Here are some recent
Editorials I wrote for The Gulf Today. (Posted for my records):
Don’t turn migrants’ dream
into nightmare
When the image of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old
Syrian boy, rattled collective human conscience and made global headlines after
he drowned on Sept.2, 2015 in the Mediterranean Sea, it was expected that the
approach of governments and people towards refugees and migrants would turn
more humane.
Alas, that has not turned
out to be the case.
Shocking images of a
drowned Salvadoran migrant and his two-year-old daughter who died while trying
to cross the Rio Grande river from Mexico to the United States have now emerged
raising questions whether humanity as a whole is turning compassion-deficient.
The searing photograph of their bodies, found face down in shallow water with the
23-month-old girl's arm around her father's neck, captured by journalist Julia Le Duc and published
by Mexican newspaper La
Jornada, also highlights the perils faced by mostly Central American migrants
fleeing violence and poverty and hoping for asylum in the United States.
Contrary to the portrayal
of certain political worlds leaders, migration is a positive global phenomenon.
It powers economic growth, reduces inequalities and connects diverse societies.
In a touching briefing to
the UN Security Council recently, Filippo Grandi, United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, stated that during his three and a half decades as
an international civil servant, he had never seen such toxicity, such poisonous
language in politics, media and social media, directed towards refugees,
migrants and foreigners.
Grandi emphasised that the
stigmatisation of refugees and migrants was unprecedented and that traditional
responses to refugee crises appeared increasingly inadequate.
It should be acknowledged
that Germany, under Chancellor Angela
Merkel, has a set a brilliant example of how those seeking refuge need
to be treated with dignity and care.
The US and Mexico are
presently implementing tougher policies to stem the flow of undocumented
migrants, mostly from Central America, travelling north. At least six have died
in recent days.
Most migrants insist they
are fleeing violence and poverty in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, and
plan to seek asylum in the US.
However, US President
Donald Trump's hardline stance on immigration is visibly driving migrants to
take more dangerous routes.
The image of Óscar Alberto
Martínez Ramírez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria, who drowned crossing
the Rio Grande, will haunt the conscience of all considerate human beings for
years to come.
Ramírez’s tragedy
highlights the plight of migrants in similar situations. Frustrated because his family from El Salvador was
unable to present themselves to US authorities and request asylum, he
reportedly swam across the river on Sunday with his daughter, Valeria.
He set her on the US bank of the river and started back for his wife,
Tania Vanessa Ávalos, but seeing him move away the girl threw herself into the
waters. Martínez returned and was able to grab Valeria, but the current swept
them both away.
With the UN refugee agency
indicating that a record 71 million people have now been displaced worldwide by
war, persecution and other violence, the world community cannot anymore afford
to turn a blind eye to the crucial issue.
Collective and effective
global measures to tackle the root causes of displacements are essential.
It should never be
forgotten that migrants are humans too. Fair migration laws will benefit all
and that’s precisely what the international community should strive for.
The question remains how
many more innocent lives need to be lost before the world community wakes up to
the endless plight of migrants and refugees!
Don’t ignore warming world’s
warning signals
Climate change is
accelerating faster than efforts to counter it and laxity on the part of the
international community could prove disastrous for future generations.
The consolation, though,
is the visibly increasing awareness on the subject, especially among
youngsters. The protest by thousands of students from across Europe on Friday
near a coal mine in western Germany urging governments to take bolder action
against climate change sends a clear signal that climate change is now one of
the hottest issues on the European political agenda.
Protesters from 16
countries took part in the rally in Aachen, near Germany's border with Belgium
and the Netherlands.
What has added to global
disappointment is the push by most European Union nations for the world's
biggest economic bloc to go carbon-neutral by 2050 being dropped to a mere
footnote at a summit on Thursday after fierce resistance from Poland, the Czech
Republic and Hungary .
France and Germany took
the right approach of leading efforts for the 28-member EU to lead by example
in setting an ambitious new climate goal ahead of UN climate talks in September
that US President Donald Trump has abandoned.
Unanimity was needed and
last-ditch persuasion efforts in what diplomats described as
"impassioned" talks that dragged on for four hours failed to ease
fears among the central and eastern European states, including Estonia, that it
would hurt economies like theirs dependent on nuclear power and coal.
Scientists have repeatedly
warned that ending fossil fuel use by mid-century is a must if countries want
to achieve the 2015 Paris climate accord's most ambitious goal of keeping
global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to
pre-industrial times.
