Homelessness criminalized in Hungary

Nearly 30,000 homeless people living in Hungary are about to become susceptible to a new law passed by the Hungarian government enforcing homelessness as a criminal offence.

This new law, according to Human Rights Watch, was passed with a majority vote of 245 for and only 45 against.

Homeless citizens will no longer be allowed to sleep in public areas or dumpster dive. If caught, authorities are legally allowed to force these "criminals" into homeless shelters, give out fines and even arrest them for sentenced jail time if they're convicted twice within six months -- which will likely be the case for many.

According to an article published in the International Business Times, the Hungarian government is defending this new law by stating that it aims to "protect public order, security, health and cultural value." Government officials have also stated that homeless peoples in major cities should have no problem finding appropriate places to sleep, as there are homeless shelters available.

However, advocate groups are dismissing this claim, explaining that the amount of available space in shelters is far below the amount of homeless people. Without government support and funding for more adequate shelters, many people will have no where to go, and will ultimately be charged, and possibly jailed, due to these new laws.

These new laws are extremely unsettling. Governments should be passing laws that protect their citizens rather than put them in more danger. In order to properly, and professionally, solve the problem of homelessness, resources should be invested in public programs that will help eradicate the problem.

Criminalizing homelessness is not an answer. Now, numerous innocent people will be thrown into jails for reasons that may be beyond their control. Some of these people did not choose to be homeless, and do not deserve such harsh consequences. And for those who are homeless and refuse to utilize shelters, that is their freedom of choice.

Advocacy groups need to step up and challenge the Hungarian government on these new laws. There are more decent forms of "cleaning up the streets," and more effective ways of helping eradicate homelessness and give sincere help to those in need.

March for elephants

Earlier today, new, gruesome information regrading the cyanide poisoning on elephants in western Zimbabwe was released. As of this morning, a recorded 91 elephants have been found dead, with more potential carcasses yet to be found. A number of other animals, including lions and vultures, have also been found dead in both the immediate and surrounding areas of the elephants and their waterholes. This is by far the most severe ecological attack constructed by poachers that the area has ever seen.

According to an article by Tendai Musiya, which has was published today in both The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star, nine suspected poachers have been formally arrested, with three men already being sentenced to 16 years in jail. While justice is being served to those guilty of these unforgivable crimes, the repercussions are still being felt by wildlife, and will continue to be an issue for some time.

Two of the main waterholes are going to be completely sealed off so that animals will not be able to access the contaminated water, and two new wells will be drilled out. The animal carcasses will be burnt in order to stop bacteria from spreading, and the top layers of soil around both the dead animals and contaminated waterholes will also be removed.

While these efforts are being carried out, protection for wildlife in the park will still be very strained due to a severe lack of funding, which results in fewer staff members, as well as other resources.

This event, which has been garnering global attention, is also occurring within days of an event called the "International March for Elephants," which will occur this Friday, October 4. This event, which is spread over three continents, is being done in order to raise awareness for elephant rights in both Africa and Asia. Elephants are being poached into extinction, and this event aims to encourage people to stand up for elephants and stop the mass slaughter that happens every day of ever year.

According to the website www.iworry.org, an elephant is killed every 15 minutes, and at this rate, they will become extinct by 2025. The website has an electronic petition that can be signed, but encourages all supporters to physically attend marches in order to spread awareness amongst the general public. If people don't speak up for elephants, they will soon be gone.

While there is absolutely nothing good about the cyanide attacks that occurred in Zimbabwe, I sincerely hope that, at the very least, people following the event will be lead to the "The International March for Elephants" and become more educated on elephant rights. Elephants need our help more than ever in order to survive, and the first step is spreading awareness. Only then can more demand be put on creating stricter laws, and ensuring that national parks receive the appropriate resources they need to protect what precious wildlife is left on this planet.

Severe infrastructure problems not new for India

Yesterday, after three long days, a search and rescue operation in Mumbai, India, was called off after a residential building had collapsed. Thirty-three people were rescued, still alive, but injured, while the death toll reached sixty before all missing peoples were accounted for. Depending on the severity of some injuries, the death toll may rise depending on whether or not some people are able to heal. 

Incidents such as this are becoming increasingly common in India. According to a BBC article, upwards of 100 people in Mumbai alone died due to building collapses between April and June alone. 

According to an Aljazeera article, in 2012 alone 2,651 people were killed across the country due to building collapses. 

