Rescue refugees? Rescue our environment.

This blog post is very long overdue, but as a slightly longer read than usual, hopefully it sparks some thoughts of your own! 

The world may be nothing without people. But soon, it might be nothing with people.

Zaatari refugee camp, 2013, Guardian

An unprecedented number of people are currently leaving their homes in seek of safety, both in and outside of Europe. Civil war and social unrest has prevented living rooms of family time and eradicated the smells of home cooked foods. Houses where children trod their first steps have been abandoned, because the necessity to survive has taken over.

According to the U.N, diaspora on this level has not been seen since World War II, with numbers of displaced people reaching 11 million this month. If you ask a refugee of the land they have been pushed from, the most frequent answer is Syria.

It is the countries surrounding Syria that are taking the biggest hit. In Lebanon, every 1 in 5 people are Syrian refugees, and Turkey is currently hosting nearly 2 million people. Each of them has fallen victim to the worst civil war and humanitarian disaster of our time.

The challenges facing the international community have received widespread media coverage over recent weeks; however, there are other consequences that need to be considered. Accommodating for this mass of people has an environmental effect, which is being neglected.

Refugee settlements often occur in environmentally sensitive areas, and it has been shown that large camps have a greater negative effect than a series of smaller camps hosting the same number of people. There are many questions that arise from this; what happens to human waste? What sustainable source of resources do these people have to rely on? What are the long-term effects of the current temporary safety measures? Refugees are being helped so they can survive in a world we currently cannot maintain.

The issue of human waste is one that can have the most immediate negative effect. If it is not well regulated by efficient systems, the degradation of water quality that results, will affect the health of a large group of people. In these situations, where many people are housed within a close proximity, the already high risk of infectious disease is increased.

Kenyan refugee camp, 2011, CNN

However, it should also be considered that changes in water quality have a detrimental influence on eco systems. Poor quality water that is soaked through the ground has a knock on effect for the eco systems that normally include the biodiversity needed to produce plants and crops for food.

Further, many will have little option other than to drink this water untreated. This can be due to deforestation in surrounding areas that means people have to walk further for fuel wood in order to boil water, and also cook food. This problem quickly leads to malnutrition as well as disease. In addition, inadequate shelter can result, as wood is used for supporting the plastic shelter sheets that are provided.

The host area also suffers. As resources become increasingly scarce, the construction of local people becomes inhibited and food and fuel prices inevitably rise. The possible solution of creating more, smaller camps would mean that fuel wood collection is spread over a less concentrated area, and eco systems may experience a less drastic change of conditions.  

Provision of quicker cooking food, such as maize, therefore requiring less fuel, can also help. Nonetheless, the effects of deforestation are longer lasting than these solutions, and spread further than the local land. Climate change is also an issue that is resting heavy on the shoulders of governments around the world.

Environmental impacts are of great importance. Not only in terms of managing the mass movement of people, but in order to reduce the need to flee a once loved homeland in the first place. Reports have shown that a key trigger for the 2011 Syrian uprising was the 2007-2010 drought, which was the worst drought in instrumental history.

It had a huge impact on a land that is usually incredibly fertile. This drought was most likely caused, or at least enhanced, by climate change. Widespread crop failure and therefore migration of farming families contributed to the cause of conflict. This is by no means suggesting that the human impact on the environment has been the sole contributor to such social unrest, as cultural and economic factors cannot be over looked. However, it is definitely a perspective that needs consideration. We have reached this detrimental level with an average global temperature rise of just 1 degree Celsius; a fact made more tragic by a large percentage of damaging emissions and fuel consumption happening at the hand of economically developed countries, with better scientific education.

It is no wonder then, that the often poorer countries who will be most affected by climate change are asking for at least $200 billion to create more efficient and sustainable systems. As this article and the research behind it shows, the downside of not creating the necessary action plan to stop the environmental changes happening around us, do come full circle.

The refugees who are affected first hand and endure the sharp edge of the crisis, through no fault of their own cause challenges for the environments and economies of surrounding countries. Whether it is the people fleeing, or the citizens of the host countries, it always seems to be those who should be protected that suffer most. The relationship between the environment and wider socio-economic problems needs to be given greater attention if refugee crises are ever to become a thing of the past. The relationship between people and their world needs to be built.

The Tiger is King

The news this week reported that the Indian tiger population has seen a 30% increase since the last census in 2011.

The country is home to around 70% of the world's tiger population, so it has gone to many lengths to ensure their sustained existence through  conservation projects, first initiated in 1973, then known as Project Tiger.

Though it is of international interest that these practices are maintained, especially considering the tiger population in the rest of the world continues to be in decline, the animal has a particular cultural significance in India and other parts of Asia.

