Conflict

หยุดอาชญากรรมการค้าสัตว์ป่าเพื่อเราทุกคน

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การล่าช้างเพื่อเอางามาขายยังคงดำเนินต่อไป ช้างจำนวนมากถูกทิ้งให้เลือดนองและตายไปในท้องทุ่ง เช่นเดียวกับบรรดาเจ้าหน้าที่ที่ปกป้องรักษาทรัพยากรธรรมชาติของประเทศต่างๆ ในช่วงสิบปีที่ผ่านมา มีเจ้าหน้าที่ลาดตระเวนเพื่อการอนุรักษ์สัตว์ป่าถูกสังหารไปกว่า 1,000 คนใน 35 ประเทศ สหพันธ์ผู้พิทักษ์ป่าระหว่างประเทศ (International Ranger Federation) ให้ข้อมูลว่าจำนวนเจ้าหน้าที่ที่ถูกสังหารทั้งโลกในช่วงระยะเวลาเดียวกันนี้อาจมีมากถึง 5,000 คน

Bananas for export go through rigorous quality inspection. The plantation employs some 2 thousand workers in Maguindanao, Mindanao.

Bananas for export go through rigorous quality inspection. The plantation employs some 2,000 workers in Maguindanao, Mindanao.

“It was a war zone, one of the most dangerous places on earth.”

That’s how Mr. Resty Kamag, human resource manager of La Frutera plantation based in Datu Paglas (Population: 20,290) in Maguindanao (the Philippines) described the national road traversing the town from the adjacent province.

Residents and travelers, he said, wouldn’t dare pass through the highway after three in the afternoon for fear of getting robbed, ambushed or caught in the crossfire between rebels and government soldiers.

“That was before the company started operations here in 1997,” said Mr. Kamag. La Frutera operates a 1,200-hectare plantation for export bananas in Datu Paglas and neighboring towns, providing jobs to more than 2,000 people.

"After four decades, peace is within reach. Let's grasp it with both hands and never let go," said Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, during the signing of the Framework Agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front on October 15, 2012.

Weeks after that historic event, these words from the Malaysian Prime Minister continue to reverberate in my mind. For I grew up in Mindanao, right at Ground Zero of this decades-old tragic drama that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

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I recently

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My first trip to Aceh was in August 1998, four months after the resignation of former President Soeharto. It was the height of Indonesia's pro-democracy Reformasi movement, and many journalists thought that travel permits were still required, as it had been for decades. My friend and I were venturing as 'tourists'. In many villages, the legacy of repression remained: razed houses, shuttered schools, and households run by widows. Poverty was unavoidable; violence and economic growth are often incompatible.

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Saya pertama kali berkunjung ke Aceh pada Agustus 1998, empat bulan setelah mantan Presiden Soeharto meletakkan jabatannya. Saat itu adalah puncak gerakan Reformasi di Indonesia, dan banyak wartawan yang mengira bahwa masih dibutuhkan izin kunjungan untuk pergi ke Aceh, seperti yang memang dibutuhkan selama beberapa dekade. Saya dan rekan saya berkunjung sebagai “wisatawan”. Warisan penindasan memang masih banyak tersisa di banyak desa: runtuhan rumah-rumah, sekolah-sekolah yang tutup dan rumah tangga yang dikepalai oleh janda-janda. Kemiskinan tidak dapat dihindari: kekerasan dan pertumbuhan ekonomi hampir tidak pernah berjalan bersama.

We know the impact of violence can last generations. We also know that people can be affected by repeated cycles of conflict and instability. The result is that the poor get poorer and become less resilient to further shocks, whether natural or man-made.

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Jumlahnya terus meningkat. Pada awalnya dilaporkan 13.000 jiwa. Keesokan harinya menjadi 25.000. Lalu dilaporkan kembali 58.000. Di penghujung minggu, pada tanggal 1 Januari 2005, jumlah korban tsunami di Asia telah mencapai 122.000. Dan jumlah tersebut terus meningkat, tidak ada satu orang pun yang tahu kapan jumlah tersebut akan berhenti meningkat.

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The number just kept getting bigger and bigger. At first it was a staggering 13,000. The next day, over 25,000. And then, 58,000. By the end of the week, on January 1st, 2005, the death toll of the Asian Tsunami had reached 122,000. Yet the number kept climbing, and nobody knew when it would stop.

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