). “Refugees from countries
such as Eritrea and Somalia, as well as
Libya - people who need protection -
have become victims of a cynical strat-
egy, where the main objective has been
to reduce the number of asylum seek-
ers, rather than protect the victims of the
conflict.”
“HUMAN TSUNAMI”
Before the conflict started, the UNHCR
had registered more than 8,000 refugees
and 3,000 asylum seekers in Libya, and
the agency was aware of tens of thou-
sands more who may have been entitled
to international protection under the Ref-
ugee Convention. According to the UN-
HCR, several of those who over the last
few months have lost their lives crossing
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 29Images
Photo: Getty
■  Journey of Death
the Mediterranean, were refugees who
had already, before the unrest broke out,
been accepted for resettlement in a third
country.
Despite these facts, all those arriv-
ing on Lampedusa since the start of the
uprisings have been lumped together,
defined as economic immigrants taking
advantage of the chaotic situation to un-
lawfully gain entry to Europe. In April,
Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi,
warned against a “human tsunami” ar-
riving on Lampedusa, and in March the
European Council called for Frontex (the
EU’s external border agency) to intensify
patrolling in the Mediterranean.
Vandvik dismisses Berlusconi’s claims.
“Rubbish!” he says. “Europe is not being
flooded by refugees.”
In fact, Europe has only received a very
small fraction of the people that have
been forced to leave Libya. Early Sep-
tember, the International Organisation
for Migration (IOM) said that 680,000
people had fled Libya. The largest group,
289,000, crossed into Tunisia. In com-
parison, only 27,500 had arrived in Eu-
rope.
BURDEN SHARING
Vandvik describes the European response
to the influx of refugees as hypocritical.
“On one hand Europe has voiced strong
support for the struggle for political free-
dom in North Africa. On the other hand it
has done everything in its power to safe-
guard itself from the inevitable results of
revolution and war: chaos - and refugees
seeking protection.”
Vandvik even believes that European
reluctance to receive people fleeing from
the unrest in North Africa has contrib-
uted towards people setting sail in over-
crowded boats.
“Paradoxically, this is the story of a
murder foretold. Europe could have pre-
pared to receive refugees in an orderly
and regular fashion - discussed in ad-
vance how to share the burden between
the states, thereby avoiding the deadly
sea crossings.”
The UNHCR has asked European coun-
tries to accept more people for resettle-
ment in order to find solutions for refu-
gees who were living in Libya when the
uprising began. So far, European states
have only committed themselves to ac-
cepting a few hundred. 15 years ago, dur-
ing the Balkan wars, the response was en-
30 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
UNWELCOME:Several European countries have taken part in NATO’s boming of Libya, but Europe is
showing little interest in providing protection for the victims of the war. Photo: UNHCR / A. Duclos
tirely different. Then, Europe absorbed
more than half a million refugees.
The UN’s High Commissioner for Refu-
gees, António Guterres, has criticised
Europe’s response to the Libyan exodus.
In an op-ed published in the New York
Times, he compares the generous sup-
port given by European states - both in
the aftermath of the 1974 revolution in
his native country, Portugal, and follow-
ing the fall of the Berlin wall in 1991 - with
their current reaction.
“But this time the response from Eu-
rope has been grudging and meager.
Most of the debate has not been about
how to support democracy, but how
to keep out those who risk their lives
crossing the Mediterranean by boat,” he
writes.
LACK OF GOOD WILL
“In Europe today, there is no longer any
political appetite for protecting refu-
gees,” says Vandvik, and goes on to de-
scribe an environment in which no politi-
cian will promote the refugee cause - even
when the situation is as dire as now - for
fear of becoming unpopular with his or
her constituents.
“European refugee policy has become
a race towards the bottom, where the
main focus no longer is on protecting ref-
ugees, but on protecting the borders.”
Thus the message being sent to North
Africa is not one of solidarity and neigh-
bourly support, but one of rejection. One
sign that this message is being received
loud and clear is that hundreds of people
are willing to risk their lives by returning
to Libya from refugee camps in Tunisia
in order to try and make their way to Eu-
rope on their own.
INFLAMED DEBATE examining an asylum application is the
The EU is currently working towards
a Common European Asylum System,
which it hopes to have in place by the end
of 2012. The main objective is to ensure
crossboarder movement of migrants Libya
italy 25,935
Tunisia 288,700 malta 1,530
ALGERIa 13,962 Libya
niger
78,210
NOT EXACTLY A FLOOD: As these numbers show, only a small share of those forced to flee Libya arrive
in Europe. (These numbers include both refugees and migrants workers who have left Libya because
of the war).
that applications for asylum are handled
identically in all member states. The estab-
lishment of common rules on asylum has
been a controversial issue for the EU all
along. The unrest in North Africa, the con-
sequent increase in the number of arrivals
on Lampedusa, and Italy’s failure either
to provide adequately for arriving asylum
seekers or to properly examine asylum ap-
plications is inflaming the debate.
Italy’s response capacity is severely
overstretched. Several humanitarian or-
ganisations have criticised the conditions
at reception centres both on Lampedusa
and on the mainland. Italy has asked the
EU for help, but their plea was rejected.
Italy was told to deal with the problem
itself, in accordance with EU law, which
decrees that the state responsible for
state via which the asylum seeker en-
tered the EU.
Italy’s response was highly provoca-
tive. They issued temporary visas to sev-
EGYPT
217,482
chad sudan
48,950 2,800
eral thousand migrants from Tunisia –
thus allowing them to move freely within
the Schengen area. This created an up-
roar, and led to demands for a temporary
return to border controls within the EU.
One of the EU’s fundamental principles –
the establishment of an area devoid of in-
ternal border controls - was stumbling.
TOWARDS THE FUTURE
ECRE is calling for better burden-sharing
in Europe, and for more support being di-
rected towards North Africa – especially
to Tunisia, which needs humanitarian as-
sistance in order to provide basic needs
for the refugees and, in addition, to ascer-
tain protection needs among the arrivals.
They are also appealing for greater will-
ingness to resettle refugees who need to
find solutions outside Africa, and to take
people on a temporary basis until their
refugee status can be determined, and a
durable solution found.
Vandvik believes that if Europe con-
Fewer asylum seekers
■■ In 2010, 358,800 asylum applications
were lodged in industrialised countries (Eu-
rope, US, Canada, and others). This is 5%
fewer than in 2009.
■■ The three largest countries of origin for
asylum seekers were Serbia, Afghanistan
and China.
■■ 269, 900 of the asylum applications
were lodged in Europe.
■■ In 2010, the number of asylum seekers
to Europe rose by 1% compared to 2009.
■■ There are great variations in the num-
ber of people seeking asylum in the differ-
ent European countries. The three largest
receiving countries in Europe were France,
Britain and Germany.
■■ Southern Europe experienced a sharp
decline in the number of applications last
year - a 33 % decrease compared with
2009. The main reason for the fall was in-
tensified border patrols, by FRONTEX,
along the external borders. Northern Eu-
rope, on the other hand, experienced an in-
crease in the number of applications, espe-
cially the Nordic countries, which accepted
13% more asylum seekers than in 2009.
tinues to be so reluctant towards taking
their fair share of the refugees from Lib-
ya, people will continue to disregard the
dangers and attempt to cross the Medi-
terranean in small, overcrowded boats.
He is also concerned that Tunisia will be
disinclined to continue their open-door
policy towards Libyan refugees if the Eu-
ropean countries do not change their at-
titudes.
“They opened their border when
this crisis started. What if Tunisia turns
around and says: Why should we support
refugees, when you refuse to do so?” n
(Bjarte Vandvik has since this interview
was conducted resigned his position as
Secretary General of ECRE.)
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 31
■  Al jazeera

The Al
Jazeera
spring
Al Jazeera is no longer viewed as the biased and
threatening upstart of the international media land-
scape. It has become a powerful global news provider.

Global news provider: anchorwoman, Ghina
Fakhry, pictured as she is about to present a
TV news programme at Al Jazeera in Doha. Al
Jazeera English provided worldwide coverage
from the start, and Al Jazeera plans to start
broadcasting in several more languages.
By Marianne Alfsen/Felix Media
P hoto: Tom Pilston/Panos/Felix Features
In December 2010, the Obama admin-
istration adopted a new approach to its
dealings with the international news
channel Al Jazeera. As a result, US diplo-
mats, officials and politicians are increas-
ingly seen in the network’s television
broadcasts, in the course of the last few
months. The Americans have in particu-
lar been voicing the US perspective on
the uprising in North Africa and The Mid-
dle East – events in which Al Jazeera has
played an important role in providing
in-depth coverage of the root causes of
the protests, and, communicating the de-
mands of the people to both local and in-
ternational audiences.
“If we are not in the conversation, peo-
ple will be speaking for us or about us. We
need to make sure we are out there speak-
ing for ourselves,” said Dana Shell Smith,
of the US State Department, to the Los An-
geles Times in February 2011 – when the
“Arab Spring” was in full bloom.
The change in US policy is a testament
to the fact that Al Jazeera has become a
global media power.
Courting the devil
Most Western viewers first became aware
of the Arabic news channel in 2001, when
Al Jazeera televised the infamous video
of Osama Bin Laden announcing to the
world that he, and Al Qaeda, were behind
the September 11 terrorist attacks on the
US. The interview was showed on televi-

