Displaying items by tag: Military

The earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010 was the most destructive ever to hit the island. Over 215,000 people were killed and more than 1.3 million displaced from their homes. With the destruction of the seaport, the immediate focus of the international aid response was the Toussaint Louverture International Airport (MTPP) in the centre of the capital, Port au Prince. The world responded immediately with a massive airlift. US Air Force Special Tactics Team members from the 1st Special Operations Wing re-established tower control services a mere 18 minutes after arriving at the airport, and immediately began receiving humanitarian…

The London conference on Somalia should be seen as the latest episode in the international community's efforts to stabilise Somalia since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991. It comes at a time when the political community is espousing an air of optimism, pointing to perceived breakthroughs in their fight with the militant group al-Shabaab and in expanding the physical reach of the transitional federal government (TFG) in the capital Mogadishu. Yet, as the conference date approaches, the humanitarian community has less to be optimistic about. Yes, the UN has officially declared the famine over, but it points…

Whilst the tenth anniversary of the ‘war on terror’ has given rise to myriad reflections on the past decade of conflict, little attention has been paid to the impact that legislation to combat terrorism has had on humanitarian action across the globe. On the face of it, counter-terrorism laws and measures might not appear to have any connection with the humanitarian response to crises as diverse as that which is currently unfolding in Somalia, or the devastation wrought by the tsunami in Southeast Asia or suffering in Gaza. Yet, research by the Humanitarian Policy Group indicates otherwise. A newly released…

Recent crises have seen a marked increase in the participation of military forces in work usually regarded as the exclusive domain of humanitarian agencies. Since it is impossible today to provide aid in many situations without some kind of relationship with the military, the discussion is less whether there should be a relationship at all, but how to establish what the appropriate relationship should be, and where the boundaries should lie. These boundaries should be established so that those affected by an emergency continue to receive vital assistance in a way that does not undermine the independent and apolitical nature…

Since 1996, conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has claimed between 2.5 million and 3.5 million civilian lives, making the Congolese war the deadliest in the world. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a further 3.25 million refugees and internally displaced people are in need of assistance. Regular violence has decimated the population and finished off what remained of the national health, judicial, education and transport systems after three decades of misrule under President Mobutu Sese Seko. Physical violence, coercion and deprivation are common experiences for the country’s 53 million people, 31…

In September 2004, a study was undertaken by Al Mustansaryia University in Baghdad to estimate the number of civilian deaths during the war in Iraq. The researchers visited 33 randomly-selected neighbourhoods in Iraq, interviewing 30 households in each location. Security constraints were extreme, and the sample was not stratified or enlarged above the standard minimum, in order to limit the risk to the interviewers. Interviewers asked about the age and gender of the people who lived in the home, the composition of that home on 1 January 2002, and deaths or departures up until the date of the interview. Eighty-one…

This discussion paper explores the policy and operational implications of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Afghanistan, and raises questions about the possible ramifications for future military deployments elsewhere. The phenomenon of the PRTs encapsulates clearly some of the fundamental shifts that threaten to undermine the very essence of the humanitarian endeavour. The PRTs are a US-led initiative, which has evolved into a network of 13 joint civil and military teams around Afghanistan. Their role and mission have been unclear from the outset. Although three broad areas of operation were agreed – reconstruction, central government support and stability – interpretations…

Uganda’s displacement crisis has been called the ‘forgotten humanitarian emergency’. One particularly devastating feature of this crisis is the lack of physical protection of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs). Surveillance data reveals that injury rates in settlements and camps are disproportionately high. A considerable number of refugees and IDPs are injured as a result of intentional violence, and a significant proportion of these can be attributed to gunshot wounds. Sexual violence is also common, and is regularly perpetrated at gunpoint. Displaced people are the target of direct military attacks, coercion, intimidation, forced conscription into formal and militia forces, informal…

While the debate on civil–military cooperation (CIMIC) in complex political emergencies continues unabated, several organisations and nations are in the process of defining their positions on the subject. Amongst them is NATO which, in the Balkans, has found itself having to interface with a wide range of civil actors, and recognised that, with the growth of involvement of the military in support of humanitarian operations, the issue of cooperation needs to be addressed. In May 2001, Uppsala University sponsored a workshop to discuss the possibilities for, and practical limitations of, multifunctional cooperation in complex emergencies. Participants included practitioners from a…

Military involvement in refugee relief operations has undergone a remarkable evolution during the past decade, from providing logistical support to aid organisations in Kurdistan in 1991 to leading relief efforts for Kosovan refugees in 1999. Some aid organisations have welcomed this develop-ment, and increasing attention is being paid to issues of civil–military cooperation. However, although few would contest that military forces possess logistical capacities unmatched in the aid community, important questions remain as to the appropriateness of an increased military presence beside humanitarian organisations in the field. Motivations First, the motivation of the military is different from that of humanitarian…