By Bernard Bwoni
The case of Libya today as an example of a failed
state is beyond doubt with rival splinter groups tearing each other apart
and dismantling a once vibrant economy well manned by Gaddafi. The Libyan Coast
is now left wide open to dinghy boats captained by many Captains Unscrupulous who are willy-nilly
putting people's lives in danger. The EU and USA failed Libya by sanctioning the killing of the Great Gaddafi and unfortunately they have to deal with the consequences of their
actions. South Africa and Nigeria should hang their heads in shame for voting
for UN Resolution 73 authorizing military action against Gaddafi. Now Europe is
in limbo because as soon as people reach the shores of Europe they can never
ship them back under the UN 1951 Convention and the convention state that 'no
country is allowed to turn away or turn back any refugees forced to flee their
own country'. So the only other option Europe has is to let people drown. This
is the real dilemma of EU and US foreign policy blunders.
There is no going round the fact that Libya is in
state of political, social and economic malfunction. The EU and USA have to
take direct responsibility for their part in the outcome of their brazen and
callous public execution of Gaddafi who was the glue that bound Libya and
beyond together. When Gaddafi was at the helm Libya was a destination for most
migrants from Africa and the Middle East. Today Libyan ports are transit points
and many a Captains Crooked people smugglers are having the last laugh. Many
migrants are prepared to part with their life savings and brave the treacherous
seas on makeshift boats to reach European shores. It is totally understandable
because it is probably better to die on the open seas than return to their
country of exit. Gaddafi and a stable Libya provided the first concrete barrier
along the Mediterranean Sea (literally speaking of course). Prior to his
untimely murder Gaddafi was negotiating a £4 billion a year package to help
them curbing immigration across the Mediterranean. The EU and USA miscalculated
the significance of Gaddafi in the crisis they have now made worse through
their meddlesome foreign policy that has left Libya in the hands of some very
unstable and unsavoury characters.
The EU has been witnessing the actual outcomes of their
destabilization of Libya with little dinghy boats making futile attempts at
crossing the Mediterranean sea. Many lives have been unnecessarily lost and
more recently over 900 people perished when the overloaded boat they were in
curved in. it is quite interesting to note that as the election campaign in the
UK heats up the Labour leader Ed Miliband has accused British Prime Minister
David Cameron and other EU/USA leaders of being ‘directly responsible contributing
to the death in the Mediterranean’ due to their involvement in Libya and
failure to formulate a post-conflict plan after the killing of Gaddafi. Under
Gaddafi Libya was a solid and stable state run on efficiency. Since 2011 Libya has
had a total of 5 different governments all who have failed dismally and plunged
the country further into chaos and confusion? In comparison the one stable
government of Gaddafi provided security and stability, free education and
health, super infrastructure and the best facilities on the African continent.
So this is the democracy that they were fighting for during the carefully
choreographed and Western orchestrated so-called Arab Springs? It makes one
wonder about the intentions of the "International Community" (EU and
USA of course) and their couriers who often happen to be the marionette and
handheld opposition political parties who front the concealed capitalist
agendas of the self-serving ‘International Community’. Developing countries
should value the order and peace that prevail in their countries because that order
and peace came from none other but them. It is easy to be swayed by the
illusory promises of better things and democracy which means absolutely nothing
in the middle of chaos as seen in Libya of today.
The EU immigration crisis on the Mediterranean Sea
brings to the fore flawed and ruthless nature of the EU and USA foreign policy.
Lets start by giving credit to the EU for tripling funding for patrols in the
Mediterranean Sea to help stranded boats and kudos to them. However the reality
is that it is a crisis they created as Ed Miliband rightly pointed out to David
Cameron and they have a responsibility to the victims of the mayhem and chaos
they have created with the killing of Gaddafi and the destabilization of Libya.
But then they all seem reluctant to accept the migrants into their countries.
Britain has made it clear that it will not be accepting any refugees rescued
from the boats on the European shores and other countries have stated that they
are unable to cope. It is a crisis of epic proportions with no solution or end
in sight. It is a man-made crisis and a direct result of flawed foreign policy
and economic manipulation of developing countries by the more industrialised
countries of the west in their quest to control the abundant natural resources
of the less developed economies. This crisis and the meddling antics of the
industrialised countries manifests itself in scores crookedly dangerous boats
on the Mediterranean Sea, the proliferation of far right groups in Europe such
as Golden Dawn in Greece, the xenophobic attacks in South Africa and the Katie
Hopkins of this world branding migrants as cockroaches.
It is very easy to lay the blame of the migration
crisis in Europe and in South Africa on African governments but the real root
cause that is often deliberately get swept under the carpet is the self-serving
foreign policy of the EU and USA. Many African governments and their already
struggling countries are left fragmented owing to the interfering hand of the
more developed nations of the west. We have witnessed it in Iraq, Egypt,
Ukraine, Syria, Libya and many other places where chaos continue to reign in
the aftermath of western interference. Those that resist the interference are
immediately slapped with economic sanctions as seen in Cuba, Iran, North Korea,
Zimbabwe, Venezuela and many others too many to mention. The script is always
the same about ‘dictators, democracy and protecting people from their bad
leaders’. The question to ask today is if you look at Libya today, who really
is the bad leader there? This is food for thought.
The solution to the current crises lies in the EU and
USA reviewing their foreign policy agendas in the developing countries. They
need to allow developing countries to develop their economies independently
without any interference to further their own capitalist agendas. Zimbabwe is
stable country that has been under economic sanctions for the past 13 years and
the economy remains in doldrums. The excuse for the continuation of
these draconian economic sanctions is the over-used and misused mantra of
‘Mugabe dictatorship, bad governance, democracy and lack of rule of law’ which
are all nothing but a red herring fallacy. Many developing countries find
themselves wading deeper and deeper into debt and borrowing more to keep it all
together for their impoverished and expectant people. It is a vicious circle
where they borrow more and pay out more to service such debt and remain
permanently in financial red. It is the sure case of a Wonga payday loan where
one literally set up a direct debit of the whole salary every month, it comes
in and goes out. If it does not go out the interest rate is 1000%.
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