Tuesday, June 13, 2017

OMNI, UN WORLD REFUGEE DAY NEWSLETTER #6, JUNE 20, 2017




OMNI
UN WORLD REFUGEE DAY NEWSLETTER #6, June 20, 2017.
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a CULTURE OF PEACE  and JUSTICE   
(Newsletter #1 June , 2008; #2 Dec. 4, 2011; #3 June 20, 2012; #4, June 20, 2014; #5, June 20, 2015).

What’s at stake:

World Refugee Day is held every year on June 20, a special day when the world takes time to recognize the desperate needs and the resilience of forcibly displaced people, and to plan ways to help them..

See: UNHCR: High Commissioner for Refugees Newsletter.
ANOTHERNEWSLETTER IN OMNI’S NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL DAYS PROJECT
Contents:  UN World Refugee DAY Newsletter #6, 2017
TheFleeing
Refugees and Displaced from Wars and Violence 2017
Climate Refugees and Displaced Persons 2017

Helping
“Canopy” for Northwest Arkansas
A Play and a Diary About WWII Jewish Refugees
UNHCR: UN High Commissioner for Refugees 2017
UNHCR Newsletter 2016
UNA-USA 2017
   Kenya, Nigeria, Myanmar, Guatemala, Syria, Europe: children
    Equador
    UNA-USA 2016 Giving Tuesday
Chobani’s Gives Money
And Athens a Hotel

Fleeing
Refugees and Displaced from Wars and Violence 2017
20 Jun2016
‘Unprecedented’ 65 million people displaced by war and persecution in 2015 – UN
Yemen_UNHCR__Arhab_2016.jpg In Yemen, internally displaced children stand outside their family tent after the family fled their home in Saada province and found refuge in Darwin camp, in the northern province of Amran. Photo: UNHCR/Yahya Arhab
The number of people displaced from their homes due to conflict and persecution last year exceeded 60 million for the first time in the United Nations’ history, a tally greater than the combined populations of the United Kingdom, or of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, says a new report released on World Refugee Day today.
The Global Trends 2015 compiled by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) notes that 65.3 million people were displaced at the end of 2015, an increase of more than 5 million from 59.5 million a year earlier.
The tally comprises 21.3 million refugees, 3.2 million asylum seekers, and 40.8 million people internally displaced within their own countries.
Measured against the world’s population of 7.4 billion people, one in every 113 people globally is now either a refugee, an asylum-seeker or internally displaced – putting them at a level of risk for which UNHCR knows no precedent.
On average, 24 people were forced to flee each minute in 2015, four times more than a decade earlier, when six people fled every 60 seconds.
Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia produce half the world’s refugees, at 4.9 million, 2.7 million and 1.1 million, respectively.
Colombia had the largest numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs), at 6.9 million, followed by Syria’s 6.6 million and Iraq’s 4.4 million.
While the spotlight last year was on Europe’s challenge to manage more than one million refugees and migrants who arrived via the Mediterranean, the report shows that the vast majority of the world’s refugees were in developing countries in the global south.
In all, 86 per cent of the refugees under UNHCR’s mandate in 2015 were in low- and middle-income countries close to situations of conflict.   MORE:
