5 - Humanitarian Aid and the Biafra War: Lessons not Learned
Corresponding Author(s) : Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos
Afrique et développement,
Vol. 34 No 1 (2009): Afrique et développement: Special Issue on Legacies of Biafra: Violence, Identity and Citizenship in Nigeria
Résumé
Dans l’histoire contemporaine de l’Afrique, on se souvient du Biafra comme l’une des pires crises humanitaires sur le continent, mais aussi comme une tragédie qui a donné naissance à la notion d’ingérence ou la responsabilité internationale de protéger. Malheureusement, les controverses sur l’impact de l’aide durant le conflit ont été oubliées. Aujourd’hui, la légende humanitaire du Biafra célèbre le sauvetage d’enfants affamés et la naissance de la célèbre ONG Médecins sans Frontières, mais elle ne reconnaît pas l’impact militaire des opérations de secours qui ont permis aux sécessionnistes de continuer la guerre pendant plus d’un an après qu’elle a été perdue sur le plan militaire. Alors qu’il prolongeait les souffrances des populations locales, le secours fut un sujet de discussion pendant et juste après la guerre. Depuis lors, ce débat stratégique a été « perdu à la traduction ». Cet article soutient que la notion contemporaine de l’aide humanitaire, qui défend un droit d’intervention pour sauver des innocents, complique les choses pour au moins deux raisons. Tout d’abord, il nous amène à penser à tort que le Biafra a donné naissance à la notion d’une responsabilité internationale de protéger, quelque chose qui avait existé auparavant. Deuxièmement, il éclipse le côté som- bre de l’aide humanitaire, où l’intervention internationale assiste souvent les belligérants plutôt que les civils, prolonge la souffrance et pose de nouvelles menaces à la souveraineté nationale.
Mots-clés
Télécharger la référence bibliographique
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
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- Buchanan, C. and Muggah, R., 2005, Aucun répit sur les humanitaires : Etude de l’incidence de la violence armée sur le personnel chargé de l’aide humanitaire et du développement, Genève: Centre pour le dialogue humanitaire.
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- DeMars, W., 2002, ‘Transnational NGOs: the Edge of Innocence’, in W. Nafziger and R.Väyrynen, eds, The Prevention of Humanitarian Emergencies, Basingstoke: Palgrave.
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- Ewins, P. et al., 2006, Mapping the Risks of Corruption in Humanitarian Action, London: Overseas Development Institute.
- Glaser, A. and Smith, S., 2005, Comment la France a perdu l’Afrique, Paris: Calmann-Lévy.
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- Kennedy, D., 2004, The Dark Sides of Virtue: Reassessing International Humanitarianism, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Laitin, D., 1999, ‘Somalia: Civil War and International Intervention’, in B. Walter and J. Snyder, eds, Civil Wars, Insecurity, and Intervention, New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 146–80.
- Lindsay, K., 1969, ‘How Biafra Pays for the War’, Venture: Journal of the Fabian Colonial Bureau (London) 21(3): 26–7.
- Lischer, S. K., 2005, Dangerous Sanctuaries: Refugee Camps, Civil War and the Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
- Lloyd, H. et al., 1972, The Nordchurchaid Airlift to Biafra, 1968–70: An Operations Report, Copenhagen: Folkekirkens Nodjaelp.
- Madiebo, A., 1980, The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War, Enugu: Fourth Dimension.
- Marriage, Z., 2006, Not Breaking the Rules, Not Playing the Game: International Assistance to Countries at War, London: Hurst.
- McHugh, G. and Bessler, M., 2006, Humanitarian Negotiations with Armed Groups: A Manual for Practitioners, New York: United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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- Okpoko, J., 1986, The Biafran Nightmare: The Controversial Role of International Relief Agencies in a War of Genocide, Enugu: Delta.
- Pérouse de Montclos, M.-A., 2001, L’aide humanitaire, aide à la guerre ?, Bruxelles : Complexe.