32 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 33
■  Al jazeera
Expanding: satellite dishes on the roof of the Al Jazeera building in Doha.
Some Western countries are still unable to receive Al Jazeera, whilst in the
US, only a few cable and satellite providers offer Al Jazeera programmes to
their viewers.
sion screens all over the world accompa-
nied by the distinctive, yellow Al Jazeera
logo emblazoned in the right-hand corner
of the TV-screen. Only weeks later, Al Ja-
zeera was in the spotlight once again. As
the only international news organisation
with reporters on the ground in Afghani-
stan it was able to provide direct cover-
age of British and US forces attacking Af-
ghanistan in cooperation with the Afghan
Northern Alliance, capturing Kabul, and
ousting the Taliban from power.
A decade ago, Al Jazeera was a region-
al, Arabic-speaking news channel, mainly
targeting viewers in the 22 member states
of the Arab League. Relations between
the US and Al Jazeera were frosty. The US
perceived Al Jazeera’s coverage of US pol-
icy as anti-American.
“The US was particularly dissatisfied
with the coverage of the Iraq invasion in
2003. They felt that Iraqi victories were
blown up out of proportion and that
there was excessive focus on civilian casu-
alties,” says Tine Ustad Figenschou at the
University of Oslo’s Department of Me-
dia and Communication. For the last ten
years, Figensschou has closely followed
developments in Al Jazeera, and recently
completed a PHD study on the network.
In 2004, former US defence secretary,
Donald H. Rumsfeld, accused Al Jazeera
of broadcasting “vicious, inaccurate and
inexcusable” reports during the US inva-
34 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Increased importance: Western politicians have begun to acknowledge
Al Jazeera as a serious and important presenter of newscasts. In the pic-
ture, NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, flanked by secu-
rity personnel, is seen leaving Al Jazeera Arabic.
sion of Iraq. The outburst followed Al Ja-
zeera’s reports stating that the US attacks
on the insurgent stronghold of Falluja
were “terrorising” civilians.
In the US invasions in 2001 and 2003,
Al Jazeera was equally hostile, accusing
the US of deliberately bombing their head-
quarters in Kabul and Baghdad. However,
these days the frosty relations are thaw-
ing. Today, according to Dana Shell Smith,
there exists a “healthy tension” between
the former adversaries. This view has
been confirmed by Tony Burman, who
until recently was Al Jazeera’s chief stra-
tegic advisor on the Americas. “The cold
war that existed between the Bush admin-
istration and Al Jazeera has totally ended.
Now it’s a professional relationship be-
tween an aggressive government and an
aggressive news organisation,” he stated
to the Los Angeles Times. In March 2011,
even the US Secretary of State, Hilary
Clinton, praised Al Jazeera for broadcast-
ing “real news”, which “is literally chang-
ing people’s minds and attitudes”, while
at the same time criticising the US media
coverage of the “Arab Spring”.
FROM REGIONAL TO GLOBAL
The first Al Jazeera broadcast was tel-
evised on 1 November 1996, and over the
course of the last 15 years, the network
has become a regional media power in
the Arab world. This is a much divided
region, and the organisation is loved and
hated in equal measure across the 22
Arab states in The Middle East and Africa.
Al Jazeera was created to counter the
way the Arab world was being portrayed in
Western media. The network also provided
the people of the region with an independ-
ent alternative to national newspapers and
broadcasting companies, which are usu-
ally owned by the state or parties loyal to
national rulers. Al Jazeera quickly acquired
a reputation for independent and critical
news coverage, and became a regular and
influential factor in the public discourse.
Several member of Al Jazeera’s initial edi-
torial group had experience from BBC
Arabic, which was discontinued the year
before Al Jazeera went on air. Al Jazeera is
itself owned by the totalitarian government
of the mini-state of Qatar, which to date
provides most of its revenue.
In 2006, the network launched a sister
channel, Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera’s
ambitions were no longer restricted to
broadcasting news from and to the Arab
world; they wished to compete with CNN
and BBC in the international news mar- n n  The cold war that existed between the Bush
ket. According to the Al Jazeera home
page, the channel currently broadcasts to administration and A ­ l Jazeera has totally ended. Now
220 million households in 100 countries,
and boasts 65 bureaus across the globe. it’s a professional relationship between an aggressive
Al Jazeera employs 3,000 people, of
which 400 are journalists, and Al Jazeera
government and an aggressive news organisation.
is not intending to stop there. Following Tony Burman, former Al Jazeera’s chief strategic advisor on the Americas
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 35
■  Al jazeera
n n  We in the West have been broad­
casting our views to non-Western parts of
the world for years. It is only fair that these
non-Western areas should have the chance
to return the compliment.
Sir David Frost The Guardian, 12 February 2006
in the footsteps of the BBC and CNN, the
network intends to start broadcasting in
several more languages.
It created quite a stir when interna-
tional media personalities, such as the
legendary BBC-reporter Sir David Frost,
announced they were joining the contro-
versial network’s new, English-speaking
venture. When the first broadcast was
televised, on the 1 November 2006, the
entire top management consisted of re-
spected media professionals who had
formerly worked for the British broad-
caster ITN, while part of the editorial
team consisted of former BBC, Sky and
ITN journalists. The BBC and CNN both
built up their international presence over
time. Al Jazeera’s English channel, on the
other hand, went global overnight, with
24-hour broadcasts from day one.
An ear to the ground
According to Tine Ustad Figenschou, Al
Jazeera English’s coverage of world events
differs from that of the BBC and CNN.
“Firstly, Al Jazeera puts greater em-
phasis on the Global South. Secondly,
the network mainly employs local jour-
nalists in their various national bureaus.
The fact that they recruit locally, rather
than send international correspondents
on short-term contracts, gives them a dif-
ferent network of sources,” says Figen-
schou, adding that a civil society is more
prominent in Al Jazeera’s coverage, while
CNN and the BBC tend to focus on the
top tier of society. Al Jazeera also tends
to broadcast more graphic images of the
horrors of the world.
Al Jazeera has been widely recognized
for its coverage of the wave of protests
that have taken place in North Africa and
The Middle East since December 2010.
The hub.: an aerial view of the newsroom at Al Jazeera English. “The uprising happened right in their
36 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
core area. From day one, Al Jazeera had
good informants on the streets, and was
able to report the views of the demonstra-
tors. They understood the significance of
what was happening long before the other
news outlets, and had voiced the need for
reform for a long time,” says Figenschou.
“It was Al Jazeera that the people contact-
ed, in order to convey their stories and vid-
eo documentation of what was happening.
Al Jazeera became an important platform
for the uprising, together with social net-
works and the events on the streets.”
A new beginning
A respected former BBC journalist, Barn-
aby Phillips, was among those who took a
professional risk and joined Al Jazeera Eng-
lish a few months before it went on the air.
“The name Al Jazeera always provokes
strong reactions, either for or against”,
says Phillips.
Every now and then he encounters
people who pat him on the back and say:
“we hate America too”. “I have to tell
them that we do not hate America, actu-
ally.” Before joining Al Jazeera as their
Europe correspondent, Barnaby Phillips
worked with the BBC for 15 years, eight of
them as a foreign correspondent, mainly
based in Nigeria and South Africa.
He admits that he took a long time con-
templating the transfer before signing up
with Al Jazeera. In the end, the decisive fac-
tor was the strong team of respected jour-
nalists, from networks like ITN, Sky News,
BBC and ABC, who had already joined Al
Jazeera English, and the ambitions and ide-
as they voiced for the new network. He also
liked the thought of being based in Athens,
covering the Eastern parts of Europe.
“It is not often you get a chance to be
part of something from its inception”,
says Phillips.
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 37
■  Al jazeera
Anchorwoma: Ghina Fakhry prepares for a live news
broadcast.
He praises Al Jazeera’s “insatiable cu-
riosity” about events in the world, and
their willingness to commit resources to
telling the stories. “In Kosovo in 2008
[when Kosovo declared independence
from Serbia], we were putting in more
resources than the BBC and CNN, and do-
ing a better job, providing better cover-
age. It was frustrating to go back to the
hotel at night, and see that Al Jazeera was
not available, that people were not see-
ing what we were doing,” says Phillips.
Since then, Al Jazeera has, by means
of cable and satellite providers, become
available to more and more European
countries. Nonetheless, the network is
still unavailable in several places.
A question of trust
“For a long time, other media organisa-
tions took great reservations when con-
veying news from Al Jazeera. I remem-
ber a news report from the Norwegian
Broadcasting Corporation, in the early
38 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
All in a days work: the strain starts to show as Executive Producer, Carlos Van Meek (centre), addresses opens the morning conference at Al Jazeera English.
months of the Afghanistan war. In a
voiceover, the journalist more or less dis-
credited the information on civilian casu-
alties which originated from Al Jazeera.
Today, few feel the need to warn viewers
about Al Jazeera’s credibility,” Figen-
schou says. Barnaby Phillips confirms the
Al Jazeera name “does not exactly open
doors” in the same way the BBC name
does. “In the beginning, people got con-
fused. Some thought I was calling from Al
Qaeda. In the US, particularly, we were
met with suspicion and downright hostil-
ity,” says Phillips.
According to Phillips, however, the
proof is in the pudding. He says people’s
impressions of Al Jazeera tend to change
when they see for themselves that the
channel delivers independent, high-qual-
ity journalism, and not “the world ac-
cording to the Emir of Qatar”.
The British government has begun to
regard Al Jazeera as an important plat-
form, Phillips continues.
“Now I get phone calls from the offices
of [Foreign Minister] William Hague or
[Deputy Prime Minister] Nick Clegg, tell-
ing that they want to talk to us. In the be-
ginning, that never happened,” he says.
“Attitudes have slowly changed, but we
still struggle to get the trust our journal-
ism deserves,” says Phillips.
In the West, Al Jazeera still struggles
to escape its image as “the Emir’s net-
work”. There is hardly any advertising on
Al Jazeera, and the channel is still almost
entirely financed by the Qatar regime.
Critics ask whether a network operating
under such preconditions can offer inde-
pendent coverage.
“To put it this way, I have never received
a phone call from the Emir telling me to
cover this story, or not to cover that story,”
says Phillips. “I get the sense that it is in the
interest of the government of Qatar to let
Al Jazeera be editorially independent. They
see that its voice and impact will be strong-
er that way,” Phillips continues.
“Whether Al Jazeera is trustworthy has
always been up for discussion. Howev-
er, you can ask the same questions about
the BBC or CNN,” says Tine Ustad Figen-
schou. She underlines that the BBC and
CNN report from a Western viewpoint,
the same way Al Jazeera presumably re-
ports from an Arabic viewpoint.
“We are categorically anti-nothing and
pro-nothing”, Managing Director of Al
Jazeera English, Al Anstey, told CNN in
February. He emphasized that Al Jazeera
Arabic mainly broadcasts to an Arabic
audience, while Al Jazeera English has a
global scope. It is therefore logical that
their agendas differ. Anstey stressed that
Al Jazeera English is editorially independ-
ent of its Arabic sister channel.
Tine Udstad Figenschou says, however,
that there is one area where neither the
Arabic nor the English version of Al Jazeera
can claim independence: “Al Jazeera hard-
ly covers Qatar, and what is being reported
is neither independent nor critical”.
Headquarters: Al Jazeera is based in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The channel is largely financed by
the government of Qatar - a fact that has raised concerns about the channel’s ability to provide inde-
pendent and critical coverage of the Qatar regime.
Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup in
Football. Before then, arenas must be
erected and infrastructure developed.
“Qatar will need critical, financial jour-
nalism, focusing on corruption and how
the projects are carried out. To what ex-
tent Al Jazeera will be allowed to report
on this, constitutes an important test for
the government of Qatar. In ten years, we
will know if Al Jazeera moves towards be-
coming a mouthpiece of the government,
or continues to be an independent, jour-
nalistic voice,” says Figenschou.
Conquering the US
In the US, Al Jazeera still encounters ob-
stacles. None of the major cable-TV or
satellite providers offers Al Jazeera as
part of their programme packages. On
their web site, Al Jazeera has posted an
appeal:”Demand Al Jazeera in the USA”.
Figenschou believes that Al Jazeera’s
low accessibility in the US is largely due
to the fact that it is hard to compete with
the established networks, rather than
based on any political motivation.
Barnaby Phillips agrees that the gener-
al low interest for news channels among
the US public may be one reason for Al
Jazeera’s difficulties in accessing the US
market. He adds, however, that Al Ja-
zeera still has an image problem in the
US, stemming from the Bush-years when
Al Jazeera was, in the words of The Huff-
ington Post, “the bogeyman” of the inter-
national media world.
Al Jazeera now hopes that its widely
praised coverage of the Arab uprisings,
combined with a massive presence in so-
cial networks, will prove to be the leverage
they need to gain access to the US market.
At the end of January 2011, just a cou-
ple of weeks after President Mubarak was
ousted from power in Egypt, The New
York Times media reporter, Brian Stelter,
said this was “Al Jazeera’s moment”,
claiming it high time Al Jazeera was made
available to the American TV-audience. n
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 39
■  Global Review

3 300 000
Donorship OVER HALF OF THE WORLD’S
IKEA’s Ground-Breaking Donation
IKEA foundation has donated a record $62 mil- Dadaab was opened in the 1990s and was in-
28% NEWBORN DEATHS OCCURRED IN:

lion towards emergency relief in Dadaab, Kenya –
the world’s largest refugee complex. The donation
will benefit as many as 120,000 refugees, and is
by far the largest private donation to the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in its sixty-
year history.
Photo: Wikimedia
tended to house some 90,000 people. Since
then the flow of refugees from Somalia has con- since 1990 India DR Congo China
tinued to increase, and Dadaab is now home to
as many as 440,000 refugees. During the past
In 2009, 3.3 million infants died in their first month. The number of deaths
months alone, around 150,000 people have of newborn children has dropped by 28% since 1990. 99% of all infant
sought refuge at the camp. deaths (i.e.deaths within five years of birth) occur in developing countries. Nigeria Pakistan

