Stories about Refugees from July, 2010
Lebanon: Felesteen 2.0
Felesteen 2.0 is setting up a series of new blogs as part of their social media project. The new bloggers are residents of the Shatila camp, ranging from 14 – 22 years of age with diverse educational backgrounds.
Haiti: Displaced Women and Girls Victims of Gender Violence
In the aftermath of the devastating Haiti earthquake, women and girls are still facing gender violence, as some of them not only experience rape, but then have to face an absent judicial system and less than adequate medical care.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Border
This is cinemelo comments on Border, a 2009 film from director Harutyun Khachatryan. Ostensibly a tale of life in rural Armenia, the blog says that the most telling images come from barbed wire fences which illustrate the filmmaker's connection with his country and his hatred of the war and closed...
Philippines: Dayo and the Filipino Migration
The Marocharim Experiment designates the Filipino word “dayo” as descriptive of the Filipino experience of migration: “Diaspora assumes exile, deportation, the removal of identification. ‘Dayo,’ like ‘pakikipagsapalaran,’ represents the hope for return; of when, they can only tell.”
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Bloggers build dialogue
Although a recent conference held earlier this month highlighted some of the shortcomings and dangers of using new and social media in conflict resolution, there is no doubt that online tools have moved in to fill a gap left vacant by a usually politically polarized and propagandist media in the South Caucasus.
Palestine: A Green Home Away from Home
In this post we hear about two women with a great love of nature: a nun who has found her home in the convent garden, and a city-dwelling mother who has brought her dreams of a village garden to the balcony of her apartment.
Lebanon: The Plight of Palestinian Refugees
“We can work in any field or industry, they can’t. We can learn for free, they aren’t allowed. We have access to free healthcare, they don’t. We enjoy our dignity and human rights while they struggle to simply maintain theirs. And this has been going on for a good portion...
Palestine: The Pain of Exile
Palestinian refugees are one of the biggest displaced populations in the world, with the United Nations providing assistance for some 4.7 million registered refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Millions more displaced and emigrant Palestinians live around the world. However, their attachment remains strong to the home they, or their parents or grandparents, left behind. Two bloggers in Gaza have written about the pain of exile.
North Korea: Beauty Plays In the Psychological Warfare
A North Korean waitress who looks much alike South Korean actress has become a new celebrity in South Korea. A YouTube video of a North Korean college girl praising its regime’s generosity on her rich family has drawn several ten thousand views. North Korean defectors in South Korea are warning...
Caucasus: Blogs and Bullets
Last week, on 8 July, a half-day conference, Blogs and Bullets: Evaluating the Impact of New Media on Conflict was held at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington D.C. Co-sponsored by George Washington University, it included panelists from the U.S. State Department, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Facebook, eBay, and Global Voices Online.
Thailand: Alternative care for migrants
Brian Jungwiwattanaporn writes about how groups are adopting informal and alternative care for migrants in Thailand.
