Stories about Refugees from January, 2009
Palestine: “They used our clothes as a toilet”
Bloggers in Gaza are gathering information about what happened during the recent Israeli attacks. In this update, we hear from families whose homes were looted and left covered with faeces by Israeli soldiers, learn what the effects of DIME weapons are, and are told the story of a father whose baby daughter was shot, his wife breastfeeding the girl as she bled to death.
Rohingya Muslims facing cultural genocide
Prof. Marranci writes that Rohingya Muslims are “victims of their lack of strategic value, both for their native Southeast Asia and the wider international community.” The Rohingyas are also “facing a slow, silent cultural genocide.”
Jamaica, Zimbabwe: Hunger Strike
“Do people in Jamaica and the Caribbean care enough about events in Zimbabwe to lend their help to this call for moral action?”: Annie Paul has a friend who is on a hunger strike to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and tells us how we can help.
The plight of the Rohingya
The Rohingya have been called “trafficked victims”, “refugees”, “forced migrants” and “illegal migrants”. The Irrawaddy provides a comprehensive background to the situation of the Rohingya. This issue has involved Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh and even the United States.
Thailand: Media investigates Rohingya refugees
Bangkok Pundit summarises some of the foreign media's investigations of the cases of the Rohingya refugees. Thailand Crisis says the incident represents the failure of the Abhisit government.
Palestine: “In Gaza, only the dead have seen the end of this war”
The people of Gaza are discovering the extent of the destruction inflicted during three weeks of Israeli attacks, and are slowly starting to rebuild their lives. Some bloggers are wondering about the less visible psychological and emotional damage. One asks, "What will be the reward for getting up and going on, one more time?"
Palestine: Assessing the Aftermath in Gaza
On Sunday evening the Israel Defense Forces began a troop withdrawal from Gaza, following three straight weeks of attacks. Israel's unilateral ceasefire was announced earlier in the day, and met with an offer for a one-week ceasefire from Hamas. Ayesha Saldanha shares blog reactions from Gaza.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Reunited After 16 Years”
Amila Bosnae shares a story about a Bosnian refugee in Germany who found his daughter after 16 years of searching for her.
Thailand: Rohingya refugee story coverage
Bangkok Pundit provides a round up of the story about Rohingya refugees who were allegedly pushed out to sea by the Thai Navy. The story has been reported in detail by BBC News. According to Bangkok Pundit the news was originally broken by the website Phuket Wan.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Accounts by Wojciech Tochman and Peter Lippman
Kirk Johnson of Americans for Bosnia writes about the newly-published English translation of a collection of Polish-language articles by journalist Wojciech Tochman (“Like Eating a Stone: Surviving the Past in Bosnia”): “I can only highly recommend that anyone interested in the human stories behind official statistics on refugee returns and...
Flashfloods and landslides in south Philippines
More than 115,000 people in the Philippines’ northern Mindanao region had fled to safety due to flashfloods and landslides. The local government reported that the series of flashfloods that struck the region have reached humanitarian crisis proportions
Indonesia: Flooding in 13 provinces
Thirteen Indonesian provinces experienced flooding the past week due to torrential rains. The disaster has claimed the lives of 14 people while three others are still missing. More than 50,000 people have to be evacuated. Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, is under up to two meters of water.
Palestine: “Everything is in vain in Gaza – breathing, running, hoping”
In this roundup of blogs from Gaza, we hear in detail about the attacks on Al Quds hospital in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City from an Australian activist who was in it at the time, and an Italian activist describes a man lying injured in hospital, unaware that...
Palestine: Israeli Troops Enter Residential Areas of Gaza City
Thousands of Palestinians have been fleeing from Gaza City as IDF troops have entered residential areas. A number of the foreign activists in Gaza were helping at Al Quds hospital when it came under attack, and managed to get out reports of what was going on. We hear from them and other bloggers in this roundup of Gaza blogs by Ayesha Saldanha.
Palestine: “I don't have guns or weapons. I struggle by telling the truth”
In this roundups of blogs from Gaza, we hear how an ambulance driver deals with his fear, the effect of the warning announcements made by the IDF on local TV and radio stations – and how the possibility of leaving Gaza is the only thing giving an NGO worker the strength to go on.
Palestine: “Tell me, please God, tell me this is going to end soon”
The Israeli aerial attacks on Gaza show no sign of relenting, and in Gaza City there is now street fighting. In this post bloggers describe the fear experienced when Israeli soldiers arrive in the neighbourhood, explain how important prayer has become, and emphasise the need to keep telling the world what is going on.
Russia-Georgia: Red Cross viewpoint
Krusenstern discusses [GER] the civilian consequences of the Russo-German war from the perspective of a recent ICRC-official's reflections.
Japan: Hakenmura, the Temp Workers Village
Over 300 people spent their nights between New Year`s Eve and the 5th of January in a tent camp stationed at Hibiya Park in central Tôkyô, referred to as 年越し派遣村 (toshikoshi hakenmura, or lit. “New Year's Village for Temporary Workers”). The people staying in Hakenmura were temporary workers (派遣社員, haken...
Palestine: “I see hatred in every blast pounding Gaza”
In this roundup of Gaza's blogs we hear about living without electricity, ways of getting the latest news, and white phosphorus shells. And an 11-year-old girl jokes: "It's like we are a scary movie. I'm sure people eat popcorn as they watch."
Palestine: “I do not want my kids to see me torn into pieces”
How does it feel to be unable to protect your children? In this roundup of blogs from Gaza we hear from a mother who is wracked with guilt at seeing her children's terror: "Was I mistaken to have kids in the first place? Do I not have the right to be a mother?"
Azerbaijan: IDPs
“sIDe-tALKs” Azerbaijan visits Azeri refugees and IDPs displaced by the war with Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh in the early 1990s. The blog posts photographs of the visit and says that while attempts to integrate refugees and IDPs into Azerbaijani society have gained momentum, much more remains...
