http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-drones-letter-20170105-story.html
Lifesaving and life-taking drones
Lifesaving and life-taking drones
Aerial drones could one day ferry life-or-death medical supplies
between hospitals now that Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have figured out
how to keep blood, medications and vaccines consistently cool during the
flights. (Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun & Medicaldrones.org video)
Why not examine Hopkins dual role in drone development?
I noticed
the feel-good article on the front page, "Drones
could save lives" (Jan. 2). I realize that the headline was
not meant to be ironic. However, that is what came to my mind.
Yes, unmanned aerial vehicles can save lives.
Sadly, though, more often killer drones take lives, including hundreds, if not
thousands, of innocent people.
Johns Hopkins University is engaged in
killer-drone research. How about a front-page article about this
non-humanitarian research? It would be a good bookend to this article.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital will use drones to save lives
and another department at the same school is doing research on drones used to
kill people.
Max Obuszewski, Baltimore
Syrian refugee child. (photo: Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)
French
Farmer on Trial for Helping Refugees Cross Into France
By Alex Campbell, VICE
07 January 17
French farmer faces charges for helping migrants cross the Italian
border
A farmer
in southern France who smuggled migrants across the country’s border with Italy
is waiting to discover his sentence after being prosecuted this week for his
actions.
Hailed
a hero by many in Europe and denounced by others, 37-year-old Cédric Herrou estimates that so far he has helped
more than 400 migrants stuck in Italy pass into France.
Herrou
drove the migrants across the border in his van – the same van he uses to
deliver eggs in his tiny Alpine village – deftly avoided police checkpoints
using mountain lanes, and later provided shelter at his hilltop farm.
VICE
News followed Herrou in the autumn, when he opened a temporary refuge housing
53 migrants in a derelict government building high in the Alps. With 15 people
already at his home, he’d run out of space. Herrou was arrested just days later
and on Wednesday went on trial in Nice for smuggling migrants.
The
case typifies the region’s struggle to resolve the migrant crisis and the
public disagreement over how to handle it; drawing hundreds of demonstrators sympathetic to his cause to the
court steps.
Herrou
is the most prominent member in a migrant-helping collective formed in the
valley village of Breil-sur-Roya. Their activities are well-documented by the
local press and – until the arrest – they were tolerated by authorities.
“It is
dangerous,” he told us, shortly before he was detained. “I expect many people
would want my arrest. But we are well organized… and the law is completely
absurd, and stupid.”
More
than 170,000 mostly African refugees and migrants reached Italy in 2016,
according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Many paid traffickers to pack them into trucks for the long drive across Libya
and the Sahara. Almost all clambered aboard the now emblematic rusting vessels
which risk disaster to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. But very few
intended to remain there.
While
European Union law requires refugees to register for asylum in the first EU
country they enter, most travellers hope to reach northern Europe – either due
to family ties or because of what many believe are better prospects of both
asylum and work.
A
police crackdown at crossings has created a build-up of migrants in border
towns like Italy’s Ventimiglia; a small seaside Riviera city which is a
20-minute drive down spiraling mountain roads from Herrou’s farm in France.
The
network of villagers and friends called Herrou to tip him off if they spot
children crossing. Some found his house by word of mouth, and he arranged to meet
others in person.
“I
choose the people who have problems crossing – families, women, children.
Choosing them is the most difficult part. There are about 200 families and
children in Ventimiglia, every time I go there.”
Up to
600 men are sheltered in Ventimiglia’s sprawling, heavily-policed Red Cross
camp in an abandoned industrial estate beside the highway. A further 200 women
and children stay at a separate, less intimidating camp in a town church.
Many
travellers loiter at the city’s railway station, where police habitually remove
them as they attempt to board trains. Others can be seen walking across the
tracks and mountain trails at night to evade authorities.
“Most
people in Europe say they are sad about the migrants but don’t do anything. I
respect their choice, I’m not going to criticize,” Herrou said. “We have two
choices: we either lock our doors and turn a deaf ear, or we leave our doors
open and listen, which is what’s happening.”
Herrou’s
farmhouse is little more than a shack at the top of a steep and winding
mountain path; migrants stay in wooden sheds and caravans on his land,
gathering to eat around his patio table. For the migrants, this is a confusing
leg of a miserable journey but it is far from the worst part. Some appeared
amused by Herrou – awkward, bearded and bohemian.
One
17-year-old girl in Herrou’s temporary custody had travelled more than 2,500
miles from Eritrea – alone – before getting into his van. She was fleeing
oppression, but also pursuing a dream of becoming a doctor.
“I
miss my family. It’s very difficult to live without them,” she said. “Someone
told me we’ll be returned to Italy, but I don’t want to return to Italy. I want
to go first to Paris and eventually to England or Germany.”
The travellers
typically spend three or four days with Herrou before he tries to get them on
trains to continue their journey deeper into France.
Sheltering
the migrants at his own home is not illegal. But the larger refuge was opened
without permission on private property – a response to what he called “an
emergency” of 58 migrants at his doorstep.
“I’m
not a hero. Here are people who need help and I simply help them. Nothing
more,” Herrou said, referring to the many people who support the network’s
actions.
“What’s
more, France has values. We respect rights. Those who don’t agree should leave
as France does not mean closed doors.”
Authorities
disagreed. The refuge was shut down a day after VICE News visited. It marked
not the end of the road for its residents, but another obstacle in an
implausible slog.
Herrou’s
legal case may soon be over, but the crisis bringing migrants to his door shows
little evidence of a conclusion.
C 2015 Reader Supported News
Donations can be sent
to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD
21218. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs
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