- Pérouse de Montclos, M.-A., 2007, « La face cachée des ONG », Politique internationale 116:347–68.
- Reed, S., Weiss, H and Mubagwa, M., 2004, Evaluation of USAID’s Humanitarian Response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2000–2004, Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development.
- Rolandsen, O., 2005, Guerrilla Government: Political Changes in the Southern Sudan during the 1990s, Uppsala: Nordika Afrikainstitutet.
- Smillie, I., 1985, The Land of Lost Content: A History of CUSO (Canadian University Service Overseas), Toronto: Deneau.
- Sogge, D., ed., 1996, Compassion and Calculation: The Business of Private Foreign Aid, London: Pluto Press.
- Spar, D. and Dail, J., 2002, ‘Of Measurement and Mission: Accounting for Performance in Non-Governmental Organizations’, Chicago Journal of International Law 3(1).
- Sphere Project, 2000, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, Oxford: Oxfam, online at: http://www.sphereproject.org.
- Stedman, S.J. and Tanner, F., eds., 2003, Refugee Manipulation: War, Politics, and the Abuse of Human Suffering, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. Stremlau, J., 1977, The International Politics of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967–1970, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- Thompson, A., 2002, ‘Publicity, Philanthropy and Commemoration: British Society and the War’, in D. Omissi and A. Thompson, eds, The Impact of the South African War, New York: Palgrave, pp. 511–27.
- Uche, C., 2002, ‘Money Matters in a War Economy: The Biafran Experience’, Nationalism & Ethnic Politics 8(1):29–54.
- Vergès, F., 2001, Abolir l’esclavage: une utopie coloniale: les ambiguïtés d’une politique humanitaire, Paris: Albin Michel.
- Wiseberg, L., 1974, ‘Humanitarian Intervention: Lessons from the Nigerian Civil War’, Human Rights Journal 7(1): 61–98
- Yarrow, M., 1978, Quaker Experiences in International Conciliation, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Les références
Auvinen, J. and Kivimäki, T., 2000, ‘Somalia: The Struggle for Resources’, in W. Nafziger, F. Stewart and R.Väyrynen, eds, War, Hunger, and Displacement, Vol. 2: Case Studies, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bendell, J. and Cox, P., 2006, ‘The Donor Accountability Agenda’, in L. Jordan and P. van Tuijl, eds, NGO Accountability: Politics, Principles and Innovations, London: Earthscan.
Buchanan, C. and Muggah, R., 2005, Aucun répit sur les humanitaires : Etude de l’incidence de la violence armée sur le personnel chargé de l’aide humanitaire et du développement, Genève: Centre pour le dialogue humanitaire.
Cronje, S., 1972, The World and Nigeria: The Diplomatic History of the Biafran War, 1967–1970, London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
DeMars, W., 2002, ‘Transnational NGOs: the Edge of Innocence’, in W. Nafziger and R.Väyrynen, eds, The Prevention of Humanitarian Emergencies, Basingstoke: Palgrave.
de Waal, A., 1994, ‘Dangerous Precedents ? Famine Relief in Somalia, 1991–1993’, in J. Macrae and A. Zwi, eds, War and Hunger: Rethinking International Responses to Complex Emergencies, London: Zed Books, pp. 139–59.
de Waal, A., 1997, Famine Crimes: Politics and the Disaster Relief Industry in Africa, Oxford: James Currey.
Ewins, P. et al., 2006, Mapping the Risks of Corruption in Humanitarian Action, London: Overseas Development Institute.
Glaser, A. and Smith, S., 2005, Comment la France a perdu l’Afrique, Paris: Calmann-Lévy.
Harneit-Sievers, A. and Emezue, S., 2000, ‘Towards a Social History of Warfare and Reconstruction: The Nigerian/Biafran Case’, in I. Amadiume and A. An- Na’im, eds, The Politics of Memory: Truth, Healing and Social Justice, London: Zed Books, pp. 110-26.