Refugees and Displaced from Wars and Violence 2017, Google Search, 6-11-17
refugeesmigrants.un.org/‘unprecedented’-65-million-people-displaced-war-and-perse...
Jun 20, 2016 - In Yemen, internally displaced children stand outside their family tent after the ... 'Unprecedented' 65 million people displaced by war and persecution in 2015 – UN ... In terms of the refugee-to-population ratio, Lebanon has the highest ... the millions of people whose lives have been destroyed by violence.
www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/refugees-and-displaced-people
... and displaced people. Commentary and archival information about refugees and displaced people from The New York Times. ... June 8, 2017 ... The Six-Day War at 50. How the ... Listen to the voices of those who fled the violence. By ZACK ...
https://www.worldvision.org/refugees-news-stories/syria-refugee-crisis-war-facts
Updated June 6, 2017 World Vision Staff ... 5 million Syrians are refugees, and 6.3 million are displaced within Syria; half of those affected are children. ... Violence: Since the Syrian civil war began in 2011, as many as 386,000 people have ...
https://www.weforum.org/.../nearly-1-in-100-people-worldwide-have-been-displaced-...
Nov 24, 2016 - The UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, has been collecting data on displaced people since 1951, and in recent years it has seen numbers ...
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/1/30/.../refugee-crisis-trump-muslim-ban-maps-cha...
It's a crisis beyond anything we've seen since World War II — and Trump just turned ... Updated by Zack Beauchamp@zackbeauchampzack@vox.com Jan 30, 2017, 2:30pm EST ... It found that the number of displaced persons — people forced from their ... That's because the countries wracked by civil war and violence are ...
watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/
Over 370,000 people have died due to direct war violence, and at least 800,000 more ... 10.1 million — the number of war refugees and displaced persons; The US federal ... Budget Puts Lives at Risk,” U.S. News & World Report, May 23, 2017.
www.unhcr.org/afr/news/latest/.../global-forced-displacement-hits-record-high.html
Jun 20, 2016 - UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi ... “More people are being displaced by war and persecution and that's ... while thousands more people have fled raging gang and otherviolence in ... UNHCR 2001-2017.
www.unhcr.org/576408cd7.pdf
Jun 20, 2016 - as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations. ... 3 The number of newly displaced refugees does not include applications for asylum whose ... est since the aftermath of World War II.
https://www.theguardian.com › World › Development › Migration and development
Jun 18, 2015 - UNHCR annual global trends survey finds a record 59.5m people were refugees, internally displaced or seeking asylum by the end of 2014.
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-chapters/libya
Tens of thousands of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees from Africa and the ... and asylum seekers to violent abuse at the hands of government officials, militias, and ... six others in a camp for internally displaced people from Tawergha, in Tripoli. ... The ICC has the mandate to investigate war crimes and crimes against ...
Searches related to Refugees and Displaced from Wars and Violence 2017

