Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
The Impact of not Having Network at the Cyber Cafe in the Camp.
Categories
Poem: Tortoise in the Storm
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
TORTOISE IN THE STORM.
Tortoise in the storm
From Darfur to Kivu, from the Ogaden to Kasai
From Mogadishu to Gulu, from Oromo to Bujumbura
From Tigris to Kigali.
Blistered souls moving in all directions
But in no direction
Peripatetic and in uncaring for horizon, for all is
Horizon with dark spiteful cloud
Grappling with sour memories of roaring guns,
Thundering bombs, mutilations, destructions
Tortures and massacres
Crawling on rough paths and treading through rugged terrains with cold misty nights
In isolation and quietude, uncertainty and pain
For home is no place for comparison, its distant obscene
Makes its presence more real in its unreality
As the silent night comes to console the laddered soul
But there is hope, hope for the living
The meandering river at last collapses on the bosom of the sea
The prodigal clouds return to the fold of its waves
A bright light glows at the end of the tunnel
If you and I can shelter the real people, with real needs
From the torrents of the storm
Lets care for the living, real people, real needs!
By Jumbwike Sam Aggrey.
Categories
Poem: Lost
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
LOST.
Head down, as I watch my feet hit the ground
I close my eyes, where am I heading.
I do not know
Everything around me stands still
As if, I am in a bad dream
And I am unable to wake up
And then I realize, am not dreaming
That’s my life, am actually living it
Not dreaming it
Everything that I hear am sure nobody else does
Everything that I see, nobody else sees
All the sadness, all the wailing
I wish I could close my eyes and ears
So that I would never have to see or hear
There is no place to hide
I have to face life head on
I just have to, like others have.
All decisions are made for me
It is like I am mindless
Any suggestion I give
Is not good enough
I am a living dead
Only I can’t be buried alive
I always wonder where the dead go
When you die, you are no longer a refugee
I do not want to feel hopeless
But I have bee made to feel that way
By powers that be!
My time will come.
Categories
Poem: In the Mirro of Human Rights
Volume 1, Issue 5-6 / May-June 2009
In the mirror of human rights.
Born of mother and father;
Bears brand of sufferings;
Begs the for life;
Bound with chain of refuge;
In the mirror of human rights;
Refugees are born to suffer?
Delighted in the donors’ mercy heart;
Desired medical care, better feedings;
Discussed on table of agencies;
Disposed to extreme sun shine or coldness;
In the mirror of human right;
Refugees are born to suffer
Little is done to respect humanity of refugee;
Long it has taken;
Look! Some ask how a refugee looks like;
Light has come through sponsorship;
Lo! Government official were once refugees
Today you decide on the fate of refugees;
Tomorrow a refugee will decide on your fate;
Teach refugees the best you want them to do;
Tarry not your days are running;
In the mirror of human rights;
Refugees are sons and daughters of our society.
Neither by powers nor by rights;
Nature dictates you never chose;
Now African, American, European, Asian, or Australian.
Not knowing the origin is the same;
In the mirror of human rights;
Tell the world-is it charity or rights?
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
By Zachary Lomo
Does UNHCR have an obligation to uphold the human rights that are essential for refugees’ free and full development as human beings? Are there any circumstances where a refugee could take UNHCR to court for failing in this regard?
Zachary A. Lomo, LLB (Makerere), LLM (Harvard), directed the Refugee Law Project of the Faculty of Law, Makerere University from July 2001 to August 2006. He co-authored RLP Working Paper Series, Behind the Violence, on the causes of the war in northern Uganda, Negotiating Peace, and Whose Justice? He is currently reading for his doctorate in International Law and Refugees at the University of Cambridge.
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Asylum seekers feel that basic standards of procedural fairness are not being upheld in the RSD process in Kakuma, and fear the consequences of rejections.
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Refugees ask whether the UNHCR policy of “participatory decision-making” is actually being realized in Kakuma Camp, and express hope for a more democratic society in refugee camps.
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Lack of information, lack of access to authorities, and widespread uncertainty about the future of their legal protection and durable solutions
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Refugees raise critical questions about the “product rollout” of a new nutritional supplement called Mix Me.
Volume 1, Issue 4-5 / March-April 2009
Refugees face anxiety and uncertainty while awaiting feedback on resettlement cases that are unexpectedly delayed.