By Baher Kamal
MADRID, Aug 25 2022 – ‘There is a prevailing doctrine among the right and far-right political parties who are still in the opposition and are most likely to jump to power in those countries where they are not already ruling. It is the doctrine of “the worse things go, the better for us.”

Their markets-influenced neo-liberal thinking implies that their already existing or about-to-be governments will have the golden chance of overriding the present and past rights’ achievements in fields like social public services including health, education, pensions, and migration policies, let alone the fight against gender violence.

Business opportunities

Take this example: Wilbur Ross, the US Secretary (Minister) of Commerce under President Donald Trump’s Administration, was said to have commented on the looming COVID-19 in China that it was ‘a business opportunity.’

In its Wilbur Ross says Coronavirus could boost US jobs, the BCC on 31 January 2020 reported that “In response to a question on Fox Business News about whether the outbreak is a risk to the US economy Mr Ross said: “I don’t want to talk about a victory lap over a very unfortunate, very malignant disease.”

The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the rest of the world over the past 43 years. This means the Arctic is on average around 3℃ warmer than it was in 1980

However, he also said: “The fact is, it does give business yet another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain… So I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America.”

A day earlier, Kevin Breuninger on 30 January 2020 reported on the CNBC that: “The China’s deadly coronavirus could be good for US jobs, manufacturing, says Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.”

And so it has been and still is

In fact, several specialised reports coincide that the revenues of three pharmaceutical giants: Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna have indeed quickly and greatly increased.

As reported in May 2021 by Megan Redshaw’s in her documented “As COVID Vaccines Drive Record Profits, CEOs Get Ultra Rich Off Massive Pay Packages, Questionable Stock Sales,” the revenues of Pfizer had by then reached an estimated 24 billion US dollars, while those of Moderna were calculated at 14 billions.

Those revenues quickly increased. In fact, on 3 November 2021, Redshaw reported that Top-Selling Drug in the World—Pfizer COVID Vaccine 2021 Sales: $36 Billion

$1,000 profit… every second

More shocking data emerge from OXFAM 16 November 2021 report: Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna making $1,000 profit every second while world’s poorest countries remain largely unvaccinated

Now it comes to the fast melting of the Arctic

The “the worse, the better” doctrine is most likely applicable to the recent alert that the Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the world.

In fact, a study published on 11 August 2022 by prestigious Nature shows that the Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the rest of the world over the past 43 years. This means the Arctic is on average around 3℃ warmer than it was in 1980.

Good news for the shipping business?

The faster the Arctic ice melts, the current shipping routes grow, the new ones open, the business profits increase at least as much as the dangers.

See what the leading intergovernmental forum promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States, Arctic Indigenous peoples and other Arctic inhabitants on common Arctic issues: the Arctic Council, said on this in its May 2021 report Navigating the future of Arctic shipping:

“The Arctic marine environment is undergoing extraordinary environmental and developmental changes, it reports. Access to the Arctic Ocean is changing quickly as sea ice extent reduces and thins – enabling longer seasons of ship navigation and new access to previously difficult to reach regions.”

At the same time, it said, “the promise of shorter shipping routes and growing access and demand for natural resources is piquing the interest of nations and industries around the globe.”

The trends

The Arctic Council’s Working Group on the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) shows in its first Arctic Shipping Status Report that “between 2013 and 2019, the number of ships entering the Arctic grew by 25 percent, from 1,298 ships to 1,628 ships.”

The majority of ships (41 percent) entering the Arctic are “commercial fishing vessels,” it adds.

“Other types of ships that commonly navigate in the region include bulk carriers, icebreakers, and research vessels. Growing Arctic marine tourism also has its share – 73 cruise ships sailed in Arctic waters in 2019.”

Fuels used by ships in the Arctic

PAME’s second Arctic Shipping Status Report provides information on fuels used by ships in the Arctic in 2019 with a focus on heavy fuel oils (HFO).

