The Canadian Press
OTTAWA–Famine-ravaged countries in Africa and the Middle East will breed and spread terrorism if the world can’t help feed their people and give them hope, says Canada’s international development minister.
Canadians may want to do the compassionate thing and help ease the suffering of 20 million people in four countries–Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia, Marie-Claude Bibeau noted.
But if altruism isn’t a good enough motivator, then cold, hard national security interests are another good reason, she said.
Bibeau offered that analysis in an interview as she launched the government’s matching fund for famine relief in those four countries.
“We have to contribute to do our part in these countries because, yes, we are generous and we want to do that to help the most vulnerable.” she remarked.
“But there is an issue of global security also.”
Bibeau said the government will match donations made to registered charities over the period of March 17- June 30.
Standing in the foyer of the House of Commons yesterday, surrounded by members of international organizations, Bibeau and others appealed to the collective conscience of Canadians to help provide water, sanitation services, shelter, and urgent food assistance to huge civilian populations, including women and children.
But in the interview, Bibeau discussed the need to create longer-term “winning conditions,” especially for youth, to keep them out of the ranks of terror groups operating in or near the affected countries.
“They want to have hope that they will be able to study, find a good job, have a good life,” she said.
“If they don’t have hope, there comes a time when they turn to armed groups because it’s the only way for them to get revenue.”
There is no shortage of options for young people looking to turn to a militia in the four countries that are the subject of the Canadian fundraising appeal.
For instance, branches of the Islamic state group and al-Qaida are active in Yemen, where a Saudi Arabian-Iran proxy civil war is raging.
The Boko Haram group, which has abducted schoolgirls and razed villages, remains a threat in Nigeria.
