Will Malala Attend My Uni (Across Her High School)?

Edgbaston High School for Girls is literally a stone's throw away.

I obtained my doctorate in Political Science way back in 2008 at the University of Birmingham, in the UK's second largest city by population. A year before that, I began writing this blog which still survives (and thrives!) somehow. Despite three or four changes of academic affiliation since, the blog lives. However I am not exactly the most famous person associated with Birmingham, writing a blog in a somewhat obscure academic discipline. After being shot by crazed Taliban assassins in Pakistan while on board a school bus, Malala Yousafzai became a heroine to women being persecuted for desiring an education. A few days ago, she became the youngest Nobel laureate for winning the Peace Prize at age 17. It's a feelgood story Westerners like.

Going home being deemed to dangerous, Malala has since resettled in Birmingham, UK. I was of course aware of this, but what I was not aware of was how Malala is attending secondary school near the campus of the University of Birmingham at Edgbaston High School.

Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban after campaigning for girls' rights to education, has attended her first day at school in the UK. The 15-year-old was shot on a school bus in Pakistan in October. She has now recovered following treatment at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

She described starting at the city's Edgbaston High School for Girls as "the most important day" of her life. She said: "I think it is the happiest moment that I'm going back to school, this is what I dreamed, that all children should be able to go to school because it is their basic right. "I am so proud to wear the uniform because it proves I am a student and that I am living my life and learning." Malala is in year nine and will start her GCSE curriculum next year. She said she was looking forward to learning about politics and law. 

Those of you who've been to Brum (our affectionate nickname for the town) know that Edgbaston is the more upscale, tonier part of the rather expansive University of Birmingham campus. The other part, Selly Oak, is the more--how do I put this--proletarian part of town. It is also where I stayed in student residence. One of the more curious memories I have about its location is that a fellow student from Pakistan also staying at Jarratt Hall was concerned about the security situation there [!] But hey, don't feel too sorry for us; another resident loved it so much that he's titled his latest trance album after our beloved student residence.

At any rate, the University of Birmingham was named "University of the Year" in 2013-2014. It's been trying to drum up attention in recent years and increase its academic rankings in the process--we're one of the world's top 100 universities in most surveys. Malala should consider that our rankings for the disciplines she's interested in are not too shabby, either: Brum ranks 13th in Political Science and 17th in Law.

Certainly, there's a hard-nosed persistence bred through living in a city lacking glamor--think of it as the Houston of the UK and you wouldn't be far off the mark. Yet, we thrive. It would also complete the circle for Malala: she received treatment for her injuries at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on campus grounds and attends high school across the grounds of the aforementioned university. The only thing left for her is to study law or political science at the University of Birmingham ;-)

Bhutan, Gross National Happiness & Human Rights Issues

Oh my, I hereby declare April 2014 "Bash Bhutan Month." Having criticized the small country for catering to wealthier tourists via its minimum spend requirements to obtain a visa despite purportedly pursing anti-materialistic "gross national happiness," I offer another criticism along similar lines. Rest assured that I feel guilty pointing out Bhutan's flaws since it's but a small developing country. However, just as I regularly bash Yanqui blowhards over hoary American exceptionalism--us stupid colored people would be so much better off if we were more like the US--Bhutan also has it coming with all this "gross national happiness" jibba-jabba.

Like other countries, Bhutan has its ethno-religious minorities. Almost without exception, they bear grievances. Think of Tibetans in China, or Muslims in the Southern Philippines and Southern Thailand. In Bhutan, there are the Hindu Lhotshampa people who compose a fifth of the population but are not exactly treated on the same basis as the Buddhist majority. First, a bit of sordid history:

In the 1980’s Bhutan changed its citizenship laws, especially in relation to Lhotshampa citizenship. At the time the Lhotshampa comprised roughly on third of the population, posing a possible threat to political order. By 1990, government policies became more repressive for the Lhotshampa and they fled as refugees from the government’s actions or were expelled as their citizenship was proclaimed illegitimate. The Lhotshampa’s sudden expulsion left Bhutan with abandoned villages, an injured farming base, and international criticism. A few Lhotshampa still remain in Bhutan, yet face discrimination as a marginalized, minority ethnicity.