“HFO is extremely viscous and persists in cold Arctic water for weeks or longer if released, increasing potential to cause damage to marine ecosystems and coastlines…

… In ice-covered waters, an HFO spill could result in oil becoming trapped in and under the ice, it goes on. “When burned as fuel by ships, HFO has some of the highest concentrations of hazardous emissions…”

While the number of unique ships in Arctic waters in 2016 is nearly identical to the number of unique ships in those waters in 2019, fuel consumption grew by 82 percent, reports the Arctic Council.

The dangers

“In 2016, there were no liquid natural gas (LNG) tankers in Arctic waters as compared to 29 LNG tankers in 2019. These 29 LNG tankers consumed over 260,000 tons of fuel, making up the greatest portion of total fuels consumed by ships in the Arctic in 2019.”

Many major dangers are fast looming: lethal oil spills, toxic leaks from refineries and infrastructures, dangerous ballast waters, rapid urbanistan, tourist resorts, extinction of marine biodiversity, harmful invasive species, water and air contamination, and more disastrous weather extremes.

Furthermore, the Arctic is already a vast mining field, searching for oil, gas and many other highly commercially valuable minerals.

Let alone the grim fate of the Arctic communities, including the region’s numerous indigenous peoples.

What does the business say?

Wondering what the International Chamber of Shipping thinks about all that? Well, it represents the world’s national shipowner associations, and over 80% of the world merchant fleet.

It says that its membership comprises national shipowners’ associations, through which structure “ICS uniquely and legitimately speaks for and represents the significant majority of international shipping.”

It also says that its national member associations represent shipping companies from all sectors of the shipowner community.

“These include dry bulk carriers, oil tankers, chemical tankers, gas carriers, container ships, general cargo ships, offshore support vessels, and passenger ships.”

How big is the shipping industry?

The very same International Chamber of Shipping reports that “As of 2019, the total value of the annual world shipping trade had reached more than 14 trillion US Dollars.”

What do you think?

By Sania Farooqui
NEW DELHI, India, Aug 25 2022 – It has been five years since the forced exodus of the Rohingyas from Myanmar, and their plea for justice and accountability continues.

On August 25, 2017, “Myanmar military began a sweeping campaign of massacres, rape, and arson in northern Rakhine State”, said Human Rights Watch in its latest report, Myanmar: No Justice, No Freedom for Rohingya 5 Years On: Anniversary of Atrocities Highlights International Inaction.

Today, this day is marked as Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day, the day that forced almost 750,000 Rohingyas to flee to Bangladesh, while about 600,000 remain under “oppressive rule” in Myanmar.

Patients throng the Humanity Auxilium medical centre in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. More than 900,000 Rohingyas from Myanmar live in the refugee camps in the region. Credit: Humanity Auxilium

“No one has been held accountable for the crimes against humanity and acts of genocide committed against the Rohingya population. This anniversary should prompt concerned governments to take concrete action to hold the Myanmar military to account and secure justice and safety for the Rohingya in Bangladesh, Myanmar, and across the region,” the report said.

For the hundreds and thousands of Rohingya refugees who entered southern Bangladesh through beaches and paddy fields in 2017, “they brought with them accounts of the unspeakable violence and brutality that had forced them to flee,” UNICEF said in this report.

“Those fleeing attacks and violence in the 2017 exodus joined around 300,000 people already in Bangladesh from previous waves of displacement, effectively forming the world’s largest refugee camp,” the report said. As of August 2022, about one million Rohingya live in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.

Dr Mohsina Chaklader, a doctor with Humanity Auxilium, in an exclusive interview with IPS, said: “Rohingya refugees arrived with physical and mental trauma that were directly attributable to the offenses from the Myanmar army – which includes physical violence, deaths of loved ones, many days of journey with no food.”

Humanity Auxilium is a health-based NGO that provides health care and training to the world’s most marginalized communities.

Chaklader said she treated visible wounds and deep psychological trauma.

