Trump: A Matter of Principle

Published in Publico
(Portugal) on 3 December 2017
by Sofia Lorena (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Kaleb Vick. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
The Trump administration says it is a matter of principle. “We decide who is allowed to come into our country. The approach in the New York Declaration is not compatible with U.S. sovereignty," the administration says. Nonsense. The New York Declaration is a vague description of intentions, a "disappointment" for all the nongovernmental organizations that work with refugees and immigrants, the least effort that the United Nations has dedicated to the subject since its inception.

Nonsense. The declaration does not decide anything for the United States; it does not require any country to receive a determined number of people or comply with any concrete directives. The final version will embarrass its promoter, Ban Ki-moon. Abandoning this pact is a stubborn act, an uncontrollable insistence on undoing everything that Barack Obama signed; in this case, a document that allowed all of the signatories to act on their conscience, to face the 65 million refugees and dislocated people in the world. Too little, too late to be considered worthy.

For many, it's a matter of principle. The country that bombed Syria, Yemen, and Niger, that unleashed the current madness in the Middle East. The Trump administration says, “We don't want to know the consequences of any of this for other people.”

In fact, the current administration says, “We've already prevented people from crossing the borders based on their origin or religion. We, who wanted to be a beacon, now want to undo everything that would allow us to serve as a good example, no matter how small the impact.”

To many, it's just a way of the Trump administration saying, once again: “We don't act on principle.”




Eles dirão que é uma questão de princípios: “Nós é que decidimos quem é autorizado a entrar no nosso país. A abordagem na Declaração de Nova Iorque não é compatível com a soberania dos EUA.” Um disparate. Ora não fosse a Declaração de Nova Iorque uma enunciação vaga de intenções, uma “desilusão” para todas as ONG que trabalham com refugiados e imigrantes, o mínimo dos mínimos que saiu do primeiro encontro que as Nações Unidas dedicaram ao tema desde a sua fundação.

Um disparate. A dita declaração não decide nada pelos EUA, não obriga nenhum país a receber determinado número de pessoas ou a cumprir quaisquer objectivos concretos. A versão final terá envergonhado o seu promotor, Ban Ki-moon.

Abandonar este pacto pode ser casmurrice, teimosia. Uma insistência incontrolável em rasgar tudo o que Barack Obama assinou, neste caso, um documento que não deixou nenhum dos signatários de consciência tranquila por estar a portar-se decentemente face aos mais de 65 milhões de refugiados e deslocados que então havia no mundo. Demasiado tarde e demasiado pouco para se considerar digno.

Às tantas, é mesmo uma questão de princípios. Nós, país que bombardeia na Síria, no Iémen ou no Níger, nós, país que ao invadirmos o Iraque desatámos a loucura actual no Médio Oriente, não queremos saber das consequências de nada disto para as pessoas.

Aliás, nós já impedimos pessoas de cruzar as nossas fronteiras com base na sua origem ou religião. Nós, que já fomos ou quisemos ser farol, queremos agora rasgar tudo em que poderíamos servir de bom exemplo, por mais pequeno que fosse o impacto. Às tantas, é só uma maneira de dizer, uma vez mais: nós não nos movemos por princípios.
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