text:
Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants Makes Space for Different Narratives · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

The ceremony for the fourth Literature Award for Migrants. Photo credit: Wei-Hsiang Wang.
In Taiwan, the population of foreign workers and immigrants has been on the rise in recent years and constitutes a significant part of Taiwanese society. The total population in Taiwan is about 23 million; the aboriginal population makes up about 2.3% of the total and there are also about 720,000 foreign workers serving in the industrial and service sectors in Taiwan. A majority of these workers are from Southeast Asian countries, mainly Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. Over the past 20 years, the number of spouses from Southeast Asia and their children that are settling in Taiwan has grown in size to around 200,000.
Since 2014, the Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants has been encouraging these foreign-born groups to express themselves in their mother tongues, an effort that has also allowed the Taiwanese people to learn more about these cultures and stories.
The literature award was initiated by Cheng Chang the founder and former editor of 4-Way Voice, a printed and online magazine which publishes news reports in Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Tagalog, Burmese, and Cambodian.
The winners in the first Literature Award for Migrants. Photo credit: the Literature Award for Migrants.
Cheng Chang explained the motivation behind the creation of this literature award:
自我參與《四方報》創報至今，《四方報》做為非華語系移民工資訊交流與紓解鄉愁的平台，不僅是一份服務移民工的母語刊物，更以「友人」身份，傾聽他/她們的聲音，擔起台/外文化溝通的橋樑。自出刊以來，《四方報》即收到大量來自全台各地移民工的投書，平均以每月五、六百封的數量，如雪片般累積。
源鑒於此，我們開始考量移民工自身其實擁有創作的多樣性與豐沛能量，因此希望成立一個更具延展性的文學獎項，讓他們得以藉由書寫，替自己留下歷史，透過文字創作表達兩個故鄉（外籍配偶）、雙重血緣（新住民二代）、與異地漂流（外籍移工）的文學風貌。
Since I founded 4-Way Voice, it has become a platform for migrant workers who do not speak Chinese to exchange information and express their longings for their home countries. It not only serves them as a news report in their mother tongues but it is also a friend who listens to their voices and a bridge that connects the Taiwanese and people from other countries. Since we started, 4-Way Voice has received a lot of letters from migrant workers all over Taiwan — on average about 5,600 letters per month. These letters accumulate like snowflakes.
Therefore, considering the diversity and energy in their creativity, we planned to set up a long-standing literature award so that they can make their own history through writing. They can build up new literature traditions for stories about two home countries (for foreign spouses), about the offspring of two countries (for the second generation), and about diaspora (for migrant workers).
Currently, this literature award receives articles written in Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Tagalog. Because most of these writers are away from their homeland, many of the stories are about the longing they feel for their family and homeland and their sorrow when they hear of a loved one's death.
Nàng Thơ from Vietnam wrote a letter  for her parents:
Ba ơi! Tiếng chuông đồng hồ đã điểm mười hai giờ đêm Đài Loan rồi, không biết nơi quê nhà ba đã ngủ ngon chưa? Hay ba vẫn còn đang phải chống chọi những vết thương mà bấy lâu nay nó vẫn hành hạ ba hay…hay ba còn đang lo lắng cho con gái yêu của ba đang phải tha hương cầu thực nơi đất khách xứ người. Ba biết không nơi phương trời xa lạ này, khi mọi người đã nồng say giấc mộng thì con gái ba lại ngồi gom những suy tư, nỗi nhớ, niềm thương, công việc thường vào DÒNG NHẬT KÝ TRONG ĐÊM. Ba ơi con còn nhớ lắm, nhớ chiều đông năm ấy vì hoàn cảnh gia đình,tương lai con trẻ nên con đành phải dứt tình mẫu tử, nghĩa phu thê để đến miền đất hứa Đài Loan này. […]
Nào ngờ đâu con mới đến Đài Loan mới chỉ tròn tám tháng, chữ hiếu chưa tròn thì nghe tin mẹ mất, gia đình thương con sợ con gục ngã nơi đất khách xứ người không người thân chăm sóc nên gia đình đã giấu không cho con biết rồi con nghe tin qua chị bạn. Ba ơi, lúc đó con như nghe tiếng sét đánh ngang tai trời đất quay cuồng sụp đổ dưới chân con, con choáng váng khụy ngã gọi mẹ…mẹ… mẹ sao mẹ nỡ bỏ con mẹ đi…sao mẹ không cho con biết, giờ con tìm mẹ ở đâu cho được? Mẹ…mẹ ơi! Ngày con đi có mẹ đưa mẹ tiễn, ngày con về chẳng có mẹ đón con…
Dad! The clock just chimed, marking midnight in Taiwan. Are you fast asleep there? Are you struggling with your old wounds?…Are you worried about your beloved daughter who is working in a land far from her people? Dad, do you know that when people are sleeping in this far and foreign land, your daughter sits here and writes down all her thoughts and memories and daily life in the diary at night. Oh father, I miss everything. I miss those afternoons. Because of our family's hardships and my youthful energy, I had to come to the promise land known as Taiwan. […]
How would I know that just after eight months of arriving in Taiwan that Mom would pass away? You were worried that I would be shocked and become sick in the foreign land without the support of loved ones, so our family hid the news from me until I heard it from a friend. Dad, I was so shocked as if I was hit by lightening. I felt dizzy as if the ground crumbled beneath my feet. I cried, Mom…Mom…How could you leave your child…Why didn’t you let me know? Where can I find you? Mom…dear Mom! You waved at me when I left, but when I go home, you will not be there to welcome me.
