Linda Polman

A no-holds-barred, controversial exposé of the financial profiteering and ambiguous ethics that pervade the world of humanitarian aid A vast industry has grown up around humanitarian aid: a cavalcade of organizations—some 37,000—compete for a share of the $160 billion annual prize, with "fact-inflation" sometimes ramping up disaster coverage to draw in more funds. Insurgents and warring governments, meanwhile, have made aid a permanent feature of military strategy: refugee camps serve as base camps for genocidaires, and aid supplies are diverted to feed the troops. Even as humanitarian groups continue to assert the holy principle of impartiality, they have increasingly become participants in aid's abuses. In a narrative that is impassioned, gripping, and even darkly absurd, journalist Linda Polman takes us to war zones around the globe—from the NGO-dense operations in "Afghaniscam" to the floating clinics of Texas Mercy Ships proselytizing off the shores of West Africa—to show the often compromised results of aid workers' best intentions. It is time, Polman argues, to impose ethical boundaries, to question whether doing something is always better than doing nothing, and to hold humanitarians responsible for the consequences of their deeds.

What's Wrong with Humanitarian Aid?

The Crisis Caravan

Laleczki skazancow

Linda Polman beschrijft de energie, creativiteit en financiële middelen die Europese landen investeren in hun 'War against Migrants' - of het gelukszoekers zijn, of 'bona fide' vluchtelingen. Polman begint haar verhaal in 1938, bij de Conferentie van Evian aan het Meer van Genève, waar Europa de fundamenten voor zijn aanpak metselde. Daarvandaan neemt zij de lezer mee op een reis, dwars door de Koude Oorlog, naar de gigantische Afrikaanse vluchtelingkampen van de UNHCR, Europa's hondstrouwe bondgenoot in deze oorlog, via veilige enclaves bomvol vluchtelingen en Europa's bunga bunga deals met kolonel Khadaffi en de koning van Marokko, naar hotspot Lesbos in Griekenland. Onderweg ontmoeten de lezers onder meer 'IDP's', 'refugees in orbit', Zambiaanse blauwhelmen, hulpverleners, asielfraudeurs en een rotzooiende Rotterdamse mensensmokkelaar, zijn pitbull aan de voet. Tachtig jaar vluchtelingenbeleid en Europa is nog geen stap dichterbij zijn doel. 0Onderzoeksjournalist Linda Polman schreef in 2008 het geruchtmakende 'De crisiskaravaan', over de duistere achterkant van de internationale humanitaire hulpoperaties in oorlogsgebieden. Ze maakte internationale furore met haar boek, het verscheen in tien landen. Ze is ook auteur van het veel geprezen ''k Zag Twee Beren', over de VN-vredesmissies in Rwanda, Somalië en Haïti.0.

Niemand wil ze hebben. Europa en zijn vluchtelingen

From Rwanda to Afghanistan, from Sudan to Iraq, this brilliantly written and at times blackly funny work of reportage shows how the humanitarian aid industry, the media and warmongers the world over are locked in a cycle of mutual support. Drawing on her decades of first-hand experience, Linda Polman�s gripping narrative introduces us to the key players in this twisted game, to the aid-workers and the warlords themselves. Among many others, there is the Bible-bashing one-man NGO who rescued two Sierra Leonean girls from life in an amputee camp � only to change his mind and try to send them back again; the director of the World Bank in Kabul who estimates that 35�40 per cent of all aid in Afghanistan is looted or lost; and the rebel soldier who explains that war does not mean fighting: 'W.A.R. means Waste All Resources. Destroy everything. Then you people will come and fix it.' War Games is a controversial expos� from the front lines of the humanitarian aid industry by one of the most intrepid and brilliantly incisive journalists of our times.

The Story of Aid and War in Modern Times

War Games

leven met de doodstraf

Death row dollies

From Rwanda to Afghanistan, from Sudan to Iraq, this devastating expose shows how the humanitarian aid industry, the media and warmongers are locked in a cycle of mutual dependency on battlefields around the world. 'Polman shines a light on the multibillion dollar juggernaut that is today's humanitarian aid network. A disturbing account that raises profound questions' Financial Times 'One of the finest reporting journalists of the modern age - Polman is gutsy, intellectually penetrating and far from naive' Evening Standard 'Cool, brusque, fearless. A marvellous account' Guardian

Linda Polman

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