Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance to Refugees

by Barbara Harrell-Bond

Book Overview

The 1982 crisis involving Ugandans who spilled over the Sudan border is the basis for this in-depth study, the first independent appraisal of an assistance program mounted in response to an emergency influx of refugees. Addressing policy makers while opening this neglected field to scholarly attention, Harrell-Bond documents with statistics and case materials the impact of aid and of aid workers on refugees and their hosts. The research includes interviews...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0192615432
• ISBN13: 9780192615435
• Release Date: February 1986
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

WHITE MAN'S BURDEN

The book "imposing aid" can be divided into two main themes. First of all there is the practical issue of what should be done with refugees. Are they to be integrated, repatriated or resettled? The author argues that resettlement is the least desirable option. Secondly the book addresses an apparently enormously controversial issue. Controversial because it is the truth spelled out and many actors, both state and non-state have much prestige riding on the issue. In the center of the issue is the UNHCR, an organization given almost absolutist powers to serve refugees. The UNHCR delegates responsibilities to all the other NGOs in a crisis area and is judge and jury for all humanitarian activity. And as we all know power corrupts. Thus, the UNHCR becomes (deservedly) the author's main target when blame is handed out. The issue deals with an industry so cynical that medical companies and arms-dealers look like boy scouts in comparison. The author views the humanitarian business as a largely self-serving and dysfunctional industry. It's self-serving because the "helpers" seem to be obsessed about their own careers, leaving the "helped" as secondary priority. The helped are instead tools used to promote one's career. In short the aid is imposed without asking the receiver of their needs. It's dysfunctional because the donors do not demand the accountability and transparency required to control what the UNHCR is doing. The international community has created a Frankenstein monster they no longer can control. Or, are unwilling to reign in. Finally, the humanitarian business is a large industry with PR machines, media leverage and they can even call on the world's armies to do their dirty work. The industry is also attractive to young talented, albeit naïve activists. The bottom line of this industry is that it attracts large sums of money from the wealthy West that seeks to rid itself of their bad consciousness. Thus the humanitarian industry is not about helping people in need, but justifying its existence. Could there be a lack of legitimacy in the humanitarian industry? The author argues that often aid is imposed on the recipients, making them into powerless hostages of the West's bad consciousness. The attitude of the average aid worker is an interesting issue. With 0 knowledge of local circumstances they act with arrogance and ignorance. This is bound to yield abysmal results, regarding the complex issues they have to deal with. I would like to add a hypothesis to the aid worker debate. Since this apparently is young idealistic people straight out of university, I would like to elaborate on my Jesus hypothesis. These young people enter their aid profession at 30, do miracles for 3 years, "die" and are reborn as corporate lawyers at the age of 33! It would be interesting to read studies about how long the average aid worker actually works with humanitarian issues before they move on to other things. Is the aid business a stepping-stone in