Some of the pieces are sad stories about their lives in Taiwan. In 2013, several crews from Indonesia killed the Taiwanese captain of the ship. Even though the judge in the case felt that the captain was abusive towards the crew, the people who killed the captain were sentenced to 14 to 28 years in the jail. Tania Roos from Indonesia wrote a story telling us about the fictionalized crew:
Awalnya mereka hanya ingin memberi pelajaran agar Kapten merasa kapok dan babak belur saja. Ketika Kapten lengah, sebuah pukulan besi tumpul dari tangan Sardi melayang menghantam tengkuknya. Kapten terkapar. Mengetahui lawannya tak berkutik, Wasto dan kawan-kawannya terduduk lemas. Mereka puas karena telah membuat Kapten pingsan.
Sejurus kemudian, Sardi iseng mendekati Kapten yang tertelentang berlumuran darah. Dengan teriakan keras, Sardi mundur dua langkah. Lemas dan terduduk. Ia tak mampu berkata apa-apa. Hanya menunjukkan kepada kawan-kawannya jika Kapten tidak bernapas lagi.
Mengetahui hal tersebut, para ABK mulai panik. Ada yang memeriksa nadi Kapten. Ada pula yang mendekatkan telinga ke dada untuk mendengar napasnya. Ada yang menduga Kapten sedang pingsan. Ada pula yang menangis karena ketakutan. Mendengar kepanikan itu, dua orang dari ruang kemudi turut ke luar dan terbelalak mengetahui kejadian yang sebenarnya.
Kapten benar-benar meninggal. Juru mudi melaporkan kejadian ini kepada pos keamanan terdekat. “Kami dijemput polisi air dan akhirnya harus menjalani sidang-sidang yang melelahkan, hingga vonis dijatuhkan. Itu kejadian yang sebenarnya, Bu, kami sangat emosi. Kami sudah di ujung kesabaran.” Ungkap Wasto lirih. Matanya berkaca-kaca.
At first, they just wanted to let the captain know that he was wrong and to teach him a lesson. However, when he wasn't looking, an iron rod, held by Sardi, accidentally hit  the captain on the back of his head. He fell down. Learning that their opponent rendered immobile, Wasto and his buddies slumped. They were satisfied to knock him out unconscious.
Soon after, Sardi approached the blood-covered body of the captain. Howling, Sardi took two steps back. Limped and slumped. He was rendered speechless. To his buddies, he pointed to the direction of the lifeless captain.
Learning that, the crew was in panic. Someone checked the captain's pulse. Another was trying to hear his breathing. Another thought that he was just unconscious. Another was crying in fear. Hearing the frenzy, two men went out of the steering room. Their eyes were broadened after figuring out what happened. The captain was truly dead. The navigator informed the nearby maritime police station.
The Maritime Police took us away, followed by many tiring trials, and finally the sentence was announced. This is what really happened, ma'am. We were enraged, we had reached the limit of our patience.’ Wasto said softly, with tears in his eyes.
The book ‘Flow’ collects the selected articles in the first and second Literature Award for Migrants. Photo credit: the Literature Award for Migrants.
On the other hand, some of the stories are filled with hope for the future. อนันต์ศรีลาวุธ is from Thailand and he talks about his love for  music and making friends:
รายได้ของผมดีพอที่จะคิดหวังอะไรก็ไม่น่าจะเกินฝันในตอนนี้ ลูกทั้งสองได้เรียนในระดับวิทยาลัยซึ่งสมัยผมไม่กล้าแม้นแต่จะฝัน แต่เพราะผมได้พบ “ขุมทองแห่งมิตรภาพ”เช่นตอนนี้ แม้แต่ผมเองที่ไม่คาดคิดก็ยังได้เรียนระดับปริญญาตรีได้อย่างไม่น่าเชื่อ อีกทั้งผมมีเงินพอให้ซื้อกีต้าร์ไฟฟ้า อย่างที่ผมใฝ่ฝันมาตลอดและผมก็ได้มาเล่นมันสมใจ ผมนำมันไปเล่นเพื่อบริการสังคมฟรี ตามที่ต่างๆ รวมทั้งในเรือนจำทั่วไต้หวัน โดยการนำขอ
Now I have the income to make my family live a better life and make my two children go to the college. I even have the opportunity to earn an undergraduate degree. I have money to buy an electric guitar. I like to play it. I brought the guitar to play for social services in various places, including the prisons across Taiwan.
Lê Hoàng Hiệp is a graduate student from Vietnam and he wrote a story about a Vietnamese woman who married a Taiwanese citizen:
Chiều nay, sau khi tan buổi trực ở sở di dân, Dung chạy xe qua trường đón con. Hai mẹ con đi chợ mua ít đồ dùng cho bữa tối rồi về nhà. Con đường chiều nay thật vắng vẻ. Hai bên đường những cây nhãn mới hôm nào nặng trĩu những chùm quả, nay đã xanh mơn mởn những lá non. – Nay ở trường có gì vui không con?