“The conditions I witnessed included fractures, deep wounds, malnutrition, infections, and post-traumatic stress disorders. Rohingya women and girls comprised more than 50 percent of the population that came to these camps. They faced unique challenges as many were tortured and gang-raped during the genocide, and many gave birth to children as a result of those rapes. These victims were also rejected by their husbands due to the rape and assault. These days women are worried about the future of their children who are born in these camps.”

While there have been improvements, the Rohingya refugees’ conditions are still dire.

“From my very recent visits, I saw greater structural organization, but camps still continue to lack infrastructure – proper drainage systems, toilets, safe, clean water supply, and mudslides across the camps hinder mobility. The challenges are still enormous. Medical care is not sufficient to meet the demands of a population living in cramped and unhealthy conditions,” Chaklader said.

About half a million Rohingya refugee children are exiled from their home country. Many born into this limbo today have little access to education.

According to a study by the Norwegian Refugee Council, approximately 96 percent of surveyed youth aged 18 to 24 are currently unemployed, and 9 out of 10 aged 18-24 are in debt, having borrowed money within the last six months. Ninety-nine percent of women aged 18 to 24 are unemployed.

“In the absence of a political solution and resettlement of refugees in third countries, it will be important to develop economic self-sufficiency within the camps,” says Chaklader.

“While Bangladesh has been generous in receiving the refugees, the government can do more to provide educational and economic opportunities to the people in the refugee camps. Bangladesh, being a developing country, needs more urgent cooperation and funding from the international community in order to deliver to the needs of the refugees,” said Chaklader

Earlier this year, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet met with religious leaders and women and visited camps in Cox’s Bazar housing Rohingya refugees during her first visit to Bangladesh.

The High Commissioner reiterated the importance of ensuring that “safe and sustainable conditions exist for any returns and that they be conducted in a voluntary and dignified way. The UN is doing the best we can to support them, we will continue doing that, but we also need to deal with the profound roots of the problem. We need to deal with that and ensure that they can go back to Myanmar –  when there are conditions for safety and voluntary return”.

In Myanmar, however, most Rohingyas have no legal identity or citizenship, and statelessness remains a significant concern. Rohingya children in Rakhine State, meanwhile, “have been hemmed in by violence, forced displacement and restrictions on freedom of movement”.

Until the conditions are in place in Myanmar that would allow Rohingya families to return, they continue to remain refugees or internally displaced persons living in overcrowded and sometimes dangerous conditions.

With looming evidence of human rights violations committed by Myanmar security forces against ethnic minorities in Myanmar, in November 2019, the Gambia initiated proceedings against Myanmar based on the Genocide Convention, invoking state responsibility for Myanmar’s self-described “clearance operations” in 2016 and 2017 against the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority in Myanmar.

Based on this application filed in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in 2020, the court issued a provisional measures order pursuant to Article 41 of the ICJ Statute ordering Myanmar to prevent the commission of genocidal acts; to ensure its military, police, or any other irregular force supported or directed by it or under its control not commit genocidal acts, and to submit a status report every six months until a final judgment by the Court.

Dr Mohsina Chaklader, a doctor with Humanity Auxilium, pictured here in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, says she has Rohingyas refugees for physical and psychological wounds after they were forced to flee unspeakable brutality in Myanmar. Credit: Humanity Auxilium

In February 2022, court hearings were held to consider Myanmar’s objections to the jurisdiction of the ICJ and the admissibility of the case filed in January 2021. The court rejected Myanmar’s four contentions prima facie in the 2020 provisional measures order.

Welcoming the progress at the ICJ despite concerns regarding the military representing Myanmar at the ICJ, Asia Justice Coalition, in a press statement, said: “The case provides an opportunity to see the junta respond to allegations of genocide before an international legal forum and to fight against entrenched impunity in Myanmar. The proceedings before the ICJ are a significant means to hold Myanmar accountable for the mass atrocities against Rohingya.”

Garnering some momentum for justice and to end the rampant culture of impunity in Myanmar, in March 2022, the United States government formally determined that the Myanmar military committed crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity against ethnic Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State.

