Refugees

Suara Timor Lorosa'e Edition 26 June 2008 DILI - The Dare Suco Chief, Jose dos Santos, says that 44 families who are refugees in the Dare Suco in the Sub-District of Vera Cruz have asked again that they return to their homes. “As the Suco chief, I have delivered their request to the government through the Ministry of Social Solidarity. The answer was that the repatriation to their homes can onl

Israel has offered to pay African states to absorb the thousands of Sudanese refugees from Darfur and other environs who have crossed into Israel recently, Army Radio reported on Thursday.The idea arose in discussions held by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert concerning the influx of African refugees in Israel and the high costs of providing these refugees with housing, health and social services.The pro

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A long way from Iraq and the war debate in Washington, Herman Moore sat outside a tent in a downtown New Orleans homeless camp, trying to make sense of a proposal that helps... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

In countries where people have to flee their homes because of persecution and violence, political solutions must be found, peace and tolerance restored, so that refugees can return home. In my experience, going home is the deepest wish of most refugees. Angelina Jolie In a previous post, I talked a bit on the problem of migration [...]

Although the refugees in the Kolmera Jardin are ready to leave the camp, some of the refugees still object because the government has forbidden them from living in their houses because there is a new project to be undertaken. “Our house is not far from the Rapid Response Unit Headquarters in Fatuhada. Now, the government has forbidden us from living in that house. Where will my family go?" said

More than 15,300 refugees were smuggled into Yemen from Africa in the first four months of this year, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The UNHCR said twice as many refugees – mostly from Somalia and Djibouti – had arrived in the Yemeni port town of Aden to April 20 compared to the number that arrived last year. A total of 361 people were reported or killed during the hazardous voyage. More...

Featured News:,25642,23507488-5014239,00.html could be a milestone for Google humanitarian projects / charity projects, yeah Google Maps now also will track Refugee information / movement, in collaboration with The United Nations Organization / UNO or UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).Google Earth latest mapping software / geospatial tool presents a virtual reality tour along with UN refugee agency, it includes a few of Globe’s recent major displacement crises and the humanitarian efforts targeted towards the help of global refugees.Google Earth would be used to track the Refugee movement and Google earth will display the satellite images of refugees movement along the geographical longitudes and latitudes : )The Internet users have a choice now to simply download the Google Eart

"Internet search giant Google Inc. unveiled a new feature Tuesday for its popular mapping programs that shines a spotlight on the movement of refugees around the world. The maps will aid humanitarian operations as well as help inform the public about the millions who have fled their homes because of violence or hardship, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which is working with Google on the project. "[via nbc 11]

That’s right, JEWISH refugees. The Jews who were run out of Arab countries, by those tolerant peaceful muslims, after the UN created (or rather, GAVE BACK WHAT WAS RIGHTFULLY THEIRS TO BEGIN WITH) Israel in 1948. All the media ever harps on about is the Arabs who left Israel (which they previously invaded and occupied [...]

The American Thinker reports that Congress is set to vote on an important issue that's been long ignored, in contrast to that of the Arab "refugees" whose own rejected them for the purpose of using them as a tool against the state of Israel. The issue in focus here is Jewish refugees who'd been driven out of Arab lands at the time of the 1940s. Justice For Jews (via Point of No Return) is

From The Canadian :   In September of 2007, the city of Windsor, which borders the United States, officially asked for financial assistance from Ottawa to deal with American refugees flooding into Canada. The U.S. refugee phenomenon was reported in the local daily newspaper, the Windsor Star. LINK This is proving to be the tip of the iceberg, and only the first wave of economic refugees that have been created in the United States. There are now tent cities which are being built outside most large metropolitan areas, one of the largest of which is in Los Angeles. A report from the BBC highlights the consequence of the U.S. sub-prime meltdown and the fears that the crisis is growing. YouTube LINK The homelessness situation has grown so rapidly in the United States, tha

Report from the BBC, reporting that tens of thousands of US citizens are fleeing to Canada as economic refugees. Also a report on www.chycho.com Canadians will also need to be prepared for this influx, especially considering that the average processing time for a refugee claim in Canada is currently 14.2 months, “a period during which the [...]

