June 3, 2011
| Matt Pennington
| Tagged as: Afghanistan, Humanitarian Response, Asia
Last weekend, my colleague Lynn and I drove about two hours west from Mazar-e-Sharif to Sheberghan, the capital city of Jawzjan province, to meet with recently displaced families. Since 2009, violence in the north has risen due to increased Taliban presence, and the number of newly displaced families has increased by 300%. So we were eager to hear from Afghans about their reasons for fleeing and better understand the challenges they face in Sheberghan.
April 18, 2011
| Maureen Lynch
| Tagged as: Kuwait, Middle East, Statelessness
It has been 50 years since Kuwait gained its independence. It has been
50 years that tens of thousands of long term residents in the country
have not been recognized as citizens. And it has been 50 years since
the same nationality law that prevents individuals from securing their
right to a basic human right to nationality has also prevented women
from passing their nationality to a spouse or her children.
July 14, 2010
| Dawn Calabia
| Tagged as: Kyrgyzstan, Asia
Refugees International advocates, Dawn Calabia and Maureen Lynch are currently in Kyrgyzstan following the violence that began in June. This is the story of one Uzbek grandfather they met who survived the attacks.
We heard gunshots and shouting.
I sent my daughter and grandchildren out the back door and I went to the bathroom to look out the window. I saw a tank and cars with armed men, some with rifles, and others with axes and pieces of metal.
March 31, 2010
| Camilla Olson
| Tagged as: Africa, DR Congo
Violent conflict erupted in Equateur province, western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 2009, leading to the displacement of 200,000 people and hundreds killed. The conflict has its roots in long-standing economic and political grievances between the Boba and Lobala tribes. Control over the key commercial town of Dongo led to major violence in October 2009, when a Lobala militia attacked the local population, targeting Bobas in particular.
November 10, 2009
| Maureen Lynch
| Tagged as: Kuwait, Middle East, Statelessness
There are millions of people in the world who have no effective nationality. They cannot vote, get jobs in the formal sector, own property or obtain a passport. These "stateless" people face discrimination, socioeconomic hardship, and sometimes violence for which there is little recourse. They are often denied access to health care services and even basic education.
March 10, 2009
| Camilla Olson
| Tagged as: Africa, DR Congo, Humanitarian Response, Peacekeeping, Return and Reintegration
In the wake of the violent escalation in fighting in the fall between the CNDP rebel group and the Congolese national army, several camps housing displaced people in North Kivu were destroyed. When the CNDP captured Rutshuru it went to the surrounding camps and told the displaced people they were now “liberated” and must go home.
January 21, 2009
| Mpako Foaleng
| Tagged as: Africa, Central African Republic, Humanitarian Response
Civilians continue to bare the brunt of the prevailing insecurity caused in northern Central African Republic. More than a million civilians are still living in fear of violence caused by the absence of state authorities and the presence of rebels and bandits, but some of those displaced have started to return to their villages. The ongoing political dialogue has given some hope to those people in the north who are aware of it.
January 8, 2009
| Camilla Olson
| Tagged as: Burma, Malaysia, Asia, Statelessness
Sayed and Jamil (not their actual names) both came to Malaysia alone as young boys. They are part of a growing trend in Rohingya families to send unaccompanied minors out of Burma in search of safety and better opportunities for their future. Neither boy said they felt safe in Malaysia. In Penang, where they are both currently living, the Rohingya community is constantly under threat of arrest by immigration authorities.
Jamil (right) is thirteen. He arrived in Malaysia just three months ago. His parents sent him to Malaysia to escape being taken by the Burmese army for forced labor. He travelled from his home in Northern Rakhine State to Bangladesh, where he waited twenty days to catch a boat to Thailand. He spent two weeks at sea on the boat. When he arrived in Thailand he was arrested and taken to the Burmese border where he was picked up by agents who agreed to take him to the Thai-Malaysia border.