While human rights groups have welcomed these efforts, there is still a rising concern about the migrant flow into South Asian and Southeast Asian countries, as these regions continue to see an increase either in anti-Muslimism, anti-refugee, or uneven refugee protection sentiments. It would also be necessary for governments to adhere to international conventions regarding refugees when addressing these ongoing migration and mass humanitarian crises.

With Myanmar’s unstable state since the military seized power in February 2021, conditions for safe repatriation to this region are not yet an option. On the fifth anniversary of the Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day, any further delay in international justice processes for genocide, reporting of gross human rights violations, or lack of the much-needed humanitarian support from neighbouring countries, funding, and international community support, we are only going to continue prolonging the plight of the most persecuted minority in the world.

They have already lost their homes, they have been unable to claim citizenship in a country as it refuses to recognize them, are living in camps, fleeing on boats, and have been beaten, raped, abused, displaced, and many killed. In any international legal discourse, human dignity always performs a central role. It is time the world gives the Rohingya the one thing that has been stripped off them: their right to human dignity.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Orlando Milesi
SANTIAGO, Aug 25 2022 – Renewable energies, especially solar and wind power, are growing inexorably in Chile, driven by large companies. But community generation of alternative energy is not taking off, despite a law promoting it.

This long, narrow country of 19.5 million people, rich in solar energy due to the northern Atacama Desert as well as wind thanks to its location between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains, can accelerate the transition to carbon neutrality, thanks to non-conventional renewable energies (NCRE), which also include hydroelectricity.

On Jul. 28 at 15:00 hours, NCRE broke the record for hourly participation in electricity generation in the country, accounting for 62.3 percent of the total. In 2021, renewable generation accounted for 44.8 percent of all electricity generated, equivalent to 35,892 gigawatt hours (GWh). The total generated that year was 80,116 GWh.

Ana Lía Rojas, executive director of the Chilean Association of Renewable Energies and Storage (Acera), which brings together companies in the field, said that all sectors are making progress in NCRE, especially energy and mining.

Acera estimated that 2022 could end with 13,000 to 14,000 megawatts (MW) of NCRE installed, and in fact there were already more than 12,370 MW in May.

“It’s been a long while since we represented 10 percent, we surpassed 20 percent five years before the date set by law and NCRE are currently above 35 percent of the total. This is a worldwide milestone,” said Rojas.

The target is now 50 percent in the next few years and 70 percent by 2030.

Andrés Díaz, director of the Center for Sustainable Energy and Development at the private Diego Portales University, said “the increase in the share of NCRE in the energy mix, as well as the promotion of storage systems, is fundamental as part of the energy transition we are facing.

“When it comes to meeting the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets resulting from the retirement of coal-fired plants, NCRE must be able to ensure stability in the electric power system,” he told IPS.

Díaz added that this implies providing the capacity to act in the event of possible failures in the transmission systems.

“There is a pedagogical aspect, the solar panels teach children how elements of nature can contribute technologically to making available a resource essential for human life that does not harm the environment,” says Rita Méndez, principal of the Nueva Zelandia school, in the municipality of Independencia on the northern outskirts of Santiago, Chile. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi/IPS

Community generation lacks momentum

These enormous advances in NCRE have not gone hand in hand with the meager development of community generation projects, the distributed or decentralized generation modality focused on self-consumption, mostly solar and collectively owned.

Nicolás O’Ryan, an electrical civil engineer and founding partner of Red Genera, promoted a community NCRE project at the Nueva Zelandia school in the low-income municipality of Independencia, on the northern outskirts of Santiago, by installing solar panels on the roof of the gymnasium.

The initiative is one of the very few promoted using Law 21118, which has been in force for two years, to encourage community electricity generation, also known as citizen generation.

The government’s Energy Sustainability Agency financed 50 percent of the 21,000-dollar investment. A further 3,158 dollars were contributed by Red Genera and the remaining 7,368 dollars were raised by five individuals and a campaign of donations from individuals and companies.