Climate Refugees and Displaced Persons 2017, Google Search 6-11-17
"Yes, there is a protection gap involving climate change refugees, but we don't call them climate refugees for the reason that they are not covered by the 1951 [Refugee] Convention," said Marine Franck, a climate change officer at the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR. That treaty extends only to people who have a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of race, religion, nationality, or membership of a social group or political opinion, and are unable, or unwilling to seek protection from their home countries.
This means that the estimated 200,000 Bangladeshis who become homeless each year due to river erosion cannot easily appeal for resettlement in another country. It also means that the residents of the small islands of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu, where one in 10 has migrated within the past decade, can't be classified as refugees, even though those who remain are "trapped" in worsening environmental conditions
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www.unhcr.org/en-us/climate-change-and-disasters.html
Although the majority of people displaced by disasters and climate change will ... borders as a result of climate change may not meet the refugee definition.
www.g20-insights.org › Policy Briefs
Mar 24, 2017 - Global governance of displaced and trapped populations, forced migration and ... the false assumption that displaced people and refugees can return to their place ... [1] “Climate refugee” is controversial, because it does not capture the ..... Following the G20 Summit in 2017, the United Nations International ...
www.internal-displacement.org/
The 2017 Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID 2017) presents the ... the issue and the plight of internally displaced people high on the global agenda.
https://www.theguardian.com › World › Refugees
Dec 31, 2016 - War, weather, climate change and terrorism have made millions homeless. ... Displaced: faces of some of the world's 63 million people fleeing disaster ... 2016 18.00 EST Last modified on Friday 7 April 2017 18.46 EDT ... Most are displaced within their country's borders and 21.3 million fled as refugees.
https://www.theguardian.com › Environment › Climate change
Jan 9, 2017 - Letters: Climate change is driving long-term environmental damage and ... Monday 9 January 2017 14.57 EST Last modified on Thursday 9 March ... one in 30 people could be displaced, many as a result of climate change.
https://www.pressreader.com/canada/the-daily-observer/20170429/281578060559029
Apr 29, 2017 - Climate refugees' woes will be complex problem ... Some estimates say climate refugeesand internally displaced people will number 50 ...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/.../how-a-warming-planet-drives-human-migration.ht...
Apr 19, 2017 - Climate displacement is becoming one of the world's most powerful ... By JESSICA BENKO APRIL 19, 2017 ... nearly 64 million “persons of concern,” whose numbers have tripled ... There is no internationally recognized legal definition for “environmental migrants” or “climate refugees,” so there is no formal ...
https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/.../climate-refugees-people-and-the-environme...
Dec 16, 2016 - As part of our “Displaced and Disposable” series, social researcher Bruna Kadletz meets a Malawian family displaced by the impact of climate ...
https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/policy/environmentally-displaced-people
'Environmentally displaced people' are those who are impelled or induced to migrate ... Roger Zetter, (2017), Siirtolaisuus-Migration Quarterly, 1/2017, 5 - 12. Why they are not refugees – Climate change, environmental degradation and ...
www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/.../climate-refugees-151125093146088.ht...
Dec 22, 2015 - New York, US - No one can be sure just how many people will be displaced by climatechange by the middle of this century. In fact, the ...
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 PALESTINIANS
No Bans on Stolen Lands
Anna Baltzer & Ramah Kudaimi  6-13-17via uark.onmicrosoft.com 
11:16 AM (3 hours ago)
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Dear Dick,
In January, outraged liberals and progressives nationwide took to the streets and airports to protest Donald Trump's #MuslimBan targeting refugees, immigrants, Arabs, Iranians, Africans, and others based on their religion and national origin. 
The ban has torn families apart, put asylum seekers at risk, and further endangered countless refugees fleeing wars and famine. As Trump continues to expand the War on Terror in places like Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, there will only be more civilians killed and forced to leave their homes.
USCPR and member groups joined the chorus calling out the racism, xenophobia, and anti-Muslim bigotry behind this proposed ban, which is all the more grotesque considering the role of U.S. interventions and militarism in creating the conditions from which people are being forced to flee. We knew this:
If you have an opinion about Israel's ban on refugees, you have an opinion about Trump's #MuslimBan.
Join us for a ground-breaking webinar on World Refugee Day: 
Next Tuesday, June 20th at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern, connecting and lifting up 70 years of Palestinian resistance to Israel's refugee ban and those impacted by and fighting Trump's ban, the webinar will feature:
·       Kafia Adhmed, who organizes with the Somali community in Minneapolis
·       Badil, Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
·       Ramah Kudaimi, USCPR Director of Grassroots Organizing and member of DC Justice for Muslim Coalition
We cannot exceptionalize Israel's actions that are mirrored by our own government. Likewise, we must also say clearly: 
If you have an opinion about Trump's Muslim ban, you have an opinion about Israel.
We can and must bring in those aghast by Trump's ban to see the connections with Israel's own U.S.-supported 70-year ban on Palestinian refugees. Israel was created and is maintained through the ethnic cleansing and ongoing exile of more than 7 million Palestinian refugees who are denied the right to return to their homes and lands -- an inalienable right inscribed in international law -- simply because of their religion and national origin. 
In a united front against racism and white supremacy, there is no more room for "PEPs" (Progressives Except on Palestine), just as there is no more room for "POPs" (Progressives Only on Palestine).
Sign up today!
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ANNA BALTZER 
Director of Organizing & Advocacy     