IRAQ HONDURAS

UK Human Zelaya Removal

Rights Breaches
In a historic ruling, the Europe-
an Court of Human Rights has
made it clear that Britain’s hu-
man rights obligations do not
end at its own borders.
This summer, the court issued two rul-
ings on British human rights abuses in
Iraq. The first found that the UK violated
the rights of the families of civilian Iraqis
killed by British forces, by failing to carry
out investigations. The UK must now pay
thousands of pounds in damages to five
bereaved families.
The second ruling stated that Britain vio-
lated international human rights law by
keeping an Iraqi man in detention for three
years, on vague grounds of ‘security’, with-
out charging him or allowing him a genu-
ine opportunity to find a lawyer. The rul-
ings came as a blow to the UK, which has
repeatedly argued that human rights law
should not apply to its forces overseas. The
court overruled this standpoint, stating
that the moment the UK became an occu-
pying force, it also assumed a judicial role
– and thus was responsible to ensure inves-
tigations into killings of civilians.
‘A Coup’
The Honduras Truth and Recon-
ciliation Commission has ruled
that the 2009 ousting of former
President Manuel Zelaya was a
coup.
The Commission, whose motto is “With-
out truth, there is no justice”, has inves-
tigated the events which resulted in Ze-
laya’s ousting and his subsequent exile in
Costa Rica. It has ruled that his removal
from power was unconstitutional and an
outright coup.
Nonetheless, the Commission also
blamed Zelaya for “manoeuvring himself
into a corner” when refusing to accept
a Supreme Court ruling ordering him
to cancel a disputed referendum on ex-
panding the length of a presidential term.
Thus the Commission’s conclusion was
that both Mr Zelaya and those behind the
coup were responsible for his dramat-
ic removal from office. 20 people were
killed in the unrest that followed in the
aftermath of the coup.
NO IMPUNITY: Iraqis watch as British soldiers advance towards Basra, south Iraq, shortly after the RETURN FROM EXILE: former President, Manuel Zelaya, greets his supporters upon returning to
2003 invasion. The last remaining British military personnel left the country this summer (2011). Honduras after two years in exile. He was allowed to return in June 2011, after striking a deal with
 Photo: Scanpix the current President, Porfirio Lobo Sosa.  Photo: Scanpix

51+49+A 0+100+A
LETHAL SUICIDE KEY FINDINGS FROM THE REPORT: In the period from 2003 to 2010: WOMEN'S REPRESENTATION Share of women in Parliament

12,284 43%
ATTACKS IN IRAQ IN PARLIAMENT Highest Sweden

45+55+A
civilians of suicide bomb
A study released by the British journal The
Lancet shows that - since the 2003 invasion
were
killed in
fatali­ties were
caused by a
The new UN report Progress of the World's
Women: in Pursuit of Justice reveals vast global
45%
51% 0%
- considerably more Iraqi civilians have been disparities in the participation of women in poli-
killed by suicide bombers than by coalition
suicide suicide bomber tics. Women have highest representation in the
attacks on foot parliaments of the Nordic countries, Rwanda,

99+
1% 1+A
soldiers. Indeed, every lethal suicide attack
directed against civilians kills on average 19 Cuba and South Africa, whereas no women have Rwanda

1003 30,644
seats in the Saudi Arabian and Qatari parlia- Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
people - the highest death rate for any weap- Solomon Island
on used in the Iraq war. Not all deaths are re- suicide bomb civilians were ments. The USA and UK are levelled with Turk-
ported, however, and The Lancet stresses the incidents injured as a menistan and Malawi respectively. Women are
were result of suicide now denied the vote in only three countries: the Yemen
difficulty of obtaining accurate statistics re-
garding Iraqi casualties. documented bombings UAE, Saudi Arabia and Brunei. lowest

40 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 41
■  Somalia FAmine
Somalia is suffering one of the worst famines in recent history. Drought is nothing
new to Africa, so why is this crisis more severe than those of previous years?
Long-Term Crisis
Horn of Africa 
The Horn of Africa consists of four coun-
tries: Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia
Hunger crisis: More than 13 million people
are in need of urgent humanitarian assis-
tance. Somalia is the country worst affected
by the crisis.
Somalia
 opulation: 9.3 million. An estimated 4 mil-
P
lion of these are in an acute food crisis. As
of early September, six areas in Somalia
have been declared famine zones.
Famine is declared when 30 % of children
are acutely malnourished, the death toll ex-
ceeds 2 people per 10,000 per day; and
people are not able to access food and oth-
er basic necessities.
Pastoralism is a social and economic sys-
tem based on the raising and herding of
livestock.
Agro-pastoralism is a mix of agriculture and
livestock production. The livestock sector
is the largest contributor to livelihoods in
Somalia. 65 % of the population is in some
way or other engaged in industry.
Livestock export and livestock products ac-
count for 80 % of exports in a normal year.
Livestock produce is one of the most im-
portant household foods, and vital for food
security.
Source: Livelihoods and food security;
United Nations Office for the coordination
of humanitarian affairs Somalia ( 2007).
42 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
By Linda Jeanette Gresslien
More than 13 million people are now in
need of urgent humanitarian assistance
in the Horn of Africa, and - according
to the UN - over the next four months,
750,000 people are at risk of death in So-
malia unless relief efforts are increased.
WORLD’S MOST FOOD INSECURE
“Why, then,” many people ask, “hasn’t
more been done to prevent this disaster
from escalating, especially as the UN, as
early as last year, warned that a serious
hunger crisis was in the offing?”
Experts on food-security in the Horn
of Africa agree that some of the cata-
strophic consequences we are currently
witnessing could have been avoided if
more long-term measures had been ap-
plied when the crisis was first predict-
ed. However, in all probability this year
would always have been difficult, even if
governments and the international com-
munity had acted more decisively when
famine became a possibility.
Although described as a Horn-of-Afri-
ca crisis, the scale of the disaster varies
from country to country. The only place
experiencing actual famine conditions is
South Central Somalia. The obvious cause
of this is the civil war being fought there.
In addition to restricting humanitarian
access, the conflict has undermined an
already fragile economic structure based
on subsistence farming, and pastoralism.
RESTRICTED MOBILITY
60 per cent of Somalis are pastoralist.
During periods of drought their main
survival strategy has traditionally been
to move their herds to areas that can pro-
vide better grazing and more stable ac-
cess to water. 40 years ago, these pasto-
ralists were able to avoid most droughts
by means of seasonal migration and were
therefore able to survive two years of
poor rainfall. However, for the last 20
years, no central government has been
able to establish control over South Cen-
tral Somalia, and the ongoing civil war
makes it dangerous to move livestock
around.
The restrictions on mobility are all the
more serious because climate change GRaveyard: The parents of 18 month-old Sahro Mohamed bury their daughter in the graveyard at Kome refugee camp in Ethiopia. Sahro’s family left
Somalia and walked for 26 days in order to reach the camp and find help. In Kome ten children a day die of severe malnutrition.
is causing an increase in the frequency
 Photo: Scanpix
and severity of drought. In areas where
drought previously occurred once a dec-
ade, there have been three-four serious
droughts in the last ten years. Combined
with higher population pressure, smaller to four years, world food prices have Once people have left their towns and of the measures experts say could have
herds, and more degraded rangeland, soared. In some local markets in Somalia villages, it becomes difficult for them to been put into force several months ago.
the pastoralist’s resilience has been re- food prices have increased by as much as return. An important part of the emer- Among the measures is the controlled
duced, and most pastoral families are no 30 per cent. At the same time, livestock gency response challenge, therefore, is slaughter of animals to reduce pressure
longer able to survive merely by keeping prices have fallen, making it doubly hard to convince people that assistance will be on resources, thereby protecting breed-
livestock. for pastoralists to acquire enough food, made available where they are. An added ing stock and enabling herds to recover
so - for many - this year’s drought was worry is that if large numbers of people after the drought.
NO LONGER SELF- SUFFICIENT simply the last straw. leave, there will be no one left to plant
As a result, Somali pastoralists are now, next year’s harvest, thereby increasing ACCESS CONSTRAINtS
at least for parts of the year, dependent LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES the risk of continued food insecurity in However, the success of these measures
on buying food (cereals) for their own With no access to water or food, and with- those areas. depends on the ability of traders to or-
consumption. Consequently they are af- out assistance, Somalis cannot be expect- Currently attempts are being made ganise the swift movement of food and
fected by market mechanisms, because ed to simply stay where they are. In the to provide both short and long-term as- other necessary goods into the famine-
they need to sell animals in the market absence of anywhere else to turn, many sistance by transferring cash to hard-hit stricken areas, a task which is severely
place to bring in cash, which, in turn, can are making their way to the long-standing areas, using Somalia’s well-developed, hampered by the ongoing conflict.
be used to buy cereals. refugee camps for Somalis situated in Ken- informal banking system, Hawala. The The al-Shabaab group that controls
Somalia imports roughly 60 per cent ya and Ethiopia. More than 270,000 peo- hope is that the cash will make it possi- much of the affected area of South and
of its cereals, and over the last three ple have fled Somalia this year. ble for pastoralists to implement some Central Somalia has banned some of or-
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 43
■  Somalia FAmine
ganisations, including the World Food
Programme, from working in areas it
controls. The al-Shabaab has accused
several organisations of providing intel-
ligence information to western powers.
It also says that some of the banned
organisations have been involved in
widespread corruption.
But it is not only the Islamists that
have made humanitarian aid delivery
difficult. Following the 9/11 terror at-
tacks, the conflict in Somalia became
part of the global war on terror, and
several donor countries have been re-
luctant to finance aid going to areas un-
der the control of Islamist groups.
A GLOOMY FUTURE
Clearly, the worst aspect of the current
emergency is that the epicentre of the
crisis is largely inaccessible to humani-
tarian agencies. Nevertheless, with the
livestock sector being the largest pro-
vider of livelihoods, there is an urgent
need to recognize the importance of
pastoral communities to the national
economy. In many cases, governments
are still trying to sedentary their pasto-
ral populations, not understanding that
mobility is a key strategy for the surviv-
al of humans and livestock in very arid
environments.
Furthermore, there are few other
economic options in such a harsh
physical environment. Pastoralists
can not suddenly become farmers -
cultural practices and livelihood skills
notwithstanding – as the land is sim-
ply not suited to arable farming. And,
now that a substantial proportion of
the population is unable to partici-
pate in the pastoral economy, there is
an additional need to think of options
for those forced to abandon this way
of life.
Making a long-term policy approach
does not imply that one should ignore
the need for humanitarian assistance
in a famine, but the problem seems to
be that no one is interested in durable
solutions –at least not until the catas-
trophe occurs. Long-term measures
cannot be put into place in the middle
of a major disaster; they need to be im-
plemented in the good years. Unfortu-
nately, the attention of the media, do-
nors, and national governments is the
elsewhere. n
44 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
CAmp life: More than 270,000 people have fled Somalia this year
alone, and more than 900,000 Somalis are currently living in neibour-
ing countries, many in refugee camps. 
Rain and drought;
politics and famine
BY Christopher Eads 
Donors are flooding into Mogadishu to
address the growing famine in Somalia.
At present an estimated 4 million Soma-
lis are in need of emergency food and
livelihood assistance, the majority of
which still reside in areas controlled by
the Islamist group, al-Shabaab.
The al-Shabaab’s announcement in
August that it would withdraw from
Mogadishu has been heralded as a ma-
jor victory for the embattled Federal
Transitional Government (TFG), but this
change in control over certain areas in
the capital is unlikely to prove the major
breakthrough that the TFG and interna-
tional donors have been hoping for. The
African Union’s peacekeeping mission
in Mogadishu, AMISOM, has not been
able to fill the security vacuum that oc-
curred in many parts of the city for-
merly controlled by al-Shabaab, and the
TFG’s security forces (including police)
are also unable to step into the void. As
a result, there are signs that clan mili-
tias and war lords are once again taking
over power in parts of the city.
While these militias are not in opposi-
tion to the TFG, neither are they for-
Christopher Eads 
is a freelance analyst
Photo: NCR/Astrid Sehl specializing on the
Horn of Africa.
mally allied to it, making their return to
prominence in the city a serious secu-
rity and governance risk for the future.
The road back to the time when Moga-
dishu was controlled by warlords, and
the city divided into small fiefdoms,
may be shorter than the TFG or interna-
tional donors want to admit.
While the drought represents a humani-
tarian crisis on a scale not witnessed for
decades, it also represents an opportu-
nity for the TFG to take a leading role in
getting people the aid they desperately
It takes the right ideas
need - and for winning the political sup-
port and legitimacy that it desperately
needs. If donors continue to focus only
on the short-term delivery of emergen-
to shelter our planet.
cy-drought assistance and ignore the
country’s more fundamental and long- Konica Minolta products present concepts and features
term political crisis, drought relief will which make it easy to consider the environment.
have about as much affect as treating
Eco-friendly innovations can be found throughout the entire
serious injuries with a band-aid. While
lifecycle of every device, including strict production standards,
the lack of rain is the main cause of the efficient operation and intelligent recycling. Furthermore, the
drought, it is corruption, lack of good manufacture of consumables, the transport of products and
governance, and political infighting, our procurement policy are part of the Konica Minolta mission
as well as the delayed reaction of the to save resources and create new value.
international community, that are the
There’s only one world. We know it takes a great deal of
main causes of the famine now engulf-
effort to keep it a friendly place.
ing Somalia. n
Konica Minolta Business Solutions Norway AS · Nydalsveien 26 · 0484 Oslo · www.konicaminolta.no
 The Bay of Aden, separating Somalia and Yemen, is among
the most frequented and deadliest refugee routes in the
world. This year’s Nansen Award honours a group that helps
thousands survive this life-risking journey.
Yemini Group Receives
Nansen Award
By Ragnhild Holmås
the nansen awards
Many refugees in ■■ The Nansen Award was instituted by
the Horn of Africa, G.H. van Heuven Goedhart, the first UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, in 1954.
desperate to find a
■■ Van Goedhart hoped the prize would pro-
better life, dream mote greater knowledge and interest in the
of escaping across refugee cause and make it easier to raise
the Bay of Aden to funds for the relief work.
■■ Van Goedhart was a great admirer of
Yemen. This, how-
Fridtjof Nansen and therefore wished to
ever, is a danger- name the prize after him.
ous voyage, and ■■ The prize consists of a commemorative
refugee boats are Nasser Salim Ali medal plus a 100, 000 US dollars monetary
Al-Hamairy  prize provided by the governments of Switzer-
all too frequently land and Norway. The winner can donate the
Founder of SHS
overcrowded and money to a cause of his or her choice.
unseaworthy. Each year a large number ■■ Earlier winners include Eleanor Roosevelt,
of refugees die in their attempts to make The International Red Cross, Edward Kenne-
dy, Médecins sans Frontières, and the people
the crossing. of Canada.
For many refugees therefore, the assis- ■■ The Nansen award ceremony, which takes
tance given by this year’s Nansen Award place on 3 October in Geneva, is co-hosted
Laureate, the Yemini Society for Hu- by the UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugee
Council (NRC).
manitarian Solidarity (SHS), means the
difference between life and death. The
SHS monitors approximately one third of
Yemen’s 2,000 km coastline, picking up Emotionally challenging
surviving refugees and providing them The Nansen Refugee Award is given an-
with much-needed, emergency medical- nually to an individual or an organisation
care, and food. All too often, they find the that does extraordinary work for refu-
bodies of men, women, and children who gees. The founder of SHS, Nasser Salim
have not survived the journey. Some have Ali Al-Hamairy, who has been awarded
been killed by sharks. In such cases the the prize together with his 290 staff mem-
SHS sees to it that they get a decent burial. bers, says that winning the Nansen Award
46 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
has given the organisation a great boost.
“Our work is a humanitarian duty – one
that has to be done under any circum-
stances,” he says.
Al-Hamairy admits that their work is
emotionally challenging. Every day they
must deal with death, tragedy, and des-
peration. “Even though we face tragedy,
we are helping vulnerable people and
society. There are moments of tragedy,
but they are inevitable,” he says, adding
that he wishes to utilise the platform pro-
vided by the Nansen Refugee Award to
call on the international community to
“intensify efforts to improve the situation
in Somalia, and to help dissuade people
from attempting the risky crossing.”
Record-breaking number of refugees
Somalia has the largest refugee popula-
tion in the world and - for people living in
a country torn apart by a bloody civil war,
and devastated by drought and serious
famine - escape may seem to be the only
option. So far, 60,000 people – a record
high – have made the sea-crossing to Yem-
en. At least 120 have died at sea. The total
number of Somali refugees in Yemen is
now estimated to exceed 220,000.
Traumatised by the life they have es-
caped, as well as the journey itself, sur-
SAVING THOUSANDS: Staff from the Society for Humanitarian Solidarity rescue a pregnant woman and her child arriving from the Horn of Africa.
 Photo: Ramsi photography, Yemen 2011

