In Foreign Policy magazine of 19 March, Alex Gladstein has written a very complete and moving story about the great Cameroonian musician, political prisoner and human rights defender, Lapiro de Mbanga. He died of cancer this past Sunday, 16 March 2014, in Buffalo, New York. Known as “Ndinga Man” to millions of Cameroonians, Lapiro escaped President Paul Biya’s regime in 2012, after three years of political imprisonment. He received asylum in the United States.
Posts Tagged ‘Refugee’
Mourning “Ndinga Man” – Cameroon’s famous musical dissident
March 24, 2014Like a Greek Tragedy: the story of the World’s Oldest Refugee – from Syria
February 14, 2014This post is not about human rights defenders and not really about the treatment of refugees in Greece. It is simply such a story – published by Behzad Yaghmaian in the Globalist of 11 February 2014 – that I could not resist sharing it. The original title is: “Syria’s Civil War and the World’s Oldest Refugee; A reflection on our collective failures as human societies“. Once you have read this, you will agree that Greece, Germany and the UNHCR should quickly find a solution on humanitarian grounds:
(Sabria Khalaf, 107-year old refugee of the Syrian civil war (c) Behzad Yaghmaian)
In her own words with English subtitles:
Amnesty International says new Greek legislation fuels asylum-seeker abuse
May 24, 2013
(Undocumented immigrants in the courtyard of a detention centre near the Evros River in northern Greece – (c) Reuters)
I would be amiss in not reporting the criticism by Amnesty International of my adopted home country: Read the rest of this entry »
Call for Nominations 2013 for the Nansen Refugee Award now open
January 24, 2013Do you know of anybody who has gone beyond the call of duty and shown outstanding dedication and service to the refugee cause? Or maybe a group of people or an organization? Any person can nominate candidates (individuals, groups of people or organizations) but self-nominations and nominations of current or former UNHCR staff are not encouraged.
Each laureate for the Nansen Refugee Award is selected in line with the following:
- The deed for which the person/entity is nominated should either take place outside the framework of normal professional duties and/or go beyond the call of duty;
- It should demonstrate courage;
- It should raise awareness for refugees; and
- It should, in a significant way, benefit the beneficiaries the Awardee serves and possibly also the country/area where the Awardee operates.
The independent Nansen Refugee Award Committee, chaired by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, selects the annual laureate by a unanimous or majority decision.
Ms. Ingrid Prestetun, Coordinator, Nansen Refugee Award Programme, UNHCR Geneva.
Download the nomination form here (English, French) and send it to: Nansen@unhcr.org
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 