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RAMAH KUDAIMI
Director of Grassroots Organizing
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Helping
Canopy NWA Works to Bring 100 Refugees to NWA
Posted: Oct 03, 2016 05:40 PM CDT
Updated: Oct 04, 2016 11:04 AM CDT
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS - A local group is working to bring refugees from all over the world to Northwest Arkansas. 

One hundred refugees from Iraq, Syria and Central Africa are expected to arrive in NWA sometime this fall. Canopy NWA is the group working to bring these people to NWA.

Director Emily Linn says this is a new community led initiative started by a group of Arkansans. The group receives federal funding to help refugees. 

Linn said the U.S. State Department decides on the refugees who will come into the country. The State Department then works with nine resettlement agencies to find housing and assistance for those refugees. 

Canopy NWA is a part of the second largest agency; The Lutheran Immigrant and Refugee Service. 

"We have a case manager who kind of works them through this process of getting them on their feet over the course of three months. So that involves getting them signed up for any benefits like welfare they might be eligible for to kind of help them starting out," Linn said. 

Linn said the group will help the refugees find apartments, get social security cards and enroll them in cultural orientation courses. She said the federal government regulates the process all the way down to how many forks and spoons are in each apartment. 

For more information on Canopy NWA, click here.




A Play and a Diary
RESCUING REFUGEES: A Stranger, a Friend, Countries, Jesus;
 “SON” AND ANNE FRANK:   REFUGEES WWII AND TODAY  by Dick Bennett (Oct. 2016)
    For many reasons having refugees on my mind in 2016 (UN: 65 million displaced persons), I saw in a new light a reading of a new play, “War Mother,” by Adolphe Nissenholc, and a production of a new play based upon Anne Frank’s diaries. 
      Nissenholc’s play, brought to UAF by Frank Scheide (accompanied by the author), is based upon his childhood experience when he was given to a foster family by his mother just before they were to be deported to Auschwitz.  Only young Adolphe and an uncle survived from his family.  Now dead, both natural and foster mothers (and the father), contend over the son.  Who will the now old son follow into the afterlife?    The story of Anne Frank is widely familiar--finding refuge in 1942 from Nazi extermination in an attic in Amsterdam, until finally discovered and gassed in Auschwitz. 
     To many viewers, like me the plays connect immediately to the refugees of today seeking safety from wars, occupations, and cruel consequences.   So it is no surprise that an article in The New York Times related Anne to a Syrian girl.  Specifically, Otto Frank applied for visas to the U.S. before he took his family into hiding, and he was not granted them.   Similarly, regrettably, while Canada recently brought 25,000 Syrians to safety in their country, the US has only very recently received 10,000, though it has now promised to bring more.  Germany has taken one million.
    Rev. Lowell Grisham explains Jesus’ expanded definition of “neighbor” in the Good Samaritan story, the meaning of the Cross in Jesus’ embrace of all the “brokenness of the human condition,” God’s love “extending to all humanity,” and much more, including the fundamental role of empathy.  Lowell Grisham.  “Loving Our Enemies.”  NADG (10-4-16).  
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UNHCR
donate.unrefugees.org/ProtectRefugees‎
Ensure That Communities Have Hope For A Brighter Future. Donate Today.
Tax-deductible · Climate Change · Protection · Public Health · Livelihoods · Coordinating Assistance
Services: Emergency Relief, Rights For Refugees, Protecting People, Help Recovery
o    Give Monthly

WITH YOU, a Newsletter for Friends for UNHCR
Spring 2016 included articles about refugees from Syria fleeing to Greece, Jordan, and Lebanon; charitable funds assisting UNHCR—the Alkhayyat Foundation, the Malala Yousafzi Fund--; the Hive, USA for UNHCR’s special projects, collaboration with technology Techfugee.  --Dick


