Refugee and Migration Movements Throughout the History - Research Paper Example

Refugee and Migration Movements The Rwandan Genocide and the African Great Lakes Refugee Crisis (1994-1997) Historical Background of the Hutu-Tutsi Dichotomy and the Legacy of Belgian Colonial Rule in Rwanda The origin of Hutu and Tutsi dichotomy started during the pre-colonial Rwanda. Speaking the Bantu language1, Hutu people are considered the early inhabitants of Rwanda and Burundi (Jenkins). It was only in 1300s when Cushite people a.k.a. Tutsi migrated to the southern part of Ethiopia. Since Hutu people arrived in Rwanda and Burundi earlier than the Tutsi, Hutu has always been a majority group in Rwanda. Hutu people were known as farmers and fishers throughout Africa whereas Tutsi people were more famous as cattle-herding warriors (Jenkins). Over the years, Tutsi people were able to adopt with the culture of Hutu people. It even came to a point wherein Tutsi people were able to speak the Bantu language. Eventually, the two groups joined together to form a single tribe known as the Bantu Hutu (ibid). Although the two tribes managed to unite as Bantu Hutu, the Tutsis maintained a separate autocratic identity different from that of the Hutu. This is the primary reason why the two groups remained distinctive from one another even though the two tribes had already merged as one. It is also possible that the conflict between Hutu and Tutsi was triggered by colonial powers that ruled each group. Specifically the Belgian colonial rule in Rwanda chose to increase the power of Tutsi over the Hutu (Jenkins). In line with this, the Tutsi people were given strong support over military and political power in Burundi. It was only recently wherein Hutu people were able to join the politics. For this reason, the political, cultural and social conflicts between Hutu and Tutsi had always been the most common causes of humanitarian problems between the two groups. It even came to a point wherein violence between the two groups became uncontrollable. Key Events after Independence leading to 1994 Genocide and the Eruption of Refugee Crises The Hutu people could barely accept the fact that their tribe has been oppressed even though the Hutu people were classified as the majority over the Tutsi people. For this reason, Gregoire Kayibanda headed the establishment of the Hutu Emancipation Movement (Parmehutu) back in 1957 (Adekunle 18). This movement aimed to free the Hutu people from the political and military power of the Tutsi minority. Ever since Rwanda gained independence from the Belgian Colony back in 1962, Tutsi refugees in Uganda organized a political and military group to go against the Hutu people. In 1972, the Tutsi army started a massive war on Hutu people (Bowen 49; Nyankanzi 198). Eventually, majority of the Tutsi refugees in Uganda joined forces to promote the National Resistance Movement during the time of the Ugandan Bush War in late 1980s. Basically, the National Resistance Movement was established in order to “transform Uganda from a poor peasant society into a modern, industrial, united and prosperous society by maintaining a peaceful, united, democratic, and harmonious... Uganda within Africa” (National Resistance Movement). After gaining their independence, the Hutu people established the Republic under the leadership of Kayibanda. Under the regime of Gregoire Kayibanda and Juvenal Habyarimana, majority of the Tutsi people were persecuted between 1990 to 1991 (PBS Online). Between 1990 to 1993, Hutu started to plan a civil war against the Tutsi people (Melvern 49). In line with this, Hassan Ngeze edited and published the Hutu Ten Commandments which was used as the basis for Hutu Power principles in different schools and among the group of Hutu army (Totten, Bartrop and Jacobs 200). Under the Hutu Ten Commandments, Hutu people were strictly warned against developing any forms of relationship with the Tutsi people. In 1994, the Hutu people revenged over Tutsi people which caused the death of approximately 800,000 Tutsi-Rwandans within a short span of 100 days (BBC News). Failure of UN Security Council to Act both prior to Genocide and Afterwards to Prevent Militarization of the Rwandan Hutu Refugee Camps in Eastern Zaire The UN Security Council failed to prevent the militarization of the Rwandan Hutu refugee camps in Eastern Zaire prior to 1994 Genocide because the UN forces were instructed not to intervene the process wherein the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) went house to house to kill the Tutsis and some