The war in Ukraine exposes the double standards of the West in humanitarian and military aid

The ‘Institute for Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action’ and ‘Doctors Without Borders’ have presented the Report ‘Humanitarian Action in 2021-2022: beyond the war in Ukraine’. And the findings reveal a palpable inequality. The world’s leading powers have not spared millions and military arsenal to help Ukraine in the war with Russia. The Zelensky government has announced that they received 23 billion euros from the main powers. This international aid is also reflected in the reception of refugees and those displaced by the war.

While the borders remain closed and asylum procedures mean months of waiting for African and Asian refugees; 4.8 million Ukrainians enjoy temporary protection in countries such as Poland, Germany, Spain, Romania or Slovakia, according to official data from UNHCR. The Ukrainian exodus has contributed to a world record. For the first time, the number of refugees and those displaced by wars have exceeded 100 million people. Specifically 103 million according to the statistics of the UN.

The 32 active armed conflicts, some entrenched for decades, also show another historical record: world military spending has skyrocketed in 2021. With more than 2,000 trillion euros. Being the US, China and India the ones that invest the most in Defense according to data from the ‘Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’. Figures that contrast with international humanitarian financing, which stands at 31.3 billion dollars between 2018 and 2021. That is, 2.6% more than in the previous period.

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Because it is important? The different levels of crisis coverage reflect a very uneven care between media crises like the one in Ukraine, and forgotten crises, like those in Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Mozambique or Palestine.

• The co-director of IECAH and analyst of ‘Al Rojo Vivo’, Jesus Nunez Villaverde, explains the reason for the inequality. “The war in Ukraine is taking place in Europe and that leads us to take things differently. It has a lot of potential for contamination. For example, in the food crisis. And if things get worse, there could be a continental conflict without ruling out the use of weapons From this European, Spanish perspective, it is natural that it raises awareness more than what is happening to the Rohingya or in Pakistan. The implication that has led to the economic and energy crisis, which we notice in our pockets, does not affect what is happening in the Democratic Republic of Congo but here and we look at Ukraine.”

• “Ukraine diverts attention and there are many conflicts that are becoming more acute. Drought, displacements and conflicts are common points. For example in the Sahel, Burkina, Chad, Mali or Niger. Places where there is criminal violence, where it is not possible to operate. Places that do not appear in the press such as Mozambique, with a million displaced people, a country with third-party interests in its natural resources, then there are Yemen, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, in Tigray there has been a ceasefire but they do not have banks, telecommunications… Food is limited,” he warns. Aitor Zabalgogeazkoahead of the MSF Spain Emergency Unit

• Raquel Juarez Gonzalezcoordinator of MSF Spain, assures that “the conflict in Ukraine has produced an immense reaction of solidarity that is not only explained by the media effect or geopolitical factors, but also by the perception of geographical, cultural and socioeconomic proximity. However, we must prioritize the principles of impartiality and independence in humanitarian action”.

And meanwhile… the war in Ukraine has contributed to a world record. According to the ‘UNHCR Trends Report’, presented in mid-November, there were more than 100 million refugees and displaced people in the world. Exactly 103 million of which 11.7 million correspond to Ukrainians who had to leave their home in the first six months of 2022. The final data for the year is expected to be much larger.

• The co-director of the IECAH, Francis Kingmaintains that “there is a double standard in the international response to crises. It has to do not only with the economy but also with the protection of asylum seekers. In Europe welcoming Ukrainians is well regarded but there is a closure with others such as Syrians and others that arrive through the Mediterranean. The crises that appear in the media generate a civil and political response. The others do not”.

• “Solidarity is fine, but governments have the obligation to protect everyone equally. And we don’t see it with the refugees from the Central Mediterranean or those who come from Greece. We must invest in aid to the civilian population and find solutions”, recalls Aitor Zabalgogeazkoa, from MSF.

yes, but… wars produce record numbers of victims and also of military expenses. In 2021, 32 active armed conflicts were recorded. And world budgets amounted to 2,000 billion euros according to SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). At the top, Washington with 801,000 million invested. Followed by Beijing 293,000 million for Beijing; 65.900 million from Moscow.

And most worrying: a significant amount of these funds are allocated to a threat to human security: nuclear proliferation.

• “To the forgotten crises are added the existential ones such as the climate crisis and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Nine powers are in the most ambitious modernization processes in history: for example Moscow and Washington. And the institutional framework to limit those nuclear weapons”, warns Núnez Villaverde.

How does it affect me? In 2021 the Spanish humanitarian action It has increased by 12.01% compared to the figures for 2020, with a total of 107.58 million euros. A figure that is far from the figures reached at the end of the 2000s and the beginning of the 2010s, when the total amount of Spanish humanitarian aid reached 465 million euros.

• Of those 107.58 million, 81.9 million come from funds from the central public administration and 25.6 million from funds contributed by decentralized cooperation, mainly by autonomous communities and town halls.

NGOs and civil society organizations channeled 51.01% of all these funds.

• “Ukraine reveals the solidarity potential of Spanish society with funds that are not well known how they were channeled. It is a major challenge for NGOs, to be able to channel these concerns, avoiding adventurous initiatives,” he says. Francis Kingco-director of IECAH.

Globally, international funding in 2021 amounted to $31.3 billion. That is, 2.6% more than in the previous period. But of all that money requested by the United Nations in 2021, barely 56% of the needs were covered. The second worst percentage ever recorded. Just 20 countries provided 97% of all public international humanitarian funding, with the UK and the US leading the way.

• Francisco Rey elaborates: “The current humanitarian financing system is reactive. It is a system created by the countries that want to contribute.

In the case of NGOs, they can survive with their own funds from partners. That gives them independence. But the humanitarian system is based on a reactive, colonial system. There are nationality biases and that’s not good.”

• “It is imperative that we clearly advocate humanitarian action worthy of the name and that it be based on the basic ideas of humanity and impartiality,” he says. Raquel Gonzalez Juarezcoordinator of MSF Spain.