Race and Ethnicity

Below is a visualization and description of some of the most significant incidents of political violence in Nigeria from August 20, 2016 to August 26, 2016. This update also represents violence related to Boko Haram in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. These incidents will be included in the Nigeria Security Tracker. var divElement = document.getElementById(’viz1472495812160’); var vizElement = divElement.getElementsByTagName(’object’)[0]; vizElement.style.width=’100%’;vizElement.style.height=(divElement.offsetWidth*0.75)+’px’; var scriptElement = document.createElement(’script’); scriptElement.src = ’https://public.tableau.com/javascripts/api/viz_v1.js’; vizElement.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, vizElement); *Last week, August 19: Nigerian troops killed 300 Boko Haram militants in Abadam, Borno. August 20: Boko Haram killed eleven and kidnapped thirteen in Damboa, Borno. August 21: A suicide bomber killed himself and three others in Mora, Cameroon. Boko Haram is suspected. August 21: Boko Haram burned down a village in Askira/Uba, Borno. There were no casualties. August 21: Fulani herdsmen killed three in Jema’a, Kaduna. August 22: A mob killed eight over charges of blasphemy in Talata Mafara, Zamfara. August 23: Gunmen killed four in Lagos Mainland, Lagos. August 24: Gunmen killed one in Enugu South, Enugu. August 25: Fulani herdsmen killed one in Nkanu West, Enugu.

Rachel Brown is a research associate in Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. In February, $81 million stolen from the central bank of Bangladesh’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was laundered through the Philippines. Most observers worried about the security of the institutions involved. But equally if not more important is the potential impact on overseas Filipino workers. Increased scrutiny of vulnerabilities in the Philippines’ anti-money laundering provisions could make it harder for the over ten million Filipinos working abroad to send remittances home, as has occurred in many other developing nations. Globally, the Philippines is the third-highest recipient of remittances, which compromised 10 percent of GDP in 2014. These funds help fuel domestic consumption, and anything that affects the cost or ease of sending money to the nation will have significant economic implications. The Bangladesh Bank scandal highlights flaws in the Philippines’ current anti-money laundering regime. While the government strengthened regulations in 2013, highly secretive banking laws remain. Additionally, the 2001 Anti-Money Laundering Act does not cover the Philippines’ thriving casino industry, the destination of the pilfered funds. The revelation of these flaws and the parties involved may taint the image of the firms Philippine workers use to send money home. Philippine Senate investigations found that PhilRem, a Filipino remittance company in the United Kingdom and United States, converted and transferred the money into the accounts of one casino tour operator at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC). In theory, the Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Act encompasses businesses like PhilRem that send or receive funds from workers overseas.  In practice, the funds are small and hard to track, and firms may misidentify themselves. (PhilRem originally listed as a land-transport company). PhilRem partners with major foreign banks such as Barclays and Lloyds to facilitate goods and cash transfers, but its involvement in the scandal could make banks wary of remittance firms’ capacity to monitor for suspicious transactions. The scandal has also sparked concern that the Philippines will be blacklisted by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). The Philippines was on the FATF blacklist in the early 2000s. When the FATF previously considered sanctioning the Philippines, officials worried about the repercussions for remittances. Senator Serge Osmeña noted this March that if re-blacklisted, “We will be at a loss because our banks will not be able to transact with their counterparts in New York and London.” Sending money to a blacklisted nation may entail higher fees, delays, and even denial of service. Even if the Philippines is not blacklisted, remitters could still face challenges. The experiences of other countries perceived as weak on money laundering reveal potential risks. After September 11, requirements to monitor stringently the paths and recipients of money – and penalties for not doing so – increased. Some foreign banks simply ended partner relations with firms in suspect nations, as there was little incentive to risk incurring fines given the small profits. These changes hit particularly hard in Somalia as by 2015, most major American, British, and Australian banks ceased remittance services. Remittances also dropped considerably in Guyana when the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force blacklisted it. Already, Philippine firms feel the squeeze of heightened suspicion. In late March, the Cebu Daily News reported greater scrutiny of remittances sent through a Filipino company in Australia. Even prior to the scandal, nearly forty banks shut down accounts of Filipino remittance firms in sixteen nations. In early 2016, RCBC, the Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Philippine National Bank all lost relationships with correspondent banks in Italy. If more firms lose relationships with international partners, reduced competition could lead to higher fees. Further closures or increased fees would also deal a blow to already weakening Philippine remittances. In July 2015, remittances grew at 5.9 percent their slowest rate in half a decade. Falling oil prices, in particular, have hurt remittances, roughly a third of which come from the Gulf. So what are the prospects for reforms that might forestall such closures? Last Thursday, the Philippine Central Bank’s governor announced efforts to minimize the damage to remittances from foreign banks limiting risk exposure. An inter-agency assessment of terrorist financing and money laundering weaknesses is underway, and the scandal has also revived interest in a biometric national ID system to better track who ultimately receives remitted funds. There is no question that the Philippines’ genuine money laundering vulnerabilities necessitate closer supervision, but lasting changes will occur only after the next president’s inauguration. Until then, banks should avoid too hastily curtailing services, otherwise families of overseas workers may pay too high a price.