of the Hutu politicians (PBS Online). On the first day of civil war, the UN forces were instructed to purely monitor the event. Two weeks after the first day of attack, the UN forces were left with no other choice but to cut down the number of its forces from 2,500 down to 250 since the Hutu Prime Minister Agathe Uwiliyingimana together with his ten Belgian body guards were tortured and killed (PBS Online). Basically, one of the main reasons why the UN forces were not able to “prevent and punish” the attackers was because the word “genocide” which could have given the UN Security Council the legal right to intervene with the event was omitted (PBS Online). Therefore, the UN forces were left with no legal right to protect the Tutsi people against the Hutu attackers. It was only a little more than two months later when the United States decided to include the word “genocide”. Another major factor that caused delay in the action coming from the UN Security Council was due to the argument over the sources of equipments and payment of the bills since the United States government was not open to share expenses with the UN Security Council (PBS Online). After the 1994 Genocide, the UN Security Council started to establish international tribunal trials in November 1994 with the purpose of prosecuting suspects who are either directly or indirectly involved in the crime (PBS Online). Although the UN Security Council instructed all states to arrest all suspects behind the Rwandan genocide back in February 1995, the lack of international financial aid weakened the UN Security Council forces. Basically, the lack of financial assistance from major developed countries such as the United States made the UN Security Council decide to pull out almost half the number of UN troops that were deployed in Rwanda (PBS Online). Shed Light on Dilemmas Faced by Humanitarian Agencies (such as UNHCR) and their Role in the Final Phase of Crisis in 1996 and 1997 One of the main functions of the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees (UNHCR) is to grant the request of the United Nations or governments concerning the need to protect and support refugees around the world (UNHCR). Part of the main responsibility of the UNHCR is to conduct fund raising events and gather donations which will be sent directly to refugees. Because of the continuous civil war between the Hutu and Tutsi, humanitarian agency such as in the case of UNHCR faced a lot of dilemmas concerning the fact that the group is actually feeding the attackers rather than extending support supposedly to the victims of crime. In return, UNHCR becomes an instrument for continuous lack of security on the part of the Tutsi people. For this reason, UNHCR became more focused on strengthening its decision-making policy on whether or not to extend financial aid and support to refugees around the world (Parisetti and Whalstrom). The Kuwait Conflict and the Iraqi Refugee Crisis (1991) Overview of Iraqi Kurds and Arab Shias’ Position and Grievances against the Iraqi State both Historically and in the Run-up to Saddam Hussein’s Invasion of Kuwait in 1990 Classified as Iranian people, the Kurds is an ethnic group that inhibits in mostly in Kurdistan and some parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey (Asatrian). On the other hand, Shia is a majority group in Iraq. In Saudi Arabia, the Shia group is known to Aramco and including the entire petroleum industry. Similar to the Kurds, the Shia group can also be found in other places including Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Ever since the fall of the late Shia back in 1979, the Arab Shia became an insignificant group in Saudi Arabia (Betts). In the past, Iraqi state was considered the mainland of the Shia community. With this, the Arab Shia made their religious identity known to the Iraqi state. As a result, the identity of Arab Shia became stronger and more powerful than the Iraqi and Iranian Shia. Since the Arab bona fides were questioning the loyalty of the Arab Shia, problems related to politics and religion among the Arab Shia and pro-Iranian Shia community remain unsolved (Global Security). When Iraq became a sovereign state on the 13th of October 1932, the declaration of statehood resulted to a tight competition between Sunnis and Shias including tribes like the Kurds, pan-Arabists, and the Iraqi nationalists. Since each ethnic group was fighting for a place in the state structure, political, social and economic problems among each group arise. Desperate to become independent and separate from