Migration & Refugees

Qualified Backing for Obama’s Iraq Intervention

By Jim Lobe
U.S. President Barack Obama’s authorisation of limited military action in northern Iraq, announced in a national television address late Thursday night, has so far received support – albeit highly qualified in some cases -- from across the mainstream political spectrum.

Cuba’s Balsero Crisis Still an Open Wound, 20 Years On

By Ivet González
Tears, silence and evasive responses are the reactions from Cubans when they are asked about the “balseros” or rafters crisis; two decades after an exodus without parallel in Latin America, it remains a taboo subject in this Caribbean island nation.

Will Climate Change Lead to Conflict or Cooperation?

By Joel Jaeger
The headline of every article about the relationship between climate change and conflict should be “It’s complicated,” according to Clionadh Raleigh.

In Pakistan, Militants Wear Aid Workers’ Clothing

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Muhammad Tufail, a 22-year-old resident of Mardan, one of 26 districts that comprise Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, has recently become a volunteer aid worker.

Politics Complicates Education in Lebanon’s Refugee Camps

By Shelly Kittleson
The Shatila Palestinian camp has no library, nor does adjacent Sabra or Ain El-Hilweh in the south. And, after recent statements by Lebanon’s foreign minister, some fear that the thousands of Syrian refugee children within them will soon have even slimmer chances of learning to read and write.

Time Running Out for Refugees Seeking Asylum in Italy

By Silvia Giannelli
His journey started four years ago in Conakry, Guinea. Now that Mamoudou* has finally reached Italy, he hopes this will be his final stop.

China’s ‘Left-Behind Girls’ Learn Self-Protection

By UN Women
A normally quiet second-grade student, Yuan Yuan* suffers from a mild mental disorder that impacts her ability to learn and communicate. Her father, also mentally disabled, left her several years ago to find work in the city and his family hasn’t heard from him since. Unable to support the family, her mother also left and never returned.

Ticking Diplomatic Clock a Cover for Israeli Assaults on Gaza

By Thalif Deen
As the death toll in Gaza keeps climbing - and charges of alleged war crimes against Israel keep mounting - the most powerful political body at the United Nations remains ineffective, impotent and in a state of near paralysis.

OPINION: How to End the Gaza War

By Emile Nakhleh
As the killing and destruction rages on in Gaza, and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Hamas leadership exchange recriminations and threats, key regional and world players must accept a central truism: No peace can be achieved between Israel and the Palestinians without including Hamas. The quicker they internalise this fact, the faster the cycle of violence can be broken.

Somali Refugees Find an Unlikely Home … In Istanbul

By Hannah Tayson
Among the labyrinth of winding narrow streets just outside a major shopping centre in the Kumkapi neighbourhood of Istanbul is a rundown road, congested with shops and apartments stacked atop one another.

People Before Borders

By Geneviève Lavoie-Mathieu
With Italy having taken over presidency of the European Union (EU) until December 2014, questions remain regarding Europe’s migration policies as reports of migrants dying at sea while trying to reach Italy regularly make the headlines.

Drought and Misuse Behind Lebanon’s Water Scarcity

By Oriol Andrés Gallart
In front of Osman Bin Affan Mosque, in a central but narrow street of Beirut, several tank trucks are being filled with large amounts of water. The mosque has its own well, which allows it to pump water directly from the aquifers that cross the Lebanese underground. Once filled, the trucks will start going through the city to supply hundreds of homes and shops.

U.S., Regional Leaders Convene over Migration Crisis

By Julia Hotz
As the presidents of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala prepare to meet with President Barack Obama Friday, more than 40 organisations issued a petition urging U.S. lawmakers to meet their “moral and legal obligations” by providing emergency aid to Central American children and families.

Gaza Under Fire – a Humanitarian Disaster

By Khaled Alashqar
As a result of over two weeks of Israeli bombardment, thousands of Palestinian civilians have fled their homes in the north of Gaza and sought refuge in schools run by the UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.

Food Insecurity a New Threat for Lebanon’s Syrian Refugees

By Mona Alami
A declining economy and a severe drought have raised concerns in Lebanon over food security as the country faces one of its worst refugee crises, resulting from the nearby Syria war, and it is these refugees and impoverished Lebanese border populations that are most vulnerable to this new threat.

Spain: A Precarious Gateway to Europe for Syrian Refugees

By Inés Benítez
Little Samir covers his face with his hands as he plays under the orange tree in the centre of the inner courtyard of the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission (CEAR) centre in the southern city of Malaga. He is four years old and has spent nearly a year in Spain, where he arrived with his parents, fleeing the war in Syria.

Refugees Living a Nightmare in Northern Pakistan

By Ashfaq Yusufzai
Some fled on foot, others boarded trucks along with luggage, rations and cattle. Many were separated from families, or collapsed from exhaustion along the way. They don’t know where their next meal will come from, or how they will provide for their children.

Malnutrition Hits Syrians Hard as UN Authorises Cross-Border Access

By Shelly Kittleson
Gaunt, haggard Syrian children begging and selling gum have become a fixture in streets of the Lebanese capital; having fled the ongoing conflict, they continue to be stalked by its effects.

Child Migrants – A “Torn Artery” in Central America

By Thelma Mejía
The migration crisis involving thousands of Central American children detained in the United States represents the loss of a generation of young people fleeing poverty, violence and insecurity in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, the countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America where violence is rife.

Neighbours Turn Foes in Bekaa

By Mona Alami
Hezbollah clashes with Syrian rebels on the outskirts of Ersal seem to be widening the divide between residents of the Eastern Bekaa town – increasingly dominated by Syrian rebels, including the radical Nusra Front – and other regions as well as the Lebanese state. 

Uzbek Minorities Taking Advantage of New Russian Citizenship Rules

By Murat Sadykov
Judging by the long line outside the Russian Embassy in Tashkent one recent afternoon, new Russian legislation offering citizenship to Russian-speakers is prompting lots of individuals in Uzbekistan to ponder emigration.
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