Support Common Dreams Today
Journalism that is independent, non-profit, ad-free, and 100% reader-supported.
#
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without
Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) today denounced the decision by
South African authorities to close the 'showground', a large open field
in Musina town near the border with Zimbabwe, where 3,000 - 4,000
Zimbabweans line up to apply for asylum and seek refuge every night.
The closure of the showgrounds demonstrates a flagrant disregard for
the humanitarian and protection needs of Zimbabweans seeking refuge in
South Africa, and will have extremely negative consequences as no
allowances have been made to ensu
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without
Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) today denounced the decision by
South African authorities to close the 'showground', a large open field
in Musina town near the border with Zimbabwe, where 3,000 - 4,000
Zimbabweans line up to apply for asylum and seek refuge every night.
The closure of the showgrounds demonstrates a flagrant disregard for
the humanitarian and protection needs of Zimbabweans seeking refuge in
South Africa, and will have extremely negative consequences as no
allowances have been made to ensure their access to shelter, food, or
medical assistance.
Every day, Zimbabweans cross the Limpopo River into South Africa,
risking their lives to flee political instability, economic meltdown,
food insecurity, and health system collapse in their country. Since
July 2008, tens of thousands of Zimbabweans have applied for asylum at
the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA) "Refugee Reception
Office" at the showground, but only a fraction have been granted asylum
and there have been regular bottlenecks, creating a large concentration
of people living in inhumane conditions. Each month, MSF provides
approximately 2,000 medical consultations for Zimbabweans at its mobile
clinic at the showground.
Despite the ongoing flow of Zimbabweans to the showground, on
Monday, March 2, the DHA announced that it would close its office by
Friday, March 6. The Department then ordered everyone to leave the
area. Although the showground does not meet minimum standards for
humanitarian assistance, it is the only place in Musina where
undocumented Zimbabweans, awaiting their papers, are safe from arrest
or deportation.
This sudden, forced closure of the showground comes just two weeks
after MSF released a report on the ongoing humanitarian and medical
crisis in Zimbabwe and called on South African authorities to halt
deportations and provide adequate humanitarian assistance for
Zimbabweans fleeing across the border.
"This ill-conceived decision by South African authorities will place
Zimbabweans seeking refuge in South Africa at incredible risk -
especially considering that many have serious illnesses, including HIV
and tuberculosis, which cannot be properly attended to by the collapsed
Zimbabwe health system," said Rachel Cohen, MSF head of mission in
South Africa.
"Patients at our mobile clinic at the showground informed us that
many people fled Musina yesterday morning, fearing they would be
arrested or deported if they stayed," Cohen said. "Our medical teams
know from experience that the threat of deportation serves only to
force Zimbabweans into hiding, as they are too afraid to come forward
to receive the assistance they so desperately need."
On
the morning of March 3, South African authorities started dividing
Zimbabweans seeking refuge at the showground into different groups,
according to their legal status, gender, and age. Women with children,
pregnant women, and unaccompanied minors were removed from a special
location that had been established for them at the showground.
"People without asylum-seeking papers were separated into groups,
their names were recorded, and families were split up in this process,"
said Sara Hjalmarsson, MSF field coordinator in Musina. "Today, the DHA
ordered all temporary shelters to be taken down and burnt before they
would begin processing applications for approximately 1,700 people.
Tonight no-one will have anywhere to sleep. In addition to this, there
is no information on how newly arrived Zimbabweans will be able to
apply for asylum. These already vulnerable people are even more
traumatized by the uncertainty they now face," she said.
Those who had already received asylum-seeking papers, but were
remaining in the showground because they had nowhere else to go, were
told to "move on." It is likely that many of them will travel to the
Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg, where there are now 5,000
Zimbabweans seeking shelter and protection, and where MSF provides
medical care for more than 2,000 Zimbabweans each month.
"We are shocked by this sudden decision, particularly as we have
been a part of numerous discussions with South African authorities, UN
agencies, and NGOs in Musina to find an acceptable solution for the
large numbers of Zimbabweans in Musina" said Cohen. "Once again, MSF
calls upon the government of South Africa to stop deportations and
provide immediate, adequate humanitarian assistance-including some form
of legal status-for Zimbabweans seeking refuge in the country."
The events in Musina began just one day after the police evicted
400 displaced refugees of different nationalities from the Akasia
(Klerksoord) shelter outside Pretoria, a makeshift camp established
after attacks of xenophobic violence displaced tens of thousands of
foreign nationals in Gauteng Province in May 2008. Police moved in on
the camp in the morning of March 3. During the police operation, shacks
set up by the camp residents were burned. The residents were taken to
various locations, including Lindela, where the majority of people have
been forced to sleep outside with no shelter or food. MSF provided
emergency medical care to the residents of Akasia following their
eviction and continues to provide mobile medical and psychological care
in the areas to which they have been relocated.
