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China: Children who are left behind
25 Nov 2009 02:38:35 GMT
Author: Global Voices

On November 12, several days before the International Childrens Day, an explosion erupted in an illegal fire cracker factory in Guangxi which resulted in 2 children workers dead and 11 others injured.

According to the Southern Weekends report, these children victims were left behind by their parents, who are migrant workers and have to work in cities all year long to earn money and support their families. They lived with their aging grandparents and struggled to work before and after school time to earn some pocket money for snacks.

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Afghanistan: Counting the cost of war
23 Nov 2009 17:28:42 GMT
Author: Global Voices

Nick Fielding reviews The Cost of War: Afghan Experiences of Conflict 1978-2009, a report by nine NGOs working in Afghanistan analyzing 30 years of war and a devastating impact they had.

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Mongolia: Edurelief project “Laptops for Teachers”
23 Nov 2009 17:00:03 GMT
Author: Global Voices

Radigan Neuhalfen writes about new program Laptops for Teachers, aimed at promotion of education in Mongolia.

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Yemen: A Civil or Proxy War?
23 Nov 2009 08:42:48 GMT
Author: Global Voices

The ongoing war in Yemen certainly warrants coverage on Global Voices Online, but I was really shocked when I realized that there werent many bloggers interested in the conflict. Here are some scattered extracts from post written by bloggers from different countries.

Yemeni journalist Nasser Arrabye keeps a dairy of his coverage on Blogspot. Last August, he wrote about the military actions between the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels:

The Yemeni government said Thursday it would take a military actions to liberate schools and government buildings used as barracks by Al Houthi rebels in Saada, north of the country.

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Climate Displacement: The Muddle on Terminology
16 Nov 2009 20:44:00 GMT
Author: Joel Charny

As fears of the global impact of climate change grow, Im seeing more and more references in the media to climate refugees, the millions of people who may be forcibly displaced by the natural and man-made disasters that climate change will provoke. As a descriptive phrase it has the advantage of being short and clear. The problem is that from a refugee rights perspective it is nonsensical, and therein lies yet another dilemma for anyone who wants to communicate clearly about a complex issue.

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as someone who is outside the country of her or his nationality owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. While in the succeeding decades fleeing conflict has become an accepted rationale for claiming international protection, flight from natural disasters has not. Thus, under international refugee law there can be no climate refugees.

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