Indonesian environmental refugees protest A massive environmental disaster in Sidoarjo, Indonesia, has forced 15,000 people to leave their homes in the past two years. An enormous eruption of hot mud that began in May 2006 continues to flow at a rate of 148,000 cubic metres a day. Activists hold Indonesian oil and gas company PT Lapindo [...]

AINA - Iraqi asylum seekers in Syria have been tricked into believing that they can bribe their way to a better place in line in the queue to the Swedish embassy. The first time I came across these falsifications, was when Marie-Jeanette Löfgren and I produced two documentaries for the program Kaliber on SR (the Swedish state owned radio station). Already on the second day after we landed in Syria, September 2007, I asked Chatarina Kipp, the Swedish ambassador in Syrian's capital city Damascus, if she had heard of the bribes. She dismissed it as rumour and hearsay. Yet a translator who has the pavement outside of the Swedish embassy as his office, claimed that it is true and that I only needed to sit with him for an hour before some of the Iraqis, who were extremely frustrated, would tell

Lauryn Hill Featuring The Refugees (Killing me softly)I wonder what's up with Lauryn Hill. We haven't heard nothing from her lately. This is one of those song that got all them grammy's and other music awards sitting on her mantle. Lauryn Hill's been putting it down since before she was with the refugee camp. Ever since i heard her sing in the movie sister act (with Whoopi Goldberg), i new that she had a lot of talent. If she would've chose to continue acting, i believe she would've been very successful in that field (cause she was good in the movie), but i guess it was her fate to be a singer.

UN seeks aid for Somalia, Sudan refugees(AP)AP - The U.N. humanitarian chief warned that terrible atrocities and urban warfare were engulfing Somalia's capital and called for a large increase in aid to handle a burgeoning population of refugees fleeing Mogadishu. Rwanda genocide court: life sentence on ex-governor(Reuters) Reuters - A U.N. court trying masterminds ofRwanda's 1994 genocide on Friday sentenced a former provincialgovernor to life imprisonment for his role in the killings,including helping soldiers kill refugees in a church. Germany puts Zimbabwe in spotlight over rights abuses(Reuters) Reuters - German Chancellor Angela Merkelchallenged European and African leaders on Saturday to confronthuman rights abuses in Zimbabwe, putting the country'spresident Robert Mugabe in the spotlight at an EU-Africasummit. Srebrenica survivors, Mia Farrow protest over Darfur(AFP) AFP - Srebrenica massacre surviours joined US actress and activist Mia Farrow in a torch-lightin

Resolution 194 has become a signifier for the Right of Return of Palestinians to their lands. As a complete ignorant in international law, I don't know if it's of any consequence, but I've just found out that the resolutions cited in the title of this post (181 and 194) are both resolutions of the General Assembly of the UN, in contrast to 242 and 338 which are resolutions of the security council.Anyway, 194 deals with the refugees only in article 11, addressing many other issues (such as a call for UN control over Jerusalem) but has still become to be known as the "Right of Return" resolution. It is perhaps not without significance that it is a resolution reached in 1948, before a ceasefire was reached, and (obviously) referring to the situation pre-1967 war.Realizing this, I revert to the focus of my previous post: how can the Palestinians demand a Right of Return for all refugees of 1948, and at the same time not consider the villages and towns that have preserved continuity from

From the AP:Thousands Return to Safer Iraqi Capital BAGHDAD (AP) - In a dramatic turnaround, more than 3,000 Iraqi families driven out of their Baghdad neighborhoods have returned to their homes in the past three months as sectarian violence has dropped, the government said Saturday....things began changing, becoming more peaceful, in August when radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army fighters to stand down nationwide. About the same time, the Khadra neighborhood Awakening Council rose up against brutal al-Qaida control—the imposition of its austere interpretation of Islam, along with the murder and torture of those who would not comply. The uprising originated in Iraq's west and flowed into the capital. Earlier this year, the Sunni tribes and clans in the vast Anbar province began their own revolt and have successfully rid the largely desert region of al-Qaida control. At one point the terrorist group virtually controlled Anbar,

