Migration & Refugees

Europe Dream Swept Away in Tripoli

By Karlos Zurutuza
It's easy to spot Saani Bubakar in Tripoli´s old town: always dressed in the distinctive orange jumpsuit of the waste collectors, he pushes his cart through the narrow streets on a routine that has been his for the last three years of his life.

OPINION: Give Peace a Chance – Run with Youth

By Ettie Higgins
Rambang “Raymond” Tot Deng was 18 and attending his final year of school when fighting erupted in South Sudan’s capital Juba, one year ago. In the ensuing violence, as Raymond’s schoolbooks burned, thousands of South Sudanese were killed, including two of his cousins.

“What’s Good for Island States Is Good for the Planet”

By Desmond Brown
The lead negotiator for an inter-governmental organisation of low-lying coastal and small island countries doesn't mince words. She says the new international climate change treaty being drafted here at the ongoing U.N. Climate Change Conference “is to ensure our survival".

OPINION: Climate Justice Is the Only Way to Solve Our Climate Crisis

By Jagoda Munic
In November, the world's top climate scientists issued their latest warning that the climate crisis is rapidly worsening on a number of fronts, and that we must stop our climate-polluting way of producing energy if we are to stand a chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.

When Social Unrest Vents Itself on Migrants

By Silvia Giannelli
“It’s like putting explosive, gasoline and matches all in one shed. These are things that should be stored in separated places.”

Athens Sit-in Highlights Catch-22 for Refugees

By Apostolis Fotiadis
A sit-in protest by Syrian refugees on Syntagma Square opposite the Greek parliament in the heart of Athens has turned into a demonstration of the stalemate faced by both Greek as well as European immigration policy.

Refugees Between a Legal Rock and a Hard Place in Lebanon

By Oriol Andrés Gallart
Staring at the floor, Hassan, a 21-year-old Syrian refugee from Idlib in northwestern Syria, holds a set of identification papers in his hands. He picks out a small pink piece of paper with a few words on it stating that he must obtain a work contract, otherwise his residency visa will not be renewed.

Pakistani Sikhs Back in the ‘Dark Ages’ of Religious Persecution

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Balwan Singh, an 84-year-old shopkeeper living in Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is well past retirement age, but any illusions he may have had about living out his golden years in peace and security have long since been dashed.

Fighting the Islamic State On the Air

By Karlos Zurutuza
There is daily news broadcasting at 9 in the evening and a live programme every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. For the time being, that is what Mosul´s only TV channel has to offer from its headquarters in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Trapped Populations – Hostages of Climate Change

By Ido Liven
Climate change is projected by many scientists to bring with it a range of calamities – from widespread floods, to prolonged heatwaves and slowly but relentlessly rising seas – taking the heaviest toll on those already most vulnerable.

Massachussetts Schools Welcome New Students Who Fled Danger

By Jane Regan and Yuxiao Yuan
Pedro sought a safer life. He traveled to Somerville from Chalantenango, El Salvador on foot, by bus, car, and in the back of a tractor-trailer truck.

Disciples of John the Baptist also flee ISIS

By Karlos Zurutuza
"Going  back home? That would be suicide. The Islamists would cut our throats straight away," says Khalil Hafif Ismam. The fear of this Mandaean refugee sums up that of one of the oldest yet most decimated communities in Mesopotamia.

Growing Up Among the Dead

By Karlos Zurutuza
The walls of the Association for the Martyrs of Serekaniye are covered with the portraits of those fallen in combat in this northern Syrian town. Ali Khalil has buried everyone and each of them with the help of Diar, his 13-year-old son.

Russia’s Immigrants Facing Crackdowns and Xenophobia

By Pavol Stracansky
Immigrants in Russia could face a wave of violence following thousands of arrests in a crackdown on illegal immigration which has been condemned not only for human rights breaches but for entrenching a virulent negative public perception of migrants.

Iraqi Christians Seek Shelter in Jordan after IS Threats

By Areej Abuqudairi
Watching videos and pictures on social media of the advance of the Islamic State (IS) inside Syria made it all seem far from reality to Iraqi Marvin Nafee.

Decline Before Fall of Berlin Wall

By Joseph Chamie and Barry Mirkin
As the world marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the famous Berlin Wall leading to the reunification of the country and the end of the cold war, a little noted event occurred nearly two decades before the fall that ushered in a trend having profound consequences for the future of Germany as well as for Europe:  German births declined below deaths.

Asia: So Close and Yet So Far From Polio Eradication

By IPS Correspondents
The goal is an ambitious one – to deliver a polio-free world by 2018. Towards this end, the multi-sector Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is bringing out the big guns, sparing no expense to ensure that “every last child” is immunised against the crippling disease.

Central Asia Hurting as Russia’s Ruble Sinks

By David Trilling and Timur Toktonaliev
Pensioner Jyparkul Karaseyitova says she cannot afford meat anymore. At her local bazaar in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, the price for beef has jumped nine percent in the last six weeks. And she is not alone feeling the pain of rising inflation.

Pacific Climate Change Warriors Block World’s Largest Coal Port

By Lyndal Rowlands
Climate Change Warriors from 12 Pacific Island nations paddled canoes into the world’s largest coal port in Newcastle, Australia, Friday to bring attention to their grave fears about the consequences of climate change on their home countries.

OPINION: Iraq’s Minorities Battling for Survival

By Mark Lattimer and Mahmoud Swed
Through all of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s campaigns of ‘Arabization’, they survived. The diverse Iraqi communities inhabiting the Nineveh plains – Yezidis, Turkmen, Assyrians and Shabak, as well as Kurds – held on to their unique identities and most of their historic lands.

Cash-Strapped Human Rights Office at Breaking Point, Says New Chief

By Thalif Deen
After six weeks in office, the new U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein of Jordan launched a blistering attack on member states for insufficient funding, thereby forcing operations in his office to the breaking point "in a world that seems to be lurching from crisis to ever-more dangerous crisis."
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