vivors often arrive in Yemen with deep
psychological scars. During the cross-
ing the refugees’ lives are entirely in
the hands of the smugglers who pro-
vide the boats. On more than one occa-
sion, smugglers are said to have thrown
small children into the sea because they
were annoyed with their crying. Smug-
glers have also forced men to watch their
wives being raped.
Upon arrival, most refugees make their
own way to urban areas. Thousands of
others remain in the hot, overcrowded
refugee complex of Kharaz. Like many
other refugee camps, Kharaz, built in the
1990s, was intended to be a temporary
retreat for Somali refugees until the situ-
ation in their homeland had cooled down
sufficiently to allow them to return. The
humanitarian crisis, however, has only
escalated, and the refugee camp is now
at the limit of its capacity, housing nearly
20,000 people.
As a result, the Society for Humani-
tarian Solidarity is also working in and
around the refugee camp, building in-
frastructure and – in co-operation with
international organisations - erect-
ing schools and distributing food and
clothes.
From one failed state to another
Unfortunately, refugees in Yemen con-
tinue to face many hardships. Yemen is
among the world’s poorest and least sta-
ble countries. It is divided by civil strife,
growing extremism, and an acutely frag-
ile political situation. Hundreds of Yem-
enites have been killed in this year’s anti-
government demonstrations calling for
an end to President Saleh’s 30-year rule.
A recent UN report warns that unless the
political situation is swiftly solved, Yemen
risks sliding into civil war.
The humanitarian situation in Yemen
is also fragile. Food, water and medica-
tion are scarce. Yemen, itself, has over
250,000 internally displaced persons.
According to the Failed State Index, Yem-
en is among the worst governed states in
the world, the list of which is topped by
Somalia. The Failed State Index writes
that “It’s difficult to think of a country
that is failing more spectacularly than
Yemen”. In short, the boat refugees risk
their lives to flee from one failed state to
another. n
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 47
■  60th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention

For sixty years, the UN Refugee Convention has been the cornerstone of number of refugees Refugees and internally displaced 2010
refugee protection, but now the Convention is under pressure. Total number of refugees and internally
displaced worldwide

4.8 15 14.1 16.2

million
1980
million
1990
million
2000
million
2010
43.700.000
Providing Protection number of asylum seekers
industrialised world
By Vikram Kolmannskog There is broad agreement that it would
The Refugee Photo: Espen Rasmussen not be possible to negotiate such a strong
Convention rights-based instrument as the 1951 Refu-

358.840
378.360
302.230
334.590

■■ The Convention defines a
refugee as someone who is
unable - or unwilling - to re-
turn to his or her country of
origin owing to a well-founded
fear of being persecuted for
reasons of race, religion, na-
tionality, membership of a par-
ticular social group, or political
opinion.
■■ One of the most important
principles in the Convention
is that of non-refoulement.
This is a doctrine of protec-
tion against being returned to
an area where life or freedom
is at risk. The Convention also
recognises that violating im-
migration legislation may in
certain situations be neces-
sary in order to seek asylum,
and therefore prescribes free-
dom from penalties for enter-
ing a country illegally.
■■ The Convention estab-
lishes UNHCR as its guard-
ian, but does not decree the
setting up of an international
refugee court. It is therefore
largely up to the states to in-
terpret and uphold the Con-
vention.
■■ The Refugee Convention
only deals with people who
have crossed a border in or-
der to seek protection. It was
not until 1998 that the UN
adopted guiding principles es-
tablishing the rights of inter-
nally displaced persons.
In 1951, six years after the end of the Sec-
ond World War, almost one million Eu-
ropean war refugees were still wander-
ing about, homeless. Something needed
to be done and, as a result, world leaders
met in order to establish the UN Conven-
tion on the Status of Refugees. The Con-
vention was created in order to find so-
lutions for refugees in Europe displaced
by events prior to 1 January 1951, and the
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) was given a three-year
mandate to address the situation. It soon
became evident, however, that the refu-
gee problem was in no way a temporary
one, and in 1967 a separate protocol to
the Convention removed the geographic
and temporal limits.
Convention under attack
Today, many states want to limit the
number of asylum seekers because of
xenophobia or for other reasons. This is
achieved through restrictive interpreta-
tion and directly undermining the pur-
pose and spirit of the Convention. By
means of visa requirements and extrater-
ritorial security arrangements, states at-
tempt to stop asylum seekers before they
reach their borders and can seek protec-
tion. Many asylum seekers have to resort
to human trafficking, and seeking asylum
is becoming increasingly dangerous. The
obstacles are undermining the right to
seek asylum and the principle of non-re-
foulement.
334.460
337.130
gee Convention if it were drafted today. As
it stands now, provisions can still protect
individuals who would otherwise be met
with little understanding and respect. Its
flexibility means that it can be dynamic
and relevant, but also opens for restric- Refugees: Internally displaced:
tive interpretation. There are also limits to
what can be addressed through the Con-
vention, and certain challenges we face
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 16.200.000 27.500.000
today may need to find a solution else-
where. This includes increasing respon- Iraqi refugees awaiting food distribution at the Christian Church of Abraham in the Jaramana neighbourhood of Damascus, Syria. Syria has been
sibility-sharing between states, and ad- the main destination for Iraqi refugees, who constitute the third largest refugee group in the world.
dressing migration for other reasons than
those recognised in refugee law.
Perspective asked four actors in the field
of refugees policies what factors are under-
mining refugee protection today, and what
steps can be taken in order to safeguard
refuge protection in the future. n
n n The greatest
challenge is making
everyone who signed
the Geneva Conven-
tion live up to it.
Cecilia Malmström
Commissioner in charge of Home Affairs,
European Commission.
More comments on the Convention from
experts and politicians on the next page

48 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 49
 ■  60th Anniversary of the Refugee Convention

Dr. Volker Türk Professor Susan Martin Cecilia

Director, International Protection,
UNHCR
What is the greatest challen-
ge facing the 1951 Refugee Con-
vention today?
I would have to say that the
erosion of international solidarity in some quarters
poses the greatest challenge today. In some parts
of the world we see a tougher stance and rhetoric
adopted towards asylum seekers and refugees.
However, it is difficult to pinpoint the greatest
challenge to the Refugee Convention, given the com-
plex protection environment. The myriad of chal-
lenges we are seeing include ensuring that asylum is
preserved as a humanitarian and non-political act;
addressing racist and xenophobic attitudes; ensur-
ing that requisite attention is paid to refugees in ur-
ban areas and to the internally displaced outside of
camps; preserving humanitarian space and ensur-
ing that statelessness issues attract the international
attention they deserve. Displacement as a result of
natural disasters and climate change is also an in-
creasing concern.
How can this challenge be addressed?
One of the underlying principles of the Refugee Con-
vention and the institution of asylum is international
solidarity and co-operation. The international pro-
tection function – a unique feature in international
law – can only be effectively discharged if it is un-
derpinned by genuine commitment to international
co-operation, responsibility-sharing and respect for
international rules and standards. I hope that as we
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Refugee
Convention and the 50th anniversary of the Reduc-
tion of Statelessness Convention in 2011, the interna-
tional community will take this opportunity to reflect
on how we can continue to work together to further
strengthen the international protection framework.
Executive Director, Institute for the Study of International
Migration, Georgetown University Malmström
Commissioner in charge of Home
What is the greatest challenge facing the 1951 Re- Affairs, European Commission
fugee Convention today?
The greatest challenge facing the 1951 Refugee Con- What, in your opinion, is the
vention is that of addressing the many causes of greatest challenge facing the
forced displacement that do not fit within the refugee definition. The focus 1951 Refugee Convention?
of the definition is on well-founded fear of persecution as the factor that The greatest challenge is making everyone who
precipitates flight. While it remains important to protect those subjected to signed the Geneva Convention live up to it – that, and
persecution, many more people are displaced as a result of conflict, politi- ensuring that all countries in the EU have signed it.
cal instability, extreme natural hazards, famine, etc. With more and more populist movements and xen-
ophobic voices across Europe, we need to remind
How can this challenge be addressed? ourselves of the humanitarian values that we have
The process undertaken in developing the Guiding Principles on Inter- all agreed on, showing solidarity and helping people
nal Displacement could serve as a model. There is much in existing in- in need. I think that – in this respect – more could be
ternational human rights and humanitarian law that apply already to done in the EU today, especially bearing in mind the
these situations. The Guiding Principles provided a process for identify- events in our close neighbourhood where we have a
ing gaps, determining how best to fill the gaps, and building internation- special responsibility.
al support for the resulting norms. Undertaking a similar process in the
context of international displacement would benefit from these efforts How can this challenge be addressed?
since many of the issues are comparable whether the displacement is in- For Europe it is imperative that we reach an agree-
ternal or international. ment on a Common European Asylum System as
soon as possible. This should be done before the end
of 2012, and I am working hard to make that happen.
Professor Ranabir Asylum seekers coming to the EU today are subject
Samaddar to a cruel lottery. For example, in 2010 asylum seek-
ers from Iraq stood a 56 per cent chance of getting
Director, Calcutta Research Group
asylum in Germany, but a less than two per cent
What is the greatest challenge facing the 1951 Re- chance in Greece or Ireland. The only way of curing
fugee Convention today? this, and of making all member states fully respect
The greatest challenges are to make it appropri- the Geneva Convention, is to reach an agreement on
ate to the conditions of massive and mixed flows of forced migration; to common asylum regulations, based on solidarity, tol-
enforce burden-sharing at all levels; and, finally to impose responsibil- erance, openness, and mutual respect.
ity on the North whose “humanitarian actions” create massive flows of
forced migrants, for instance, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, etc.
Forever a refugee: in 1991, some 250,000 Rohinga fled
from Myanmar to Bangladesh. Since then, only a very few
How can this challenge be addressed? have been able to return home, and many live in poor condi-
We must institute time-bound consultation measures towards making it tions at refugee camps like this one. This is only one of nu-
appropriate to our time; to learn from the best practices around the world. merous so-called protracted refugee situations found in many
parts of the world, where refugees are unable to return home,
yet find it difficult to settle down to ordinary life in their host
country.

