The New Age of Security: Implications for refugees and internally displaced persons in the Horn of Africa
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Local/Global Encounters
The New Age of Security: Implications for refugees and internally displaced persons in the Horn of Africa
CAWO M. ABDI
ABSTRACT Cawo M. Abdi looks at the Somali crisis as the most recent conflict being fought in the name of ‘war against terrorism’. She argues that it entails major implications for migration in general and for migrant women in particular. Her central concerns are to track the new realities in the various forms of migration across the world and to better understand at a policy level how migration and development nexus encourages south–north, south–south social and economic relations with more open and accountable development paths. She tracks how the migration and development nexus challenges concepts of citizenship, trans-national borders, diversity, social protection and security. KEYWORDS citizenship; war on terror; gender violence; identity; HIV/AIDS crisis
Introduction Political instability and conflict characterize the Horn of Africa in the last three decades. This insecurity was in part exacerbated by the Cold War and the involvement of major western powers forging alliances with dictatorial regimes in the region (FitzGibbons, 1982; Woodward, 1996). This region’s woes did not end with the Cold War era, however, but rather precipitated a new global war, the so-called American war on terror. America views ‘the greater Horn of Africa a front-line region in its global war against terrorism and has worked to dismantle al Qaeda infrastructure there’ (Lyman and Morrison, 2004). Ethiopia’s recent invasion and occupation of Somalia, with the logistical and financial backing of the United States (Lone, 2006, http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/ 12/26/opinion/edlone.php, accessed on 1 July 2007), and the recent air bombardment of Southern and Northeastern regions of Somalia by Ethiopian and American war planes and warships all testify to the magnitude of the impact this new age of security will have on this region. I discuss briefly the war on terror in the Horn of Africa looking at the potentially serious implications of this war for internally displaced persons (IDP) and refugees, particularly women, as well as the overall search for a viable solution to the emerging humanitarian crisis. The tactics used thus far are mostly likely to have counterproductive consequences, prolonging conflict, thus further hindering stability Development (2007) 50(4), 75–81. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100434
Development 50(4): Local/Global Encounters and development for the people of this region. The rhetoric of the war on terror in this age of security is challenging internationally recognized covenants on the issues of asylum and human rights, with the breach of humanitarian principles in the name of national security.
The ‘war on terror,’ and terror on civilians in Somalia
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America’s involvement in the conflict in the Horn of Africa is an extension of its global war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan as well as other regions around the globe (Lyman and Morrison, 2004; Kraxberger, 2005).
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