Treating refugees and crisis

Sparkling discussion on how we deal with these issues

Two books that have at their heart concern about how people are treated in the face of humanitarian crisis have come across my desk. They’re very different — one more narrative and descriptive, the other filled with observations made over many years — and both powerful in very different ways.

While Naomi Klein is known for her big, blockbuster books including This Changes Everything, this time she has written a small, 77-page look at how Puerto Rico and its citizens have fared in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

In The Battle For Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes On The Disaster Capitalists, a compelling and accessible read and work of reportage, she chronicles her visit to the island and, particularly, a community and ecology centre called Casa Pueblo. Equipped with solar panels, it became a beacon of hope during the dark days and nights after the storms hit. Six months later, much of the island was still without electricity with “disaster capitalists” ready to exploit people’s sense of helplessness with a massive land grab. She puts in context the two potential ways the island might move forward: one that sells to big business, and one focused on renewable energy.

In his book Humanity, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, takes us on a meditation of sorts, from understanding through to action, via a series of quotations he has given in various magazines, podcasts, etc., around the world, including Toronto. He’s travelled the globe in defence of human rights, with his art exhibitions and installations expressing his reaction to the global refugee crisis. The book is separated into sections called Humanity, Crisis, Borders, Power, Displacement, Freedom and Action, with each containing quotes that pertain to the subject.

“I think in a civil society, everybody needs to act,” he says.

The quotes are presented and organized by artist and longtime collaborator Larry Warsh, who also writes the introduction, starting with the question “What is our human obligation?”

Both of these books offer ways to answer that question in light of current crises that are costing the lives of tens of thousands of people around the world. They’re important reading.