The government of Thailand has decided to repatriate 8,000 Hmong refugees who have lived in their nation for over thirty years after escaping communist rule in Laos. The Hmong fought alongside America in the Vietnam conflict and this group was never allowed an opportunity to enter America, they have languished in refugee camps in Thailand. Human Rights condemned the return of the Hmong noting they fled from “political persecution and rights abuses” and face the prospect of discrimination once back in Laos. Thailand has virtually ignored these people to the extent of not even providing education for the children. Where is the United States on this issue? The Hmong risked all in aiding American military forces and now they are abandoned once again. For once, President Bush might support with action his brave words about helping the oppressed of the world.

Prime Minister Olmert’s decision to deport hundreds of refugees from the Sudan and to bar any more from entering Israel was met with vigorous dissent by leading American Jewish leaders. Rep. Rahm Emanuel sent a sharp letter of rebuke to Israel’s ambassador to the United States: “I am writing today to express my disappointment [...]

For people who do not have access to the Internet, dropping by the nearest Internet café shop is the best alternative they can get. But in Japan, there is an added twist…Café’s are becoming hotels or temporary homes for people who have no real place to live or sleep. These people have been tagged as Net Café Refugees. This is not to say that people are checking in and out often. There are just a lot of factors such as safety in the streets at night when they are through checking the web. Some work over the web and Internet access is a need. Perhaps this is their cycle; work at the nearest café and pay for the connection used, take a nap and back to work. Now isn’t that something? “In its first ever study of a growing group dubbed “Net cafe refugees” by local media, the Health Ministry estimated that some 5,400 people live at least half the week at the 24-hour cafes because they have no permanent home.” Read more of the study here: Over 5,000 sleep in Japan&r

And just how long, Mrs. Jolie-Pitt or whatever your name is, do you expect us to believe you will be there “visiting refugees” without adopting any of them?? Seriously though, Angelina is still on the doing-good path as she fulfills her role as UN Goodwill Ambassador. Reuters has the dig: Hollywood star Angelina Jolie on Tuesday traveled to Iraq and appealed for more international support for the millions of people uprooted by war and violence. Jolie, who has been to more than 20 countries since becoming a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency six years ago, visited a makeshift camp housing 1,200 people in Iraq and spent hours speaking with Iraqis now living in Damascus. “I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to this humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners,” the actress said in a statement released by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. “It is absolutely ess

         Angelina Jolie visited Iraq on Tuesday to meet with refugees and U.S. troops in the country. Jolie, who is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, made a two day trip. "I have come to Syria and Iraq to help draw attention to this humanitarian crisis and to urge governments to increase their support for UNHCR and its partners," A.JGood for her!Related Posts Angelina Jolie Pregnant? Beth Ditto Blasts Angelina Jolie Brad and Angelina's "A Mighty Heart" Red Carpet Arrival

Ehud Olmert has said that he'll absorb 500 refugees from Darfur, but expel the rest. But look at what he called them:In a decisive move to address the African refugee crisis, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Sunday that Israel has agreed to absorb 500 refugees from Darfur among the 2,800 Africans that have illegally entered into Israel."Those who have entered Israel illegally from Egypt will be returned to Egypt," government spokesman David Baker said, according to the Jerusalem Post. "These people are illegal economic migrants and will be returned."Is that implying that they're literally illegal immigrants looking to take advantage of state welfare and jobs like those infiltrating the US? These are people who've fled from the Islamic massacres against the black natives of Sudan, and are really here to find safety. They certainly haven't found it in Egypt, where police once massacred many refugees. They all deserve to find some safety from the barbarism they've been forced