A Hưng nãy giờ vẫn ngồi sau ôm lấy mẹ, nghe hỏi thì bi bô:
– Dạ vui, có mấy anh chị sinh viên đại học tới dạy lớp con làm diều. Có người biết con có mẹ là người Việt Nam nên mới hỏi con biết nói tiếng Việt không. Con nói không, nhưng mà biết hát tiếng Việt, rồi con hát cho mọi người nghe bài “Cháu yêu Bà” mẹ dạy con đó. Ai cũng khen con hát hay.
– Con của mẹ thật giỏi, để mẹ sẽ dạy con nói thêm nhiều tiếng Việt nha
This afternoon, after finishing her job in the immigration office, Dung went to pick up her son at school. The mother and son went to the market to buy some food for dinner before going home. The streets this afternoon are deserted. Those longan trees on the streets were full of fruits before, and now they have green leaves like they were new.
‘Son, was there anything interesting at the school?
Hung was sitting behind and hugging his mom. Hearing the question, he starts talking.
‘Yes. Some college students came to our class and taught us how to make kites. After they knew that I have a Vietnamese mom, they asked me whether I could speak Vietnamese. I said no, but I can sing Vietnamese songs. Then I sang the song you taught me, ‘I love grandma’. Everyone said I sang very well.’
‘My son is so gifted. I'm going to teach you more Vietnamese later.’
Some stories are about tragic incidents that shocked the whole country. In 2014, a mass stabbing spree took place in the Taipei Metro and Erin, from Indonesia, wrote a story inspired by the event.
Kulihat pemuda berbaju merah membabi buta mengayunkan pisau dan menusuki siapa saja yang ada dalam jangkauannya. Orang-orang yang terkena amukannya berjatuhan. Yang masih bisa berlari segera menyingkir sambil melemparkan apa saja pada pemuda itu. Aku dan Kakek bergerombol dengan beberapa lansia di ujung gerbong, yang sialnya buntu! Gawat sekali.
Entah berapa orang yang bergelimpangan berdarah-darah di lantai kereta metro itu. Aku gemetar hebat. Maut serasa mengintaiku. Kurundukan badan merendah di belakang kursi roda. Ah, sebuah usaha sembunyi yang sia-sia. Tapi sungguh aku takut sekali. Tak terbayangkan akan mengalami tragedi ketika jauh dari tanah air dan keluarga sendiri.
I saw a young man in red clothes waving his knife aimlessly and trying to kill everyone close to him. Several people fell down after being stabbed by him and others tried to run away as soon as possible. They threw things at that guy. Grandpa [who I take care of as my job] and I and other elder people were at the end of that cart, but we had no way out! We were doomed!
I did not know the number of people lying in their blood on Metro. I was thrilled. I felt the God of Death looking at me. I curled my body behind a wheelchair. Oh. I tried to hide myself helplessly. But I was very scared. I did not expect to experience such tragedy in a place so far away from my family and hometown.
Nanik Riyati is from Indonesia and she wrote a story about the hijab:
Suatu hari Siauce mendapatiku berhijab. Mimik wajahnya menunjukkan ketidaksukaannya dan menyuruhku untuk melepaskannya. Dia masuk ke kamar dan memanggilku sambil membuka youtube dan menjelaskan tentang adat upacara kematian orang Cina.
Dengan kesedihan dan kekecewan terpaksa ku lepas hijabku dan berpakaian seperti biasa, tetapi dalam hati, aku tetap berkeinginan untuk berhijab dan menjadi muslimah yang baik.
Aku mulai istikamah berdoa dan berusaha mencari informasi bagaimana caranya agar bisa berhijab menjalankan perintah Allah dan tetap bekerja dengan baik. Rasa iri dan sedih setiap kali melihat teman-teman bisa bebas berhijab selalu terbesit. Dalam hati hanya bisa berucap, “Ya Allah semoga suatu saat aku diperbolehkan berhijab”.[…]
Tiba-tiba aku teringat akan surat yang Ah-kong tulis buatku. Maka di sela-sela kesibukan mengerjakan tugas kuliah, kutulis sebuah surat dengan bahasa Inggris dengan vocabulary yang pas-pasan dan grammarnya yang tidak lengkap. Akan tetapi aku yakin Siauce memahami isi suratku.
Ku jelaskan kewajiban wanita muslimah untuk berhijab itu diperintahkan langsung oleh Allah dan keutamaan wanita yang berhijab dan taat beragama pasti akan lebih sabar dalam mengurus orang tua, lebih ikhlas dalam bekerja dan jujur.
Selesai kerja kuberikan surat yang sudah kupersiapkan dan aku masuk kamar untuk melaksanakan salat isya. Tiba-tiba pintu kamar terbuka, Siauce berlari memelukku dengan erat sambil menangis. Diciuminya rambutku sambil berkata:
“You can wear hijab. You can wear your dress. You can pray, you can study, you can do anything you like, but don’t leave us and please take care of Ah-kong, because he loves you and likes you. If this was your reason to go home please stay here and do as your Allah asked you to do. I allow you and I will explain to Ah-kong and my brother.”