1945-60 1960-1970 Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal, placement caused by armed con- Soviet invasion resulted in 5.5 mil- The end of the Cold War-era internally displaced increased dra- outnumber refugees, and sever-
Refugee Timeline

The Middle East In 1948, a total
of 720,000 Palestinians lost their
homes and livelihood as a result of
the Arab-Israeli war.
Asia The Korean War (1950-53)
and the war against French colonial
power in Vietnam resulted in large
numbers of refugees.
Europe The efforts to resettle and
return refugees made rapid pro-
gress. There was a setback in 1956
when 200,000 Hungarians fled
to the West following the govern-
ment’s crackdown on the uprising
against the communist regime.
The politics of the Cold War and
the decolonization of Africa led to
armed conflicts in several parts of
the world.
In Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the
Vietnam War led to large numbers
of people having to flee their homes.
In Congo, an armed conflict result-
ed in large numbers of refugees. In
North-Africa the Algerian war for
independence from France, and the
Moroccan occupation of West Sa-
hara in 1975, led to widespread dis-
placement. International attention
was also directed towards the Pal-
estinian refugees in the Middle East,
and refugees from the conflicts in
present-day Bangladesh.
1980-1990
The number of refugees almost
doubled, reaching a total of 17 mil-
lion worldwide, and by the end of
the decade the number of internally
displaced had reached 17 million
as well. The large number of inter-
nally displaced was a new develop-
ment, and a trend that would only
increase over the coming decades.
The typical refugee was no longer
an intellectual fleeing communism,
but rather a victim of mass dis-
flict, war and general violence.
Africa
Several wars on the Horn of Africa,
civil war in Sudan, and conflicts in
sub-Saharan Africa.
Latin America
The 1980s was a decade of mili-
tary dictatorships and armed con-
flict. Some 3 million people were
forced to flee their homes in El Sal-
vador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua
- most sought protection within the
region. The 1980s also saw the
start of the unrest in Colombia.
Asia
In Afghanistan the war against the
lion Afghans seeking refuge in
neighbouring Pakistan and Iran.
1990-2000
The number of armed conflicts
continued to increase until 1995,
and consequently the numbers of
refugees and internally displaced
increased as well. Civil war increas-
ingly replaced war between nations
as the dominant type of armed
conflict, and civilian populations
were increasingly targeted by war-
ring parties – and ethnic cleansing
was an important factor in several
conflicts.
brought about new conflicts in
some parts of the world, but it
made it easier to forge peace in
others. In Cambodia, Mozambique
and Guatemala millions of refugees
were able to return home.
Europe With the Balkan Wars and
the unrest in the former Soviet re-
publics in the Caucasus, refugees
once again became an internal Eu-
ropean issue.
Latin-Amerika Most of the armed
conflicts were resolved during the
course of the 1990s. In Colombia,
however, the violence escalated
and the number of refugees and
matically.
Africa Genocide in Rwanda,
armed conflict in the Democratic
Republic of Congo and in Sudan
resulted in massive displacement.
West Africa also exploded in vio-
lence, and large groups of refugees
wandered between Guinea, Sierra
Leone, Liberia and the Ivory Coast.
2000 – present day
The wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and
Somalia have contributed to an in-
crease in the number of refugees
and internally displaced.
Internally displaced persons now
al of the largest refugee situations
are the result of protracted crises.
Many of today’s refugees have been
displaced for many years, or even
decades. Climate change, migration,
people-smugglers, and terrorism are
among the factors that have contrib-
uted to a more complex humanitar-
ian environment.
On a positive note, large and drawn-
out conflicts, such as the ones in
Angola, the Balkans and West Af-
rica have almost disappeared from
the media headlines, and millions
of people in these areas have been
able to return home.

50 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 51
■  FAbio GEda

A spellbinding novel based on the true story of a refugee child

and his dramatic journey from Afghanistan to Europe.

Enaiatollah’s
long journey
Text and photo: Birgit Vartdal
At the age of ten, Enaiatollah was aban-
doned by his mother in the border town
of Quetta in Pakistan. She left him with-
out warning or explanation, and with
nothing more than some good advice to
help him on his way.
Italian author, Fabio Geda, has formed
the true and gripping story of the young
Afghan refugee child, Enaiatollah Akbari,
into a beautiful fictional novel. In the Sea
There are Crocodiles is already a best sell-
er in Italy, and in 2011 the book will be re-
leased in 27 countries the world over.
“There are three things you must
never do in life, Enaiatollah,” his moth-
er whispered, carefully caressing his
In the Sea there are hair. “You must never be tempted to use
Crocodiles drugs, never use a weapon and never
steal. Do you promise?”
BY Fabio Geda However, the most important advice
Publisher:
Harvill Secker, 2011 (UK)
his mother gave him that evening, was
miliar country, all alone, and moneyless.
It took him about a year to realise that his
mother had left him because she wanted
to protect him, that her abandonment
was a desperate act of love. His family
had received threats on his life from for-
mer business associates of his murdered
father, and the family’s situation was not
improved by the fact that they were mem-
bers of the Hazar ethnic group – a vulner-
able minority group in Afghanistan. A BEST SELLER: Enaiatollah Akbari (left) and Fabio Geda met by chance one evening in 2007. Together they have written an award-winning best seller. In
However, in order to survive on his Italy, many schools have introduced the book in the their curriculum.  Photo: Scanpix
own, Enaiatollah had to overcome his
grief and the yearning for his family. He
found employment, and for a long time
he worked in exchange for a bowl of rice
and a safe resting place for the night.
Then, when he realised that it would be
endured three days on his knees, packed
inside a van together with other refugees,
n n  ...the hardest of people who had experienced a lot of
hardship. I wasn’t the only one, so I was
impossible for him to return to his na- and later he escaped alive from a stormy part was probably never left with the question ‘Why me?’
tive village, he started planning a journey crossing of the Aegean Sea, reaching the In my group, many were weaker than I:
that would take him, via Iran, Turkey, shores of Greece dressed only in under- the times I literally there were disabled people there, for ex-
and Greece, to Italy. pants. On his travels he was always fright- ample. As long as they never lost their
He obtained a job in the construction ened, but he never let the anxiety numb stared death in the spirits, I felt I couldn’t lose mine,” he

This book tells the true story of

a young refugee boy left to fend
for himself. It takes the reader
on a dangerous journey from
Afghanistan through Iran and
Turkey, to Europe. Enaiatollah’s
journey becomes a story of stoicism
in the face of fear.
probably this: “One must always have a
wish; like a carrot in front of a donkey. It
is through aspiring to reach our dreams
we find strength. It is by following our
dreams that our lives become worth liv-
ing,” she told him. Then she hugged
him, a little tighter than usual, and they
fell asleep. The next morning she was
gone. All that was left was a white sheet.
industry, joining the ranks of Pakistan’s
many underpaid child labourers. Pa-
tiently he put aside money from his mea-
gre wages – money he later used to pay
people-smugglers to take him to Europe.
It took him five years to get from Quetta
to Italy - travelling in stages, and often
under dangerous conditions. But Enaia-
tollah was strong. He survived. He lived
his senses.
TURNED TO STONE
“How did you stand it?” I ask when I meet
Enaiatollah, at the offices of the book’s
French publishers in Paris. Enaiatollah
is visiting Paris in the company of the
book’s author, Fabio Geda. Together they
are attending one book launch after the
eye, such as the time says.
But Enaiatollah does not deny that his
when we passed bod- experiences have left their mark. “At one
point I turned to stone. If I had let my
ies of refugees who feelings take over, I would have died. I
lived entirely in the present, because the
had frozen to death past was too painful, and the future too
insecure. Even today, I will not allow my-
in their attempt to self to think too much about my feelings.”

ALONE
through a 27 day long trek across the Ira-
nian and Turkish mountains. 12 of his fel-
other.
“Those were difficult years. But luckily,
cross the mountains. A NEW LIFE
Enaiatollah was left stranded in an unfa- low travellers perished along the way. He I wasn’t alone. I travelled with a group Enaiatollah Akbari Today, Enaiatollah Akbari is 20 or 21

