The other 99%
The writer is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute professor of Biomedical Engineering, International Health and Medicine at Boston University. He tweets @mhzaman
The international focus is largely on evacuation efforts in Kabul. Those in other cities somehow seem less important to the world. Some estimates put those who have been airlifted from Afghanistan to be a hundred thousand or perhaps two hundred thousand. Simple math tells me that in a country of about 38 million, that makes less than half a per cent.
The humanitarian crisis facing the other 99%, due to conflict, a complete absence of government, a fragile health infrastructure, trauma and anxiety, is back page news. A lot more people than a couple of hundred thousand who have been evacuated need help. Those who never worked for the embassies, US or Nato forces, or international agencies, did not have any contacts with foreign workers or staff, are not on any priority list. Somehow their fears, anxieties and concerns are beyond the reach of our humanity.
The problem of selective humanity is not just a problem in space; it is also a problem in time. We focus not only on a single place, but also on a single moment in time: now. While the situation in Afghanistan requires thought, care and empathy, it is not the only crisis in the world that is impacting innocent people. The situation in Afghanistan has eclipsed a whole list of other global humanitarian crises. The humanitarian disaster in the Tigray region in Ethiopia is among the worst the region has seen for decades. Millions are affected by the conflict and are in need or urgent humanitarian support. Yemen’s crisis continues unabated. Thousands of children are dying due to disease, malnutrition and conflict, and there is little help from the world coming their way. The Rohingya are facing increasing uncertainty about their future. Haiti is on the brink of complete collapse. So is Lebanon. In some cases the drivers may be conflict, and others may be driven by corruption. But people who need help cannot be abandoned because there is a new crisis making the news.
The Taliban takeover in Kabul has not resolved any of the other pressing challenges. Yet, the global laser focus on Afghanistan means that it will divert financial, human and intellectual resources away from the pressing problems in other regions. In some cases, such as Australia, a few thousand Afghans who are evacuated will be resettled in Australia, but the existing quota of refugees will not be changed. This means that those who have been waiting for years for their chance to settle in Australia, and were nearly there, will be pushed back. Afghans deserve dignity, kindness and support. Affluent nations should do all they can to help resettle those who seek shelter and safety. But so do those who have fled from other conflicts and need safety to live their lives with dignity.
This is not just an issue of international media or politics, but very much an issue at home as well. Focusing on successive humanitarian crises in Afghanistan have led us to abandon serious discussion and equitable resolution to the injustice faced by stateless Bengali, Burmese and Bihari community in Karachi and elsewhere.
By choosing to focus on the current problem (which of course deserves attention), and deprioritising others, we inevitably protract humanitarian crises. Projects and efforts that are ongoing get derailed, thereby creating frustration and anger. The emphasis on living in the moment tells some people that their lives matter little, or are no longer of interest. They become a mere number — and eventually not even that.
Read More: ‘No extension in evacuations from Afghanistan’, Taliban tell US
The choice to channel and divert resources and action is not because we, as a global community, start caring deeply about one group, but because there is a political demand for that. The right approach is not to constantly reprioritise the resources, but to expand our humanity and our resources, and find space for people in our hearts. For as long as our actions will be driven by politics and not care for all humans, there will always be the 99% who are left behind.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2021.
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