"I'm shocking that a president would banish a social group from the circle of humanity deserving ubuntu-based treatment in equality with others," said Madonsela.
Refugee camps can wreak enormous environmental damages - should source countries be liable for them?
Leonard Hammer, University of Arizona
May 13, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail Leonard Hammer, University of Arizona and Saleh Ahmed, Boise State University
(THE CONVERSATION) While it may seem that much of the world has been locked down during the past pandemic year, more than 80 million people are currently on the move – unwillingly.
Facing conflict in Syria, human rights violations in Myanmar and violence in Eritrea, among other hot spots, refugees are trying to relocate to North America and Western Europe, or at least to neighboring countries.
Large camps of displaced persons can wreak major environmental damage. Refugees use and pollute water, deplete wood supplies for fuel, and poach animals for food, often harming parks, nature reserves and World Heritage Sites. These impacts make host countries less willing to receive more refugees.
Sales of unhealthy foods and beverages in sub-Saharan Africa are skyrocketing. This is leading to an increase in obesity related conditons such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
These diseases are projected to become the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, overtaking communicable diseases like HIV and TB. The economic cost of noncommunicable diseases is immense. They result in significant disability, and can be very expensive to treat. In South Africa, the medical cost of diabetes was R2.7 billion in 2018.
But noncommunicable diseases are preventable. The economic and societal impact can be mitigated if governments take decisive action to reduce the availability of harmful products such as unhealthy food, alcohol and tobacco.