Who Wants to Adopt a Country?

[MWAIE]

An article by Krzys Wasilewski, speaks about the 100,000 or so people
for whom Kiribati is home:

'Omitted by most maps, this island country usually goes unnoticed by
cargo ships that pound through the waters of the South Pacific in
great numbers. But for 100,000 people who live there, Kiribati is
their whole world - the world that may soon disappear'.
'The painful truth is that by 2050, Kiribati might be swallowed by the
Pacific Ocean'.

'President Anote Tong, who replaced Tito in 2003, blames global
warming for his country's uncertain future. Touring the world, he says
he is fed up with begging powerful countries for financial aid that
wouldn't be needed at all if they tackled their gas emissions'.

'On Monday, Tong embarked on another journey, this time to find a new
home for his people. Although surrounded by giants, such as China and
Australia, so far only New Zealand has agreed to receive several
thousands fellow islanders. "We will need to relocate our people at
some point in time in the future, but so far New Zealand has been the
only one able to come forward," said Tong, disappointed'.

'Most experts say that Kiribati will sooner or later go under water,
global warming notwithstanding. They remind that history knows many
such incidents with Atlantis being only the most mysterious and
popular example. The mighty will not even notice when the whole world
for 100,000 people disappears'.

There have been recent reports of President Tong's travels to create
awareness about his country's predicament and he has even made his
case before the United Nations.

As reported by ABC News (abcnews.go.com), 'After narrowly defeating
his brother for the presidency in 2003, Tong went to the United
Nations in 2004 and 2005, and stunned world leaders by claiming his
country will be gone by mid-century -- and would become the first
sovereign victim of man-made climate change'.

That was three to four years ago. Now President Tong is trying to find
new homes for his people, our neighbours. How much do we, as regional
neighbours, know about our 100,000 or so neighbours who stand to lose
their homeland? Do we truly understand that they will soon have no
physical place to call home? And more importantly, are we aware that
we could be in the same position too?
Of the fifty-one or so Small Island Developing States listed under the
UN, nineteen are countries in the region. All low-lying and
susceptible to natural disasters and among the most vulnerable to
rising sea-levels brought on by global warming.

This issue was raised at the recent climate change talks held in
Bangkok early this year, with claims that Pacific Islanders could make
up the new class of refugees, those homeless simply because their home
simply no longer physically exists.

The simple fact is that President Tong and the people of Kiribati
should not be alone in getting the message out there. We are all
headed down the same road, Kiribati is just getting there a lot
sooner.

http://newsblaze.com/worldnews.html
http://www.solomontimes.com/news.aspx?nwID=1934