Our weekly round-up of must-read stories you might have missed. In focus this week: Syrian child refugees in Jordan have no access to school and are forced to work to support their families; Fire burns 250 tents in Darfur IDP camp; Joseph Kony Was Here by Christoph Koettl.
CARE Urges Global Action to Save Syrian Refugee Children – April 24, 2013
Syrian refugee children are being abandoned by the international community as funding runs out, the humanitarian organization CARE has found in a new survey. CARE’s household assessment of more than 1,900 Syrian refugees living in Jordan has revealed that, in some areas, 60 percent of school-aged refugees are not getting an education. In many cases, families are forced to prioritize food, water and shelter over sending children to school. “What happens now will have an impact on this generation of Syrian children,” says Kevin Fitzcharles, CARE’s country director in Jordan. “If these children miss out on their right to an education they might never be able to escape a life of poverty. A decent education provides children the foundation they need to reach their full potential, and is a basic right that no child should be denied….”
Fire burns 250 tents in Darfur IDP camp – April 26, 2013
A massive fire broke out Wednesday at Al-Salam camp for displaced persons in South Darfur state capital of Nyala, burning more than 250 tents. The affected camp residents have called for the rapid intervention of the state’s government and national aid organizations to provide them with shelter as they are living in the open. The state’s commissioner for humanitarian aid, Jamal Yousef, arrived at the incident’s scene and evaluated the damage, promising to urge organizations to stand by the displaced people in their plight, attributing the cause of fire to children playing with fire. Darfur has been a flashpoint for lawlessness and violence since rebel movements took up arms against the Khartoum government in 2003…
Joseph Kony Was Here – April 26, 2013
While international justice has seen many milestones over the last months, including the surrender of “The Terminator” Bosco Ntaganda, one of the most well known fugitives from the International Criminal Court (ICC) remains on the loose. Joseph Kony, the Lord Resistance Army’s (LRA) notorious leader, has so far evaded arrest. However, as of today, attempts to locate his whereabouts have gotten a considerable boost. In fact, thanks to satellite imagery, we might know the exact coordinates of his recent location. We recently provided some support to our colleagues from The Resolve, who today published the most authoritative account to date of the LRA leadership’s movements over the last three years, concluding that the LRA set up an encampment in the Sudanese controlled Kafia Kingi enclave. The report Hidden in Plain Sight: Sudan’s Harboring of the LRA in the Kafia Kingi Enclave, 2009 – 2013, draws on extensive field research, including testimonies from several LRA defectors…