The striking animal, with its majestic and individual markings is recognised as the national animal of India, or the Lord of Jungles. For the country, it represents a wealth in wildlife, with the grace it displays in strength and power being highly respected and worshipped.

Such is the value of the royal animal, that through the barrier of the hundreds of languages spoken in India, the special relationship with the tiger manages to transcend them all. Religions and folklore alike place great pride in the orange and black cat.

Some believe it is has the ability to stop drought, lead children to safety, and ward away nightmares. In certain parts, especially in the south, people will paint themselves in the tiger's colours and dance in the street to celebrate its prowess and dominance.

The tiger's importance in India can not be underestimated, but it is also highly valued in China, Japan and Korea.

The most fascinating fact I learned in my research for this blog, was that the shape of markings on the forehead of a tiger, bares significant similarity to the Chinese character that translates to 'King' in English. The hunting abilities of the tiger also mean it is called upon in teachings of marshal arts, and to represent the highest army generals of Imperial China.

Before writing this, I admired the animal mostly for its surface beauties, but I now have further admiration for the way such respect for a fellow animal has enabled its ability to survive.

Evolution needs Innovation

I was privileged to be part of the Film4 Innovation Forum, held at Channel 4 on Tuesday 18th November. A very surreal but inspiring experience, being amongst a collection of varying creative minds with each striving for the same thing; innovative storytelling. I'm choosing to write a short post about the things I discovered yesterday, not because they are a matter of fact, indeed their beauty is that they are quite the contrary, but because the technologies we embrace say a lot about human behaviours and needs. Fear not, my blog is not about to turn into a diary, but I just have to share my insight from the day.

The key note speech was delivered by Frank Rose, author of 'The Art of Immersion'. He described a world in which storytelling is becoming non-linear, participatory, and immersive. The boundary between fact and fiction is evermore blurred, and this was reiterated throughout the day with the likes of 'Frank' discussed by Hugh Garry, the projects of National Theatre Wales, and the 'Karen' app  from Blast Theory. What each of these artistic projects have in common is the way in which they use our basic human needs; the want to constantly know more, and be more involved with a world that extends our own. 

Throughout the day, many questions ran through my mind. Why are we so willing to share so much information in the public sphere of social media, some of which we do not share with our nearest and dearest? Why are we so fascinated by the lives of others, whether they're famous, or not in the case of @JonBurroughs83, star of 'Frank'? 

The incomplete conclusion I have come to for these types of questions, is that we as humans have a need to evolve, we need to be challenged by the platforms we invest our time into. In order to create a challenge, we need to experience something new, something innovative. A story told with multiple layers gives the viewers more paths to explore, different images to portray onto themselves and provides a different experience with each participation in the story. We follow people on twitter because we want to know something more about that person; the story of their life has us hooked. The sense of feeling like we don't know everything, means we want to know more, so again, we are hooked. 

The message I want to leave you with, is one of encouragement to extend your mind left and right, rather than just aiming to an assumed target ahead. Discover unknown territories. By immersing ourselves further into other worlds, story worlds through which we are lead, we uncover more about ourselves through the questions posed by the challenge.

Many thanks to the whole team at Film4 for the event! 

November 11th: Remember the Sikhs.

© Manvir Rai, 2014.

November 11^th, Remembrance Day. As part of a remembrance parade in the West Midlands, the 1914 Sikhs Organisation were amongst the marching troops, representing the thousands of Sikhs who committed themselves to fighting for Britain in the Great War.

The Sikh Empire of the Punjab was the toughest for the British to conquer during their rule of India. Hence why, in 1914 when the Great War was declared and across the continent enemies were being fought and killed, Great Britain called on their dominion to help defend against the German empire. A large number of their recruits were Sikhs, who made up 20% of the 1.2 million Indian recruits. With this it is easy to forget that Sikhs only make up 2% of the Indian population. The volunteers were sent to the front line to fight in battles across Europe, the Middle East and East Africa, and it has been noted that Sikhs were allowed to fight with their traditional weapons such as talwar swords.

An expert from the Guardian reportage of the First World War describes ‘when the Indians arrived’. ‘To show their contempt for death, some Sikh’s had refused to hide in trenches’. It describes that the Indians looked like kings, sat proudly in their saddled. The Sikh men walked at a ‘brisk pace’, all ‘big and strong’.

© Manvir Rai, 2014.

Another part of the report tells the story of a Sikh sapper, who had a ‘Black Maria’ fall next to him while he was firing at the enemy. It did not harm him, so when the smoke had cleared, he found the hole that had been created at his side provided a comfortable position to fire from. From here, he killed 15-20 Germans according to his accompanying troops. This Sikh snapper was happy to remain in this position, but he had to be ordered to retreat. When he was congratulated for his efforts, he failed to see he had done anything remarkable.