The panels will provide 26,703 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year. Of that total, 29.67 percent will go to the school and 3.52 percent to each of the beneficiaries and investors.

The connection process with Enel Chile, the subsidiary of the Italian transnational electricity group Enel, “is well advanced and only the last step remains – notifying the connection,” O’Ryan told IPS.

The energy will serve the school’s consumption and that of 20 neighboring families. The rest will be managed through a process known locally as Net Billing, the simultaneous measurement of consumption and injection of energy into the grid, which enables any user to self-generate electricity and inject the surplus into the grid, receiving a payment for it.

“By the end of the year I hope we will be ready…we need institutional support to channel the process and resolve difficulties such as the change of administration of the school, that will be transferred to the Local Education Service,” he said.

The school’s principal, Rita Méndez, told IPS that the plant contributes to the education of the 393 children (more than 50 percent of them sons and daughters of immigrants, mostly Venezuelans) who are in the 10 grades in the school in this underprivileged neighborhood, starting in kindergarten.

“The plant helps us to train new citizens in environmental awareness, who help care for the environment and think about how to use clean energy to contribute to the development of life,” she said in an interview at the center.

Part of the 33,600 solar panels installed in August 2020 in the vicinity of Til Til, in northern Santiago, with an investment of 15 million dollars and a useful life of about 30 years. In this municipality, one of the poorest in Chile, the project covers 23 hectares and will generate nine megawatts of electric power. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi/IPS

Pioneer project, five years on

Environmental lawyer Cristian Mires, co-founder of the non-governmental Energía Colectiva, presides over Buin Solar, the first initiative in Chile aimed at generating electricity on a community basis, founded in 2017.

At the time 100 people contributed upwards of 52 dollars each to finance a 10 KW solar panel plant installed at the energy laboratory of the Environment Institute (Idma) in Buin, a town 47 kilometers south of Santiago.

The energy is consumed by the Institute and any surplus is injected into the grid. After 10 years of operation, the plant will be transferred to Idma.

Idma pays about 215 dollars a month for the energy, but without panels the cost would have been twice as much. And it consumes clean energy, an important aspect for an Institute that trains professionals to combat climate change.

“Buin Solar was a pioneer collective project to build the first community plant. It is a successful project that has been a great learning experience and has highlighted the importance of working in associative projects,” said Mires.

He added that “community energy is an urgent solution to address the climate crisis. Buin Solar has social, environmental and economic benefits.”

However, the environmentalist regrets the slow progress made in community generation despite the existence of a legal framework that promotes its development.

“The promotion of community energy is very weak, the democratization of energy is very low,” he argued.

According to Mires, trust must be built to work collectively, but incentives are also needed to overcome the financing barrier and the lack of technical capabilities.

“It would be very important to have instruments for promotion. There is a commitment in the government program of President Gabriel Boric (in power since March), which mentions community generation. We are committed to greater development of this kind of energy generation. Up to now, most of them are individual projects,” he said.

The Los Cururos wind farm, inaugurated in 2014, is located in the middle of the desert of the Coquimbo region, facing the Pacific Ocean. The plant contributes 109.6 megawatts of power to Chile’s Central Interconnected System. It belongs to the private EPM Group and has 57 wind turbines of 1.8 and 2.0 megawatts. CREDIT: Orlando Milesi/IPS

Distributed generation – a minimal contribution to the energy mix

Distributed generation is characterized by small power plants that do not exceed 300 kilowatts (kW), as opposed to centralized generation, with large plants that inject all their production into the transmission grid. And while it has grown in terms of the number of individual actors, their contribution to the system is very small.

Felipe Gallardo, a research engineer at Acera, told IPS that as of June there were 12,365 distributed or decentralized NCRE generation facilities in private hands, totaling 125 MW, equivalent to 0.4 percent of the country’s installed capacity.

“Of the Net Billing installations, over 98 percent involve solar photovoltaic technology,” he said. The largest number are in the central regions of Chile.

