Stories about Refugees from March, 2012
Mali: Facing Secession and Food Crisis as Elections Loom
Mali is currently facing critical challenges while preparing for the presidential elections on April 29. After the fall of Gaddafi in Libya, returning Tuareg armed groups posted there threaten to seek secession for the Azawad territory, or Northern Mali.
China and Koreas: North Korean Refugees
Mary Soo Anderson writes about the North Korean refugees issue in China and urges human rights organizations continue fighting for them.
Video: Surfers, Fishermen and Radiation in Post Earthquake Japan
Journalist Lisa Katayama and filmmaker Jason Wishnow are documenting the lives of people dealing with radiation in a post-earthquake Japan. In We Are All Radioactive, they are including 50% footage made by themselves in the areas around Fukushima Power Plant, and 50% footage made by residents who were given waterproof digital cameras.
Hong Kong: UNHCR's Subsidy Cut and Donation Black Hole
The UNHCR in Hong Kong is being questioned by several non-governmental bodies regarding its reduction in the day-to-day financial aid for refugees in Hong Kong, in spite of the huge amount of donation coming from private donors in Hong Kong.
Azerbaijan: Pyrrhic victory
Again writing on Facebook, journalist Khadija Ismayil, recently under pressure with an alleged threat of blackmail, provides five reasons why the Eurovision Song Contest to be staged this May in Baku might prove to be a Pyrrhic victory for Azerbaijan.
Korea: Criticisms Mount against China for Repatriating North Korean Defectors
The Marmot's hole blog displayed interesting discussion threads on Chinese repatriation of North Korean defectors. Several reports revealed last week Chinese government sent back 31 North Korean defectors to North Korea where even families who helped those to escape from the country are being arrested and interrogated.
Italy Condemned for Violations of African Refugee Rights
On February 23, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg came to a historic judgment that Italy had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by intercepting and sending back Eritrean and Somali migrants to Libya. Abdoulaye Bah reports.
Myanmar: Life Inside a Refugee Camp
Global Voices Author Tan translated a three-part series of blog posts written by a Burmese blogger Nang Nyi who visited a Kachin refugee camp in Myanmar and recounted her experience there. The refugees fled their villages after clashes broke out between government troops and Kachin rebels.