MSF has been working with Zimbabweans seeking refuge in South
Africa in both Musina and Central Johannesburg since 2007. In mid-2008,
MSF also responded to the needs of displaced foreign nationals
following the xenophobic violence, and in late-2008 provided medical
care, water and sanitation interventions, and hygiene promotion to
respond to the cross-border cholera outbreak in Musina and Johannesburg.
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France in 1971. MSF's work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people caught in crisis regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. MSF operates independently of any political, military, or religious agendas.
"Today and every day let's honor King as we end racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the denial of healthcare, militarism, and this false narrative of Christian nationalism," said Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis.
To mark Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, leaders of a modern iteration of the slain civil rights champion's final campaign called on U.S. politicians from both sides of the aisle—many of whose policies and actions are like those King condemned as the "evil triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism"—to step up and meet the needs of the country's poor and low-income people.
Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival released a video demanding the Biden administration and every member of Congress "meet with poor and low-wealth people, religious leaders, economists, lawyers, and public health specialists to address the systemic policy violence that threatens the soul of our nation."
"When prophets are killed or assassinated, our job is to pick up the baton and continue the work," campaign co-chair Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II said in the video. "Sadly, many will go to King events today and claim to honor the prophet. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle will go while even today, they are standing diametrically opposed to the things he fought for: addressing systemic poverty, addressing racism, ensuring voter protection, just immigration policy, just treatment of Indigenous people, healthcare for all, and dealing with the war economy and militarism."
As they do each year, officials—including Republican lawmakers who voted against an MLK Day holiday, the U.S. government King called "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today," and its agencies like the FBI that tried to destroy King—all took to Twitter to sing his praises.
Poor People's Campaign Petition Congress to Truly Honor MLK Legacy | Press Conferencewww.youtube.com
Rev. Liz Theoharis, also a co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, said in the video that "this Martin Luther King Day, we must continue a campaign for social, political, and economic rights, not simply commemorate a man. Today and every day let's honor King as we end racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the denial of healthcare, militarism, and this false narrative of Christian nationalism. Let us fight poverty, not people."
The video also includes messages from low-income Americans and advocates calling for healthcare, living wages, "and more so everyone can thrive."
"I live in North Carolina. I work 60 hours a week and more and I still don't make enough money to live comfortably," Matthew Byars said in the video. "I'm chasing the American Dream, but I'm living the American nightmare. Raise the minimum wage. Impacted people matter too."
King, along with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, launched the original Poor People's Campaign in December 1967, months before he was assassinated in Memphis while supporting a strike by Black sanitation workers. King said the movement's demands were $30 billion for anti-poverty programs, full employment for all, a guaranteed universal income, and the annual construction of 500,000 affordable homes.
SCLC president Ralph Abernathy led the campaign after King's murder, and in May 1968—just weeks after King's murder—his widow, Coretta Scott King, led demonstrators in a two-week protest in Washington, D.C., where participants demanded an Economic Bill of Rights.
Camp life in Resurrection City 1968www.youtube.com
Thousands of poor people camped on the National Mall in a community called Resurrection City, which stood for six weeks—including on the day when Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) was assassinated on June 5—until police violently destroyed it and evicted the protesters.
"At a time when online mobilizations were one of the few forms of protest available to the public, Twitter was seemingly asked to shield the powerful from criticism," said one campaigner. "That should worry all those who care about accountability."
Drugmaker BioNTech and the German government pushed Twitter to "hide" posts by activists calling on Big Pharma to temporarily lift patents on Covid-19 vaccines—a move which would have given people the Global South greater access to the lifesaving inoculations, a report published Monday by The Intercept revealed.
Twitter lobbyist Nina Morschhaeuser "flagged the corporate accounts of Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca for her colleagues to monitor and shield from activists," according to The Intercept's Lee Fang. An email from Morschhaeuser said the German Federal Office for Information Security also contacted Twitter on behalf of BioNTech, whose spokesperson, Jasmina Alatovic, asked the social media giant to "hide" activist tweets targeting her company's account for two days.
Morschhaeuser, meanwhile, requested that colleagues track the hashtags #PeoplesVaccine—a movement for the temporary lifting of patent protections—and #JoinCTAP, a reference to the World Health Organization's Covid-19 Technology Access Pool. Morschhaeuser further warned that the advocacy group Global Justice Now shared an online signup form for a December 2020 People's Vaccine Day of Action.
"The allegations in this article suggest that government and industry tried to silence legitimate criticism during a crisis," Maaza Seyoum, Global South convener at the People's Vaccine Alliance, said in a statement Monday. "At a time when online mobilizations were one of the few forms of protest available to the public, Twitter was seemingly asked to shield the powerful from criticism. That should worry all those who care about accountability."