Pei-Yu Wei is an intern for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. On February 17, 2016, three Chinese “parachute kids” were sentenced to prison after bullying their classmate last March in Rowland Heights, California. Yunyao “Helen” Zhai, Xinlei “John” Zhang, and Yuhan “Coco” Yang, were part of a group of twelve who kidnapped and assaulted a classmate over unsettled restaurant bills and arguments over a boy. After luring the victim to meet with them, the bullies took her to a park where they repeatedly beat her, kicked her with high-heels, and burned her with cigarette butts. Zhai, Zhang, and Yang were arrested, while the rest of the group fled, some reportedly back to China. Initially charged with torture, kidnapping, and assault, all three of the defendants plead no contest to the kidnapping and assault charges. In return, the torture charge was dropped. Zhai, Yang, and Zhang were sentenced to thirteen, ten, and six years, respectively, and will be immediately deported after completing their terms. The high schoolers’ actions sparked a wide debate in China, which has been dominated by the issue of the lack of parental supervision for “parachute kids,” young international students who come to the United States to study without their families. Online discussions have also identified deeper legal and cultural differences, which may have contributed to the impunity with which the students carried out the attack, and the ways that their parents later attempted to smooth over the incident. In fact, such gaps in understanding have become more apparent among Chinese students studying in the United States and their families. With its large population and growing middle class, China has sent an increasing number of “parachute kids” in recent years, especially in the fifteen-nineteen year age group. As of 2013, the number of Chinese students attending U.S. high schools exceeded 23,000. Many students seek to escape the ultra-competitive national collegiate examination in China, to receive a more well-rounded and flexible education, or to get a leg-up in applying to American colleges. While most “parachute kids” have gone on to succeed, many have encountered challenges. At a young age, the students face culture shocks, language barriers, and loneliness. Although many of the students live with host families, the hosts often only provide room and board, and students are left isolated. These factors, coupled with the daunting problem of handling one’s own free time and copious amounts of spending money sent by guilty parents, often cause children to withdraw from classmates and teachers, or to lash out. At the same time, bullying incidents similar to or more severe than that in Rowland Heights have become increasingly common in China itself. In 2014, forty-three extreme bullying cases were exposed by the Chinese media. The number of cases reached twenty-six in the first three months of 2015. In June 2015, Huang Tanghong, a senior in Fujian province, was beaten so badly that he was hospitalized for a ruptured spleen. While the case drew widespread attention in China and the authorities took the bullies into custody, the perpetrators were ultimately released when their parents paid Huang’s family approximately $33,000 in compensation. Huang’s plight was not an isolated case. In fact, incidents of extreme bullying are often settled out-of-court through monetary compensation and interventions from educational authorities. Expulsions are rare, let alone jail time. Under China’s current Child Protection Law, those between the ages of fourteen and sixteen can only be subject to criminal punishment for committing heinous crimes, namely rape and murder. All these factors can lead to significant cultural misunderstandings. The defendants in the Rowland Heights case asked the case’s detective, “What’s the big deal? It happens in China all the time.” The father of one of the defendants also attempted to bribe the victim to “settle” the matter. He was later arrested. Another defendant’s father told Xinhua that his knowledge of the United States was like a “blank sheet of paper” and that he didn’t understand legal and cultural differences between the two countries. Netizens in China followed the case avidly, commenting on the severity of the consequences the students face and reflecting on the lack of institutional and legal mechanisms to respond to and prevent bullying in China. Most are pleased with the outcome. One commentator noted, “This group ignores the laws, and when they are faced with dire consequences they play innocent and say they don’t understand U.S. laws. They deserve to be imprisoned. When I read the report I felt extremely happy and that justice has been served. Actually, this kind of thing happens in China too, but the ways that they are dealt with make people feel unsatisfied.” Another speculated that had the incident happened in China, the defenders might not have faced the consequences because of their family backgrounds, writing, “Apparently one of the assailants’ mother is the leader of a tobacco company, and his father heads up a Shanghai police department. Please imagine: if this torture case had happened in China, what would happen?” Some also highlighted the differences in norms between the two nations. One commented, “A parent [of the offenders] who’s as helpful as a god even attempted bribery and got arrested…. But when things happen and the parents’ first thought is to use money to ‘settle,’ then we can see how deeply rooted this kind of thought is in China.” While this extreme bullying case drew widespread attention, these students were not alone in their misperception of regulations and laws in the United States. University of Iowa student, Hanxiang Ni, was expelled in February 2016 and had his student visa revoked after posting online, “If I do not get good grades after studying so hard, I will make professors experience the fear of Gang Lu” just days after he received permits to obtain and carry a gun.  