“If you have something to talk, just tell me and we can communicate”.
Spontan aku bersujud dan menangis. Ku peluk erat tubuh Siauce, ku anggukkan kepala dan aku setuju untuk menambah kontrakku, di samping aku bisa melanjutkan kuliahku dan melunasi hutang-hutangku. Terima kasih ya Allah, ternyata benar, kalau kita berdoa dengan istiqamah, berusaha tanpa henti Allah pasti akan mengabulkan doa kita.
One day, the daughter of my boss saw me wear hijab. She looked unhappy and told me to take it off. She asked me to go to her room and let me see a video on Youtube. She explained to me the Chinese funeral customs [and how a hijab might look like something used in the funeral]. I felt very sad and depressed because I was asked to take off my hijab. I wear what I used to wear, but in my mind, I want to wear my hijab and be a good Muslim.
I started to pray and looked for any way to obey Allah and kept doing my job. I felt envy and sad when I saw my friends wearing hijab freely. I could only tell myself, ‘Allah, I hope one day I will be allowed to wear my hijab.’[…]
Suddenly, I remember the letter grandpa wrote to me. When I was busy doing homework assigned in the school, I wrote to the daughter of my boss in simple English. I believe she can understand what I wrote in the letters. I explained the duty of Muslims. Wearing hijab is an order from Allah, and it is the most important principle for women to obey the religion, which will make me more patient to take care of her grandpa, kinder, and more honest.
After finishing my duty, I gave her the letter I prepared, and then I came back to my room and prayed. Suddenly my door was opened, she ran in and held me. She kissed my hairs and said, ‘You can wear hijab. You can wear your dress. You can pray, you can study, you can do anything you like, but don’t leave us and please take care of Ah-kong, because he loves you and likes you. If this was your reason to go home please stay here and do as your Allah asked you to do. I allow you and I will explain to Ah-kong and my brother.’
I cried happily on my knees. I held her tightly and agreed to expand my contract. In addition to continue my education in the college, I can pay back my debt. Thanks Allah. This is true. If we pray with our heart and keep working, Allah will answer us.
And finally, Filipina Wala's beautiful words can perfectly sum up the spirit of the literature award:
Gusto kong maging hinog sa karanasan sa buhay dito upang maibahagi ko rin ang aking kaalaman sa aking mga kababayan sa Pilipinas. Babalikan ko rin ang pagsusulat. At sa pagkakataong ito, sarili ko namang kwento ang isusulat ko. Ang mga karanasan ko ay pinagyaman na ng iba’t ibang kulturang natutunan ko.
Ang puso ko ay pinagtibay na ng hangaring matupad ang aking mga pangarap at mabigyan ng magandang buhay ang aking pamilya. Kung hindi ako umalis ng aking bansa, hindi ko matutuklasan na dito sa Taiwan, marami rin akong kapatid na Pilipino na dito na nakahanap ng pag-ibig at bumuo ng sariling pamilya. Na pwede pala na magkaibigan ang dalawang lahi magkaiba man ang kanilang kulturang kinagisnan.
Malayo pa ang biyaheng tatahakin ko rito ngunit kampante na ang puso ko sa pangalawang tahanang nahanap ko sa bansang ito. Lahat ng pangarap ko ay matutupad kahit paunti-unti at mabagal lang. Wala naman ng mas sasarap pa sa katas ng iyong pinaghirapan matagal man ang kailangang hintayin.
Hindi man ako nakakuha ng propesyonal na trabaho rito, naging saludo naman ako sa lahat ng mga ordinaryong manggagawa dito sa Taiwan. Hindi biro ang aming trabaho. Balewala ang talino kung hindi ito sasamahan ng tiyaga at pasensya.
At sa tuwing nalulungkot ako, iniisip ko na bawat araw na lumilipas ay isang araw na palapit nang palapit sa oras na makikita ko nang muli ang ngiti ng aking ina at mahahagkan ang aking pamilya.
“Lolo, nakarating na ako sa dulo ng bukid. Hindi ko ito nilakad kagaya ng pinag-usapan natin. Natuklasan ko kasi na kaya ko pa lang lumipad. Salamat sa’yo na unang nagturo sa akin na kaya kong gawin ang lahat ng kaya kong isipin. Natuklasan ko rin na sa dulo ng bukid ay may panibagong mundo pang naghihintay. Na sa bawat katapusan ay may panibagong simula.”
I want to experience life here to the fullest so that I can share this knowledge with my fellow Filipinos back in the Philippines. I will continue my writing. But this time, I will write my own story, a life story that has been enriched by different cultures.
To realize my dream and to bring a bright future to my family, my heart has been stronger. If I didn’t leave my country, I will never discover that here in Taiwan, I also have fellow Filipinos who found love and built their own families. That it is possible for people to be friends with those who belong to a different race and culture.
This is still a long trip for me here but my heart is at ease in this second home I found in this country. Step by step, all my dreams will come true. There is nothing better than to see the fruit of all my hard work even if this means I have to wait for a long time.