52 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 53
■  FAbio GEda
years old - he does not remember exactly
– and busy building a new life for himself
in Italy, where he has been granted politi-
cal asylum. He lives some 50 kilometres
from the city of Turin, in northern Italy.
He has been taken in by an Italian couple
and their children, whom he calls his ‘Ital-
ian brothers’. His days consist of playing
football with friends, working part-time in
the shop of the nearby bio-technical uni-
versity, and training to be a social worker
at the local high school.
Enaiatollah says that talking about his
experiences is good for him, but that he
feels he has been able to put his dread-
ful experiences behind him and achieve
some form of balance. He will, however,
never forget that - every minute of every
day - people are making the same danger-
ous journey he made.
“I am pleased that because of this
book, the situation for refugees has be-
come a matter of public debate. In Italy,
people have ordinarily not talked about
the fact that people risk their lives to get
to Europe,” he says.
Next to him, Fabio Geda nods in agree-
ment, and adds, “Italians perceive this
as a situation where hordes of people
are crowded along our borders trying
to get in, but ignore the hardships that
have led those people to come here. With
this book, we wish to help people real-
ise that there are individuals behind the
numbers. Our hope is that it will change
the way people think about immigrants.
This is the power of literature. It can
change people’s view of the world, or of
a group of people, or of an issue. Litera-
ture works when it generates empathy.
If a child, reading this book, feels com-
passion with Enaiatollah’s fate, that child
may act or vote differently when it reach-
es adulthood. I want this to be a political
book.”
SENSATION
In the Sea There are Crocodiles was first
published in April 2010, and quickly be-
came a sensation. The book has sold
200,000 copies in Italy, and has received
several awards, among them the Best
Book of 2010 award from Fahrenheit, a
well-known literary programme on Ital-
ian Radio 3 (RAI). Enaiatollah and Fabio
believe that the book has become so pop-
ular because it is unlike any other book
on this topic.
“There are many books telling the
54 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
FRIENDSHIP: The Afghan refugee, Enaiatollah Akbari and the Italian author, Fabio Geda have devel-
oped a close friendship
same kind of story, but they are often dif-
ficult to read, and present a picture of
the world as seen from a Western point
of view. The fact that we turned Enaiatol-
lah’s story into a novel and gave him, the
migrant, the narrative voice, is surely one
of the reasons why this book is so popu-
lar,” says Fabio.
The book has been introduced as part
of the curriculum in many schools, there-
by giving it an even larger audience.
“Young readers feel close to me. We
are the same age, and use the same
straightforward language. In the book
they learn about a life radically differ-
ent from their own. Many young people
think that people in other parts of the
world are just as privileged as Italians
and Europeans. Unfortunately, this is
not the case. In Afghanistan, you have
considerably less control over your own
destiny than is found here. Your life is
ruled by others. Your fridge is never full.
Many die of hunger,” Enaiatollah ex-
plains.
With a sigh, he adds “I wish that by
reading this book, young Europeans will
learn to appreciate what they have.”
Turin
italy
greece
Akbari’s journey
FRIENDSHIP AND CO-OPERATION
Enaiatollah Akbari met Fabio Geda one
evening in 2007, at an international cen-
tre in Turin. Fabio, who grew up in Turin,
and at that time worked as a teacher for
young immigrants, was there to present
his first novel. Enaiatollah, had been in-
vited to tell the dramatic story of his long
journey from Afghanistan, a journey that
finally led him to Turin.
“I was invited to talk about the main
character of my debut novel, Emil - a
Roma boy abandoned by his family. That
was a completely fictional story. Enaia-
tollah, on the other hand, told a real-life
story - his own – and with such ease that I
was left speechless,” Fabio recalls.
After that evening, they became
friends and decided to write a book to-
gether. For the first three months, they
concentrated on rekindling Enaiatollah’s
memories of the journey.
“The only thing that was difficult were
the dialogues, which I had to make up,”
Fabio says, when I asked him if they had
encountered any obstacles. “There were
no large problems with Enaiatollah’s
memory. He is very aware of what has
happened to him and is comfortable dis-
cussing it,” Fabio says.
“My host family in Turin had sent me
to a therapist, so I had already talked
through my most difficult feelings before
I met Fabio,” Enaiatollah adds.
turkey
iran
n n  I lived entirely
in the present, be-
cause the past was
too painful, and the
future too insecure.
Enaiatollah Akbari
Difficult
I ask Enaiatollah what was the most diffi-
cult part of his journey.
“If I compare it to my present life, eve-
rything was difficult. But the hardest
parts were probably the times I literally
stared death in the eye, such as the time
when we passed the bodies of refugees
who had frozen to death in their attempt
to cross the mountains. We are all part of
the human race, and it is our duty to save
lives. Afghans do not come to Europe
in order to become wealthy. They come
here to survive - because it is their only
escape from death. When governments
return them to the places they came
from, they send them to their deaths.
Then they are no better than the Taliban,
even if their name is Sarkozy or Berlusco-
ni. To abandon or avoid helping people,
AFGHANISTAN
Ghazni
Quetta
PAKISTAN
either in the desert or at sea, is the same
as murder,” says Enaiatollah.
Longs back
Despite the difficult situation in Afghani-
stan, he still wants to go back and make
his home there.
“But first the security situation must
improve, and I must have more to con-
tribute. But if I have the possibility, I
would like to go back and become the
Nelson Mandela of Afghanistan,” he says
earnestly, before his face bursts into a
grin.
“Well, you start out as a realist, but
when you have achieved as many of your
dreams as I have, you need to aim even
higher,” he laughs, revealing that he still
lives by his mother’s advice.
Eleven years have passed since Enaia-
tollah left Pakistan, and he is now a
grown man. He cannot read or write his
native language, but his Italian is fluent.
I ask him if he has met his mother since
she abandoned him that night in Quetta.
“No,” he answers, “but I hope that one
day I will. Today she lives with my broth-
er and sister in Pakistan. I would love for
them to come to Italy, but it is complicat-
ed. Under Italian laws only my mother
would be allowed to join me here, and
we don’t want to split up the family, so
for the time being they will stay where
they are.” n
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 55
■  human rights
African
Paper Tiger?
25 years after Africa adopted its own charter of
human rights, the continent is not only rife with
human-rights abuses, hardly any of the perpetrators
are brought to justice. Now there is hope that a new
court of human rights will begin the process of
establishing law and order.
Genocide, the arming of child soldiers,
mass rapes, dictators, HIV/AIDS, famines
and the oppression of minorities: recent
African history is very much a tale of bru-
tal oppression and poverty, but it is also
one of attempts to achieve stabilisation
and progress. One of these attempts was
the adoption of the African Charter on
Human and People’s Rights – also known
as the Banjul Charter – by the Organisa-
tion of African Unity in 1981.
Drafted by African lawyers, it deline-
ated rights not only for individuals but
also for peoples, tribes and families. In
addition, the Charter specified a set of le-
gal obligations for all Africans: a duty to
provide for the family and the elderly, a
duty to work, to promote solidarity, and
to further African culture.
“It was of vital importance that the
Banjul Charter was an African initia-
tive, and that the African human rights
were adapted to African culture,” says
native Kenyan, Maina Kiai. Kiai is the
56 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
By Agnete Moland Klevstrand
former head of the Geneva-based think
tank The International Council of Human
Rights Policy (ICHRP) in Geneva, and also
the initiator of the Kenya Human Rights
Commission. Since the interview with
Perspective, Kiai has been appointed the
United Nations Special Rapporteur on
the rights to freedom of peaceful assem-
bly and of association.
He explains that the UN’s Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, although
ratified by many African countries, is
largely ignored, both politically and legal-
ly. Human-rights activists, however, have
experienced that the Banjul Charter gives
them more leverage when dealing with
African governments.
“The easiest way for an African state
to exempt itself from any liability, is to
claim that the legislation is Western,” Mr
Kiai says.
PROGRESS ONE STEP AT A TIME
The Banjul Charter provides all Africans
with legal protection against human-rights
abuses. The charter came into force in
1986, but since then many Africans have
been victims of widespread and serious
human rights violations. Has the Banjul
Charter, then, made any difference?
“The difference has been a moral one.
Rules alone cannot stop the atrocities;
only politics can do that. The legisla-
tion is in place, but we have not seen any
effective international police enforce-
ment“, Kiai explains.
He finds it difficult to conclude wheth-
er or not the charter has provided pro-
tection against actual abuse. Still, Kiai be-
lieves that the charter’s importance has
increased over recent years because the
average African today is aware of his or
her rights of freedom of speech and oth-
er basic human rights.
“It has been a long process, but now
even ordinary people are discussing hu-
man rights. The problem is that even if
you have rights it is still difficult to have
those rights recognised,” says Kiai.
The Banjul Charter, has until now, been
enforced by a commission and a court
established within the African Union.
The commission’s statements have been
of varying quality, and the rulings have
not been legally binding on the states in-
volved. The commission has been widely
criticised for being a formal institution
without any real influence or power - a
paper tiger. Since 2004, the African Court
of Human and People’s Rights has also
had authority to enforce the charter, but
it took five years before the court made
its first ruling. The same year the court
was established, the African Union de-
cided that the court should merge with
the African Court of Justice. The merger
resulted in serious delays in the running
of the court. The new merged court, the
African Court of Justice and Human Rights
(ACJHR), requires ratification by 15 Afri-
can countries to enter into force. Inter-
national legal experts hope the new court
n n  It has been a will prove a more effective instrument
when it comes to overseeing the rights
long process, but provided in the Banjul Charter. However,
so far, only three states have ratified the
now even ordinary protocol establishing the court, and it is
still uncertain when the court will be up
people are discuss- and running.
ing human rights. A NEW IMPETUS
The problem is that Former President of the United Nations’
Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Erik Møse,
even if you have is basically in favour of the new court,
ACJHR. He hopes it will give a new impetus
rights it is still dif- to the promotion of human rights in Africa.
ficult to have those “On one hand, one should be optimis-
tic and idealistic, and take advantage of
rights recognised. any political will whenever it is present”,
says Møse. “But then the question is what
Maina Kiai initiator of the Kenya Human Rights it will be like once everyday life is re-
Commission stored. It is important that this does not
become a paper tiger.
Mr Møse believes there are fewer hu-
man-rights violations in Africa today than
there were half a century ago, but points
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 57
■  human rights
The rule of law: a supporter of both Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, and a united Sudan, at a
rally in October 2010. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for
Bashir on accusations of genocide. Many Africans, however, are skeptical towards the ICC, and the
African Union has denounced the ICC ruling against Bashir. Experts hope that the establishment of
an African Court of Human Rights will make it easier to indict and convict human rights perpetrators
in Africa.
out that the human rights situation var-
ies greatly from country to country. From
Rwanda, he can report of significantly re-
duced occurrences of violence compared
to the time before the 1994 genocide, and
also of fewer attacks by militias.
“The issue in Rwanda is no longer pro-
tection against mass murder. Now, it is
questioned of whether the regime can be
regarded as a constitutional state, or a re-
chtstaat,” Møse explains.
A QUESTION OF TIME
It is still difficult to predict what impact
the new court will have. As part of the
ratification process each member state
can choose whether it will allow state ap-
plications only, or whether the court may
also try cases submitted by individual
citizens and organisations. Consequent-
ly, the level of protection provide by the
court for ordinary people will depend on
58 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
how many countries allow the court to try
cases submitted by other parties than the
state. Many people also question whether
the states will accept judgements passed
by an international institution.
Maina Kiai believes that many African
leaders feel nervous about the Interna-
tional Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague,
because they have no chance of control-
ling their decisions. Kiai hopes that this
uneasiness will help promote the swift
establishment of the new African court.
“Will the states accept sentences is-
sued by an international human rights
court? It is a matter of time, persuasion
and activism. A sentence has little func-
tion on its own. The governments and
politicians must enforce the sanct ions.
Our task as Africans is to continue to put
pressure on states,” says Kiai. n
Translated by: Tor Øverbø
FACTS
The rule of law in Africa
■■ All Africans can be judged by na-
tional courts. In most cases, only national
rules apply. Only a few courts implement
international human rights.
■■ African human rights in the Banjul
Charter are currently enforced by the
International African Commission of Hu-
man and People’s Rights and the African
Court of Human and People’s Rights.
■■ The African Court of Human and
People’s rights will merge with the Af-
rican Court of Justice. The new court,
the African Court of Justice and Hu-
man Rights (ACJHR) will rule on both
human-rights issues and other questions
involving international law. The merging
of the courts is motivated by economic
and effeciency arguments. It is still un-
clear what type of penalties the court
will be able to impose. The African Union
can impose political and economic sanc-
tions against states that do not submit to
the court’s rulings.
■■ Africans can also be convicted for
violations of international criminal law,
which is enforced by the International
Criminal Court at The Hague (ICC). So
far, only Africans have been prosecuted
by the ICC. This has provoked strong re-
actions in Africa, and several heads of
stated have stated that they have little
confidence in the ICC.
abstract of History
1960 s and 70 s : military coups, dictator-
ships and armed groups occasion pre-
carious situations for millions of Africans,
thereby creating a demand for specific
African human rights, and an institution
that can enforce them.
1981: the Banjul Charter of African Hu-
man Rights is adopted.
1986: the Banjul Charter comes into
force.
1987: the African Commission of Human
and People´s Rights is established.
1998: the African Court of Human and
People’s Rights is adopted as the first
African Court of Human Rights.
1994: genocide in Rwanda. According to
the UN, approximately one million people
were killed. In South Africa, the apartheid
regime comes to an end.
2004: the court opens. The African Un-
ion decides to merge the court with the
African Court of Justice, thereby creat-
ing the African Court of Justice and Hu-
man Rights.
The government turned their traditional lands into areas of ruby mining and a national
park of safari tourism. Now, the Endorois people in Kenya may be able to reclaim their land.
Renewed Hope
for Kenyan Tribe
For centuries, the Endorois lived around
Lake Bogoria in Kenya. They have close
ties to the lake, which they regard as sa-
cred. For as long as they can remember,
the tribe - consisting of some 60,000 peo-
ple - made a living from animal husband-
ry, beekeeping and agriculture in this re-
gion. In the 1970s, however, the Kenyan
authorities forcibly removed the Endorois
from the area - without notice, compensa-
tion or any offers of re-location.
SPA AND SAFARI
If you search on the internet for Lake Bo-
goria you will find bargain offers of safari
trips, spa hotels and travel guides. On the
other hand, however, you will find lit-
tle information, about the Endorois who
were driven off the land, and subsequent-
ly lost their livelihood. The majority of Celebrations: Endorois elders perform a ritual following an African Union resolution that they should