I didn't think I'd ever be posting anything more about the flop of a reality show On the Lot, which I am glad I didn't get on. After taking a bath in the ratings, the show has changed formats, the premise, the host, and was shortened from two episodes per week (a regular show and a results show, like American Idol) to only one. As a friend put it, "the show is just dumb."After perusing Microcinema Scene, I learned about this letter published by Ain't It Cool News. In it, a chronicle of manipulation is carefully detailed. Fox apparently did some nefarious things like picking contestants way before the submission deadlines, and dropping people from their website for complaining about it. When a group of the booted set up their own site, and it was mentioned in the OTL Wikipedia entry, the info was deleted by a Fox stooge! It seems to have been returned in the External Links section, however.The site is KarmaCritic, and after reading Marco's letter about the whole bamboozle, I signed

I didn't think I'd ever be posting anything more about the flop of a reality show On the Lot, which I am glad I didn't get on. After taking a bath in the ratings, the show has changed formats, the premise, the host, and was shortened from two episodes per week (a regular show and a results show, like American Idol) to only one. As a friend put it, "the show is just dumb."After perusing Microcinema Scene, I learned about this letter published by Ain't It Cool News. In it, a chronicle of manipulation is carefully detailed. Fox apparently did some nefarious things like picking contestants way before the submission deadlines, and dropping people from their website for complaining about it. When a group of the booted set up their own site, and it was mentioned in the OTL Wikipedia entry, the info was deleted by a Fox stooge! It seems to have been returned in the External Links section, however.The site is KarmaCritic, and after reading Marco's letter about the whole bamboozle, I signed

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI urged world leaders Wednesday to take in and care for refugees who seek asylum in their countries. Speaking on a day the United Nations sets aside as World Refugee Day, Benedict said accepting refugees was a “dutiful gesture of human solidarity.” “From the heart I hope that these — our brothers and sisters so tried by suffering — are guaranteed asylum and the recognition of their rights, and I invite those responsible for the nations to offer protection to those who are in such delicate situations of need,” the pope said. Addressing the 7,000 pilgrims and tourists gathered in a hall for his weekly public audience, the pope said taking in refugees was for Christians “a concrete way to show evangelical love.” He defined refugees as people “forced to flee from their countries as a result of true life-threatening dangers.” Source See there folks, the pope has solved our illegal invader Mexican refugee prob

Warning: this piece is highly opinionated. It is nevertheless my honest opinion. My impression of the reality, my interpretation of the facts, and my reflection on the state of affairs. Mine only.Today:Today's headlines: "Mortar strike wounds Israeli troups", "Lebanon camp offensive continues!", "Seven US soldiers killed in Iraq"... The Middle East... How did we ever let it come this far?In a previous post, I stated that today, 5.7 million people in the world were long term refugees. That excluded the Palestinians. 4.3 million Palestinians have been "Refugees for Life" since 1948. 4.3 million... That is about the whole population of Norway. Or half of New York city.Since 1948, time and again, the "Palestinian Issue" became front page news. An excellent historic overview, you find in this summary. But have a look also at the UNRWA overview of the issue, which includes a lot of pictorial data.According to me, the "Palestinian Issue" has been at the basis of most conflicts in the Middle

My friend E. commented in one of my previous posts: "Some groups have been refugees for so long (for example, the Palestinians in Lebanon have been displaced for almost 40 years) that people (including yourself) have already 'forgotten' their plight. Did we all become immune or saturated already?"And she is right. Read this article: "Protracted refugee situations: Millions caught in limbo, with no solutions in sight".While worldwide refugee numbers have fallen to their lowest level in 25 years, a larger percentage of asylum-seekers are spending a longer time in exile in an often-overlooked plight of subsistence living in a virtual state of limbo. Excluding the Palestinians, they account for 5.7 million of the world's 9.2 million refugees.The root causes of long-standing refugee populations stem from the very states whose instability engenders chronic regional insecurity. Most of the refugees in these regions - be they Somalis, Sudanese, Burundians or Burmese - come from countries wh