Diaz, meanwhile, stressed the importance of increasing the number of individuals who generate energy for their own consumption and contribute their surpluses to the grid.

“Energy self-management allows customers not only to receive income for the energy injected into the grid, but also to avoid contingencies in the national electricity system,” he said.

A view of the sunrise amid the steam from the geysers of El Tatio, in the Antofagasta region, where geothermal energy, a non-conventional, clean, infinite source of energy from the earth’s internal heat that abounds in northern Chile, has begun to be harnessed. CREDIT: Marianela Jarroud/IPS

Obstacles to NCRE

A worrying figure is the explosive growth in the dumping of non-conventional renewable energy, due to difficulties in transporting it because of the lack of transmission lines to large consumption centers.

This year 290 GWh of wind and solar energy could not be used.

“Future development depends on storage systems to ensure the stability of NCRE while we move forward in fulfilling the agreements for the retirement of coal-fired plants,” said Diaz.

Gallardo regretted the impact of dumping energy at the country level “because as long as there are these types of limitations, thermal power plants are necessary, which have a higher variable cost and generate polluting emissions.”

“As renewables expand and, on the other hand, coal-fired plants are retired, it will be necessary to adopt additional measures to increase the levels of maximum NCRE participation,” he said.

The Acera advisor believes that in the medium term, storage systems should be implemented to avoid NCRE dumping.

He also says it will be necessary to continue improving the regulatory framework for storage systems.

By Toby Fricker
ZA’ATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan, Aug 25 2022 – “I think I’m making a difference. I’m really helping,” Hanadi tells me, as she reflects on her work in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan.

She is teaching computer skills to a class of Syrian children aged 11 to 16. The students are animated and engaged by Hanadi’s lesson as she walks them through some basics.

“I teach them enough to get a start,” she says.

I first met Hanadi in 2013 – eight months after Za’atari camp opened in response to the huge refugee influx from across the border in Syria. She was 17 years-old and attending a similar vocational training centre in the camp, which is supported by UNICEF.

She had arrived at Za’atari three months before, having fled with her family and whatever they could carry from their home near Damascus. Back then, she told me about her relief that she could return to school and the desire to keep learning.

Fast forward almost a decade, and it’s inspiring to see how Hanadi has gone from student to teacher. Like so many of her peers, Hanadi has experienced things in her young life that no one should. But despite the immense challenges, she persevered and now dedicates her life to creating a better future for the next generation.

Hanadi teaches Syrian children computer skills at a UNICEF Jordan supported Makani centre in Za’atari refugee camp. Credit: UNICEF/Toby Fricker

Unlike many young people in the camp who struggle to find meaningful opportunities as they leave high school, Hanadi completed her education, went to university and earned a degree.

Now she’s married to Tariq, is bringing up two delightful children and is encouraging young Syrians to develop the practical skills needed to help them achieve their full potential.

Still, fleeing war and a decade of life in a refugee camp for 80,000 people inevitably takes a toll. “My hope is to get back [home],” Hanadi told me in 2013, tears in her eyes. That hasn’t happened, and her own children have never lived in a house, let alone set foot in the family home.

A life in limbo

There’s little shade from the brutal midday sun as we approach the home of Abu Kareem, Hanadi’s father. The camp looks much as it did during that first year, when families moved out of tents into large containers, and school compounds sprang up, run by the Ministry of Education with UNICEF support.

Gone are the queues at water points, from which women and children once lugged heavy jerrycans in the extreme heat of the day. Instead, an innovative and environmentally-friendly water and sanitation system has fully replaced the need for the water trucks that used to stir up dust storms as they navigated narrow desert paths across the camp. Now, water flows from a tap into Abu Kareem’s kitchen.

The services on offer for children and young people, from learning support to vocational training and sports, are today largely managed by Syrians themselves, providing much-needed income and ensuring a more sustainable, community-owned operation.

This has been critical as funding has decreased in the wake of multiple global crises that are vying for the world’s attention.