\u201c\ud83d\udce2 REACTION: German government and @BioNTech_Group asked Twitter to censor vaccine equity critics.\n\nNew #TwitterFiles piece by @lhfang shows how they worked to silence activists demanding a #PeoplesVaccine\n\nRead our reaction: https://t.co/VyaSBIbWnS\n\n1/\u201d— The People's Vaccine (@The People's Vaccine) 1673889107
Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden also noted the troubling timing of BioNTech's censorship request during a period of global pandemic lockdowns.
"To try and stifle digital dissent during a pandemic, when tweets and emails are some of the only forms of protest available to those locked in their homes, is deeply sinister," he told The Intercept.
Fang writes:
It is not clear to what extent Twitter took any action on BioNTech's request. In response to Morschhaeuser's inquiry, several Twitter officials chimed in, debating what action could or could not be taken. Su Fern Teo, a member of the company's safety team, noted that a quick scan of the activist campaign showed nothing that violated the company's terms of service, and asked for more examples to "get a better sense of the content that may violate our policies."
But it shows the extent to which pharmaceutical giants engaged in a global lobbying blitz to ensure corporate dominance over the medical products that became central to combating the pandemic. Ultimately, the campaign to share Covid vaccine recipes around the world failed.
While U.S. President Joe Biden in 2021 heeded activists' calls and joined most of the Global South in backing a Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver at the World Trade Organization, most rich nations—including Germany—oppose the policy and have, along with Big Pharma, fought to thwart it.
"If the German government wants to show that it is now willing to side with public health over private profit, it must change its approach to pandemic response," Seyoum asserted. "That means backing efforts at the World Trade Organization to improve access to generic Covid-19 medicines and treatments, supporting the World Health Organization's mRNA Hub in South Africa, and standing up to corporate interests in negotiations over a Pandemic Treaty."
Critics rebuke U.S. climate envoy for calling Sultan al-Jaber a "terrific choice."
Progressives on Monday reacted with outrage and disbelief after U.S. climate envoy John Kerry backed the appointment of Sultan al-Jaber to lead the the United Nations' annual conference on the climate emergency, saying the CEO of the United Arab Emirates' state-run oil company was not only qualified to preside over the summit, but that his background strengthened the case for his presidency.
As Common Dreamsreported last week, the UAE named al-Jaber as president of the 28th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), scheduled to begin in November—a decision that was met with scorn from campaigners as al-Jaber is heads the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and a renewable energy firm in which ADNOC holds a 24% stake.
"I think that Dr. Sultan al-Jaber is a terrific choice because he is the head of the company. That company knows it needs to transition," Kerry told the Associated Press Sunday, despite the fact that scientists and advocates across the globe have also known for decades that policymakers must lead a rapid transition away from oil and gas-generated energy. "He knows—and the leadership of the UAE is committed to transitioning."
Advocates have warned that the UAE has not made clear how it plans to reach its stated goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, especially as it plans to increase production of crude oil by a million barrels per day.
The UAE is expected to become "the third largest expander of oil and gas production" between 2023 and 2025 as ADNOC embarks on the second-largest expansion of oil production of any company in the world, locking in more than 2.7 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions.
But when asked by Sky News Arabia about whether al-Jaber would have a conflict of interest at the conference, where leaders are expected to be pushed to take significant emissions-reduction steps, Kerry dismissed the concern.
"That's a first blush, very simplistic way to look at this," Kerry said, adding that "the only way we will meet this crisis and protect our citizens and build an economy for the future, is by reducing emissions."
Putting the ADNOC executive—who is also the UAE's climate enjoy and minister of industry and technology—in charge of COP28 drew comparisons from Progressive International leader Yanis Varoufaki to naming "a jihadist to oversee religious tolerance" or "a Nazi to oversee racial harmony."
"What could go wrong?" labor historian Erik Loomis asked sardonically.
\u201cJeffrey Dahmer placed to oversee anti-cannibalism commission. \n\nhttps://t.co/D7Yyz2MMAw\u201d— Erik Loomis (@Erik Loomis) 1673888060
COP28 will follow the two most recent international climate conferences, held in Glasgow, Scotland and Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists were in attendance and policymakers failed to hammer out a final agreement requiring countries to phase out oil, coal, and gas extraction.
Kerry toldSky News Arabia that the UAE was not "involved in changing" the outcome of the COP26 and COP27 talks.
The former secretary of state acknowledged that there would be "a level of scrutiny" aimed at al-Jaber's appointment.
"And I think that's going to be very constructive," he told the AP. "It's going to help people, you know, stay on the line here. I think this is a time, a new time of accountability."
Acknowledging Kerry's negotiating of the Paris climate agreement in 2015—which despite its many flaws and shortcomings represents the strongest global pact ever reached on the issue—Leo Roberts of the climate think tank E3G said on social media that the U.S. politician's endorsement of el-Jaber represents "a really rather spectacular fall from grace."