Even if I was unable to get a white-collar job here, I want to salute all ordinary workers in Taiwan. Our job is not easy. Without perseverance and endurance, we cannot make it no matter how smart we are.
Every time I feel sad, I just think that each passing day is a day closer when I finally get to see the smile of my mother and embrace my family.
‘Grandpa, I reached the end of the fields. I did not walk like we discussed because I found that I can fly. Thank you for being the first to teach me that I can do whatever I want to do. I also learned that there is a new life waiting at the end of the field. Every ending is made for a new start.
Acknowledgment: Special thanks to Global Voices’ Southeast Asia team, including Mong Palatino, Juke Carolina, and Don Lê, for helping to revise the translation.

author: I-fan Lin


text:
The Pashtun Long March Asks for Justice After Years of Ethnic Targeting · Global Voices
Anas Saleem

Protesters outside the National Press Club in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Image by Annam Lodhi. Used with permission.
“Naqeeb Teray Khoon Se, Inqilab Aye Ga,” (Naqeeb from your blood we will bring about a revolution) chants a crowd outside the National Press Club in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Thousands of ethnic Pashtuns from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and elsewhere in Pakistan have staged a sit-in in front of the National Press Club in Islamabad for the past week.
The protests were initially sparked by the extra-judicial killing of Pashtun shopkeeper Naqeebullah Mehsud, but have now become a rallying point to speak up about issues affecting the Pashtun community.
#PastunLongMarch #Islamabad
How many more until we actually see change? pic.twitter.com/2Z63BzPH5R
— The Lodhi (@AnnamL0dhi) February 8, 2018
Women from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are on the way to join #PashtunLongMarch
We request women from all over Pakistan to join us today at 5 pm Islamabad press club. #JusticeForPashtun pic.twitter.com/qOBemtqoHd
— Shawanashah (@ShawanaShah92) February 8, 2018
The Pashtuns (or Pathans) are an ethnic group who mostly live in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They speak the Pashto language and various other dialects; they also have a rich traditional set of ethics and a distinctive culture which guides individual and communal conduct. In Pakistan, there are currently about 30 million Pashtuns (15% of Pakistan's total population) and in Afghanistan, they are the largest ethnic group and make up between 42–60% of the 32.5 million population.
Many Pashtuns are disadvantaged in Pakistan. Pashtun refugees that have crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan mostly live in squalid refugee camps in poverty. Also, many local Pashtuns from the Afghan border area — the federally administered tribal area (FATA)– are internally displaced in their own country due to military operations related to the War in Waziristan and also live in camps. They have endured years of terrorist violence and military operations where hundreds of thousands of families lost their businesses and livelihoods.
Protests have been raging on since Naqeebullah Mehsud, a 27-year-old Pashtun shopkeeper from FATA, was killed in an alleged staged extrajudicial killing in January in Karachi. The phenomena of extrajudicial killings and fake encounter killings (when locals are murdered and shown as culprits for the good of the security agencies) are not new to Karachi. In 2017, 65 extrajudicial killings were suspected and 20 were investigated; in six cases, police officers were found to be involved in misusing their powers.
End to the regime of enforced disappearances in Pakhtunkhwa, Fata and rest of Pakistan, an end to the land mines, #JusticeForNaqeeb and rehabilitation of the destroyed infrastructure in Fata are the legitimate demands of #PashtunsIsbdDharna. #PashtunLongMarch pic.twitter.com/5hMHSzyImO
— Khadim Hussain (@Khadimhussain4) February 2, 2018
What is different about Naqeeb’s staged killing is that it has triggered a movement led by the Pashtun youth who feel that they have long been at the receiving end of punishments and are subjected to ethnic stereotyping and abductions by security forces.
The Demands of Pashtun sit-in. Credits: Annam Lodhi
The participants of the Pashtun sit-in, which commenced on 1 February, have refused to acquiesce from their position until the government accepts their five demands. The demands include:
Global Voices (GV) was present at the protest in Islamabad and talked to some of the protesters.
Ali Haider, a student, said:
I wish that we achieve what we came here for. We don't have a good education system nor qualified teachers and due to everyday issues, we can't attend schools on time or study
On 8 February, Haider and many other students were at the protest for more than a week and said that they are sacrificing their education and earnings in the hope for change. The ongoing sit-in was organized by a social media group of young Pashtuns, with the hashtag #PashtunLongMarch. The demonstration is currently being attended by 50+ women and about 2000 Pashtuns from the tribal areas and other parts of the country every day.
The protest was widely ignored by national media until social media and international outlets reported on it.
Thousands are participating in the #PashtunLongMarch. Men and women of all ages are present. This is something unprecedented. pic.twitter.com/Fn9wrhvRQG
— Dr Nauman (@naumanulhaqkhan) February 5, 2018
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called upon the Government of Pakistan to take notice of this protest and to listen to the demands. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi assured the protestors that Naqeebullah Mehsud's killers will be brought to justice.