“We’re dealing with young people who have grown up amidst the trauma of war and are now transitioning to adulthood at a very uncertain time when opportunities can seem limited,” Tanya Chapuisat, UNICEF’s Representative in Jordan, tells me.

“In the rush to provide lifesaving services to refugees fleeing the border ten years ago, I’m not sure that any of our UNICEF colleagues could have imagined that we would be here a decade later,” she says.

This uncertainty clearly weighs on Abu Kareem’s mind. His family have transformed their home, watering the courtyard to create some welcome green space and expanding the structure as the family has grown over time.

It’s impressively homely, as it always has been. But the impact on his family of living within the confines of a camp is an ongoing concern.

“Our children have only lived in the camp,” he says. “It’s a wider world out there, [but] they don’t know how it works.” Life beyond the camp’s perimeter remains a distant dream.

Staying afloat

A five minute drive away, on the edge of the camp, we meet Abu Thaer, who is finishing a shift at one of Za’atari’s schools. We first met when the school – the third one in the camp – opened in 2013. Abu Thaer has played a key role in its growth, with some 2,200 children now attending classes.

His daughter, Omaima, now 21, attended the school. Like Hanadi, she is an inspiration to other young people in the camp. Omaima is the only Syrian refugee studying at the Law Department of a nearby university and her sole focus now is ensuring her studies are a success.

“I don’t have time to even make friends. The days at university I’m so tired, I can’t do anything else,” Omaima says. She received a scholarship to help her move into higher education, although Abu Thaer continues to do what he can to support his five children.

“I want to keep my family floating. I want to give the children a start in life,” he says. Over a delicious Majboos (a chicken and rice dish) at the family home, Abu Thaer reflects on a decade in the camp.

“We’re still safe and have adjusted to the circumstances and we are grateful for that,” he says. “The kids have grown up in this set-up and we don’t know what the future holds. That’s the most negative thing.”

The hospitality, generosity and warmth of Abu Kareem, Abu Thaer and their families – indeed of everyone I’ve ever met in Za’atari – never ceases to amaze me. But as the eyes of the world have shifted to other emergencies, a generation of children in Za’atari are transitioning into adulthood and raising their own children.

While I was in Romania and Ukraine a few weeks earlier, I couldn’t help but think of children like Hanadi and Omaima. As another war forces children into refuge and upends young lives, we owe it to them to continue to provide them with the opportunities they need to survive and progress. Especially when a distant home remains out of touch, for now at least.

Toby Fricker is Chief, Communication and Partnerships, UNICEF South Africa.

Source: UNICEF Blog

IPS UN Bureau

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By Chandler Blythe Duncan
BIRMINGHAM, USA, Aug 25 2022 – Built in 1942 and still operating today, Camp Lejeune is a military base covering over 153,000 acres in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Shortly after it was founded, it became heavily contaminated with toxic chemicals like perchloroethylene, benzene, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, and later on PFAS. However, the military only realized the severity of the issue in 1982, when the Marine Corps discovered volatile organic compounds on base.

Perchloroethylene is a colorless liquid used for the dry cleaning of fabrics. The source of the perchloroethylene contamination was a dry-cleaning firm ABC One-Hour Cleaners, situated off-base. The benzene and trichloroethylene contamination, both industrial solvents, came from years of improper use and disposal of chemicals on Camp Lejeune employed for cleaning weapons and equipment.

Black Americans breathe in 56% more polluted air than they produce, while Latinos inhale 63% more. In comparison, white people breathe in 17% less toxic air than they release

PFAS, a group of dangerous chemicals that may take over a thousand years to break down in the environment, is found in firefighting foam (AFFF). As a result of firefighters using and training with AFFF on base, PFAS ended up polluting at least 14 sites of the military base. AFFF, a fire suppressant, contains between 50% and 98% PFAS and was used regularly at Camp Lejeune.