Lu was a Chinese doctoral student at the same university who fatally shot four people and himself in 1991. On Weibo, Ni claimed that his message was meant as a joke that “any normal person would understand as such,” and that he “wrote in Chinese deliberately” because he “didn’t want any misunderstandings to arise.” Both Ni and his father thought the school was overreacting, with the latter saying they are seeking legal options. Similarly, students who pay consultants to fill out their U.S. college applications, ghostwrite their essays, and compose teachers’ recommendation letters are sometimes unaware that this could be considered fraudulent or get them expelled. As an increasing number of young Chinese students arrive in the United States to study, the need for understanding cultural and legal differences between the two societies must be addressed. Providing students with a basic education on the laws of the United States, and helping them understand what kinds of behaviors are unacceptable is a good place to start. Currently, a number of colleges in the United States include talks from law enforcement officials in their orientation programs. Furthermore, resources detailing things such as when to call the police, regulations on alcohol and drugs, and driving policies can be found on school websites. These can be easily extended to cover topics that students may not have encountered before, such as firearms, and actions that may result in more severe consequences, such as bullying or posting threats as “jokes” on the internet. It is also crucial for Chinese parents and students to familiarize themselves with, if not at least have a cursory understanding of, the law. After all, the bulk of the responsibility to abide by the law rests with the students and their families. Parents must consider whether their kids will be able to responsibly use their sudden freedom. As all three of the defendants in this case noted, too much freedom and no parental supervision can be a “formula for disaster.”

Despite its reputation for placidity, and its popularity as a backpacker tourist destination, Laos remains one of the most repressive and politically opaque countries in the world. It is consistently ranked as “not free” by Freedom House’s annual Freedom in the World Index, and unlike neighboring Thailand, Cambodia, or even Myanmar during junta rule, Laos has no organized opposition party. In fact, even small public protests in Laos are quickly suppressed, their leaders going missing for years afterward. The state media is highly uninformative, and there are few other outlets for information. (Radio Free Asia–Laos is an exception.) Strange incidents in Laos often remain unresolved. Last winter, a Canadian traveler was apparently stabbed to death in Vientiane’s international airport; Laos’ government initially insisted he committed suicide, but multiple news reports suggest murder was more likely. The case remains unsolved. In 2007, the co-owner of one of northeast Laos’ best-known guesthouses mysteriously disappeared, an apparent kidnapping. Some aid workers in Laos suggested he had been kidnapped for angering local officials for criticizing their management of land and the environment. His case remains unsolved and he has not returned. Last year, Radio Free Asia reported that several Lao citizens who used social media to document alleged land grabbing and harassment by local officials were detained, sometimes for months at a time. Laos’ political repression receives little international attention. Only the 2012 disappearance of its best-known civil society activist, Sombath Somphone, has received much global notice. In particular, reported repression of the country’s ethnic minority groups is met with international silence. The country has no charismatic opposition leader, and the somnolent quality of everyday life in much of the country tends to give some outsiders the impression that not much is going on in Laos. In such a repressive environment where there is no means to express dissent peacefully, violence sometimes flares against Laotian officials and government targets, particularly in Hmong-dominated areas in upcountry Laos. Indeed, for decades after communist forces won the country’s civil war and took over government in 1975, bands of Hmong fighters continued to hold out in parts of Laos, fighting a guerilla war with little food and ancient weapons. (During the Vietnam War, the United States government provided military assistance, training, economic aid, and air support to the Hmong.) Reports of Hmong-government violence were, however, often impossible to confirm, since the areas of attacks are relatively remote and Laos is barely covered by most news organizations. When I worked as a journalist in Southeast Asia in the late 1990s and early 2000s, even alleged bombings that took place in Vientiane itself were frequently hard to confirm. The Hmong-government violence quieted down in the 2000s, as Laos’ army pursued the remaining guerrilla bands, but in recent months it may have picked up again. Radio Free Asia’s Laos service has reported that there has been a spate of shootings of Laotian government soldiers