During this time, the British Empire was beginning to loosen, and events in occupied India began to deteriorate. Yet despite this, Sikhs and thousands of Indian warriors continued to put their lives on the line willingly, and fought for the safety of a country they did not know. For people they would never meet. For an ally that had invaded their own land, and taken some of their own deserved human freedoms. Their sacrifice needs to be honoured and remembered on this day.

Please follow the following links that helped inform this post:

http://www.1914sikhs.org/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/14/excerpts-guardian-reporting-first-world-war

© Manvir Rai, 2014.

The birth of The United Nations

Today the United Nations is working with the likes of Ebola, poverty and countries torn by civil wars and military intervention. 69 years ago, in 1945, countries across the world were lying in shatters and attempting to rebuild with nearly two months having passed since the end of World War II. Indeed, fighting had stopped, but this was only the beginning of the challenge to keep the world at peace.

On this very day, October 24th 1945, a short ceremony took place at the US State Department in Washington to officially inaugurate the United Nations Organisation. The name was given by US President Franklin D Roosevelt The Charter was signed by 50 nations, and US Secretary of State James Byrnes stated it was now part of the law of nations.

Despite this significant step forwards for world peace, it was till emphasised that the most progress will be a result of actions, not just official documents. Nonetheless, the aim of the UN was the same then as it is now; to maintain human rights and security for the people of today and future generations.

Before the UN came the League of Nations, which was established after World War I, but it failed in preventing another global war. However, it provided some of the moral base and structure for the new organisation. The UN headquarters is in the US, but interestingly, the UK, France, and the Netherlands voted against this decision.

Today, the UN is compiled of 191 member states. Yet, finishing on an interesting fact, these states do not include The Vatican or Taiwan.

Union Jack. Who's Jack?

Today's piece of knowledge actually seemed very obvious the second it was explained to me, however until a recent lecture I had never even considered the origin of our flag. I am certainly not a historian, so I simply accepted that it represented all sections of the British Isles. Let's see if you have the same eyebrow-raising moment of realisation, after this short history lesson.

In 1603, after the death of Queen Elizabeth, King James VI of Scotland came down to England, becoming King James I. There was hope that through this move, the two nations would become united, both with currency and flag.

Following the 'union of the crowns', in 1606 after proclamation by Orders in Council, the Union Flag was formed by merging the Saltire with St. George's Cross. King James' rule is termed the Jacobean period, hence the Union Flag is coined the Union Jack...! (Told you it seems obvious).

Union Flag, (English Version) with St. George' Cross and St. Andrew's Cross (Saltire).

It wasn't until a century later in 1707 when the two countries actually became Kingdom of Great Britain, up until this point they were still separate Kingdoms, with the Scotts having a slightly different version of the Union Jack (Union Flag), although not dominant.

Another century later in 1801, the Kingdom of Great Britain joined with the Kingdom of Ireland, and so it was not until this point that St. Patrick's Cross became a part of the flag that we are all so familiar with today.

Incorporation of St. Patrick's Cross following the joining of the Kingdom of Ireland
with the Kingdom of Great Britain.

During the months leading up the recent Scottish referendum for independence, one thing that struck me most is the chance that our unifying flag could be changed. To have a Union Jack without the very Saltire that contributed to it's original formation in the James' I, would have been a strange image.

Do you think the Union Jack still serves its purpose of unifying our nations? Please share your thoughts!

Where did the Brummie come from?

After always being called the Brummie, I began to wonder when, where, how, and why the term originated. The accent is often mocked and not taken all that seriously, but all the connotations are most notoriously encapsulated in this one word.

To begin the explanation, the colloquial term for the dialect of Birmingham's inhabitant, is derived from historical alternatives for the second city, Brummagem and Bromwichham. This was previously unknown to me, and provides an immediate answer to my question. The similarity of these two names with 'Brummie' can more readily be seen than with Birmingham.

Very wrongly so, Brummie is often used to describe all accents of the midlands, something that does not go down well! It should never be confused with the Black County accent.



Tell-tale signs are often in the pronunciation of vowels, with them often being exaggerated, extended and accented. For example the word 'goat' may sound more like 'gout'. The ends of words can be prolonged and said in a higher pitch to the rest of the word.


Having been raised in the area the accent offers welcoming and friendly tones, that assure me I'm on comfortable ground. Brummies may be barmy but they're not half-soaked!

What are your experiences of the Brummie accent?

Ta-ra a bit!