While at the sit-in, GV spoke with Bushra Gohar, ANP’s (Awami National Party) Center Vice President, who stated that:
The government hasn't given the protest it’s due attention. He (the Prime Minister of Pakistan) should have announced what the government plans to do and what are the steps the government will take. The media was controlled and not allowed to cover the protest. The protest was huge on the first few days.
The protesters are also demanding an end to the Watan Card (an identity card) which originally launched in 2010 to provide financial assistance to the flood-affected population. This has become a de-facto passport for people from FATA to travel within the country and has become a huge nuisance for the residents of the north as it is now increasingly being used to discriminate amongst ethnicities. Bushra Gohar said:
Whenever a terrorist incident happens the whole community is punished. The Watan card should be done away with; if its good for them (the Pashtuns) it should be good for the PM of Pakistan also.
Social Activist Gulalai Ismail addressed the crowd on the eighth day and said, “Punjab main Orange Line or KP main land mines,” (The Punjab province has the orange line [train] while KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa] has landmines) pointing toward the lack of development in the province. She further added that the lives of Pashtuns seem cheap because the government ignores the atrocities against them every day.
Women participating at the protest. Image by Annam Lodhi. Used with permission.
While talking to GV at the sit-in, Ismail said:
Women today also sent a strong message that we in our bangles are as strong as men with their weapons — with the power of nonviolence they vowed to take the revolution forward.
Many feel that the entire Pashtun community has suffered due to the ignorance of the government and ethnic sidelining. Ismail adds:
Pashtun women have suffered a lot; the ongoing conflict has strengthened the patriarchy. In the name of tribalization/FCR women have been deprived of their human rights.
Moreover, leaders of the parties from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa like the Awami National Party (ANP), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and Qaumi Watan Party participated in the Pashtun Long March and addressed the protesters, showing their full support for the protest.
Protesters have long felt that the current administration has been ignoring the basic rights of the Pashtuns, delaying the FATA reform bill since the beginning of their tenure in 2012. Finally, in January, the National Assembly (NA) did eventually pass the bill which was seen as a step toward some reform in the way of a merger of the tribal areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Pashtun community has always felt marginalized, from jokes about their ethnicity to undermining their talent in many walks of life in Pakistan — they have found it hard to make their way in the society. This rally is one of a kind because this may be the first time that Pashtuns have come to the capital en masse. There are no blocked roads or ethnic profiling with Watan cards and the protesters are asking for nothing but justice. The rally isn't religiously motivated but rather ethnicity motivated; they hope for a Pakistan that is more accommodating to all it's people and doesn't divide on basis of ethnicity.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Anas Saleem


text:
Trinidad & Tobago Finally Gets Its ‘Steups’ Emoji · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The long-awaited “steups” emoji, designed by Trinidadian photographer Sarita Rampersad who shared it on Facebook with an invitation for netizens to use it.
For some time now, social media users from Trinidad and Tobago — and perhaps even users across the region — have been agitating for a Facebook “steups” button.
What exactly is a steups? Simply put, it's the noise that happens when you suck air past your teeth, and it is accompanied by an exasperated facial expression — complete with lip pursing and eye-rolling — to express disapproval, criticism or objection.
The louder or longer the steups, the more irritated the person is and, given the abundance of topics that regularly make Trinbagonian Facebook users suck their teeth, the need for the “steups” emoji is serious.
There was widespread hope that the request would reach Facebook via Maxine Williams, the company's Head of Diversity, who is Trinidadian and gave an open lecture at the University of the West Indies’ St. Augustine campus last year on the topic of “Social Media and the Creation of Global Communities”.
Williams herself posted about the experience:
Lovely evening at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Trinidad campus. It's a special treat to be on home turf, with folks who raised you up, sharing the common understanding that the choice is not a binary one of ‘local’ versus ‘global’. We can think global and act local with the benefit of everything the world has to offer through connectivity and social connection.
And maybe therein lies the urgency of the “steups” emoji. When it comes to social connection, Caribbean netizens often want to put their unique stamp on their online interactions via the virtual “steups”.
Following the event, at least one Facebook user reported that she had told Williams of the “steups” emoji request — so although April 2018 marks a year since Williams’ lecture, there might still be a possibility that the social networking giant will come through.
However, photographer Sarita Rampersad, an avid Facebook user, decided that Trinbagonians had waited long enough: she designed a “steups” emoji and posted it on her Facebook page with the comment:
Yuh welcome FB.
Feel free to teef :)
You're welcome, Facebook.
Feel free to steal/use.
Up to the time of this writing, her post had attracted more than 150 “Likes”, and 65 “Shares”. Commenters were very complimentary, confirming that they plan to use the image when commenting online.
Colin Hamilton added:
The roll of the eyes give it emphasis ….??
Anne Fung added:
Wish u could put some sound to it!! True Trini lips!!
Appreciative Facebook user Rhoda Bharath referred to Trinidad and Tobago's highest award and quipped:
Order of the Republic for you, oui.
When one commenter asked Rampersad whether she planned to protect the intellectual property on the “steups” emoji, she replied:
Lol it’s a public service!

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
An Introduction to #MeToo in Japan · Global Voices
Takahiro Katsumi

Caption: Photo “Meili”, from Twitter. Used with permission.