United Nations, May 31(IANS) The United Nations refugee agency is “extremely concerned” over a clash between Bhutanese refugees and Indian border forces on the Mechi bridge dividing India and Nepal. Thousands of Bhutanese refugees living in camps in eastern Nepal began a march Monday to exercise their right to return to their homeland, but violence ensued Tuesday when refugees clashed with Indian police resulting in the death of one Bhutanese and the injury to several others, UN news centre said. “Although we still do not have all of the details of what transpired, there is no justification for such violence and loss of life,” said Abraham Abraham, the Nepal representative for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “This is a terrible tragedy and our condolences go to all the families of those who died and were injured.” Some 107,000 Bhutanese refugees have been living in seven camps in eastern Nepal since the introduction of strict citizens

Kathmandu, May 28 (IANS) Tension spiralled in eastern Nepal Monday following the death of a teenager in police firing and an indefinite curfew failed to rein in angry protests, even as the UN called for restraint while Bhutanese refugees urged for an investigation. Asking refugees on the warpath to abide by the laws of the country, Abraham Abraham, chief of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ office in Nepal, said the agency was alarmed by the violence. “(We) deeply regret the tragic death of a minor despite efforts by the police to quell the unrest in the camp,” Abraham said. “This is a disturbing state of affairs and I earnestly call upon all refugees and concerned parties to resolve the matter peacefully.” Abraham’s call came after overnight violence in Beldangi refugee camps in Jhapa district with angry refugees setting fire to the camp office as well as a nearby police station. The violence began Sunday after a group of camp inmates, who adv

Sometimes there are strange coincidences. Or do they happen all the time, but we don't always keep an open eye for them?The coincidence of today: some blogs I am following, all write about the same thing: Being a refugee. What it means having to leave home. By force, by necessity. The fortune those of us have if who can come and go as we feel, as we choose. What if all of a sudden this choice is no longer there? And our lives are ruled by external events over which we have no control. In which we have no say...Pernille counts her blessings about the freedom, the liberty to go home on a holiday. While others need to move involuntarily. The feelings she expressed reminded me of those coming back from the refugee camps in Goma.Pumuckl writes about refugees, and the background, pointing to an excellent post of :The Riverbend... who writes about her decision to flee the violence of Baghdad together with her family. A touching story of what it means to leave a home behind. To leave friends

The Japanese owned and run design house Uniqlo have come up with a unique idea in order for them to get onto the green bandwagon. The company who have branches in the Japan, UK and the USA are making space available in their stores for people to bring their old and discarded cloths and shoes, these are then sent to a depot where they can be distributed to refugee camps, where the clothing will be needed urgently, as but by their nature these people come into our countries with literally only the clothes that they are standing up in. Not all of the clothing will be desired, as some items are bound to be unbearable, but these will not go to waste as they will be recycled for fuels or even insulation products. Source [Hippy Shopper] go to waste, insulation products, japan uk, Re use, recycle, refugee camps, uniqlo, urgently

Iraq: The New York Times provides an in-depth overview of the precarious situation facing Iraq and its refugees. Iran: The Wall Street Journal offers an introduction to spring fashion trends in Iran. Turkey: The Economist surveys Islamic fashion for women and its relation to presidential election woes in Turkey. Afghanistan: The Taliban’s top military commander was killed during fighting in the southern Helmand province of Afghanistan. Pakistan: According to the BBC, chaos and insurrection continue in Karachi, Pakistan. Guinea: Attacks by disgruntled soldiers pose a significant threat to the government of Guinea. U.S.: The UK’s Guardian offers an outsider’s perspective on American affairs. Environment: Ethanol production is changing life in America’s corn belt. Communism: The Economist reviews two titles to add to your collection of communist books. Email this post...

