On April 7, 2022 The Inquirer published one of the worst opinion pieces I have ever read. Unlike the columns of Rigoberto Tiglao which are smartly written while knowingly twisting the facts this article betrays a stunning lack of comprehension of its subject. In essence the writer, Raphael A. Pangalangan, thinks Poland is racist for taking in Ukraine refugees but not Afghan refugees.
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| https://opinion.inquirer.net/151860/the-unbearable-whiteness-of-international-law |
Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine has uprooted the lives of over 10 million people—a quarter of the nation’s population.
The unabashed aggression has been met by an unprecedented humanitarian front. As of the end of March, 2,451,342 Ukrainian refugees had been welcomed into Poland alone—a stark contrast to its (non-)reception of Afghan asylum seekers just three months prior. Further west in Den Haag, just four days into the war, the International Criminal Court-Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) announced its intention to open an investigation into the situation in Ukraine. That decision was eventually overtaken by 41 state referrals allowing the OTP to bypass the need for judicial authorization and streamline the investigation process—a remarkable combination of prosecutorial nudging and political will unseen before.
Unfortunately, even in our decency, discrimination rears its ugly head. Indeed, while millions of Ukrainian refugees were welcomed across borders, non-Ukrainian refugees from India, Pakistan, Syria, and the Ivory Coast — that is, people of color — were denied entry.
Here we read Raphael's thesis which is completely unwarranted: Poland is racist for not taking in refugees of color. However, Poland shares a border with Ukraine therefore it is a no-brainer that Ukranians fleeing the war would seek refuge in Poland. In any storm one seeks refuge in the nearest shelter. With that principle in mind why would Poland accept refugees from Asia and Africa? Are there not countries bordering Pakistan, Syria, India, and the Ivory Coast which could take refugees? Of course there are. Turkey took in thousands of Syrian refugees but that was not good enough for those people who, like many so-called refugees, were really aiming to get into Europe, Canada, or the USA to avail of the massive benefits. In 2015 this resulted in the death of a young Syrian boy.
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| https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/14/europe/alan-kurdi-syria-drowning-sentenced-intl/index.html |
Three human traffickers have been sentenced in a Turkish court to 125 years each in prison over the tragic drowning in 2015 of Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi, who was pictured lying face down on a beach in a harrowing photo that became the symbol of the refugee crisis.
The men, who were the organizers of a trafficking ring, were captured by Turkish security forces this week in the southern province of Adana and sentenced on Friday, according to state news agency Andalou.
The 3-year-old's body washed up on a beach in Bodrum, in southern Turkey, after a boat carrying refugees sank off the coast. An officer was pictured carrying the lifeless child away.
The heartbreaking image of the boy on the beach went viral around the world, often with a Turkish hashtag meaning "flotsam of humanity."
Twelve refugees drowned that day during a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos, including the toddler's 5-year-old brother, Galip, and their mother, Rehen. The boys' father, Abdullah, was the only survivor from their immediate family. He took their bodies back to Kobani in Syria for burial.
The family had been trying to reach relatives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
This family was safe in Turkey but because Europe has essentially opened their borders they made a shot for Greece which ended in the death of this young boy. The photo of his corpse washed upon the shore became a symbol of the refugee crisis. It seems that Raphael is not aware that many of these refugees are trafficked by smugglers who charge large sums of money. This includes trafficking people across Africa to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea and up through South and Central America to the USA. For the most part these people are not fleeing war zones but are economic migrants looking for a better life. Funny that the better life is always in Europe, USA, Canada, or Australia and never the Philippines. No refugees are coming here. The Jews that the Philippines took in during World War II only came here as a last resort after being turned away by every other country.
But perhaps what is most appalling is how discrimination is not simply palpable but plain. News correspondents from around the globe were quick to express their alarm over witnessing a humanitarian crisis not in “Iraq or Afghanistan” but in a “relatively civilized, relatively European city,” involving “prosperous, middle-class people” that “look like any European family.” As if conflict has its place only in Asia. Ukraine’s deputy chief prosecutor himself put it more bluntly, and was “very emotional” to “see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed.” As if color were a measure for cruelty. As if skin set the standard for suffering.
