Dehumanized.

"During our travels we had not only lost our few and poorly things, we had lost our history and our identity. I was Cyrille Kabore no more. No we were only a series of numbers. Anonymous.”

The above quote was taken verbatim from a short film (8 minutes) by Fabio Palmieri that tells the story of a refugee, titled “What It’s Like to be Dehumanized”. If you wish, you can watch this here (The Atlantic, 2017).

Dehumanized. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines this as to “deprive of human qualities, personality, or spirit.” The video I mention above is an illustration of how one displaced individual experiences this as he made several daunting transitions throughout his young life. The film gives a visual analogy of “anonymous” beings as lifeless, plastic mannequins. Unable to speak for themselves and assembled as in a factory. Manicured by humans who had the power to paint, clean, and comb hair while the mannequin lays lifeless. It may be natural for many to watch this video, and mostly attribute the sorrow of dehumanization to war and persecution. But to assume this is to miss an incredibly significant point that this video communicates, namely, he became “a series of numbers” as he came under the far-reaching umbrella of the humanitarian apparatus.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Mandel Ngan/Pool

Michel Agier (2011) critically appraises the humanitarian infrastructure and the political milieus behind intervention. When displaced persons (DPs) flee their country, they become stateless, thus are depoliticized and lose protection; they are not recognized by the new state as a citizen. When they enter into the humanitarian apparatus, they are labeled and thereafter managed and ‘contained’ based on this label (i.e., asylum seeker, refugee, etc.). Agier gives a powerful description of how DPs are dehumanized within this context. He defines dehumanization as the “suppression of life” (p.18), and further describes it as being reduced to basic needs to physical survival: food, water, shelter. Countless individuals and families leave oppressive political situations to enter into a new territory where they continue to have no voice. Many are physically kept alive, but slowly die on the inside as their humanity is unceasingly and repetitively stripped away. This containment and control is “a mere step…to non-existence. And a step that can be crossed as soon as the political possibility is opened of letting people simply die…” (Agier, 2011, p. 18).

Photo credit: odi.org

One question that Agier poses is: what does governing the stateless mean? As of 2016, nearly 70 million people were displaced (UNHCR, 2017). This number is enough to fill an entire country, yet are declared stateless, politically unprotected, and subject to discrimination and violation of human rights; currently, the humanitarian apparatus is charged to ‘contain’ the stateless. While externally clothed with care and compassion, its actual infrastructure and execution is marked by non-democratic regulation. Its beneficiaries receive physical support, yet are stripped of humanity and voice as they wait on ‘what’s next’.

             Of course the most ideal solution would be that DPs would be able to return to their home as they remembered it, without fear of persecution or political oppression; this is not the reality for most. Countries that are signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention are obliged to uphold their commitment to receive and protect the displaced who are received into their state (UNHCR, n.d.), however, less than 1% of DP’s have been resettled worldwide (UNHCR, 2016). Meanwhile, they surrender to endless waiting, while some (as Cyrille Kabore did) attempt to flee their circumstance to find a better life. Millions upon millions remain under the humanitarian apparatus.

Photo credit: Takever, Flickr 

Can the humanitarian infrastructure be held accountable? Can policies be shaped by the voices of the displaced? How is it that the UNHCR (a non-governmental program) is charged with governing and mobilizing the stateless? I return to Agier’s question: what does governing the stateless mean (Agier, 2011)? The current humanitarian situation is ever growing in capacity, yet continues to spiral down in its execution. If (physical, emotional, spiritual, social) humans are to be kept alive beyond ‘bare life’ (food, water, shelter), and perhaps even thrive (given they are fleeing oppression), the humanitarian situation must improve.

References

Agier, M. (2011). Managing the undesirables: Refugee camps and humanitarian government. Malden, MA: Polity Press.

The Atlantic. (2017, December 13). What its like to be dehumanized. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLSfk5QEz14.

Dehumanize. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dehumanize.

UNHCR (n.d.). Convention and protocol relating to the status of refugees. Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/3b66c2aa10.

UNHCR. (2017). Figures at a glance. Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html