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Sri Lanka war already fading from memory
10 Sep 2009 13:27:00 GMT
Author: Amjad Mohamed-Saleem

At the end of July, I finished my contract with Muslim Aid. Away from the high pressure of working in an NGO, it has been interesting to observe things from the other side of the fence.

I have been struck by how removed you can be from reality. If I did not make a proactive effort to stay on top of what is happening with the IDPs in Vavunya, it could have easily slipped by me, except for one or two articles here and there in the newspapers.

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Colombia's ex-fighters and victims take first steps towards reconciliation
09 Sep 2009 09:56:00 GMT
Author: Anastasia Moloney

Sitting at one end of the conference panel was a former veteran guerrilla commander flanked by armed prison guards. At the other end of the panel sat a woman whose husband had been murdered by the guerrillas. In the middle of the two, was a government official acting as chair of the International Conference on Reconciliation, the first forum of its kind held in Colombia last week.

These scenes, where victims of Colombia's armed conflict share the same stage as their aggressors in public, would be hard to imagine just a couple of years ago.

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Evicted from their homes, Palestinians live on the street in Jerusalem
14 Aug 2009 09:45:00 GMT
Author: World Vision

By Jennifer Chiodo, Advocacy/Communications Associate Aug. 11, 2009

"Have you eaten? We're all eating lunch now and there's some if you are hungry." Those were Maher Hannoun's first words to us as we approached the street corner in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, where he and his family have been living for more than a week after being evicted from their home by Israeli authorities on the dawn of Aug. 2. While they live on the street, Israeli settlers have moved into their home.

My friend and I, both humanitarian workers living in Jerusalem, assured him a couple of times that we had just eaten. "If you'll excuse me a few minutes I'll eat and then come back and talk to you. I can't say 'feel at home'... but feel 'at street'." Talk about Palestinian hospitality?! Here a family of 18, with Maher and his two brothers' families, including six children, is homeless and is offering us food and drink. We take plastic chairs and sit in the shade of an olive tree, joining the group of 20 people just hanging around. Having followed the news of their eviction, we came to show our support.

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Bringing aid and being a target - aid workers in Africa under attack
12 Aug 2009 13:14:00 GMT
Author: George Fominyen

The abduction of two Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) workers in Chad this month after a robbery at their compound near Sudan's Darfur region has again brought to the fore the question of attacks on aid workers.

Aid workers in Chad told me assaults on compounds and car-jacking on the roads happen every week and that armed bandits are their biggest worry.

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