Genocide is a horrible and inhumane method of controlling a population by eliminating the chosen population. It has been going on for centuries and in the last two has been directly addressed with laws and rules. These international laws call for harsh punishments for governments and groups who practice genocide. Genocide is the destruction of, harm to, or physical elimination of a population. A good example is the killing of all members of the Tutsi tribe within Rwanda by the Hutu tribe. The Holocaust is perhaps the most well-known and horrendous use of genocide.
The issues for most public administrators/politicians/leaders comes in the form of moral values being weighed against the needs of public they administer for. While human rights are certainly part of most people’s value system, how to stop such acts as genocide or when is not as fully developed. On top of these moral and political capital considerations, are the needs of those who become refugees, where the refugees are harbored, and how this affects the surrounding countries or regions. Genocide is horrific and so are the conditions that refugees face when fleeing. Often they are left to starve, with limited food and shelter. The governments that end up housing refugees find their resources strained further.
These countries have to provide not only a place for the refugees, but allow humanitarian aid, supply food and shelter, handle security within and externally for the refugees. Resources like water can be severely affected when thousands or millions enter the country. Admitting refugees also is a problem because often there is no way to process these people as legal immigrants and yet they cannot be considered illegal immigrants due to their status as victims of genocide or other forms of war.
Governments must apply the best uses of their resources for the good of the most people. Those people are their citizens and not the citizens of other countries, despite the wish to help those who have suffered inhumane treatment. How to balance this charge with the moral values, the needs of the country and the international laws becomes yet another point government leaders face. Long term plans must be made coordinated with other countries that can help with the issues that arise. Stopping the genocide provides another level of decision-making.
One of the major issues faced by those administrators of the public and their governments is when to step in and force the offending governments and groups stop genocide. Interfering in the rule of other countries is not an action most countries are willing to do. When they do, it is after much debate and with the approval of other countries, both in the region and around the world. Taking such a step is fraught with dangers of overstepping the government’s domestic and international reputation as well as interfering in the traditions and culture of the country. In the cases presented, Rwanda and Sudan, there must be reasons citizens at home will approve. Another recent example is Syria, where the world watched as the government allegedly killed its own citizens, yet there was little political to gain by interfering in the process of the Syrian government. It left refugees fleeing to surrounding countries and currently threatened by other forces.