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The answer, my friend is:
POLITICS.
I hate politics because I define politics as: The
art of using any means possible to increase your own rights and
decrease the rights of the others. Simply, a politician is just working to increase his own rights on account of other humans' rights! I'm humanitarian activist. Therefore I don't like politics, but I would like to speak briefly about politics.
First of all you must know that the UNHCR
shouldn’t work to any political rules. UNHCR must work
completely on a humanitarian basis only.
Statute
of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, G.A. res. 428 (V), annex, 5 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 20)
at 46, U.N. Doc. A/1775 (1950).
CHAPTER
I. - GENERAL PROVISIONS
2.
The work of the High Commissioner shall be of an entirely
nonpolitical character; it shall be humanitarian and social and
shall relate, as a rule, to groups and categories of refugees.
If you put that in your mind and then look at the
political geography map for the region, you'll see that only
Jordan had signed a peace treaty with Israel! And Lebanon is
still at war with Israel until today. We all know that just 4
years since Israel withdrew from the south of Lebanon.
Does a peace treaty affect the work of UNHCR? Yes
it does! We all knew that America was the godfather of peace
treaties in Middle East between Israel and the Arabs. America
promised every Arabic government help and different kinds of
support. I don't want to go through that big subject now: So
I'll just make one point.
America tried hard to present the Arabic
governments who signed peace treaty with Israel as the best
governments in the region! That included all aspects even the
respect of human rights.
If we know that
America is the biggest financial contributor for the UNHCR,
we’ll understand everything! America is a rich master who is
ready to give more money to those who are ready to obey the
orders! Jordan got 3 benefits from that
agreement with the UNHCR:
-
Reducing
security and social problem’s by helping refugees to leave
Jordan quickly.
-
To improve
the reputation of the Jordanian government, regarding the
respect of human rights.
- Financial
income.
The UNHCR and the refugees didn't get any benefit from that agreement because this agreement with the Jordanian government was in place for years before signing but not formally!
My friend, that agreement is just a message to
these who refuse to obey the master. When a senior Jordanian
official stood in front of journalists and claimed that: “Ala’
Abdelat, director of the Department of Refugee Affairs at the
Ministry of Interior, said that although the Kingdom rejects the
principle of local integration, it has traditionally allowed six
months for asylum seekers to either find a third country in
which to resettle or has tried to alleviate the expense of
repatriation to the country of origin by forgiving residence
fees and exit taxes incurred for the duration of stay in the
country.
“Jordan has shown fidelity to international
obligations, international legitimacy and respect for human
rights,” said Mr. Abdul Rahman. “The treatment of asylum
seekers here amounts to the treatment they receive in countries
party to the convention and protocol.”
Now the government of Jordan
is one of the best governments in the world regarding the
respect of human rights just because the Jordanians permitted
the refugees and asylum seekers to stay in Jordan for 6
months!!!
The Jordanian government needed proof for that
because no one would believe in them even if they carried on
talking all day. Unfortunately, the proof came from the UNHCR!
That agreement gave the opportunity for the government of Jordan
to claim that it respects human rights better than the
governments who have signed the UN51 convention!!!
The picture in Lebanon was different. Lebanon
didn't sign a peace treaty with Israel and there still war
between Lebanon and Israel. Politically we all know that Lebanon
is not a friendly country with America like Jordan. So the UNHCR
refused to accept the same deal with the Lebanese like they had
in Jordan, Lebanon offered 1 year not 6 months like in Jordan so
the UNHCR must be happy with that….but the master wasn't happy
with that!
The government of America promised refugees, resettlement in America. Some American officials collecting intelligence information about Iraq and specially the Iraqi army had interviewed
these refugees. Those refugees were an important source for gathering intelligence information.
The government of America kept those refugees waiting
for unlimited time for 2 purposes:
1.
As resource for more information about Iraq.
2.
As proof of Lebanese disrespect for human rights.
Do you think it’s a
coincidence that Mr. Aljamal declared the following in front of
Journalists: “as
Aljamal (UNHCR office) asked <<what the benefit of disrespected
card>> Because the Lebanese state didn’t recognize those
people as refugees *4, in other words the arrest happening with
and without this card,
therefore the office attempts to find solution in negotiations
with the Lebanese authorities, << It is impossible for
international organization comes and grants a card with an
agreement the authority of the country>>, we, as he said,
<< We are not in a trench of the confrontation with the
authorities in the country which we work in it>> he added,
that Lebanon didn’t sign the 51 un convention,
these convention usually exudes legislations and some
time official department to deal with refugees matters,”
It was clear he blamed the government of Lebanon
for all of our problems! Especially about helping refugees to
leave Lebanon with the 3d country program. I'll tell you now the
opinion of the government of Lebanon as they told me personally
9 years ago and as they also told those refugees who were on
hanger strike, " Bring a visa and airplane ticket to
any country in the world and we'll let you leave on same day".
Simple and clear isn’t it? All we needed was
visa and plane ticket. This offer is for any refugee regardless
of the time that he/she spent in Lebanon. 6 months, 1 year or 10
years. No difference, "just bring visa and plain ticket and
leave". What did Mr. Aljamal expect the government of Lebanon to do for those refugees? Do you think it's possible for the government of Lebanon to put those refugees in airplanes and throw them on America?! I would just like to know what on earth he thought that the government of Lebanon would do for those refugees?!
What these refugees want at any way? They just wanted with that hunger strike to send a clear message to the entire world, not only the government of America and the UNHCR. That message was: "Please listen, we were promised resettlement in America and we were promised visas and plane tickets, we have been waiting for this now a long time and we fed up with all these interviews for intelligent information and we live in great risk. We just want to have what we were promised or if that not possible we ask the government of America to cancel that promise and return back our files so the UNHCR will be able to find us another country more honest than the America to provide as with security and a better chance for life". Of course while a refugee is under an offer of a visa and help from one country then he is unable to be accepted anywhere else.
That was the message from
those refugees. The message that both the UNHCR and the
government of America tried hard to hide from you and to replace
it with another message, and make us blame the government of
Lebanon as the reason for our problems!!!
Unfortunately until today (6 of August 2004)
these refugees are waiting for an answer to that message! With
lots of pain, I speak in the name of these refugees that we have
been held as hostages by the government of America and the UNHCR
for political and economical purposes and we have been used as proof
for lies and methods to deceive people. Of course I
don't blame the people of America because I know, they know
nothing about the polices of their governments outside America
and I know that the government of America just want to collect
the results of what they have paid for.
I would just like to tell the people of America
that I loved America as a great nation based on wide respect for
human rights and democracy. Such great nation doesn’t need
lies to be great. Lies like what you read in this book or about
the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. These lies reduce the
respect for America and will bring more hate and hostility for
the Americans in the world.
But I'm strongly blaming the people of the UNHCR
of ignoring their CODE OF CONDUCT and the principals of the UN51
convention and working as gloves and shoes for those who pay
more. We all see in this book how the American used the UNHCR as
gloves to embellish face of Jordanians and shoes to kick the
backsides of the Lebanese!
Now if the
people of UNHCR found that good for them to work as gloves and
shoes for those who pay more so they must accept to pay some
cost because what you gain in your right hands you'll loss the
same from your left hand. They'll be paid in hate and disrespect
from the ordinary people, like those refugees. When the UNHCR
get involved in political affairs and leave the principles of
the humanitarian work, it loses the neutrality that the UN needs
to do its work everywhere in the world. I just ask those who are
working at the UNHCR to think deeply about the risks that
they'll face.
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