In December 2017, the #MeToo movement finally reached Japan after three women decided to speak out against their abusers. The experiences of these three women provide insights into the challenges Japanese women face when speaking out about their experiences of sexual assault.
While the #MeToo movement is generally regarded to have started in October 2017, when multiple women spoke out about their experiences of being allegedly sexually assaulted by Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, the movement got its start in Japan in May 2017 when the hashtag #FightTogetherWithShiori started to trend on Japanese Twitter. The hashtag was created in support of a woman, known simply at the time as “Shiori”, who appeared on television to allege she was sexually assaulted by a well-known journalist in 2015.
In October 2017, thanks to support across Japan and around the world, Shiori Ito decided to reveal her full name and published a book, “Black Box.”
@ouenshiori 伊藤詩織さんの『ブラックボックス』拝読しました。伊藤詩織さんを応援します。読みながら、ここには書けないこと、たくさん思い出しました。ありがとうございます。 pic.twitter.com/kwMdeLh0am
— 津田摩耶子 (@SOBRANIE_pinks) January 15, 2018
I read Ms. Shiori Ito's “Black Box”. I support Ms. Shiori Ito. While reading, it brought back memories of many things that I couldn't write here. Thank you.
Shiori Ito, who is best known simply as ‘Shiori’, also frequently appears in numerous interviews both seeking justice and to highlight the problem of sexual assault in Japan.
After Shiori's debut in the public spotlight, and as the #MeToo movement in the United States and other countries gained momentum, other women started making their voices heard on social media.
In December 2017, a blogger known simply as Hachu helped bring the #MeToo hashtag to Japan after her story was published by Buzzfeed Japan. Hachu, a popular writer and blogger, revealed that she had been sexually harassed by one of her managers, a well-known creative director in Japan's advertising industry, while she was working at the advertising giant Dentsu.
Hachu's tweet about the Buzzfeed story was shared on Twitter 17,000 times:
元電通の岸勇希さんのセクハラ・パワハラについて証言した記事が公開されました。数か月に及ぶ取材中も、自分と相手の実名を出すことへの葛藤がありましたが #metoo のムーブメントが背中を押してくれました。リスクを背負って証言してくれた関係者の皆様に感謝しています。https://t.co/Ymy4UOiCpu
— はあちゅう (@ha_chu) December 17, 2017
An article about my own account of sexual harassment and workplace bullying by Kishi Yuki, formerly of Dentsu, has now been published. During the interviews over the past several months, I struggled with whether or not to go public or name the perpetrator, but the #MeToo movement have given me the last push. I’m grateful to all those concerned who have taken the risk to testify.
Hachu's story, which was first published in mid-December, prompted others to share their stories. In late January 2018, a third “#MeToo” story generated conversation on social media in Japan. Web magazine wezzy reported that stage actress Shimizu Meili — who goes by ‘Meili’ on social media and in interviews — disclosed on Twitter that she had been sexually assaulted by her stage producer Takeuchi Tadayoshi.
Tadayoshi produces the stage genre of ‘2.5D’ anime theater which features dramatizations of Japanese manga set to music. Meili met him for the first time on that fateful day. 2.5D theater enjoys a large fanbase so Meili went public with the allegation first by tweeting about her sexual assault but without naming the perpetrator. Meili compiled her own Tweets into a Twitter Moment entitled “The Reason I Cried at the February Performance”.
私が今年の2月の舞台で 泣いた理由です。
レイプをされた事によって自分の身体が汚い、嫌いだと思うようになり、役者を辞めるかどうか この一年弱、活動自体を休みつつ悩んできました。
— 清水 めいり? (@mememeily) December 17, 2017
This is the reason why I cried at the performance in February. Because I was raped, I could only think my body as filthy thing, and I hated it. I contemplated for almost a year to quit my acting career while taking some time off from the activity itself.
After her December Twitter posts went viral, they were picked up by web magazine wezzy. Later that month, when Hachu's #MeToo story was reported by Buzzfeed, Meili felt prompted to name her own accuser. What happened over the next month provides insights into the struggle faced by victims of sexual assault in Japan.
While it was difficult for Hachu to prove that her manager at Dentsu has made sexual advances to her, Shiori and Meili had an even more difficult challenge trying to prove they were sexually assaulted. Shiori's case was dropped after being investigated by prosecutors, while police never even referred Meili's case to prosecutors in the first place.
Shiori and Meili's difficulty persuading prosecutors an assault had taken place is the result of existing Japanese law. According to Japan's “sex “crime law” revised in June 2017, victims are still required to substantiate that sexual assault actually happened by providing evidence of what the law calls “assault or intimidation.”
In an interview with Global Voices (GV), Meili said the police dismissed the case immediately without even interrogating the alleged perpetrator because she could not prove to them that a sexual assault did, in fact, take place.
There were several possible reasons why she could not prove what happened and her experience resembles the ordeal Shiori reports going through with the police when she made her case against her alleged assailant.
In her October 2017 book about her sexual assault, Black Box, Shiori reported that police forced her to reenact her assault using something resembling a crash-test dummy as male officers looked on and took photographs.