and other targets since November 2015. Meanwhile, the Associated Press, citing sources close to Hmong activists in Laos, reports that the violence that has occurred since November is due to government attacks on groups of Hmong. The U.S. embassy in Vientiane reportedly in November initiated a ban on its employees traveling to the province of Xaysomboon in central Laos, for fear of violent attacks there. Then, on Sunday two Chinese citizens were killed in upcountry Laos in what the Associated Press reported was a bomb attack. Another Chinese citizen was injured. Although previous attacks attributed to Hmong militants tended to be against government forces or government targets, Chinese investors and businesspeople are not particularly popular in many communities in central and northern Laos. (To be sure, the motives and details of this bombing remain unclear; it is possible that the two Chinese citizens were killed for reasons having nothing to do with Hmong-government tensions.) Although China is now the biggest investor in the landlocked country, there have been numerous allegations of land grabbing and environmental disasters related to Chinese investment in the rubber industry and mining in northern and central Laos. In addition, attacks on Chinese nationals may seem like a way to deter investment---particularly in a month when both Secretary of State John Kerry and China’s special envoy to Laos are visiting the country---and potentially undermine the Laotian government, which has promised to deliver enough economic growth to lift Laos out of the ranks of least developed nations by 2020. It is almost certain, however, that the spate of violence in Laos will never be fully explained, or even acknowledged by the government in Vientiane.

This is a guest post by Mohamed Jallow, an Africa watcher, following politics and economic currents across the continent. He works at RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. I received a frantic phone call recently from a family member living in New York City. She was inquiring whether I knew anyone who could help, or any way for, a young seventeen-year-old migrant (her younger brother), stranded in Ecuador to come to the United States. I was lost for words. Do African migrants go to Ecuador? How in the world did he end up there? This is the reality facing parents in many West African countries. Throngs of young men are heading North, for a chance to make it to Europe, or anywhere else with better economic prospects. Many are fleeing conflicts and political repression, while many more are fleeing poverty and unemployment. The journey to the North, however, is fraught with danger. Thousands have died just this year in the Mediterranean, and the death toll is set to beat the record from last year. All this is if they make it through the Sahara desert alive----teeming with bandits, and now Islamic militants. As for the young man who is stranded in Ecuador (I will call him Bangalie), his odyssey started a few months ago when he left the Gambia for the Bahamas, purportedly enroute to the United States without the proper documentation. His family was lured into shelling out about $5,000 of life savings to what I will consider a swindler who promised to help him and five others get into the United States. The journey began in Dakar, Senegal, to Spain and then on to Bahamas where the person leading them disappeared because they could not come up with more money. From the Bahamas, they headed to Quito, Ecuador with hopes of travelling from there to the US through Central America. News of young people moving to the US and seeking asylum had reached them, and they were prepared to try their chances, but the uproar over migrant children in the U.S. has thwarted their plans. As of this posting, he is still in Ecuador, still waiting for a chance to make it to the United States. This is what is known in the Gambia as “the back way.” That is going to Babylon (Europe, America, or anywhere else out of the continent) through illegal and often dangerous means, risking everything, not least their lives. The Gambia, a tiny sliver of a country in West Africa is one of the most affected by outward migration. Whole towns are being emptied of their young men on their way to Europe or America. In some communities, there are very few young men left to work in the farms. Babylon seems to be the major pre-occupation. Conversely, for a good number of the population, migrant remittances from those who manage to make it are a mainstay of economic survival. For others, it is a rite of passage for young men to go out into the world to seek their fortunes. My father and his cohorts were among the first wave of migrants in the 1960s and 1970s that left the Gambia for in Sierra Leone during the diamond boom in that country. The difference this time is that the migrants are younger, and are headed north, much farther north-----to Europe. If the Atlantic was narrower, they most certainly will cross it to the United States. As it turns out, even the vast Atlantic, as in the case of Bangalie, cannot stop those who are willing to give up everything for a better future. For the parents, there is anguish, and then there are mixed feeling. While many will certainly benefit from the remittances of those who make it, they have no clue of what awaits these young men, or the horrors of a journey fraught with uncertainty. As a result, they become willing participants, often draining their life savings, and entrusting their children to people smugglers, and criminals. Even the US embassy in the Gambia has recently