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Refugees/Public Health



DATE=3/14/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-228160
TITLE=REFUGEES / PUBLIC HEALTH
BYLINE= COLE MALLARD
DATELINE=ATLANTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 

INTRO:   WAR AND POLITICS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MAJOR PLAYERS IN 
DETERMINING THE CONDITIONS AND STATUS OF REFUGEES.  BUT A MEDICAL
EXPERT SAYS REFUGEE HEALTH MAY PLAY A MORE IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE 
FUTURE.  V-O-A'S COLE MALLARD ATTENDED THE INTERNATIONAL 
CONFERENCE ON EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES, HELD RECENTLY IN 
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, AND HAS THIS REPORT.

TEXT:  TO UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEMS OF REFUGEE LIFE AND MIGRATION 
YOU ALMOST HAVE TO START WITH THE TERM "COMPLEX EMERGENCY."  THE 
PHRASE WAS PROMINENT IN THE PRESENTATION AT THE CONFERENCE BY DR.
FREDERICK BURKLE.  HE'S A PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII, 
AND DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT 
AND HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE.  HE SAYS COMPLEX EMERGENCIES ARE 
HARD TO DEFINE AS SUCH, BUT THEY STEM FROM WARS, SOVEREIGNTY 
ISSUES, INTERNATIONAL LEGAL CONSTRAINTS, AND GENOCIDE.  

THE PROFESSOR SAYS COMPLEX EMERGENCY CHARACTERISTICS CONCERN 
MAJOR POST COLD-WAR POLITICAL EVENTS IN EMERGING NATIONS.  THEY 
LEAD TO UNSUSTAINABLE LIVING CONDITIONS AND SEVERE PUBLIC HEALTH 
CONSEQUENCES.  DR. BURKLE SAYS COMPLEX EMERGENCIES ARE 
POLITICALLY DRIVEN, USUALLY OVER LIMITED RESOURCES, AND CAUSE THE
NEED FOR MASSIVE INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE. 

                      ///  BURKLE ACT  ///

         THE MAIN VICTIMS OF THE COMPLEX EMERGENCIES ARE MULTIPLE
         ETHNIC MINORITY AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS AND THE VULNERABLE 
         POPULATIONS WITHIN THOSE GROUPS, LIKE WOMEN, CHILDREN, 
         [AND THE] HANDICAPPED.

                        ///  END ACT  ///

DR. BURKLE SAYS COMPLEX EMERGENCIES CAUSE THE DISRUPTION OF BASIC
HUMAN RIGHTS SUCH AS FOOD, WATER, AND SHELTER.  THE DIRECTOR OF 
THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE SAYS THERE HAS BEEN 50 PERCENT MORE 
MALNUTRITION IN THE LAST 25 YEARS EVEN THOUGH THERE'S ENOUGH FOOD
TO FEED EVERYONE IN THE WORLD.   HE SAYS THESE MOSTLY VIOLENT 
POLITICAL EVENTS HAVE ALLOWED INFECTIOUS DISEASES TO GO OUT OF 
CONTROL.  

PROFESSOR BURKLE SAYS INDIVIDUAL GOVERNMENTS CAN NO LONGER 
CONTAIN THESE EMERGING AND RE-EMERGING DISEASES -- THEY'VE BECOME
"TRANSNATIONAL".  ANOTHER REASON FOR THE PROBLEM'S INTENSITY IS 
THE SHEER MAGNITUDE OF THE INCREASED REFUGEE POPULATION.  
ACCORDING TO THE DOCTOR, IN THE LAST 16 YEARS, THE NUMBER OF 
REFUGEES HAS GONE FROM JUST OVER 8-MILLION -- PRIMARILY IN ASIA 
-- TO 56 MILLION, INCLUDING THE INTERNALLY DISPLACED.  PROFESSOR 
BURKLE SAYS THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED ARE UNABLE TO COPE.

                   ///  SECOND BURKLE ACT  ///

         BY THE TIME THE WORLD HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THEM ... THE 
         INFRASTRUCTURE IS GONE ...  EXAMPLES, IN SOMALIA IF THAT
         COUNTRY WAS TO RECOVER IT NEEDS TO START ALL OVER AGAIN,
         THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS COMPLETELY GONE. ...  IN BOSNIA 
         ... A THIRD OF THE HOSPITALS, 50 PERCENT OF THE SCHOOLS 
         AND 60 PERCENT OF THE HOMES ARE GONE.

                        ///  END ACT  ///

DR. BURKLE PREDICTS THAT COUNTRIES WILL CONTINUE TO BE BURDENED 
IN 1998 BASED ON WHAT HE CALLS "LEVELS OF VIOLENCE."  

                   ///  THIRD BURKLE ACT  ///

         THE MAIN ONES ARE OF NO SURPRISE:  KOSOVO AND SERBIA -- 
         90 PERCENT ALBANIANS NOT REPRESENTED.  CERTAINLY NORTH 
         KOREA, BOSNIA IS STILL ON THE LIST SIMPLY BECAUSE NOW 
         THEY HAVE A MILITARY FORCE AND THEY MAY STRIKE BACK ... 
         SRI LANKA, ALGERIA, AFGHANISTAN,  [THE] CONFEDERATION OF
         INDEPENDENT STATES.  AND CERTAINLY WE NEED TO LOOK AT 
         COUNTRIES LIKE INDONESIA, MALAYSIA AND OTHERS THAT HAVE 
         VERY SHAKY ECONOMIES AT THIS POINT, AND MULTI-ETHNIC 
         SITUATIONS.  AS A MATTER OF FACT ... ASIA IS NOT A 
         HOMOGENIOUS AREA OF THE WORLD, ... YUGOSLAVIA PALES TO 
         ASIA IN ITS NON-HOMOGENICITY.

                        ///  END ACT  ///

DR. BURKLE SAYS HE SEES A GREATER LINK IN THE FUTURE BETWEEN 
SCIENCE AND POLITICAL DECISION MAKING.   HE SAYS THIS IS BECAUSE 
THE PUBLIC HEALTH ROLE IN REFUGEE CRISES AROUND THE WORLD IS 
BECOMING INCREASINGLY SIGNIFICANT.  PROFESSOR BURKLE SAYS THERE 
IS A STRONG NEED FOR POLITICIANS TO INCLUDE PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE
AS A TACTIC IN DECISION-MAKING.  HE ALSO WARNS THAT THE 
CONSEQUENCES OF UNINFORMED POLICY IN THE FUTURE WILL UNDOUBTEDLY 
LEAD TO A TRANS-NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY OF CATASTROPHIC 
PROPORTION THAT MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTROL. [SIGNED]

NEB/SD



14-Mar-98 5:51 PM EST (2251 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
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