In The News

What It’s Like to Be a Somali Refugee in Kenya

Samira Shackle May 29, 2015
Extremist groups in Africa like Al Shabab terrorize entire communities who refuse to cooperate with their rigid rules. Journalist Samira Shackle profiles a man who had a close encounter with the group working at a television station in Mogadishu. Al Shabab extremists “confiscated equipment and gave staff a stark choice: join us, or die.” He eventually fled to Kenya where he works as a journalist...

Displaced Again and Again, Some African Migrants Had No Plan to Land in Italy

Jim Yardley May 5, 2015
Despite the Mediterranean journey’s many dangers and a hostile welcome on arrival, Italy remains a destination of hope for refugees. Warm weather and expanding conflict in North Africa is increasing the numbers attempting the crossing of the Mediterranean to land on Italian shores. Laborers who worked in Libya and had no plans of heading to Europe suggest their only option is fleeing expanding...

An Unending Refugee Tragedy: Europe's Path to Deadly Partition

Matthias Gebauer, Horand Knaup, Peter Müller, Maximilian Popp, Jörg Schindler and Christoph Schult April 28, 2015
European leaders were ashamed after the 2013 sinking of a rickety boat with more than 500 refugees near the Italian island of Lampedusa. The EU promised measures to avoid such tragedies, but thousands still use life savings to attempt the treacherous crossing, fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa, Syria and beyond. Many refugees do not survive. The article in Spiegel Online reviews the array of...

Words of Concern, Walls of Deterrence: Refugees Pushed Out to Sea

Aurélie Ponthieu April 20, 2015
The numbers of grossly overloaded vessels of all types, carrying desperate migrants from Syria and other conflict zones, are on the rise. More than 20,000 have died in recent years, and more than 200,000 took the dangerous trip across the Mediterranean in 2014 alone. Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, has announced it will launch search-and-rescue operations in the sea. “The...

South Africa: Xenophobia in South Africa - a Lack of Visionary Leadership

Ozias Tungwarara April 17, 2015
Xenophobia thrives in South Africa as is the case with much of the world. Citizens, especially those experiencing hard times, blame less fortunate foreigners, often from neighboring states, for poverty, crowded conditions, and crime. “In 2000 a major scenario exercise: ‘Southern Africa in 2020’ painted a grim picture of the southern Africa region in two decades, suggesting that only a new...

Mozambique Will Be Stripped of Its Forests “in Just a Few Years”

Andrea Dijkstra April 8, 2015
Exportation of exotic hardwood timber from Mozambique to China is rapidly eliminating Mozambique’s forests. Chinese businesses have adopted the practice of lending money for equipment like chainsaws to individual villagers in poor rural areas of Mozambique. These Mozambicans, who are often former farmers, subsequently participate in logging to pay off their debts and support their families. The...

Nigeria: Buhari’s Victory in Nigerian Election Has Global Significance

Richard Joseph April 1, 2015
Nigeria experienced its first peaceful and democratic transfer of power to an opposition candidates with the victory of Muhammadu Buhari. Voters and global onlookers expect a hard stance on corruption, terrorism and poverty. “Inexplicably, Africa's largest armed force, which has been given enormous financial outlays, has not been able to subdue a ragtag militia,” writes Richard Joseph in an...