gotten involved in the effort to deter young men from leaving through the backway. The embassy sponsored a concert last year with performances in local languages “to sensitize the public” about the dangers facing their children. As far back as I can remember, the constant ebbs and flows of migrants, flowing with the economic currents to a place a little better than their countries, have shaped this part of the world. In the past, these young men would have gone to the larger urban centers or neighboring countries for work. However, the global economic downturn, and the lack of opportunities in these neighboring countries has shifted the tide northwards. So what is being done to stop the flow of migrants like the young man in Ecuador? Nothing much, at least, nothing with significant impact to change minds. West African governments have raised alarms, but they cannot offer anything meaningful for these young men to start a life in their own countries. Regionally, there is no mechanism in place to address this issue as a collective, just as European governments are struggling to come up with a cohesive plan. Meanwhile, these young people continue to leave, and are willing to do anything, to pay any price for a chance to make it to their Babylon. Many will make it, and many more will perish in the Mediterranean, or languish for years in detention centers in Italy and France, or prisons in Libya, and Algeria. In this case, faraway Ecuador.

Upheaval in the Middle East presents both challenges and opportunities for the 30 million Kurds living in the region. The newest InfoGuide outlines these dynamics, their historical underpinnings, and how they could reshape the Middle East.

Below is a visualization and description of some of the most significant incidents of political violence in Nigeria from October 18 to October 24, 2014. These incidents will be included in the Nigeria Security Tracker. Learn About Tableau October 18: Boko Haram attacks Hawul, Borno, killing eight. October 19: Fulani herdsmen killed thirty four in Taraba state, twenty-seven in the town of Wukari and seven in Ibi. October 19: The Nigerian military killed twenty-five Boko Haram insurgents in Damboa, Borno. October 19: Boko Haram killed five in Gwoza, Borno. October 21: Fulani herdsmen killed twenty in Lafia, Nasarawa. October 22: Boko Haram abducted sixty girls and women in Michika, Adamawa. October 22: Boko Haram is suspected of setting off two bombs in Katagum, Bauchi, killing seventeen people. October 24: A mob lynched a lecturer after he accidentally hit and killed five students with his car in Zing, Taraba.

I have written before about New York’s City’s African-born population. Here, I want to call attention to the current wave of African immigration to the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on October 23, 2014, the population of the United States was 319,131,500, the third largest in the world, after China and India. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey conducted 2008-2012, there were 39.8 million foreign-born in the United States. Of them, 1.6 million were from Africa, that is about 4 percent of the foreign-born population. That is a big increase from 1970, when there were only about eighty thousand foreign born from Africa, representing less than 1 percent of the foreign born population in the United States. Our African immigrant communities are mostly new. About three quarters of our Africa-born population came to the U.S. after 1990. Census Bureau reports suggest specific milestones in African immigration. The U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 replaced the national origin quota system with a new law that prioritized skilled labor, family unification, and humanitarian concerns. In 2010, about a quarter of African immigrants came to the United States as refugees or received asylum. More generally, as the American economy pulled ahead of the old colonial powers and immigration to Western Europe became more difficult, the United States became increasingly attractive as a destination for African immigrants in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Many Africans also came to the United States in search of educational opportunities. The four countries that provide the largest number of immigrants are Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Egypt. (Unlike the U.S. Department of State, the Census Bureau includes the North African Mediterranean littoral states as part of Africa rather than the Middle East). The four states that have received the largest number of immigrants are New York, California, Texas, and Maryland. Together, they include over one-third of the foreign born from Africa. The metropolitan areas with the largest African-born population are New York City, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. African immigrants are well educated. Forty-one percent of our African foreign-born have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 28 percent of the foreign born population as a whole. As of 2011, according to the Census Bureau, about 30 percent of the entire American population that is twenty-five years or older has a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. The American Community Survey shows that the foreign-born population of African origin is still small relative to other groups, despite its rapid growth. Unlike Europe, China, or Japan, the American population is not graying, largely because of immigration. The relative youthfulness of the American population is a source of vitality, and Africans are making their contribution.