The amount of shoddy buildings in Mumbai, and across India, is due to the extremely large population battling for limited living spaces. The population of India, according to the World Bank is over 1.2 billion. It is the world's most populated country, but no where close to the largest in terms of geographical size. As a result, people are literally squished together in residential areas, with a large majority being in ghettos. 

Many buildings, such as the one that collapsed on Friday morning, are not built up to government standards. Because there are so many people vying for places to live, many buildings are put up quickly and do not pass certain inspections; families rush in and no questions are asked. 

The building in question was said to have collapsed because of unauthorized renovations being conducted on a lower level, which went terribly wrong. However, an argument is being made that the building needed repairs that weren't being conducted legally. Either way, building codes were not followed, and the events that followed were extremely terrible. 

Many groups throughout India have started to fight against building codes -- they want to ensure that homes are safe to live in, and rightfully so. However, with a teeming population in such small boundaries, the reality is quickly-built, multi-story homes. Apartment complexes have to be higher than ever in order to accommodate the millions of families, but strong bases are not commonly found. This is also contributing to more and more families moving into slums. 

The housing crisis in India has no simple solution. There are simply far too many people to properly house, which is a very sad and harsh reality. Different development agencies should try to push for more low-income housing projects, although the logistics would most definitely prove to be extremely difficult. Still, efforts need to be made in order to ensure that people's lives aren't in danger because of poor, illegally built homes. 

Cyanide & Elephants

Elephants, or loxodonta africana, are quickly becoming endangered -- there are only roughly half a million of them left in the world. The World Wildlife Fund has all sorts of fun facts on elephants.

Way back when it was totally acceptable to hunt animals on mass scales, elephants were prized predominately for their ivory tusks, which were used to make slick looking pianos, among other things. However, since their populations have been dwindling, there are strict laws against poaching these beautiful beasts that have been put in place by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, as well as various African and Asian countries.

But that's not stopping poachers in the Hwange National Park located in Harare, Zimbabwe. Last week, it was reported that up to 64 elephants had been found dead due to cyanide being placed in waterholes. Yesterday, this number had risen to at least 81.

It's been discovered that a South African businessman was behind the poisonings. He wanted the elephants dead so that their ivory could be harvested. A total of nine poachers have since been arrested.

The cyanide in the waterholes, however, it not just affecting elephants -- anything, or anyone, that comes in contact with this water will be at a very high risk of intense sickness and death, depending on the levels of poison consumed. Many predators, such as lions, have also been found dead after eating the elephant carcasses. As a result, the Zimbabwean has issued an ecological disaster.

This incident is troubling on many levels. The first, and most obvious, being the destruction of so much innocent wildlife. The fact that such a powerful poison was placed in an open water supply is extremely haunting. These poachers were so determined to get elephant tusks that they placed additional animals, as well as potential humans, at risk for their lives. There is no excuse for such outlandish behaviour. The ecological effects of this event will be long-lasting; the water will sink into the ground and have negative effects on future crops, as well as a direct effect on animals and humans alike in the surrounding area.

Additional strain is also now on the government to not only crack down on poaching laws, but also establish new regulations to stop such a devastating event from occurring again. Environmentalists and animal rights activists have already began lobbying for stricter laws, and the government has said they will act as soon as they can, and within reason.

Poaching, however, has been a severe issue for generations, and not one that is easily combatted. Poachers often work within illegal networks that are not easily detected, and therefore not easily stopped. The necessarily supplies and time needed to combat this issue will be costly.

Needless to say, this extreme violation of poaching laws, and unnecessary slaughter of wildlife, is heartbreaking. One can only hope that a resolution will quickly be put in place, and that all necessary actions will be carried out to preserve the elephants, and other wildlife, that are still struggling.

Return of the blogger

So it appears that I have not posted on this blog in well over a year, which is quite unfortunate. However, that's not to say that I haven't been writing! In fact, this past year I wrote more than ever. 

I was lucky enough to have been hired by Laurier's student newspaper and work as the Campus News editor for the past year. I covered a lot of pretty interesting beats, including, but not limited to, the controversial, revamped dining hall, residence break-ins, racist posters on campus, and more, including an editorial that won an award. 

That, combined with my other part-time job, courses, and various volunteer positions kept me pretty busy and distracted from posting anything on here. I know, bad excuses. But, despite being back in school for a graduate program now, I am going to do my absolute best to post weekly pieces! 

One of my classes requires us to do multiple weekly readings on current news worldwide, focusing on issues regarding international development. The majority of my posts will, for now, reflect those topics, but I'll make sure to throw in some other stuff as well to keep things interesting and not overly depressing.

The more you read, the more I'll post. Let's make this a win-win for everyone.