October 3, 2008
| Patrick Duplat
| Tagged as: Africa, Somalia, Yemen, Humanitarian Response, Neglected Crises
Refugees International visited Yemen in February 2008 to assess thehumanitarian situation of Somali refugees. In Aden, a former Britishcolonial port located on the mouth of the Red Sea, we went to visit theBasatin neighborhood. Basatin means garden in Arabic, but is anythingbut. It’s a destitute area on the outskirts of Aden where thousands ofSomalis have regrouped in small mud and brick houses with tin roofs.
August 20, 2008
| admin
| Tagged as: Colombia, Americas, Humanitarian Response
The town of Sanchez, Colombia, lies right on the banks of the River Patia. The river, a major narco-trafficking highway, cuts through the Andes and leads out to the Pacific Ocean. It has historically been an epicenter of political violence. Controlled by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) until recently, the River Patia area has seen intense fighting between illegal armed groups since 2003, with a major massacre in 2006. To date, over 1,000 people are estimated to have been murdered along the river.
July 28, 2008
| admin
| Tagged as: Africa, Ethiopia - Eritrea, Statelessness
Some 25 kilometers inside Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea, the Shimelba Refugee Camp is home to more than 17,900 individuals who have fled from Eritrea for reasons that include religious persecution, fear of forced military conscription of males from age 18 to 40 that generally includes hard labor, and attempting to rejoin family left behind during the border conflict. The majority of camp residents are young males, many university educated and frustrated about the irreparable loss of the prime years of potential professional careers.
July 7, 2008
| admin
| Tagged as: Ethiopia - Eritrea, Statelessness
A centuries-long history of unity and separation continues to vex Ethiopia and Eritrea. Between May 1998 and June 2000, the two countries engaged in a border war in which tens of thousands of combatants were killed and some 650,000 civilians displaced.
June 11, 2008
| admin
| Tagged as: Ethiopia - Eritrea, Statelessness
During the 1998-2000 border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, more than 70,000 people died, 650,000 were displaced, and at least 70,000 individuals were deported, Ethiopians from Eritrea and Eritreans from Ethiopia. But these were not the only victims of the conflict. In addition to the bereaved and those who had to reestablish homes after being displaced, many continue to endure prolonged family separation.
May 19, 2008
| admin
| Tagged as: Kenya, Statelessness
Although more than forty ethnic groups reside in Kenya, not all of them have been able to call that country home. The Nubian community, whose ancestors came to Kenya from Sudan in the late nineteenth century as conscripts of the British colonial army, is one group that has historically been denied citizenship.
May 2, 2008
| admin
| Tagged as: Burma, Humanitarian Response, Neglected Crises
One of the highlights of Refugees International’s recent visit to Burma was a visit with a Buddhist monk in Karen State in southeastern Burma. The RI team reached him through a Christian aid worker who was collaborating with him on health and education programs. We jumped at the opportunity to get a view from the local level as to what kind of social action work was being initiated through the Buddhist clergy.
April 14, 2008
| admin
| Tagged as: Burma, Humanitarian Response, Neglected Crises
On April 10, Refugees International hosted the Venerable U Kovida in Washington, DC as he testified before the House of Representatives' Human Rights Caucus. Ven. Kovida is a Burmese monk who helped lead the September protests in his home country. He was recently resettled to the United States as a refugee after a harrowing escape from Burma to Thailand. The following is the text of his testimony:
Respected Congressmen, staff members, Ladies and Gentlemen.
April 2, 2008
| admin
| Tagged as: Burma, Humanitarian Response, Neglected Crises
In February of 2008, Refugees International conducted a mission inside Burma, also known as Myanmar, to evaluate the humanitarian situation inside the country. During this mission, Refugees International encountered many civil society organizations, which are often the foundations of successful internationally sponsored humanitarian work. Additionally, Refugees International met civil society activists that are working to create indigenous alternatives to the current political debate inside the country.