The level of perchloroethylene detected at the military base was 43 times higher than the safe limit, while the level of trichloroethylene exceeded the safe limit by 280 times. PFAS were found at Camp Lejeune in a concentration over 2,450 times higher than the safe limit. Exposure to such a hazardous mix of chemicals may result in debilitating health problems such as lung cancer, Parkinson’s disease, kidney cancer, leukemia, multiple myeloma, and ovarian cancer.

How black service members are impacted by toxic exposure to a greater extent than their white counterparts

More than one million people lived at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 when toxic exposure on the military base was most extreme. During this time over 20,000 men trained on a racially segregated Marine base known as Montford Point, which is now part of Camp Lejeune, in preparation for World War II. 

The living conditions at Montford Point were inferior compared to Camp Lejeune. The Marines stationed at Montford endured racism and were not permitted to enter Camp Lejeune without being accompanied by a white servicemember.

The military used Montford Point until approximately seven years before the federal government prohibited racial segregation. Although this military base was not part of Camp Lejeune at the time, it was also heavily contaminated with some of the same toxic agents.

Regarding active duty military members, it is important to note that black individuals currently represent only 19% of all enlisted personnel. Only 9% of those are officers. Several decades ago, there were even fewer black service members, and a very small number had a high rank.

According to data from the Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department, black service members are less likely to become officers. As a result, they are more prone to being injured while serving their country than their white counterparts. 

Some black military members became injured by being exposed to toxic chemicals daily on military bases such as Camp Lejeune. Since most have a lower rank, they must spend time on contaminated military installations, unlike most officers, lieutenants, and generals. Therefore, the risk of toxic exposure among black servicemembers as a whole, is considerably higher. 

Toxic exposure, significantly more prevalent among communities living near polluted military bases

In the United States, race is the number one indicator of whether or not you live near potential toxic exposures. There is a consistent pattern in this country of placing hazardous waste and hazardous industry in disenfranchised areas, often predominantly neighborhoods of color.

The availability of affordable land, poverty, historical discrimination, and lack of political power to fight corporations all contribute to environmental racism. Consequently, minority neighborhoods are clustered around industrial sites, military bases, truck routes, ports, and other air pollution hotspots.

Right now, the population of Jacksonville, North Carolina, is 74,313. An additional 170,000 people live at Camp Lejeune. Half of the city’s population inhabits the military base, which places the civilian community at high risk of toxic exposure. Consequently, 37,156 individuals may come to struggle with awful, life-threatening diseases in the near future. This is not uncommon, as there are civilian communities living on or near the 679 contaminated military bases in the United States.

Alarmingly, the military ordered the clandestine burning of over 20 million pounds of AFFF and AFFF waste between 2016 and 2020, despite no evidence that incineration can destroy PFAS. The largest amounts of AFFF remains were burnt in New York, near Plattsburgh Air Force Base, Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, and Griffiss Air Force Base. By burning this fire suppressant and the waste it left behind on military bases such as Camp Lejeune, the communities that live nearby, will inevitably be affected by the toxins emitted into the air by this reckless process.

How can we combat environmental racism?

To combat environmental racism, we must attempt to curb environmental crime and seek justice for its harm. Approximately 1/3 of the total burden of disease worldwide can be attributed to environmental hazards. Black Americans breathe in 56% more polluted air than they produce, while Latinos inhale 63% more. In comparison, white people breathe in 17% less toxic air than they release. 

When industry creates an environmental hazard that harms communities, legislative efforts and criminal conviction can sometimes be an effective deterrent. However, efforts to restrict environmental crime in this way have often been met with opposition from professional organizations who see policy as a hindrance to economic interest.

If the state turns a blind eye private law can aid disenfranchised, harmed communities through toxic tort and class action lawsuits. Grassroots efforts and coalitions with legal groups and private firms can be a successful option for redress. 

Chandler Blythe Duncan is a lawyer and MPH at Environmental Litigation Group P.C., whose main practice area is toxic tort law. Chandler’s expertise is providing quality legal assistance in cases involving water contamination and toxic exposure. She is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Birmingham Bar Association, and the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program.