the Iraqi state, ethnic groups like the Kurds rebelled against the Iraqi state with the purpose of owning their own autonomous state. Under the Baath regime, it was only in 1970 when Saddam Hussein agreed to grant Kurds to become one of the country’s autonomous states (Gunter 14 – 19). Four years later, it was noted that the agreement between Hussein and the Kurds group was a form of a tactical manoeuvre. Iraqi government did not implement the agreement. For this reason, Iran offered the Kurdish some political support until Iran Shia entered into an agreement with Hussein regarding the disputed borders. Since the Kurdish people felt betrayed by the Iraqi state, majority of the Kurds took the side of Iran during the war between Iran and Iraq between the years 1980 to 1988. Because of anger, Iraqi forces utilized its chemical weapons against the Kurdish people living in Halabja and other villages (Middle East Watch 13). Together with the assistance of the United States, the cruel treatment of the Iraqi State against the minority tribes has led to the establishment of several rebellious groups against the Iraqi government. Because of the strong support of the United States and international human rights groups, the Kurds won against the central government of Iraq. It was in 1990s when the Kurds finally enjoyed having autonomy (Bengio). Similar to the case of Iraqi Kurds, the Arab Shias were also denied to have a stand in Iraqi’s political decision-making. Since the Shia majority’s right to sectarianism was oppressed, the tribe decided to go against the Iraqi state for the reason of ethnic discrimination (Al-bab). Describe the Eruption of the Revolts in Shia Arab South and Kurdish North Immediately after the Kuwait War, the Outcomes, and the International Response to the Refugee Crisis Between the 2nd of August 1990 up to February 1991, Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait conquered the small-scale oil-rich emirates in Kuwait. Under the leadership of the United States, the UN military forces decided to fight for the freedom of oil-rich kingdom in Saudi Arabia by forcing Iraq to leave Kuwait. After the Kuwait war, the Kurdish North rebelled against Hussein’s forces as a way of going against the Iraqi government. Feeling betrayed by the US administration when the US came into a ceasefire agreement with Iraq, Hussein’s administration forces won against the 1991 Kurdish revolt causing the Kurdish refugees to escape from the Iraqi army (BBC News b). The 1991 Shiite Revolt started when Hussein’s forces in Kuwait was defeated. At this point in time, the Shiites of southern Iraq rebelled against the Iraqi government. Similar to the experience of 1991 Kurdish Revolt, the 1991 Shiite Revolt was defeated by Hussain’s forces because of the use of chemical weapons (Nguyen). Although there were quite a lot of international NGOs that are trying to reach out to the refugees, the fact that the Iraqi government restricts the access to UN and International NGOs to refugees makes it difficult to extend financial support including food, shelter, clothing and medicine to the refugees. It even came to a point wherein Iraqi government was reportedly harassing the volunteer relief workers and UN personnel throughout the Iraqi nation (Relief Web). Different Reactions of Turkey and Iran, and the International Community Regarding the Kuwait War After the 1991 Kuwait war and the 1991 Kurdish Revolt, millions of Kurds migrated to the Kurshish areas in Turkey and Iran. Both Turkey and Iran government expresses their concern over the Iraqi people. Even though Turkey is a member of the coalition group in Gulf War (Crocker III 384), Turkey government is strongly against the use of nuclear weapons in war. Aiming to increase its political and military power similar to Russia and China, Iran has been concentrating on improving its nuclear program since the Shah’s era (Global Security). Because of the conflicting perception between Turkey and Iran with regards to the use of nuclear weapons in war, Turkey government decided to vote against extending authority for Iran to have access to the Security Council (Eland). The international institutions such as the international NGOs and the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) were very much interested in solving landmine issues or the use of nuclear weapons. By doing so, international community will be able to prevent serious humanitarian problems caused by the use of nuclear weapons. For this reason, a lot of international institutions are voting to legally ban the use of