Why is it so wrong to express alarm that Europe is now at war again when by all measures there was stability for decades? The last large-scale conflict in Europe was World War II. Europe has been relatively peaceful especially since the collapse of the Berlin and the end of the Cold War.
Pax Europaea (English: the European peace – after the historical Pax Romana), was the period of relative peace experienced by Europe in the period following World War II—often associated above all with the creation of the European Union (EU) and its predecessors. After the Cold War this peace was even more evident because of the fall in political tensions, with the major exception of the Yugoslav Wars, The Troubles in Northern Ireland and various tensions and wars involving or within Russia. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
However, due to the 2021-2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, this period is considered to have ended due to Russia declaring war on Ukraine, which could be the biggest European war since World War II
Meanwhile Africa, especially, has been a hot bed of seemingly endless violence. From the Rwandan Genocide to the many civil wars Africa has been soaked in blood throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The Philippines has been fighting an insurgency since 1969 and the Middle East has been incessantly filled with conflict.
What is wrong with a European expressing dismay at witnessing other Europeans being killed? Who wants to see members of their people group, their family as it were, getting slaughtered? Is it racist for American blacks to despair at seeing American blacks killing one another?
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| https://ktul.com/news/local/tulsans-rally-to-stop-black-on-black-crime-north-tulsa-homicide-lamar-norman-march-community-gun-violence |
Co-organizer of the march, Richard Baxter, is tired of the violence, which is why he came up with the idea for the rally.
"When somebody Black is killed by somebody Black, it's not business as usual," he said. "We are the change. Enough is enough. No more gun violence in our community."
Is that racist? According to Raphael it is.
Alas, in the field of international law, this is nothing new. In fact, structural racism is so deeply seated that, at times, it is easier to ignore it than address it. International law is historically whitewashed as Western creation through the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, ignoring a rich history of Babylonian peace treaties dating back deep into the BCE. Reference to “civilized nations” has been too easily explained away as a relic of history, yet remains enshrined in no less than the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The United Nations trumpets itself as “the world’s only truly universal global organization,” yet is straitjacketed by the veto of five.
What does ancient Babylon have to do with the emerging European order in the 17th century? Nothing at all.
Scholars of international relations have identified the Peace of Westphalia as the origin of principles crucial to modern international relations, including the inviolability of borders and non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states. This system became known in the literature as Westphalian sovereignty.
Did the ancient empire of Babylon respect "the inviolability of borders and non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states?" No. They were a conquering empire. Whatever treaties they may have made with surrounding nations has no bearing on the way international relations are conducted today. No one is consulting ancient Babylonian tablets to learn how to conduct international relations. In the 17th century Babylon was still buried in the sands of Iraq.
To sum up here this opinion column is completely ill-informed. Raphael A. Pangalangan boils everything down to racism without understanding the implications of actions such as indiscriminately taking in refugees especially those who are thousands of miles away like Syrians. He does not understand the global problem of human trafficking in which people pay big sums to get to white-ruled nations because said nations have an open door policy. He does not understand the implications of having huge refugee or immigrant communities which fundamentally change the nature of the nations they inhabit. See the UK, France, Germany, and Sweden especially as crimes have skyrocketed since Europe opened their borders.
How about the Philippines open its borders wide to thousands of Africans and Muslims and see what happens? What would the political, economic, and social consequences be? Perhaps Raphael A. Pangalangan can be charitable enough to house them. After all, he wouldn't want to appear racist.
It's strange to see an opinion column in a Philippine newspaper loaded with anti-white critical race theory balderdash. Perhaps Raphael is completely unaware of it but white people built the current post-World War II order. I recommend he and everyone else read Tragedy and Hope by Caroll Quigley for further understanding of that order.
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