From Sri Lanka to Darfur: A Tale of Two IDP Camps

There's something about withholding food, water, and medical assistance from conflict-weary civilians --- not to mention committing a litany of unspeakable violent atrocities against them --- that can make a government rather unpopular.

Take Sri Lanka, for example:

Being uprooted, pushed around, and subjected to a laundry list of violent crimes throughout 25 years of civil war has done little to curry favor for the government among the country's ethnic Tamil population. As the Sri Lankan government continues its push to decimate the rebel Tamil Tigers once and for all, it may be sowing the seeds for its future discord: The violence and displacement experienced by the minority Tamils is breeding deeper and deeper resentment, while military success appears to be entrenching the chauvinism of the hard-line members Sinhalese majority currently in power.

Prognosis: No peaceful and stable democracy anytime soon.

And now consider Darfur:

Kalma camp, to be exact, home to 88,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). In what appears to be a horribly misguided protest, the camp's civilian leadership is now refusing humanitarian assistance until the 13 expelled foreign aid agencies are allowed back into the region. The LA Times reports that aid from the Sudanese government and civilian charities are the main targets, but that assistance from UN and Western organizations has been refused as well.

The camp leadership is also apparently threatening to organize a hunger strike, which seems to be a foregone conclusion, on account of the refusal of food to the camp's residents. (Wonder how they feel about it?) If it's not misguided, then it's definitely an act of severe desperation:

"We want the international [aid groups] back," said Ali Abdel Khaman Tahir, the chief sheik at Kalma, speaking by telephone because the government is refusing to allow journalists in the camp, which is on the edge of Nyala, the capital of Southern Darfur province.

"If we allow them to distribute the food, then the government will be able to say to the world that everything is OK in Kalma," said Mubarak Shafi, a camp activist. "We want all the other problems solved first."

I can't help but wonder, though, if the Kalma camp leaders aren't just playing right into the government's hands, rather than teaching them some sort of lesson. If the government is keen to see the IDP camps disband, as has been the subject of recent speculation, won't this stunt help hasten such a plot along? Just sayin'.

The moral of the story is...

People don't like being abused, and tend to dislike their abusers as well. If you're a violent dictator, it might behoove you to stop and think about how your current show of military prowess might cause problems for you later on down the road.

Though I have a feeling that, if you are violent dictator, you plan to meet future challenges with similar trigger-happy zeal.

[Photo from AP: New arrivals at the Zamzam IDP Camp, North Darfur.]