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by Lyn Ockersz

Terrorists, people smugglers and poverty - by an interesting coincidence these issues are the dominant themes of three key international fora being conducted in different parts of the world. "This is good timing", perceptive observers of global developments are likely to comment in view of the close interconnection among the problems, which are now full blown crises.

While Commonwealth leaders meeting in Brisbane, Australia have reportedly drawn up an action plan to crackdown on "global terrorism", people smuggling occupied the attention of another section of the world community which met in Bali, Indonesia, to "draw up a roadmap to help Asia and the Middle East fight trafficking of people to Australia".

Concurrently, the ILO was said to be launching what was called, 'The World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalisation' in Geneva to tackle the adverse social impact of globalisation.

"The Commission is an unprecedented effort to promote international dialogue on ideas to make globalisation more inclusive, at a time when the debate is domianted more by polemics and preconceptions rather than facts", ILO Director General Juan Somavia was quoted saying. The Commission will be chaired by two heads of state and will consist of ministers, politicians, academics, social experts and economists from around the world, reports said.

The discussion of terrorism and people smuggling, by sections of the international community, in the wake of innovative global approaches to tackle globalisation and its adverse socio-economic fallout, while bringing into focus the interconnectedness of the problems, helps to highlight the crisis proportions to which the issues have steadily grown.

Yet, if a concerted effort is made to defuse the global poverty crisis, there is bound to be a reduction in the severity of the other problems - terrorism and people smuggling.

What world leaders spearheading the battle against terror, for instance in Afghanistan, need to realise is that more and more political refugees and "illicit asylum seekers" are fleeing the trouble spots of the world where armed conflicts and poverty are rife.

The latest prey of human smugglers, we are told, are Afghans fleeing the intolerable turmoil in their country. Ironically, it is in Afghanistan that the US is leading the onslaught on "global terror". Likewise, refugees of Asian and Arab descent are swarming the capitals of the West, desperately in search of jobs and shelter.

These refugees, many of them are displaced by war - are desperate men, women and children who would go to any lengths, in terms of hardships, inconveniences and financial spending, to have themselves smuggled into the West. We in Sri Lanka are now familiar with boats that leave our shores with hordes of men and women who are lured by the greenbacks of the West.

This uninterrupted flow of human cargo to the other half of the globe enables a predatory few to amass fortunes. Moreover when these refugees get to the destinations of their dreams, they prove more a liability than an asset to the host countries.

They usually bring in their wake a plethora of law and order and social problems which Western governments find hard to defuse. Extortion and drug smuggling are just two soaring crimes which are traced to some of these refugees. They are now even associated with gangland wars in Western capitals.

What has led to these burgeoning crises is crippling poverty which is more often than not left unresolved by ruling elites. As we have right along pointed out, it is primarily poverty which adds to the lure of religious fundamentalism. This is true to a great extent of Afghanistan, the Middle East and Kashmir. Increasing poverty and marginalization compels the victims to view religious fundamentalism as a quick fix to their daily torments. Thus is bred "extremist violence" and "terrorism".

The West is doing well in having a close look at globalisation and its adverse consequences. Economic globalisation should indeed be turned into an equalizer among social classes rather than a divider. It is even more relevant, however, to look at ways and means of empowering the poor through their own efforts. They should be encouraged into taking charge of their futures and being creative agents of their deliverance from poverty. Local ruling elites need to learn these lessons well.

Less poverty wold mean less social unrest, violence and "terror". One of the end results of this process would be decreased military intervention in Third World trouble spots on the part of the Western armies, to quell "terror".

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