Anyway, to frame today's discriminatory measures, we begin once more with other countries' uncritical admiration of "gross national happiness" happy talk:

Many nations, including Japan and Canada, have expressed aspirations to emulate GNH, which shuns purely economic yardsticks like gross domestic product (GDP), on the assumption that the policy has resulted in Bhutan’s people being happier than elsewhere. But happiness goes hand-in-hand with human rights. So does Bhutan really have respect for human rights?

I was peripherally aware of Bhutan's minorities before; what I was unaware of was the extent of the discrimination against them. Indeed, there is even a caste system in place that limits their freedom of movement:

Among the main stakeholders in these [UNHCR] recommendations were the “Lhotshampas,” as Bhutan’s southerners are called. They are part of the nation’s ethnic Nepalese minority. While some of them have risen to become ministers, many others do not even have full citizenship rights.

The citizenship ID cards the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs issues to them contain seven categories. Category 1 is for “genuine Bhutanese citizens.” Category 2 is for southerners who left Bhutan once and then returned; 3 is for those who were not around when the 1988 census was held; 4 refers to non-national women married to Bhutanese men, and their children; 5 is for non-national men married to Bhutanese women, and their children; 6 is for legally adopted children. And category 7 would mean the card holder is a non-national.

Holders of cards in categories other than 1 and 4 normally do not get the security clearance required for a passport. They cannot get voter ID cards either, which mean they cannot vote. Worse, those who carry category 7 cards, or fall in that category – and there are significant numbers of them – cannot get admission into schools or get government or corporate jobs. They find it difficult to travel even within the country – they get a “route permit” for restricted domestic travel.

I hate to disabuse you of illusions, but Bhutan isn't quite a Magic Kingdom that's a true-to-life happiest place on earth. Like nearly every other country, it has issues with racism and discrimination against ethnic minorities. The reason why it gets the stick is because, unlike most other countries, it makes grandiose claims about making everyone happy. Just like American hypocrisy on strong dollar policy, Internet freedom or any sort of risible, self-serving happy talk they keep coming up with, Bhutanese leaders need to understand how the rest of us see it. In either case, don't drink that Kool Aid so readily.

To paraphrase Imelda Marcos, I guess some people's happiness matters more than that of others.

US Mess, EU's Problem: Refugee Crisis at Sea

Did US interference make their lives any better? Take a guess...

For many people in conflict zones, the coming of the year 2014 is hardly "new," let alone "happy." The depressing truth as we begin another calendar year is simply that various messes the white man has contributed to are in no way sorted out, and that foreign adventurism--especially the so-called "war on terror," is not yet finished.

We are all familiar with friends who like getting into you trouble. A few drinks for them and they become belligerent. The archetypal "friend" that fits into this mold is the United States as it engages in drunken outbursts that implicate others. As it so happens, Italian authorities have been faced with a huge refugee crisis at the start of 2014 as a "greatest hits" of American foreign policy failure has come to roost on their shores. This has been ongoing for a number of years, but the volume is unprecedented. Egypt, Pakistan and Iraq are classic sites for Americans sticking their noses when they don't belong, while Tunisia indirectly implicates the US via the latter's championing of the overthrow of undemocratic leaders. As it so happens, folks are wishing to flee these places. I guess the freedom 'n' democracy shtick BushBama keep yakking about didn't pan out. Wonder why...

The Italian navy rescued more than 1,000 migrants in the 24 hours to Friday from boats trying to reach Europe, authorities said, as an immigration crisis that killed hundreds in the last year showed no signs of easing. Navy helicopters spotted four overcrowded boats struggling to stay afloat south of Sicily on Thursday and ships were sent to save them, the navy said in a statement. The 823 men, women and children aboard the four vessels were from countries including Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and Tunisia.

Over the past two decades, Italy, Greece and the Mediterranean island of Malta have the brunt of the migrant flows [being the nearest EU countries, especially to North Africa] and have urged a coordinated European Union response.

