DHAP Crisis Updates

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Rebuilding bridges?

 With mutual collaboration in the international community to put aside differences and work together to find a home for these displaced refugees, peace finally was established in a world that has just been shook by the horrors of fake news and cyber crime. Treatment of the refugees have been bettered and a cure for the vaccine has been found. In the midst of distrust, countries still have found diplomatic means to solve a problem inherently emotional and personal. Although this situation may not be permanent, a new found peace has been struck at least for now. 

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The Last Stand

Following the actions taken to increase the efficiency of screening processes, the virus has been successfully contained in the host countries for now. It seems like the quarantine has succeeded in cordoning off the virus from the general public and has limited the effects of it.

However, human rights abuses continue to take place, with significant amount of hate crime being committed in the quarantine area. The refugee community has been continually attacked by right-wing nationalists trapped in such areas who blame them for their current situation and look to see them exterminated in the fastest way possible. This has gained sympathy and traction from the majority community, with the rise of extremist groups all over the country with the sole mission of making life for the refugees a living hell.

Although these actions are clearly detestable, inaction from the government as well as the international community has stalled punishment for these perpetrators, leaving the quarantined area in a state of perpetual anarchy. This has caused the refugee community to feel hurt and isolated from society, turning against police officers and any government official who tries to help them. Officials are in a stalemate, with no idea whether to prosecute or sympathise with these refugees.

Clear protocol is integral to maintaining law and order amidst the chaos in the wake of the virus, but so far this situation has be described with one word: messy.

With the temporary success of such quarantine measures, the community has started turning on minorities, unjustly accusing them of carrying the vaccine and using this excuse to commit hate crimes against them as well as isolate them from society through quarantine. How can the international community reconcile this difference and solve this crisis?

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A Shaky Situation

While this continues to spread chaos, the virus has shaken the trust of the government in the citizens, with every instance of a new case being reported further aggravating the current situation. With a lack of emergency preparedness plans with regards to these situations, countries affected are left helpless and unable to do much without any direction to lead them out of this sticky situation. Citizen loyalty is falling, what will be done?

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Justice for None

In the midst of an international debacle, a video clearly documenting the systemic abuses of human rights of the Rohingya people has been leaked on Internet forums. A global divide has emerged amongst those who see this as a justified action given the situation the community is in and those who see that this is uncalled for. The virus still remains loose, a vaccine still waiting to be found.

Time is running out, patience is wearing thin. When will this end?

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Refusing Refugees

In light of recent efforts taken, ASEAN countries are no longer in a state of famine and the virus remains contained for now. However, it has been revealed that the Myanmar government had been pushing the blame of the virus outbreak on the Rohingya people (group of Muslim ethnic minorities situated in Myanmar), even taken action to quarantine them with the pretext of ‘preventing further escalation of the virus’. While government officials have declined to provide answers as to the state of treatment of people in quarantine, a report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that the Myanmar government had been involved in numerous gross human rights abuses on those quarantined, namely restricting access to food, water and healthcare to the quarantined areas, and even the mass killings of those infected with the virus, so as to prevent the spread of it. Impoverished, virtually stateless and rejected by the country they call home, the internally displaced Rohingya people are desperately fleeing Myanmar. Neighbouring countries  are the first to be affected by the sudden influx of the refugees, with reports estimating the numbers to be more than 10,000. 

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Virus yet again

In spite of actions being taken into tackling the problem of the famine, these actions have come too late and countries are now plagued with a famine of catastrophic levels. As a result of the famine, a virus outbreak has occurred, and according to unofficial figures, the virus is said to have killed around 1481 citizens globally.

The virus is better known as H8N1. It is suspected that the virus was caught from consuming raw of dead cows as the famine has forced people to scavenge on the streets, eating insects and even the remains of  dead animals. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the fatality of the virus is yet to be known. However, one can get infected with the virus upon skin contact with a carrier of the virus. Till date, there is no particular vaccine for the virus, although the WHO is said to be “working on one”. It is not known long it will take for a vaccine to be developed, or affected countries will even receive the vaccine in time.

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The Peasants March

It has been reported that a recent spate of price gouging has plagued all ASEAN nations. As a result, not only has the price of food gotten so high that citizens from low incomes have been left to starve, a state of perpetual anarchy has hit Indonesia. Instances of looting and rioting from the disenfranchised have hit these nations hard, to the point where day to day security remains a problem.

Furthermore, a movement called “the Peasants March” has sprouted from the general discontent against the government's’ inability to handle the situation at hand. This has spread its roots amongst the countries that were hit by the famine, with popularity rising by the day, posing huge threats to regional stability with widespread reports of plans to toppling local governments.

This is no longer an issue of food security, but also national security.

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Peace at a price

Alas, peace has finally been restored in the international arena. Indeed, it takes years to build that stable world we live in, but merely a touch on a keyboard and it’ll all be destroyed.While the hackers have been brought to justice and given due sentences by the International Crime Court, there is still a price to pay by the perpetrators. Following the recent insurgence of hackers hailing from the Brunei, Ethiopia, Laos and Myanmar that enraged major stakeholders in the region, superpowers around the world have decided to cut international relations, including trade ties with these countries. Sanctions have been imposed on countries that swore allegiance to the alliance throughout the entire fiasco. While seemingly harsh, the consequences faced are definitely going to act as a deterrence to any country who are intending or could potentially carry out such an unjustified cyber attack on the rest of world in future.

However, this has in turn triggered an impending famine within the countries facing sanctions. Over 200 thousand people have been reported dead after a month without food in this famine, with as many as 3.5 million suffering from malnutrition and are on the brink of death. According to a representative from Brunei, Mr Star Veng, shelves in supermarkets are being swept clean, while local markets are completely empty due to the lack of produce. “The country’s food resource bank is on the verge of being emptied out. Within a few days, there will definitely be not enough food to go around ”. International relations analyst have described the move taken by larger countries as ‘harsh’ but ‘understandable’ due to the damage caused by the hackers.