Srinagar, May 12 (IANS) Senior leaders from Jammu and Kashmir’s mainstream political parties met here Saturday to reach a consensus on the controversial issues like the re-settlement of 1947 refugees and delimitation of fresh assembly constituencies. The close-door deliberations were held at the Nehru Guest House in Chesma Shahi area of summer capital Srinagar. Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, state Congress president Peerzada Muhammad Syed, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti and Leader of Opposition Abdul Rahim Rather of the National Conference participated in the meet. Yusuf Tarigami, state general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Bhim Singh of the Panther’s Party and some leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) were also present. The objective of the all-party meet was to reach consensus on the re-settlement of 1947 refugees from West Pakistan, rehabilitation of refugees of the 1965 and 1971

Click: In April, 2007, a small group of Texans, of which I was a part, spent time in Jordan interviewing Iraqi refugees, NGOs and the United Nations High Commision for Refugees to get the real story about the this crisis which is largely ignored by the media.

Crisis looms for Iraqi refugees: "A new humanitarian crisis looms in the Middle East unless Western powers take urgent measures to assist four million Iraqis uprooted by conflict, Amnesty International warned on Monday.The London-based human rights group called on the United States, the European Union and others to help Jordan and Syria, whose governments are struggling to care for some two million Iraqi refugees who have fled their homeland.Another 1.9 million are displaced within Iraq, many in the past year marked by suicide bombings and sectarian violence."

STORIES BY LENA SIN STAFF REPORTERThe Province08 Apr 2007The mother, together with her brood of eight, showed up early at the Burnaby school last week. She had nowhere to go for help after a knife-wielding, door-banging neighbour threatened to kill her, prompting harrowing memories of her husband’s murder back in Africa. So the mother gathered her children and walked down the road to school.

Another act of disgrace from Londonistan. Now, they're deporting refugees from Darfur back to the hell they fled from, and where they could face danger anew. With these kind of awful policies being conducted in Britain, you'd think that surely the US could offer what Britain is now refusing the refugees. Why doesn't the US step forward and do something to help?

This seems only fair. The U.S. has decided to start taking in Iraqi refugees, who are without homes or have fled Iraq due to the extreme amounts of violence as a result of the current war. The U.S. has agreed to allow 7,000 into the country this year. Nearly 2 million Iraqis have left the country since the beginning of the war, and the U.S. has only taken in 466 of them. Well, 7,000 isn’t a lot at all compared to 2 million, but it sure is a lot more than 466, so I’m not complaining…too much. I know it’s completely unrealistic, but ideally the U.S. should be allowing 2 million refugees into the country. Under U.S. law we are only allowed to bring in 70,000 refugees a year. So even if we devoted all of those spots to Iraqis, there would be 1,930,000 left. That is a lot of homeless refugees who have left Iraq as a result of U.S. actions. I should be clear in stating that I am not blind to the good things this country does. The U.S. does have a very large re

A total of 45 North Korean refugees climb a metal ladder outside the wall of the Canadian Embassy in Chaoyang, Beijing, China on Wednesday. Some of them are disguised as construction laborers. (photo and caption taken from the Digital Choson Ilbo.) It looks like I'm not the only person whose feathers got ruffled by the report that Thailand arrested, fined and jailed North Koreans who were found

In 1948 and 1967 there were not only Palestinian refugees but also Jewish refugees from Arab countries - 600,000 of whom came to Israel. The State of Israel is putting the claims of Jews from Arab countries on the table, parallel to the claim by the Palestinians who left Israel.The difference, is that no Jews want to go back to those countries. One can say that there was an exchange of populations for the sake of peace.The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR) states that an estimated 900,000 Jews were forced to leave their homes in Arab and Muslim countries in the course of the 20th century. Jews were robbed of more than $100 billion in personal and communal assets, by Arab and Muslim governments.Click here for the Jewish International Rights and Redress Campaign. If your family was one of these refugees, there is a kit available with information on Jewish refugees and all the material necessary to document a personal testimony. You can also register your families ex

Yesterday Angelina Jolie was in Iraq. Yeah, you heard me . She is possibly trying to be anointed a saint by the Pope ...Or maybe try to make amends for all the naughty things she did in her life. She is an excellent representive for Americans around ...