Maureen Lynch
Maureen Lynch oversees statelessness initiatives at Refugees International, an independent Washington-based refugee and humanitarian advocacy organisation. She has conducted brief assessment missions related to refugees, internally displaced people, and stateless persons in more than 25 countries.
War's heartache not over for separated families
Author: Maureen Lynch
"One day she disappeared." The young Ethiopian professor said sadly of the classmate he had admired, "I don't even know where in Eritrea she is." Nearly nine years have passed since the agreed cessation of Eritrea and Ethiopia's border conflict, but it remains impossible for civilians to travel freely back and forth across their common border. There are no direct telephone lines, and individuals in Ethiopia have reportedly been jailed for communicating with family and friends in Eritrea via the internet. Husbands and wives, parents and children, adult siblings, and many others remain not only physically separated, but continue to be socially isolated. Perhaps no other impact of war begets greater agony than being kept away from loved ones. It causes an unnecessary toll on society that must be ended. ...
Author: Maureen Lynch
"One day she disappeared." The young Ethiopian professor said sadly of the classmate he had admired, "I don't even know where in Eritrea she is." Nearly nine years have passed since the agreed cessation of Eritrea and Ethiopia's border conflict, but it remains impossible for civilians to travel freely back and forth across their common border. There are no direct telephone lines, and individuals in Ethiopia have reportedly been jailed for communicating with family and friends in Eritrea via the internet. Husbands and wives, parents and children, adult siblings, and many others remain not only physically separated, but continue to be socially isolated. Perhaps no other impact of war begets greater agony than being kept away from loved ones. It causes an unnecessary toll on society that must be ended. ...