British broadcaster and
environmentalist David Attenborough has stated that climate change is
humanity's greatest threat in thousands of years, and he is absolutely right.
The situation is dire because,
as Attenborough noted, the issue could lead to the collapse of civilisations
and the extinction of "much of the natural world."
The extreme cold in North
America, record high heat and wildfires in Australia, heavy rains in parts of
South America, and heavy snow on the Alps and Himalayas should be seen as
warning signals.
Even with just one degree
Celsius of warming so far, Earth has been bombarded with raging wildfires,
widespread crop failures and super-storms exacerbated by rising sea levels.
Climate change has even
been damaging polar bears' sea-ice habitats and forced them to scavenge more
for food on land, bringing them into contact with people and inhabited areas.
Germany, Europe's biggest
economy, has long promoted clean renewables such as solar and wind while
phasing out nuclear power -- but it is still missing its climate goals because
of a reliance on cheap coal.
Especially since last
year's scorching summer — when drought slashed crop yields, forest fires raged
and shipping was halted on dried-out rivers -- many people in Germany tend to
agree with the protesters' demand on carbon fuels.
In the United States,
ignoring scientists' increasingly urgent warnings, the Trump administration
ordered a sweeping about-face last week on Obama-era efforts to fight climate
change, easing restrictions on coal-fired power plants. The Trump
administration is also proposing to roll back a mileage rule requiring tougher
mileage standards for cars and light trucks.
A growing number of
people, governments, cities and businesses understand that climate solutions
can strengthen economies and improve air quality and public health.
Unfortunately, it looks like there is still a long way to go.
#YouthForGood a noteworthy
initiative
The UAE and benevolence
are synonymous terms. When the social media helps strengthen the country’s humanitarian activities, it is all the more good.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s
launching of a major philanthropic initiative, #YouthForGood, together with the
UAE’s Youth Hub and Shamma Bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, Minister of State for
Youth Affairs, is hugely creditable.
The project is noble
especially because it involves youngsters and instills in them virtuous social
responsibilities.
The competition calls on
UAE-based youth to create a greater impact in local communities, whether
through civic engagement, volunteering or charitable partnerships.
#YouthForGood will be open
to participants of three to five people over the next three months. The
initiative encourages the young people of the UAE to utilise the power of
Twitter to launch a creative, engaging and active Twitter account that will
fuel philanthropic efforts locally in their community.
There will be huge
recognition for the winning team too as it will be awarded with the acclaimed
Twitter MENA Award and a Twitter for Good Ads Grant.
Incidentally, the
#YouthForGood initiative, the first of its kind in the world, aims to promote
the use of Twitter to support humanitarian and social causes and sustain a
culture of volunteering among youth in the region and the world.
It forms part of the
broader global #TwitterForGood campaign, with the philanthropic mission to
harness the positive power of Twitter to bring communities together.
His Highness Sheikh
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of
Dubai has been among the early adopters of social media in the region and
completes a decade of his presence on Twitter this June.
Over the past decade, he
has garnered 9.71 million followers on this Twitter account. The Dubai Ruler
was on the 11th spot on the list of 'The 50 most followed world leaders in
2018'. He had a following of 9 million Twitter users then.
As Sheikh Mohammed himself commented, "The UAE represents
positive change and hope in our Arab region and we are keen to encourage our
young people to harness the power of online platforms such as twitter to create
a positive impact on their communities. #YouthForGood is a significant
initiative in this direction."
Social media has become a
part of life. It brings with it huge advantages and has set off a knowledge
explosion, knitting the entire world into a global village.
The UAE is among the few
countries that have resolutely nurtured the huge positive potential of social
media for the good of the society. The country has persistently kept pace with
technology drawing praise from the international community.
In fact, the country is
the second highest regional investor in Artificial Intelligence (AI) over the
past 10 years, investing as much as
$2.15 billion in total, according to the AI Maturity Report in the
Middle East and Africa (MEA) a study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by
Ernst & Young.
The bulk of this
investment went towards social media and Internet of Things, transactions, followed
by notable spending across eight technologies, including smart mobile and
machine learning.
Shamma Al Mazrui well
highlighted the scope of the youth initiative by stating, "The
#YouthForGood reflects Twitter’s potential to impact communities by supporting
real time communication across borders and barriers. This initiative gives our
youth a chance to organise around a common purpose and unite to create a force
for good using the power of Twitter."