Part of Europe's solution to this post-GWOT refugee crisis, I believe, is "make America foot the bill." Let me ask you this: would the people of Egypt (where people keep dying due to political conflict), Pakistan, Iraq and Tunisia (ditto for all three) say they are better off now than before the US-led global war on terror commenced? Somehow, I don't think many will agree as evidenced by the number of folks fleeing these playgrounds for Yankee interference.

Make no mistake; things are getting worse in these places.

The Washington Consensus Lives On In Pakistan

There is a photo essay on American shopping malls that I found quite amusing on Yahoo! featuring pictures taken by an obviously obsessive chap who took lots of them during that era of high consumerism, the Eighties, entitled "Big Hair, Smoking, and Record Stores." While the IMF now styles itself as not your grandpa's IMF in being a kinder, gentler lender of last resort, I had a distinct 45 RPM retro flashback while reading its latest press release concerning its recent staff mission to Pakistan (where they are not quite fond of Yanquis).

Much as the IMF would like to say otherwise, it seems we have not yet gotten away from the greatest hits of one-size-fits-all quite yet. Liberalization, privatization, deregulation...structural adjustment austerity....is there anything new?

Structural adjustment:

The mission was also pleased with the strong fiscal performance in the first quarter of 2013/14 and the steady implementation of the government’s structural reform agenda...

Belt-tightening:

Fiscal consolidation remains a key component of the government’s economic reform program. The mission was encouraged by the government’s efforts to enhance tax revenues, which slightly exceeded the program target level.

Privatization:

The government is moving forward with the privatization or restructuring of 31 public sector enterprises to improve public sector resource allocation and limit poor performance.

Liberalization:

The authorities are also working towards significant structural reforms in the areas of trade and the business climate to encourage higher investment.

Everything old is new again, and I am afraid that we have not quite gotten into the New Wave, let alone the Alternative era at the IMF since the song remains the same. Is that doom metal? Would you like to, ah, break dance?

IMF Returns; Will Pakistanis Hate US Even More?

I entitled an earlier post about Pakistan, the US and the IMF "When Cash & Hate Collide." To underline that assertion, here's Exhibit A: In a recent Pew Global Attitudes poll, the country which assigned the lowest favorable opinion rating to the United States was--wait for it--Pakistan at a ridiculously low 11% [click for a larger image]. It even outdoes places where Amerihatred is keenest based on current events alike Egypt and the Palestinian territories. As for the cash part, in case you haven't read about it, Pakistan recently inked another IMF bailout for $6.6 billion. That's its eighth--that it not a typo--since 1988. Talk about a state of perma-crisis.

Recently I assigned US-Pakistani ties as a term paper topic to my students. They are well aware of what binds these two reluctant "allies": the danger of a failed nuclear state, the constant Taliban menace, and the strategically advantageous location of this country. The truth is that no matter how badly Pakistan mismanages its economy, the US through the IMF will always come to its "rescue":

In 2008, Pakistan agreed to an $11.3bn loan from the IMF to avert a balance of payments crisis. It received $7.6bn but failed to get the remaining $3.7bn because of its slippages in meeting the performance criteria. That led to the suspension of the programme in May 2010. The programme was extended in December 2010 for nine months, but disbursements were not resumed because of the country’s failure to take fiscal measures as demanded by the IMF. Ironically, Pakistan has availed itself of the new $6.6bn loan to repay the old loan to the IMF of which about half – some $4bn – is outstanding [my emphasis].

From where I come from, borrowing to repay previous borrowing is called a "Ponzi scheme." Whether the IMF does more harm than good is an open question as the IMF readies fairly harsh conditionalities once more. That said, there is hardly reason to believe that Pakistan can work its way out of trouble on its own despite the constant IMF debt overhang. Misplaced subsidies, huge budget deficits, moribund investment, next to non-existent FDI, lack of basic law and order in most places...Pakistan has almost all the negatives humanly possible.

But, going back to the title of the post, can Pakistan be made to hate the US even more after unauthorized incursions via drone strikes, bin Laden strikes, perceptions of IMF neo-imperialism and so on? You can argue that America's 11% favorable rating has nowhere to go but up. I actually expect that it will in the near future as a "dead cat bounce" phenomenon.