Below is a visualization and description of some of the most significant incidents of political violence in Nigeria from October 4 to October 10, 2014. These incidents will be included in the Nigeria Security Tracker. Learn About Tableau October 5: Kidnappers killed two in Abia, while a man was stabbed to death in another part of Abia. October 5: Nigerian troops killed two hundred Boko Haram insurgents around Madagali, Adamawa. October 6: Nigerian troops killed two hundred more Boko Haram insurgents, losing seventy soldiers around Madagali, Adamawa. October 6: Boko Haram beheaded seven civilians in Ngamdu, Borno. October 7: Boko Haram launched a rocket from Nigeria into Amchide, Cameroon, killing eight refugees. Cameroonian soldiers killed eight Boko Haram insurgents in retaliation. October 9: Unknown gunmen attacked Nigerian refugees in Kereomafa, Cameroon, killing an unknown number (approximately twenty). October 2-October 10: Over the course of a week, Fulani herdsmen killed twenty-six members of the Berom ethnic group in Riyom, Plateau. October 10: A riot at Kirikiri prison in Lagos resulted in the deaths of ten inmates.

It is not so surprising that Radio France Internationale journalist and sound engineer Claude Verion and colleague Ghislaine Dupont were kidnapped on November 2 in the northern Mali town of Kidal. The kidnapping of foreigners in the Sahel is, if not frequent, then also not uncommon. The question is, however, why were they murdered and not held for ransom? According to Radio France Internationale (RFI), Deutsche Welle (DW), and the Voice of America (VOA), the two journalists were kidnapped shortly after they concluded an interview with a leader of the MNLA, a Tuareg separatist group. Quoting the French foreign ministry, RFI reports the two were taken by a group of armed men. An MNLA spokesman is quoted by VOA as saying the captors killed the journalists and French troops found their bodies a short distance from Kidal. Apparently, they were murdered shortly after they were seized. No group or organization has claimed responsibility. Criminal groups and jihadists operating in the Sahel (including northern Mali) have grown fat from the ransoms paid for the release of European kidnap victims. Hence the kidnapping of the two French journalists fits a pattern. What does not fit is their murder. Kidnap victims are sometimes held for a long time. Last week, four French men were released in Niger after having been held for more than three years. While never openly reported, the common supposition is that most kidnap victims are released upon the payment of ransom. Ransoms constitute an important revenue stream for jihadists in the Sahel as well as a variety of smuggling and other criminal syndicates active in the region. Official American and British government policy is to never pay ransom. Not so among some European states, and private corporations have long been suspected of paying ransom for their captive citizens and/or employees. American and British policy and practice may reduce the attractiveness of their citizens to kidnappers. On the other hand, kidnappers will kill their victims when it is clear that no ransom is forthcoming. That can constitute formidable pressure on governments to pay. So, if ransom was not the motive, why were Verion and Dupont killed? The French and Malian governments have launched an inquiry and a search for the perpetrators. The UN Security Council has called on Mali to “swiftly investigate the case” and to hold the perpetrators to account. But, in northern Mali where jihadist and other violence continues, infrastructure is poor, and the government weak or non-existent. The likelihood of learning the truth behind this tragic episode is remote.