nuclear weapons through the use of international humanitarian law (Rutherford 80 – 81). Since the NGOs were not able to successfully convince the government and the general public about the seriousness of the ICRC discussion regarding the deadly weapons, only a minimal international restrictions under the Landmines Protocol of the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) were implemented with regards to landmine issues (Rutherford 81). It was only in 1996 when this said protocol was strengthened with the implementation of the Amended Protocol II which stated the need to strictly ban the use of illegal landmine weapons (ibid). Significance of UN Security Council Resolution 688, the Safe Havens and the Resolution of the Crisis by the End of 1991 Implemented on the 5th of April 1991, the UN Security Council Resolution 688 aimed to remove threat to international peace and security while promoting the importance of human rights of each people. Despite the Iraqi no-fly zone policy, the Council persuaded Iraq to allow the international humanitarian organizations to gain access to the affected Iraqi and Kurdish areas (Byers 41). Likewise, the council strongly instructed Iraqi government to cooperate with the Secretary-General and other related international organizations when providing humanitarian support to the refugees (ibid). Guarded by the US troops, the Safe Haven which was established by the United Nations back in April 1991 aimed to protect the Kurdish people in northern Iraq (BBC News c). Through the use of this policy, the US troops were able to provide comfort to the Kurdish people by protecting them against the Iraqi government. Specifically the Security Council Resolution 678 was implemented back on the 29th of 1990 for the purpose of ending Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship in Kuwait. As part of the resolution, Hussein was warned that the US troop will launch air attacks against Iraqi people in Kuwait in case Hussein failed to dissolve his troop in Kuwait on the 15th of January 1991 (Richelson). *** End *** References Adekunle, Julius O. Culture and customs of Rwanda. Greenwood, 2007. "Al-bab." 20 June 2009. Declaration of the Shia of Iraq. 12 July 2010 . Asatrian, Garnik. "Prolegomena to the Study of the Kurds, Iran and the Caucasus." Iran and the Caucasus (2009): Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 1-58. "BBC News." 18 December 2008. Rwanda: How the genocide happened. 12 July 2010 . "BBC News." 21 August 2007 b. Flashback: the 1991 Iraqi revolt . 12 July 2010 . "BBC News." 2 June 2010 c. Iraq timeline: A chronology of key events. 12 July 2010 . Bengio, Ofra. "Iraqi Kurds: Hour of Power?" The Middle East Quarterly (2003): Vol. X, No. 3, pp. 39-48. Betts, Robert Brenton. "Middle East Policy Council Journal." October 2000. Book Review: The Arab Shia: The Forgotten Muslims by Graham E. Fuller and Rend Rahim Francke. Vol. VII, No. 4. 12 July 2010 . Bowen, Michael. Passing by: The United States and genocide in Burundi, 1972. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1973. Byers, Michael. War Law: Understanding International Law and Armed Conflict. Douglas & Mclntyre, 2005. Crocker III, H.W. Don't Tread on Me: A 400-Year History of America at War, from Indian Fighting to Terrorist Hunting. 1st Edition. New York: Crown Forum, 2006. Eland, Ivan. "Consortium News." 21 June 2010. Turkey Resists Showdown with Iran. 12 July 2010 . "Global Security." 2010. Shias in Iraq. 12 July 2010 . "Global Security." 2010. Nuclear Weapons. 12 July 2010 . Gunter, Michael M. The Kurds of Iraq. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Jenkins, Orville Boyd. "Peoples and Culture." 2009. Tutsi, Hutu and Hima — Cultural Background in Rwanda . 12 July 2010 . Melvern, Linda. Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide. Verso, 2004. MiddleEastWatch. Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campaign against the Kurds. New York: Human Rights Watch, 1993. "National Resistance Movement." 2010. Our vision. 12 July 2010 . Nguyen, Michael. "Arms Control Association." 2 January 2006. Report Confirms Iraq Used Sarin in 1991. 12 July 2010 . Nyankanzi, Edward L. Genocide: Rwanda and Burundi. Schenkman Books, 1998. Parisetti, Piero Calvi and Margareta Whalstrom. Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda & Zaire: Rwandan & Burundian Refugees. Emergency Appeal No. 01.02/96. 31 May 1996. 12 July 2010 . PBS Online. 2010 Rwanda: A Historical Chronology. 12 July 2010 . "Relief Web." 25 February 2003. 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