Dangerous distraction

On February 15, US President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border in order to access funding for the construction of what he calls an “absolutely critical” border wall. Although he has repeatedly described the situation as a “growing security crisis”, research shows that the number of undocumented individuals crossing from Mexico into the United States has been steadily decreasing in recent years.

Trump has relentlessly demonised border crossers, calling them “criminal illegal aliens” who have created “the lawless state of our southern border”.

There is indeed lawlessness at the US-Mexico border, but some of the most egregious criminal acts are being carried out by the US border patrol and have been validated and perpetuated by US courts.

Human rights are being systematically violated so extensively that we can certainly acknowledge an “emergency” at the border. The separation of families and horrendous mistreatment of children in detention centres has attracted some public attention, but other abuses remain unaddressed.

Border patrol agents have been violating the rights to water and food of border crossers for years. Now they are also targeting the very people who are documenting these violations and attempting to provide essential water and food aid.

In the 1990s, the Clinton administration adopted a “prevention through deterrence” strategy which effectively sealed off entry points near urban areas at the US-Mexico border, forcing border crossers to take risky routes through desert areas.

Since then, over 7,000 bodies have been found near the border, with estimates putting the real number of deaths caused by dehydration, heat stroke, hypothermia, etc at 21,000. Distressed by these tragic deaths, local people have sought to help prevent further loss of life by leaving water and food along desert routes.

But these humanitarian initiatives have not been welcomed by the border patrol.

In January 2018, a humanitarian group called No More Deaths published a report detailing how between 2012 and 2015 border patrol agents destroyed 3,586 gallon jugs of water left behind for border crossers in the Sonoran desert of Arizona. They also released footage of border guards kicking and pouring out water containers.

As the report points out: ‘Hundreds of vandalism acts cannot be dismissed as the misguided behaviour of a few bad apples. Rather, after extensive statistical analysis, we conclude that the culture and policies of the US Border Patrol as a law-enforcement agency both authorize and normalize acts of cruelty against border crossers’.

The US border patrol has adopted a practice as part of its policing activities that clearly violates human rights.

The right to water is also recognised under international law in UN Resolution 64/292, which acknowledges that “the right to safe and clean drinking water … as a human right … is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights”. The right to food is recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Impeding humanitarian relief violates customary international humanitarian law, which includes an “obligation to allow the free passage of relief supplies”.

Border crossers are not the only ones whose right to water and food is violated within the borders of the US. Communities across the country, including inFlint, Michigan and Dimock, Pennsylvania, know what violations of the human right to water mean all too well.

The weaponisation of water is also not a practice exclusive to the US border patrol. Israel uses it regularly against the Palestinian population. Unsurprisingly, Trump has expressed affection for Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government, applauding his militarised security policies, while coveting his wall and citing it as a model for the US.

This article has been excerpted from: ‘Trump’s border wall is another dangerous distraction’.

Courtesy: Aljazeera.com