the tribe now live in deep poverty, far be allowed to return to their ancestral grounds.
away from the clean water and the pas-
ture lands that fed their livestock. Few 2010, the commission stated that the Ken- the Endorois little has changed. In recent
can afford an education, and they can no yan authorities had violated the Endorois’ years, all the tribe has received is four per
longer perform religious ceremonies in property rights, their rights to the natural cent of the tourist revenues in the area:
the places they regard as sacred. resources in the area as well as their right some 3,000 US dollars per year have
In 1993, the Endorois sought legal as- to health, culture and religion. The com- been split between 60,000 tribal mem-
sistance in an attempt to secure the right mission ruled that the tribe was entitled bers. Attempts at negotiation between the
to return to the areas around Lake Bogo- to both financial compensation and the government and representatives for the
ria. Since then they have been involved right to move back to the area. This is the tribal people have so far failed to produce
in an on-going legal battle to reclaim first time an international commission any result. The commission has no power
their land. They lost their case in the has given judgement in favour of an Afri- to sanction Kenya for failing to follow up
High Court of Kenya. Despite the fact that can tribe and their land rights. the matter.
Kenya is party to the Banjul Charter, the “The Endorois ruling, the first of its If the Endorois case was to be tried
court rejected the plea that the Endorois kind, could help many others who have in the new African Court of Justice and
could claim ownership to the land based been ousted from their land,” says Clive Human Rights, the Kenyan government
on the fact that they had lived in the area Baldwin, a legal adviser with Human would be legally bound to follow the
for many centuries. Rights Watch, an organisation that has court’s decision. The court would also,
given assistance to the Endorois. with a mandate from the African Union,
HISTORIC be able to implement economic and po-
After having been defeated in the High LITTLE HAS CHANGED litical sanctions against states that re-
Court, the Endorois took their case to The decision, however, is not legally bind- fused to apply the court’s ruling. For the
the International African Commission on ing and, a year after the commission de- time being, however, the Endorois must
Human and People’s Rights. In February manded that Kenya return the land to hope for political benevolence. n
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 59
■  tintin
Just weeks before Tintin makes his Hollywood début in Steven Spielberg’s
adaptation of The Secret of the Unicorn, the Belgian comic book hero will
go on trial, accused of racism.
Tintin On Trial
By Birgit Vartdal, Brussels
Should the comic book Tintin in the Congo
be banned for portraying racist stereo-
types, or should it be regarded as an im-
portant historical document illustrating
mainstream colonial views of Congo and
the Africans in the 1930s?
This is the question that will be asked
and decided upon in a Belgian court-
room this autumn. After a fair bit of
filibusterism, the trial has finally been
scheduled to start mid September. Bienv-
enue Mbutu Mondondo, originally from
Congo, but a Belgian resident for the
past 20 years, has sued Tintin- licensee,
Moulinsart, and publisher, Casterman,
for promoting racism.
Violations
In Tintin in the Congo, black people are
portrayed as lazy and stupid. It is only the
whites who succeed,” Mondondo says.
We meet in a bar in Matonge - Brussels’
African neighbourhood - named after a
marketplace in Kinshasa. It is not the first
time Mr Mondondo meets foreign jour-
nalists. The news about the upcoming
court case has swept around the world,
and has long been a topic of conversation
amongst comic-book aficionados. Mon-
dondo believes that the comic book is an
insult to the Congolese people. He would
like to see the book banned, but would
60 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
accept it being sold
with a warning
added to the pref-
ace, as happens in
the UK.
Mondondo
stresses, however,
that he is not act-
ing on behalf of Plaintiff: Bienvenue
Mbutu Mondondo
the Congolese peo-
ple in this case.
He says he has personal reasons for tak-
ing legal action against the world’s most
famous Belgian - the young comic book
hero, Tintin - created by Georges Remi,
under the pseudonym Hergé - more than
80 years ago.
Personal Experiences
Bienvenue Mondondo explains that his
parents bought Tintin in the Congo for him
when he was a child back home in Congo.
“They never told me that this comic was
racist. I did not realise it either – until I re-
visited the book after personally having ex-
perienced racism in Europe,” he says.
As an example of his personal experi-
ences, he mentions employees who re-
fuse to do what he asks of them because
he is black. He has also had difficulties
renting a flat, and in obtaining a perma-
nent employment contract.
“A lot of people in this country are mis-
erable because of racism. I know that, in
some situations, because of the colour of
my skin, I will be discriminated against.
In the old days racially motivated mur-
ders were commonplace. Today, racism
has taken a more modern form. In order
to deal with this form of racism, we have
to influence and change people’s atti-
tudes. I want to show that racism should
not be tolerated in any circumstances.
Comic-book hero: Tintin is probably the world’s most well-known, Belgian literary character, but, ever since it was first published at the beginning of the
Tintin in the Congo is partially responsi-
1930s, the story of Tintin’s trip to the Congo has been a matter of controversy. Photo: Scanpix
ble for creating negative attitudes toward
Africans,” Mondondo says.
Colonial Master
Tintin in the Congo is the second story of
the series: Adventures of Tintin. Like the
first story, Tintin in the Land of the Sovi-
n n  I want to show the Congolese children. “Today I will talk
about our country, Belgium.” Tintin is
to release it because of its controversial
content. In fact it was not published in the
ets, the Tintin in the Congo story was first
published as a serial between June 1930
that racism should very much the visiting colonial school-
master. In 1946, a new, coloured version
UK until 1991 –as the last booklet in the se-
ries. In 2007, attempts were made by the
and June 1931 in the Belgian newspaper, not be tolerated in of Tintin in the Congo was published. In UK Commission for Racial Equality to stop
Le Vingtiéme Siècle. This was a right-wing this edition Hergé removed the colonial circulation. This resulted in a warning
weekly run by the Catholic Church. The any circumstances. references, and instead of being taught being added to the preface, stating that
plot revolves around a young correspond-
ent travelling from Antwerp to the Belgian Tintin in the Congo geography, the children were given a les-
son in mathematics.
some readers might well find the content
offensive. Some book shops also moved
Congo. After finally arriving in Africa, he
encounters various challenges including
is partially respon- Yet this did not notably improve mat-
ters, Mr Mondondo explains. The atti-
the comic from the children’s section.
The creator himself, as he grew older,
wild animals, angry natives, and villain- sible for creating tudes portrayed were still patronising: described the comic book as a “youth’s
ous American diamond-smugglers. “Who can tell how much two plus two is? folly” and apologised for it, saying that
Instances ridiculing the Congolese are, negative attitudes No one? “, Tintin asks. he had been influenced by the prejudicial
according to Mr Mondondo, abundant.
One of the most controversial sequenc- toward Africans. PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO STOP PUBLICATION
attitudes existing within the bourgeois
environment he came from, and in which
es describes what happens when Tintin Bienvenue Mbutu Mondondo Mr Mondondo in Belgium is not the first he resided.
is given the task of teaching geography to accuse this comic book of racism. For a “The year was 1930 and the only thing
at a local school. “Dear friends,” he tells long time, British publishers were hesitant I knew about Congo was what I had
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 61
■  tintin
speaks out against tintin: Bienvenue Mbutu Mondondo is originally from Congo, but has lived in Belgium for the past 20 years. He claims that the com-
ic book hero Tintin is partly responsible for the negative attitudes towards black people in Belgium. 
heard from others: ‘The negroes are like
big children’...‘Lucky for them that we
arrived!’ and so forth. So I portrayed Afri-
cans based on this stipulation, and in the
fatherly protective spirit which prevailed
in Belgium during that time,” he told
Benoît Peeters in his biography: Tintin
and the World of Hergé.
Moving Towards Censorship
The Belgian licensee, Moulinsart, did not
wish to comment on the law suit prior to
the court’s ruling. However, a spokesper-
son for the company has previously stat-
ed to the press that the company strongly
opposes demands for the withdrawal of
the publication, and thinks it unaccepta-
ble to change some of the drawings after
Hergé’s death.
The director of the Cartoon Museum
in Brussels, Williem de Graeve, agrees
that banning Tintin in the Congo would be
wrong.
“Banning books is a dangerous path to
62 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
take,” he says. Nor does he support the
suggestion of equipping the book with a
warning:
“In my opinion, it would be to under-
estimate the readers. All readers, even
children, will understand that this is a
comic book. At the same time, I do be-
lieve the book contains stereotypes that
today might be viewed as racist and
therefore should be avoided. Yet Hergé
was no racist. He wanted to create en-
tertaining stories. At the same time he
was a product of his time. Today, be-
cause we have both internet and TV, it is
easier to achieve a balanced worldview.
But around the time ‘Tintin in the Congo’
was created, this was difficult. Hergé’s
only sources were the stories people told
when they returned to Belgium after hav-
ing visited Congo.”
The Centre for Equal Opportunities
and Opposition to Racism in Belgium
(Centre pour l’égalité des Chances et la
Lutte contre le Racisme), does not sup-
Photo: Birgit Vartdal
port the legal action against Tintin either.
Coordinator in the Department of Dis-
crimination, Patrick Charlier, says they
disagree with Mondondo that Tintin in
the Congo is in breach of Belgian law.
“This is not to say that the comic book
Tintin in the Congo does not convey a
prejudiced, paternalistic and colonialist
view of the Congolese. Our decision not to
support Mondondo’s court case is also be-
cause we believe there are other issues that
deserve higher priority. For instance cases
where people have been victims of racial
discrimination through violence or other
criminal acts,” Mr Charlier says.
Raises Sympathy
In France, on the other hand, Mondondo
has support from the French anti-racism
organisation CRAN (Conseil des Associa-
tions Noires Representatif ).
“Yes, we have decided to give our sup-
port to Mr Mondondo in this case. Al-
though we do not agree on every funda-
n n  It is impossible to censor the book
because then you would have to censor
99 per cent of all publications on Congo
and Africa from this period.
Zana Etambala Congolese historian, Zana Etambala, who teaches at the University of Leuven.
mental issue regarding the legal aspects,
we do understand why he has decided to
take this drastic measure. We are not in
favour of censorship– Tintin in the Congo
is an irreplaceable testimony of a time
that we have left behind, and that is part
of the communal history between France
and Belgium. However, we welcome
this opportunity to teach – especially to
young people -what racism is. Therefore
we support the demand for a preface
that puts these caricatures of the Congo-
lese into the correct historical context.
We cannot understand why Casterman
and Moulinsart so strongly oppose this.
This is not a court case against Tintin and
Hergé. It should not be possible in this
day and age to publish such stereotypes
without accepting any responsibility for
the attitudes you then run the risk of cre-
ating,” says Patrick Lomés, president of
the CRAN.
Among Mondondo’s fellow Congolese
in Belgium, there are also sympathisers.
In a television interview on TV Brussels
last year in connection with the celebra-
tion of Congo’s independence, Henri
Mova Sarkinyi, Congo’s ambassador to
the EU and the Benelux, did not hide the
fact that he thinks the comic book gives
an unflattering picture of the Congolese.
However, he still thinks it would be prob-
lematic to ban the booklet:
“We should not judge a bygone era
with the reasoning of the present,” he
observes, and added that for those who
have experienced the big changes in at-
titude that have taken place that would
be too simplistic an approach. “But one
might want to put the story into the prop-
er context, for example by incorporat-
ing an introduction explaining the more
or less libellous characteristics in the
book. This way, the negative image may
be modified and the result might be a
healthier read,” he says.
Free Advertising
The Congolese historian, Zana Etambala,
who teaches at the University of Leuven
outside Brussels, largely agrees.
“It is impossible to censor the book be-
cause then you would have to censor 99
per cent of all publications on Congo and
Africa from this period. The zeitgeist in
Europe was colonialist and racist at the
time. Europeans regarded themselves
as a superior people. Had anyone today
expressed views like Hergé did, it would
have been different,” he says.
Etambala believes the court case is a
waste of energy.
“You have to look ahead, not back. The
unfortunate thing about this case is that
the comic book will enjoy a lot of free ad-
vertising, and more people will buy it.
Therefore, I try instead to take this op-
portunity to explain to my students what
colonialism and racism is. That is the
only way one can prevent such attitudes
from thriving again.”
This is an approach that the plaintiff,
Bienvenue Mbutu Mondondo, finds ac-
ceptable.
“Well, at first I wanted to stop the pub-
lication of the book, but when I saw the
reactions, I thought it wise to try and
utilize the attention aroused by the law
suit to teach people what racism is. If the
book is not withdrawn from the market,
there should at least be an introduction
by Belgian and Congolese historians that
places the comic book in a historic con-
text. Belgium acts as if its colonial repre-
sentatives behaved like tourists in Congo.
Unless Belgium integrates its colonial
past in the school curriculum and recog-
nises it as part of its cultural roots, it will
always exist as a problem,” he says. n
Translated by: Tor Øverbø
Belgium in Congo
For 75 years, from 1885 to 1960, Congo
was under Belgian rule. For the first 23
years it was known as the Congo Free
State – a private colony owned by King
Leopold II. Under the guise that he would
deliver the Congolese people from Arab
slave drivers and introduce Christianity, the
King justified the existence of his very own
personal colony. From this colony the King
extracted vast fortunes in ivory and rubber.
The King used extremely cruel methods to
obtain raw materials. Among other things,
it is believed that he initiated the cutting off
of the hands and feet of slaves that did not
manage to deliver the amount of materials
demanded by the Belgians. Personally, the
King never set foot in the country. As time
passed reports of repeated abuses against
the local population finally reached Europe
and led to an international protest move-
ment. In 1908, the government intervened
and Leopold’s privately-owned slave state
was transformed into a Belgian colony un-
der parliamentary control. Congo gained its
independence in 1960.
Sources: De Morgen, Le Soir
Hergé and Tintin
The Belgian cartoonist and author, Hergé,
is best known for the Tintin series. His
real name was Georges Prosper Remi. He
was born in 1907 and died in 1983. From
1926 till 1976, he produced a total, of 23
Tintin albums. A 24th and unfinished al-
bum was published after his death. As an
illustrator, Hergé is credited with creating
his own style within European comic-book
arts, primarily due to the Tintin series’ re-
alistically and meticulously crafted back-
ground drawings. The Tintin series has
also become a popular animation. It is cur-
rently being adapted to the silver screen
by Steven Spielberg. The premiere is ex-
pected to be in late October 2011.
Source: Store norske leksikon and
others.
Censorship and Racism
in Literature
In 2011, the American publishers, New
South Books, removed all occurrences of
the word “nigger” in Mark Twain’s Huck-
leberry Finn and replaced them with the
word “slave”. As early as the 1930s the
English childrens’ book, Little Black Sam-
bo, was criticised for spreading racist ste-
reotypes. The story, which quickly became
very popular, was written and illustrated
by Helen Bannerman and first published
in 1899. Since then, the story and draw-
ings have been changed several times in
order to modify the stereotype Southern
Indian boy of the original story. The book
has, however, not been banned, other than
in Japan, where it was withdrawn from the
marked in 1988. The French children’s
book, Barbar the Elephant, originally pub-
lished in 1931, is another well-known chil-
dren’s book criticised for spreading coloni-
alist and racist attitudes.
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 63
 ■  Global Review

