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Blog Posts by Dawn Calabia

16 Days: A Women Alone
December 09, 2011 Dawn Calabia Iraq, Syria, Middle East, Women & Children

For Americans living comfortably and securely, the life of a refugee seeking safety and survival is hard to imagine. Conflict, persecution, abuse, and threats force a refugee to flee, leaving behind their home and possessions, their friends, their community, and often their family.

They flee without knowing if they will be able to return to their loved ones and communities, or if they will be accepted somewhere they can be safe. Social and gender discrimination often makes women’s search for safety even more difficult.

RI Mourns the Death of Senator Hatfield
August 12, 2011 Dawn Calabia Cambodia, Congress, About RI
Thirty-one years ago when the founders of Refugees International were looking for a friend and ally to help the refugees of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, they discovered Senator Mark Hatfield. The former governor of Oregon was a committed and compassionate champion of the poor and persecuted.
Ivory Coast: Reconciliation & Reconstruction or Revenge & Ruin
April 11, 2011 Dawn Calabia Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, Humanitarian Response
Today’s top headline out of West Africa is the arrest of former President Laurent Gbagbo after his underground compound was reportedly stormed by Ivorian and international forces. After months of war, millions of people displaced, and thousands dead, President-elect Alassane Ouattara has serious challenges ahead as he begins to lead the Ivory Coast.

But how did we get to this point?
Cote d’Ivoire: Gbagbo’s Clinging to Power Threatens Civil War
January 28, 2011 Dawn Calabia Africa, Cote d'Ivoire
Once again death and displacement stalk 20 million Ivorians as President Lauren Gbagbo clings to the Presidency. His loss to Alassane Ouattara in November’s elections was certified by his own independent election commission and the UN, but rejected by his Supreme Court. The President of Nigeria on Monday, frustrated at failed negotiations, sanctions and threats, urged the UN Security Council to authorize a military intervention in Ivory Coast to remove President Gbagbo from the Presidential Palace and “give legitimacy to previous West African threats to send troops” unless Laurent Ouattara was permitted to become the new head of Cote d’Ivoire.

Gbagbo’s refusal to step down after ten years as president threatens to rekindle the 2002-2007 civil war between the North and South that killed thousands, displaced over 1 million people and created thousands of refugees largely based on a dispute over who was an “Ivorian,” and who was entitled to citizenship, the right to hold public office, own land,etc.
From Afghanistan, Unfiltered: Traveling in Kabul
November 01, 2010 Dawn Calabia Afghanistan, Unfiltered, Asia, Neglected Crises, Protection & Security
Arriving in Kabul, one is deposited in a small, bare airport terminal missing the usual hubbub of travelers and shopkeepers.  Passengers quickly leave the terminal as security staff, who are  everywhere, quickly pinpoint anyone standing about; “why are you waiting here?” they ask without informing you that those greeting guests must wait outside in a parking lot.  Barriers around the terminal prevent travelers from re-entering or even walking close to the VIP area.  It is a very small airport for the capital of a country receiving large amounts of international aid and numerous contractors.