Hoffman, D., 2004, ‘The Civilian Target in Sierra Leone and Liberia: Political Power, Military Strategy, and Humanitarian Intervention’, African Affairs 103:211–26.
Jacobs, D., 1987, The Brutality of Nations, New York: Alfred A. Knopf,.
Juma, M. K., 2002, ‘The Political Economy of Building Local Capacity’, in M.K. Juma and A. Suhrke, eds, Eroding Local Capacity: International Humanitarian Action in Africa, Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute, pp. 159–82.
Kennedy, D., 2004, The Dark Sides of Virtue: Reassessing International Humanitarianism, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Laitin, D., 1999, ‘Somalia: Civil War and International Intervention’, in B. Walter and J. Snyder, eds, Civil Wars, Insecurity, and Intervention, New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 146–80.
Lindsay, K., 1969, ‘How Biafra Pays for the War’, Venture: Journal of the Fabian Colonial Bureau (London) 21(3): 26–7.
Lischer, S. K., 2005, Dangerous Sanctuaries: Refugee Camps, Civil War and the Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Lloyd, H. et al., 1972, The Nordchurchaid Airlift to Biafra, 1968–70: An Operations Report, Copenhagen: Folkekirkens Nodjaelp.
Madiebo, A., 1980, The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War, Enugu: Fourth Dimension.
Marriage, Z., 2006, Not Breaking the Rules, Not Playing the Game: International Assistance to Countries at War, London: Hurst.
McHugh, G. and Bessler, M., 2006, Humanitarian Negotiations with Armed Groups: A Manual for Practitioners, New York: United Nations, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Nordstrom, C., 2004, Shadows of War, Violence, Power, and International Profiteering in the Twenty-first Century, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Okpoko, J., 1986, The Biafran Nightmare: The Controversial Role of International Relief Agencies in a War of Genocide, Enugu: Delta.
Pérouse de Montclos, M.-A., 2001, L’aide humanitaire, aide à la guerre ?, Bruxelles : Complexe.
Pérouse de Montclos, M.-A., 2007, « La face cachée des ONG », Politique internationale 116:347–68.
Reed, S., Weiss, H and Mubagwa, M., 2004, Evaluation of USAID’s Humanitarian Response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2000–2004, Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development.
Rolandsen, O., 2005, Guerrilla Government: Political Changes in the Southern Sudan during the 1990s, Uppsala: Nordika Afrikainstitutet.
Smillie, I., 1985, The Land of Lost Content: A History of CUSO (Canadian University Service Overseas), Toronto: Deneau.
Sogge, D., ed., 1996, Compassion and Calculation: The Business of Private Foreign Aid, London: Pluto Press.
Spar, D. and Dail, J., 2002, ‘Of Measurement and Mission: Accounting for Performance in Non-Governmental Organizations’, Chicago Journal of International Law 3(1).
Sphere Project, 2000, Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response, Oxford: Oxfam, online at: http://www.sphereproject.org.
Stedman, S.J. and Tanner, F., eds., 2003, Refugee Manipulation: War, Politics, and the Abuse of Human Suffering, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. Stremlau, J., 1977, The International Politics of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967–1970, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Thompson, A., 2002, ‘Publicity, Philanthropy and Commemoration: British Society and the War’, in D. Omissi and A. Thompson, eds, The Impact of the South African War, New York: Palgrave, pp. 511–27.
Uche, C., 2002, ‘Money Matters in a War Economy: The Biafran Experience’, Nationalism & Ethnic Politics 8(1):29–54.
Vergès, F., 2001, Abolir l’esclavage: une utopie coloniale: les ambiguïtés d’une politique humanitaire, Paris: Albin Michel.
Wiseberg, L., 1974, ‘Humanitarian Intervention: Lessons from the Nigerian Civil War’, Human Rights Journal 7(1): 61–98
Yarrow, M., 1978, Quaker Experiences in International Conciliation, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.