QUIZ
1 300 000
WEBSITES SHUT DOWN: in 2010, more than 1.3 million web pages were
shut down by the Chinese government.
Source: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
n n  The Arab spring is not an ideological revo­
lution, or a theological one; it is a demand for
liberty and jobs, desires and rights that are
common to all human beings.
Author Salman Rushdie to The Guardian, 26 June 2011

Book Recommendation
different perspectives
Dov Zakheim
How people tweet about:
A Vulcan's Tale
Afghanistan How the Bush Administration Mis-
managed the Reconstruction of Af-
Photo: Scanpix

ghanistan
@HabibKhanT – Our day Publisher: Brookings
Institution Press, 2011
starts with tragedies and
People: Who is Manuel Zelaya?
ends with tragedies. Life in President Bush's Under
Secretary of Defence dur-
PEOPLE
Afghanistan isn't easy. ing the Afghanistan inva-
1. Who is Manuel Zelaya? sion, Dov Zakheim, gives
2. Who was awarded this year’s Nansen Refugee Award? his personal opinion of
3. Who created Tintin? Alex strick @strickvl - Kandahar-based writer, how the USA failed to ex-
4. Which company recently donated $62 million to the Dadaab refugee among the most active on updates and analysis. ploit vital opportunities to
complex?
5. How did Angelina Joly become the UNHCR’s Goodwill Ambassador? achieve success in Afghan-
jerome starkey @jeromestarkey – Kabul-based ad- istan. A Vulcan's Tale is a first-hand ac-
THE WAR ON TERROR venturer who posts witty tweets about serious topics. count of how insufficient funding, inef-
1. What does ISAF mean? fective coordination, and faulty and/or
2. What name is given to the American military operation targeting rawa @RAWA77 – Women’s charity that tweets on incomplete implementation hampered
Taliban and Al Qaeda? about social and gender equality, plus news.
3. Which country was recently found guilty of human rights breaches in or prevented the achievement of admi-
Iraq? rable goals.
4. What is the population of Afghanistan? habib khan totakhil @HabibKhanT – Afghan writer,
5. When is the deadline for withdrawing all combat troops from poet and activist, who provides an insight into Afghan
Afghanistan? culture. Gregory White
POLITICS
1. Where do most Libyan refugees flee to? sally sara @sallysaraABC – ABC’s Kabul correspond-
CLIMATE CHANGE
2. Which country has the highest percentage of women in Parliament?
3. Which small Italian island has received over 25,000 Libyan refugees?
ent tweets about her experiences, and posts pictures AND MIGRATION
of Afghan daily life. Security and Borders in a Warming
4. In which three countries are women denied the right to vote?
5. How many people are in dire need of help in the Horn of Africa? World
Publisher: Oxford Universi-
HISTORY ty Press, September 2011
1. When was the UN Refugee Convention established?
2. Which state was created on 9 July this summer? MUSEUM OF LONDON Until recently, interna-
3. How many people were killed in the 1994 Rwanda genocide?
4. When did the Western world become aware of Al Jazeera, and why?
5. When did Muammar Gaddafi come to power in Libya?
Freedom from: Modern Controversial: Indian activist and novelist Arundhati Roy is again
causing controversy.
tional migration has been
separated into two cat-
Slavery in the Capital egories: firstly, migration
from war or instability
This autumn, the Museum of London lifts the lid on the appall- and, secondly, econom-
ing reality of trafficking and forced labour in 21st Century Lon- Book ic migration. Gregory
Arundhati Roy
don. In partnership with the world’s oldest human rights or- White discusses a third,
ganisation, Anti-Slavery International, the exhibition explores
contemporary cases of slavery across Greater London. Visitors
“BROKEN REPUBLIC” more recent phenomenon - that of
refugees fleeing from climate change
Publisher: Penguin Books, 2011
Osama bin Laden claiming responsibility for September 11 5. 1969 can hear the story of Gheeta, trafficked from India, who was - and he sets out the implications this
HISTORY 1. 1951 2. South Sudan 3. Around 1 million 4. In 2001, when it broadcasted the video of mentally and sexually abused by her trafficker. Anti-Slavery In- In her new book, Broken Republic, the Indian novelist and political activist, Arundhati form of displacement is likely to have
ternational hopes the stark reality of slavery in the capital will Roy, makes a rare defence of the Maoists' often bloody battle for liberation. The book has on international security issues. White
5. As many as 13 million
POLITICS 1. Tunisia 2. Rwanda 3. Lampedusa 4. Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Brunei
United Kingdom 4. 27.1 million 5. End of 2014
THE WAR ON TERROR 1. International Security Assistance Force 2. Operation Enduring Freedom 3.
shock visitors into wanting to eradicate the problem once and caused great controversy in India, where more than 6,000 people have been killed as a provides a thought-provoking link be-
3. Georges Remi, under the pseudonym Hergé 4. IKEA 5. She volunteered for the job for all. Freedom from: Modern Slavery in the capital runs until 20 result of Maoist insurgency. Roy accuses the Indian government of only caring about the tween two of the most pressing issues
November. middle class, and gives a vivid account of the hardships suffered by Maoists. in contemporary international affairs.
PEOPLE 1. Former President of Honduras 2. The Society for Humanitarian Solidarity, Yemen

64 Perspective
NO. 03.2011
Perspective
NO. 03.2011 65
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
43 MILLION DISPLACED
Bachelor`s degree programmes
• International Environment and Development Studies

Master`s degree programmes

• Agroecology
• Animal Breeding and Genetics
• Aquaculture
• Bioinformatics and Applied Statistics
• Development and Natural Resource
Economics
• Ecology - Tropical Ecology and Management of Natural
Resources
• Ecology - General
• Feed Manufacturing Technology
• International Development Studies
• International Environmental Studies
• International Relations
• Microbiology
• Plant Science
• Radioecology

We offer: High quality, frequent teacher-student interaction and a pleasant

social and physical environment characterise education at UMB.
Note: Public universities in Norway do not charge tuition fees, this
also applies to international students.

ORDINARY PEOPLE DOING

EXTRAORDINARY WORK
UMB’s Main Objectives are:
• to be a major player in the field of life sciences, focusing on the core
disciplines: biology, food and environmental science, land use and
NORCAP (Norwegian Capacity) is the world’s most frequently
natural resource management, as well as associated and technical used emergency standby roster. Since 1991 we have seconded
subjects; personnel to more than 6000 assignments globally. NORCAP
consists of 850 ordinary women and men who are ready to deploy
• to actively contribute to business development and continue to to international operations within 72 hours.
strengthen the scientific basis for agriculture, aquaculture and other
industries based on the utilisation of natural resources.

More information: www.umb.no www.norcapweb.no

 A global telecommunications
company. Built around local
businesses, local needs
and local people like us.
At Telenor Group, we think it’s possible to be both global and local at the same
time. That’s why wherever you find Telenor Group, you’ll find more than a local
presence, you’ll find a local business. Built around people.
You’ll also find a business acting with commitment and respect. And you’ll find
the resources and skills of a leading multinational telecoms company being
applied to benefit local communities and help meet local needs.
To find out more about how the Telenor Group operates in your area,
visit www.telenor.com and see how we are ‘built around people.’

This advertisement features Telenor Group employees

Telenor Group is an international provider of tele, data and media communication services. Telenor Group has mobile operations in 11 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia, as well as
Telenor Group is an international provider of tele, data and media communication services. Telenor Group has mobile operations in 11 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in
an economic stake of 39.6 per cent in VimpelCom Ltd., operating in 10 markets. Headquartered in Norway, Telenor Group is one of the world’s major mobile operators with 203 million mobile subscriptions (111 million
Asia, as well asoperations
in consolidated a stake of and
close
92tomillion
40 per in cent in VimpelCom
VimpelCom Ltd.,
Ltd per Q4 operating
2010), in 10
revenues markets.
in 2010 Headquartered
of NOK 95 billion, andin Norway, Telenor
a workforce Group is one
of approximately of the
33,200 world’s major
employees. mobile
For more operators
information with
about 184 million
Telenor Group, mobile
please
subscriptions (per Q2 2010), revenues in 2009 of NOK 98 billion, and a workforce of approximately 40,000 employees. For more information about Telenor Group, please visit www.telenor.com
visit www.telenor.com
Growth comes from truly understanding the needs of people to drive relevant change.