Relief efforts in Ecuador.
Anne-Marie Grey, USA for UNHCR info@usaforunhcr.org via uark.onmicrosoft.com 
2:09 PM (39 minutes ago)
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to James  4-25-16
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 "We are extremely grateful for how quickly donors enabled us to provide this...it has been record time." 
– Maria Clara Martin, UNHCR Ecuador County Representative
 Dear Dick, 
I’m writing to let you know that, only 48 hours after the devastating earthquake hit, an emergency airlift arrived in Ecuador. 100 tons of urgent supplies are being delivered to areas that were hit the hardest by the recent earthquake.
Thanks to the generosity of donors from around the world, families affected by this disaster will finally have some relief. Supporters of the UN Refugee Agency helped send supplies including tents, plastic sheets, sleeping mats, kitchen sets and jerry cans. 
18,000 mosquito nets were also delivered. That’s so important – many families have been forced to sleep outside, putting them at risk of contracting diseases carried by mosquitos such as the Zika virus. 
Dick, I hope you will consider joining our monthly giving program. There are so many refugees around the world that need the assistance and protection your monthly gift provides. 
Here are some examples of what your monthly gift can do:
Thank you for caring about refugees and choosing to stay informed about the UN Refugee Agency’s work. 
With my best wishes,
Anne-Marie Grey
Executive Director and CEO
USA for UNHCR
PS: Joining our monthly giving program also means helping UNHCR stay prepared for emergency situations like the recent earthquake in Ecuador. I hope you will consider becoming a monthly donor today.




UNA-USA 2017
You can help refugee children in Kenya
Rachel Bowen Pittman  5-28-17 membership@unausa.org via uark.onmicrosoft.com 
1:02 PM (4 hours ago)
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to James
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To view the Web version, follow this link.
2017
AN EMAIL UPDATE FROM UNA-USA


Dear James,

It’s not too late for you to participate in UNA-USA’s Night of a Thousand Dinners, a special campaign that supports education for refugee children in Kenya.

Every year, events for Night of a Thousand Dinners are hosted by thousands of people across the world to raise millions in funds for worthy causes. In honor of 
World Refugee Day on June 20, UNA-USA invites you to host or organize a dinner event to raise funds for our Adopt-A-Future campaign. All contributions raised will directly support schools in UN Refugee Agency camps in Kenya.
All funds raised will be matched by philanthropic partners, doubling the impact of your gift!
Approximately 600,000 refugees currently reside in Kenya, with more than half of these refugees being under age 18. The country has absorbed thousands of new refugees from conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Somalia, while receiving little media attention and very limited philanthropic support. Sadly, many refugee children struggle for access to the education they need to build a better future.
Together, we can make a difference in the lives of these refugee children. 

We’ve put together a toolkit with everything you need to plan your dinner. Whether you organize a backyard barbecue or host an elegant dinner at a restaurant, you’ll be raising essential funds for refugee children in need.
So, please start planning your dinner now—and make sure to send us photos and tell us how your event went! We’re so inspired by your compassion and dedication to helping those who need it most.
With sincere thanks,

Rachel Bowen Pittman
Sr. Director of Membership & Programs


P.S. Not able to host a dinner? You can still make your impact and donate online to the Adopt-A-Future campaign. Every dollar is urgently needed. 
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Tel: 202.887.9040 | Fax: 202.887.9021

Become a UNA Member
HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT

Children in northeastern Nigeria continue to suffer rights violations as Boko Haram forces recruit them as soldiers, spies or suicide bombers, attack schools and employ sexual violence against them, according to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' report on children and armed conflict in the country.
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WOMEN & GIRLS

About 60% of Rohingya girls who flee to India, Malaysia or Indonesia to escape violence in Myanmar end up married before they turn 18 and the average age to become a mother is age 18, according to a study by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. One-third of Rohingya women and girls report they are victims of domestic abuse.
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PEACEKEEPING AND SECURITY

Plans to implement de-escalation zones in part of Syria are encouraging, but any peace deal must provide actual improvement in the lives of civilians living there, said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Opposition forces in Syria have decried the creation of safe zones in the country, saying it threatens territorial integrity.
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UN RADIO

UNICEF: 24,600 children stranded in Europe "suffering psychologically"
UN Radio (5/3) 
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QUOTE OF THE DAY

@UNFoundation#Yemen is facing world's largest food security crisis: 7M people do not know where their next meal will come from
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Learn more about the UN Foundation:

ABOUT UN WIRE

UN Wire is a free service sponsored by the United Nations Foundation which is dedicated to supporting the United Nations' efforts to address the most pressing humanitarian, socioeconomic and environmental challenges facing the world today.
More than 65 million people have fled their homes and risked their lives in search of refuge. Most are children, but less than half have access to education.  The United Nations Association of the United States of America, in tandem with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and its fundraising arm USA for UNHCR, is working to prevent a lost generation by giving refugee children the education they need to build a better future.
Host a Night of a Thousand Dinners Event
Every year, events for Night of a Thousand Dinners are hosted by tens of thousands of individuals across the world to raise millions in funds for worthy causes. In honor of World Refugee Day on June 20, UNA-USA invites all chapters and members to participate by hosting or organizing a dinner event to raise funds in support of the Adopt-A-Future campaign. Download our toolkit to plan and host your event!
Not a member of UNA-USA?  JOIN NOW!
Membership in the United Nations Association of the USA is open to any U.S. citizen or resident who is committed to the purposes of the United Nations Association of the USA.

The best place they've even been
Chris Whatley, UNA-USA  membership@unausa.org via uark.onmicrosoft.com 11-17-16
1:50 PM (6 minutes ago)
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to James
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To view the Web version, follow this link.
AN EMAIL UPDATE FROM UNA-USA

Dear James,
There are no desks or chairs. Students sit on a dirt floor. Yet, this is the best place most children have ever been: the classroom.
For refugee children, acquiring even a basic education seems like the biggest, most unlikely dream – in fact, many children we speak to don't even think it's a possibility. These are young ones whose only hope is to survive another day.
The impact of these lost children cannot be underestimated. Every child who is denied their basic, human right of receiving an education is exposed to a lifetime of potential exploitation and violence. Together, we must stop this.


#GivingTuesday is just two days away and we'll be dedicating the day to raising funds for Adopt-A-Future. In a time when defending core values such has helping the least fortunate among us seems more important than ever, we invite you to confirm where you stand by participating in this campaign. In fact, all donations will be matched by the Educate a Child Fund, which means your contribution will make twice the impact.
So, please mark your calendar for November 29 as the day to stand #WithRefugees.
Sincerely,

Chris Whatley
Executive Director, UNA-USA

P.S.  Don't forget to join us at 4 p.m. (EST) on #GivingTuesday for a Twitter chat with The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), UN Foundation and more about why we're standing #WithRefugees this holiday season -- and every season. Questions will be asked from @UNAUSA and will include the hashtags #GivingTuesday and #WithRefugees. Hope to see you online!
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Big financial good news from Chobani’s
Chobani’s founder Ulukaya donates $700 million to refugees | MyReports

And good news from Athens
Patrick Strickland.  “A Four-Star Response to the Refugee Crisis.”  In These Times (July 2017).
Athens’ City Plaza Hotel, six years empty, now bustles with hundreds of refugees who fled from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other warring nations and are on their way to permanent settlement.  The Solidarity Initiative for Political and Economic Refugees took over the closed hotel in April 2016 as an alternative to squatting, and since then it has housed “some 1,500 refugees and migrants.”  They are given considerable autonomy compared to the typical NGO or government camps, the author writes.  –D/
Google Search 6-11-17
www.aljazeera.com/.../greek-leftists-turn-deserted-hotel-refugee-homes-16062913121...
Jul 3, 2016 - Patrick Strickland · @P_Strickland_. Athens, Greece - The roar of children's laughter erupts as they play tag and chase one another through the ...



Contents UN World Refugee DAY Newsletter #5, June 20, 2015
UN World Refugee DAY June 20, 2015
UNHCR
USA UNHCR
Angelina Jolie Pitt, UN Ambassador
UNHCR and Climate Refugees
END UN WORLD REFUGEE DAY NEWSLETTER #6, JUNE 20, 2017


Dick's Wars and Warming KPSQ Radio Editorials (#1-48)

Dick's Wars and Warming KPSQ Radio Editorials (#1-48)