It is well known that the departure of educated and highly trained Africans from their continent is a significant break on development. With respect to medical doctors, the president of the Nigeria Medical Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, MD, placed this reality in high relief in a press interview on September 27. Dr. Enabulele said that of 71,740 medical doctors registered with the Medical and Dental Council, only 27,000 are practicing in Nigeria. He said some 7,000 Nigerian medical doctors (MD) work in public health in the United Kingdom and the United States while others have left the medical profession altogether. Various Nigerian diaspora websites place the number of Nigerian MDs in the U.S. at much higher. According to the press, the World Health Organization’s standard is one medical doctor to six hundred patients. In the United States, that ratio is one to three hundred, according to the 2004 census. That standard indicates that Nigeria would need more than 280,000 MDs for its population of some 170 million. By that standard, Nigeria registers about a quarter of the MDs it needs, but it has only about 10 percent of the physicians its population size requires practicing in the country. Nigeria is thus training MDs for the first world that it badly needs at home. But MDs in Nigeria are notoriously underpaid and overworked. Among physicians of my acquaintance there is no shortage of dedication and devotion to their patients. But there is widespread frustration at the lack of supplies and pharmaceuticals, and the low level of training amongst nurses and medical technicians is concerning. Considering the poor conditions of public hospitals in Nigeria, working in public health in Manchester or Houston can be attractive.

Sharone Tobias and Will Piekos look at the top five stories in Asia this week. 1. China released a white paper on defense on Tuesday. The 2013 National Defense White Paper blamed Japan and the United States for the rise in tensions in the region (in so many words). It complained about neighboring countries for “making trouble over the Diaoyu islands,” referring to Japan. It also referenced the United States, saying, “some country has strengthened its Asia-Pacific military alliances, expanded its military presence in the region, and frequently makes the situation tenser.” The white paper omitted any reference to a “no-first use” policy on nuclear weapons for the first time, a possible change in China’s nuclear policy. It is unclear what the significance of this omission is, though, as experts have questioned China’s commitment to this policy in the past. 2. Shifts in North Korea policy? China’s special envoy on North Korea, Wu Dawei, will travel to Washington, DC, next week for “an in-depth exchange of views” on the “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” The announcement comes after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Beijing and urged China to help convince the North to get rid of its nuclear weapons. Kerry has also indicated a readiness to talk with North Korea, as long as it takes steps toward denuclearization. Meanwhile, Pyongyang announced its own preconditions for resuming talks with Washington and Seoul, demanding the withdrawal of UN sanctions and the end of U.S.-South Korea military drills. North Korea’s willingness to discuss even the possibility of dialogue hopefully signals a desire to deescalate the tensions that have plagued the Korean Peninsula. 3. China GDP growth slows to 7.7 percent. New economic data in the first quarter of 2013 showed slower-than-expected growth that surprised analysts, who had forecasted growth of around 8 percent. It’s possible that even that number is inflated, given that there are strong incentives for local government officials to inflate their numbers for promotions; the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics only takes two weeks to compile its data, compared to six weeks in Hong Kong and eight weeks in the United States. For years, China’s stated goal was to secure 8 percent GDP growth, in a policy called “bao ba (保八),” or “protect the eight,” on the premise that the country needed that level of GDP growth to maintain domestic stability. 4. Bird flu fears increase. The numbers keep rising, as China has now confirmed ninety-one cases of H7N9 and raised the death toll to seventeen. Meanwhile, fears of human-to-human transmission have intensified—the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that 40 percent of people who have tested positive for H7N9 had no recent contact with poultry. Still, such fears seem premature, and the World Health Organization has stated that there is “no evidence of ongoing human-to-human transmission.” 5. Chinese national killed in Boston bombing. Lu Lingzi, a graduate student at Boston University from Shenyang, was confirmed as a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing on Monday. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing issued visas to her parents, as well as to the parents of a second Chinese student injured in the attack. China’s new ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, stated that “We strongly condemn such an act of terror targeted at innocent civilians. We stand with the United States. We are ready to further our cooperation with the United States in fighting terror.” Bonus: Rodman to return to North Korea, says Kim Jung-un just needs a hug. The basketball star is planning his second “diplomatic” visit to North Korea. Dennis Rodman claims that the most recent increase in tensions is because “[Kim] just wants to be loved. He just wants to sit down and talk. That’s all.” The Worm, as Rodman is affectionately known, also says he’s been approached by the FBI for insider information into the North Korean regime. In unrelated news, North Korea recently released its most hilarious propaganda video yet, claiming that Americans drink coffee made out of snow and that North Korean aid workers hand out cakes in the streets. Watch it here, dubbed in English. (Update: the video is a hoax, but the comedic factor remains. Enjoy!)