The edge of help

Former Médecins Sans Frontières president
Dr. James Orbinski on the tricky
politics of humanitarianism

RELIEF NEEDS INDEPENDENCE: Orbinski

by CHRISTOPHER HAZOU

With nearly two decades spent doing aid work in some of the world’s most troubled regions, Dr. James Orbinski has gained a reputation as a passionate and prolific humanitarian. In his former capacity as president of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International Council, he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the organization in 1999. He’s witnessed up close the very worst of the human condition, including the Rwandan genocide, and civil wars and famine in Somalia, Afghanistan and the Congo.

Known as an exceptional orator and an outspoken champion of millions who have no voice, his current resume includes being a research scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, an associate professor of political science and family and community medicine at the University of Toronto, and a fellow at the Munk Centre for International Studies. He’s also become something of a celebrity, being the subject of two documentaries including the CBC’s award-winning Evil Revisited, about his experiences in Rwanda. His recent book, An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-first Century, addresses the moral and legal challenges facing humanitarian workers today.

Orbinski argues that Western governments have made life more difficult for both aid workers and the people they’re trying to help in places like Iraq and Afghanistan by flouting international law and human rights conventions, and by mixing politics with relief work. “It reduces people’s access to humanitarian assistance and makes their lives more dangerous,” he says over the line from Toronto. “In Iraq, much if not most of the country is off-limits to Western humanitarian organization, and much, if not most, of Afghanistan is in exactly the same position.”

While acknowledging that the phenomenon isn’t new, Orbinski asserts that, increasingly, governments are using humanitarianism as a pretext or cover for political and military interventions motivated by other factors. “What we’ve seen is an increase in this kind of action,” he says. “We’ve also seen an increase in the rhetoric and the misuse of humanitarianism, and the influence of what’s happening in Afghanistan and Iraq has global impact, in terms of humanitarian assistance.

“Humanitarian action should be completely independent of political influence. Political actors have a responsibility to respect the independence of humanitarian actors, and to respect international humanitarian law, including the conventions that prohibit the use of torture.”

Orbinski himself learned the limits of what an aid worker can do during the two months he was MSF’s head of mission in Rwanda in 1994. “In a genocide, there’s no such thing as a humanitarian response,” he says. “Humanitarianism is impossible in the face of the political crime that is genocide. It requires a political response to stop the perpetrators—and that includes the use of military force.”

Ultimately, he believes that the political solutions to these problems lie in the hands of ordinary people in countries like Canada, where the Harper government recently announced it would end combat operations in Afghanistan at the end of the current mission in 2011. “I’m optimistic about the importance of civic engagement,” says Orbinski. “It has had a profound impact on the shifting positions of the Conservative government around its commitment to a Canadian troop presence in Afghanistan. That’s a direct response to the attitudes and opinions expressed by citizens.”

DR. JAMES ORBINSKI SPEAKS AT
CONCORDIA’S HALL BUILDING (1455
DE MAISONNEUVE W., ROOM H-110),
ON THURSDAY, SEPT. 25, 7 P.M., FREE
AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, BUT
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. FOR
MORE INFORMATION, VISIT
HOMECOMING.CONCORDIA.CA.