As for IMF lending, I expect the same cycle to repeat itself as it has eight times over the last few decades: Pakistan will try to comply for a while with IMF conditionalities but eventually decide the political price of obsequiously bowing to this American hegemonic institution are too high. After all, if there's a better scapegoat for Pakistani perma-crisis than the IMF with its 11% approval rating by proxy, I don't know what is. Who's more masochistic here, Pakistan or the IMF? Beats me, pal.

Literally Dying for 2022 World Cup: Migrants in Qatar

Just when you thought Qatar's 2022 World Cup could not get any more controversial after continuing debates about the procedure used to select the tiny state and the difficulties associated with hosting the event during the peak of summer in the desert, there's more: It is common knowledge that the bulk of Qatar's workforce is composed of migrants who do the 3-D (dirty, dangerous, difficult) while its few citizens enjoy air-conditioned insulation from the harsh desert environment. However, recent reports have brought to light just exactly what the human cost is on migrant workers.

The Guardian got--pardon the expression--the ball rolling by reporting on the death toll of Nepalese workers due to poor living and working conditions out in the blast furnace of the Arabian desert to put up mega-stadiums in time for the 2022 event:

This summer, Nepalese workers died at a rate of almost one a day in Qatar, many of them young men who had sudden heart attacks. The investigation found evidence to suggest that thousands of Nepalese, who make up the single largest group of labourers in Qatar, face exploitation and abuses that amount to modern-day slavery, as defined by the International Labour Organisation, during a building binge paving the way for 2022.

According to documents obtained from the Nepalese embassy in Doha, at least 44 workers died between 4 June and 8 August. More than half died of heart attacks, heart failure or workplace accidents. The investigation also reveals:

• Evidence of forced labour on a huge World Cup infrastructure project.
• Some Nepalese men have alleged that they have not been paid for months and have had their salaries retained to stop them running away.
• Some workers on other sites say employers routinely confiscate passports and refuse to issue ID cards, in effect reducing them to the status of illegal aliens.
• Some labourers say they have been denied access to free drinking water in the desert heat.
• About 30 Nepalese sought refuge at their embassy in Doha to escape the brutal conditions of their employment.

Der Spiegel then added fuel to the fire by suggesting that Indian workers are also dying of exploitation out in the desert so that the 2022 show may go on:

There are many indications that the 44 dead Nepalese are no exception. Following the revelations in the Guardian, the Indian ambassador reported that 82 Indian workers had died in the first five months of this year, and noted that 1,460 Indians had complained of poor working conditions. The International Trade Union Confederation [ITUC] fears that up to 4,000 workers could die in Qatar before the starting whistle is blown for the first match -- that is, if working conditions don't change.

The 4,000 worker deaths are an extrapolation of the current rate of fatalities being incurred by South Asian workers in Qatar over ten years. Moreover, ITUC argues that Qatar's efforts are in vain since the structure of migrant construction labor is fundamentally abusive:

"The labour inspection system in Qatar has failed, and the government's announcement would simply add some inspectors into a system that doesn't work and will not make a difference," said Sharan Burrow, the ITUC general secretary. "Workers are not able to speak freely as, under the strict visa sponsorship system, employers retain their passports and they are not allowed to change jobs or leave the country without the employer's permission."

Alike nearly all other migrant-receiving states, Qatar has not signed up to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Hence, Qatar's critics are applying pressure on Qatar being a signatory in another ILO convention concerning forced labor:

Qatar is failing to fully implement an international convention banning the use of forced labour ahead of the 2022 football World Cup, the United Nations' International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned. Azfar Khan, the ILO's senior labour migration adviser in the Arab states, told the Guardian that despite pledges to do otherwise Qatar did not properly inspect workplace conditions and there was "no coherence" in the state's policies over the use of migrant labour.

"The onus is on the Qataris if they have ratified the convention to better implement it," he said. "Many of the abuses that take place which can lead to forced labour are still happening."

It is turning out to be a fiasco not only for football organizers but also for Qatar. The latter's image is receiving a battering that it's hard to imagine it will recover from in nine years' time. Isn't improving national reputation the goal of the whole enterprise? Qatar seems to be losing sight of it very badly.