CAIRO, Egypt – When Sudan’s government was bombing hospitals in one of its own states in 2011, Kareem was among the activists detailing the atrocities. His work tracking the counterinsurgency in South Kordofan made him a target for Sudan’s security services, and in December 2012 he was accosted by two men who sprayed him with a nerve agent that put him in the hospital. (More…)
As the Syrian government and its allies extend control over a growing portion of Syria, they are accelerating demands for refugees to return to the country. (More…)
BEIRUT – Over the past two decades, peace agreements have increasingly prescribed the integration of former rebels into the national armed forces they once fought as a strategy to promote reconciliation. (More…)
Gaza—the outpost of Africa, and the door of Asia—is situated in the south-west of Palestine, and is only about twelve miles to the north of Rafah (formerly Raphia), which marks the Turko-Egyptian boundary, running down to Akaba. (More…)
The Assad government’s rapid advance through southwest Syria since June 19 displaced 330,000 Syrians in one of the largest and fastest displacements since the beginning of the seven-and-a-half-year war. Among them was Logain Almelehan, a 32-year-old Syrian activist and journalist for Horriya Press, a pro-revolution news platform founded in 2015. (More…)
If the world’s cameras were to move a little deeper into Gaza, into the streets and behind the doors of people’s homes, they would see the desperation in almost every home. After 10 years of siege, the 2 million people of Gaza, living packed on a tiny strip, find themselves without work, their economy killed off, without the bare essentials for decent life. The siege is fracturing minds, pushing the most vulnerable to suicide in numbers never seen before. (More…)
For years, Eritreans fleeing their homeland have known that, even if they make it to Libya, they will be kidnapped and ransomed. The extortion is systematic. Since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, the southeast of Libya has been under the partial control of the Tubu tribe, which has established a successful cross-border trade in goods, drugs and people. Kidnappers in this region are ruthless, holding people in appalling conditions and torturing individuals. (More…)
These days, I hear everyone talk desperately about leaving Gaza (except they say “damned Gaza”). The people of Gaza have lived through three brutal wars and we have had enough. Life in Gaza is a vicious circle and we are getting dizzy from the endless cycle of violence and boredom. (More…)
Winning a war means conquering hearts and minds — even when the cause is justified. The US gained great sympathy throughout the world when it played a leading role to save Bosnian Muslims from Serbian oppression, but the US today is totally different because of its policies in Iraq and Israel. (More…)
The port city of Oran in the northwest of Algeria is a historically cosmopolitan city that has been both a workplace and way station for generations of migrants. But over the last year, it has emptied of African migrant workers, as a campaign featuring mass arrests and even house-to-house searches has seen hundreds deported and many more volunteer to leave. (More…)
Over the past 10 years, the three wars waged on the Gaza Strip have had devastating effects on the population of 2 million in both large and small ways. Since the first war in 2008/09, says Hedaya Abu Lehia, a technician’s assistant at the El-Amal Audiology Clinic, Gaza has seen a 30 per cent increase in hearing impairment. (More…)
TRIPOLI/MISRATA, Libya – Every morning in Tripoli, before first light, long lines of people start to form in front of the banks. There have been no working ATMs in the Libyan capital for years, so the only way to get cash is to wait your turn at the bank. (More…)