Like Shiori, Meili says she was able to produce what should have been a proof of her assault — i.e. security camera footage at the hotel that showed her alleged attacker taking her into a room prior to the assault. However, the police told her that being taken to a hotel with his arms wrapped around her shoulder does not constitute sexual assault and therefore could not be substantiated:
ホテルに連れていかれた時、館内の防犯カメラにはハッキリと映っていた。しかし肩を組んで部屋に入っただけでは準強姦罪にはならず、立証は出来ないと警察の方に言われた。準強姦罪の基準はそれ程までにシビアだと説明を受け、その場では泣くしかなかった。 #MeToo #metoo
— 清水 めいり? (@mememeily) December 18, 2017
The hotel’s security camera got a clear picture of him taking me into the hotel. But the officer at the police said that they can’t charge him for quasi-rape for just having his arms around me while entering the hotel room, nor could they substantiate that it ever took place. The basis for charging the crime of quasi-rape is that ‘severe’, so they told me. All I could do that moment was cry.
Meili's video footage appeared to be inconclusive to the investigators’ eyes and without any other substantial evidence, Meili's claim was rejected. There was no investigation and no arrest.
Part of the reason that ‘substantial’ evidence to prove either Shiori or Meili's attack was hard to find is because material evidence could not be physically obtained.
According to wezzy magazine, which reported on Meili's case:
被害後24時間以内に（できれば）被害に遭ったままの服装、トイレやお風呂にも入っていない状態での使用が推奨されている。
It is [generally] recommended that it [rape testing kits] be used (preferably) within 24 hours of the attack, under the same clothing, without having bathed or used a toilet.
According to both Meili and Shiori, this is practically impossible because the first thing they wanted to do was to clean themselves. As Shiori wrote in Black Box:
都内に借りていた部屋へ戻ると、真っ先に服を脱いで、山口氏に借りたＴシャツはゴミ箱に叩き込んだ。残りは洗濯機に入れて回した。この日起こったすべての痕跡を、洗い流してしまいたかった。シャワーを浴びたが、あざや出血している部分もあり、胸はシャワーをあてることもできないほど痛んだ。自分の体を見るのも嫌だった。(Black Box, pp. 55-56)
When I returned to my rented flat in Tokyo, I immediately took off the clothes, dumped into the trash the T-shirt that Yamaguchi lent me and then threw the rest of my clothes into the laundry machine. I just wanted to wash away any trace of what happened on that day. I also took a shower, but I had bruises and some were even bleeding. It hurt so bad that I couldn’t even let the water hit on my breast. I didn’t even want to see my own body. (Black Box, pp. 55-56)
In an interview with GV, Meili revealed that she herself did not visit the clinic for treatment within 24 hours of her assault. Instead, Meili visited a maternity clinic nine days after her assault, but before she visited the police to file her complaint. She says she intended to go to the clinic by herself to collect evidence that she thought might be needed for an investigation.
When asked how the police treated her, Meili says:
[…] 証拠が不十分という理由で被害届も受理されず、アフターケアの体制もなく、今後は弁護士に相談してみて下さいという一言を言われただけで終わりました。
They rejected my complaint on the basis of insufficient evidence, did not provide any aftercare, and just told me that I should consult a lawyer. That was it.
Meili also said:
支援センターは何処にあるのか知らなかった事もあり、行ったことはありません。正直調べる気力も無かったです。
I didn’t know where the sexual assault support center was located, so I never went. Honestly, I didn't have the energy to look up for it.
In contrast, Shiori states in her book Black Box that she tried to get help from what she believed was Tokyo's only functioning sexual assault support center but because they required a short interview before providing any information, Shiori declined to visit them.
電話をすると、「面接に来てもらえますか？」と言われた。どこの病院に行って何の検査をすればいいのか教えてほしいと言ったが、話を直接聞いてからでないと、情報提供はできないと言われた。 (Black Box, p.48)
When I called them, they told me to come in for an interview. I asked which hospital I should go to and what kind of tests I should take, but they said they are unable to provide any information without hearing my my story directly.
While victims of sexual assault are told to get a DNA test as soon as possible after the attack, such “rape kits” are often inaccessible. Compounding the problem, the social and medical safety nets supporting the victims in Japan are still weak.
“Unfortunately, we were not equipped at the time with the capability to transport Shiori [to our facility]”, says Tanabe Hisako in an email interview with GV. Tanabe is a steering committee member of SARC Tokyo (Sexual Assault Relief Center Tokyo), the only emergency relief center dedicated to sexual assault victims in Tokyo. Along with SACHICO (Sexual Assault Crisis Healing Intervention Center Osaka), SARC Tokyo is one of Japan's first true 24/7 sexual assault crisis relief centers.
According to Tanabe, SARC Tokyo is intended to act as a “one-stop relief center” in order to connect sexual assault survivors with medical facilities that can provide assistance.
Tanabe says:
SARCにいらしていただきたいと案内したことにはそのような根拠があります。[…] 電話した時、「出かけていく気力も体力もなかった」と詩織さんは言われています。そういう方に、残念ながらお迎えに行ったりできる体制はありませんでした。警察通報ならば、機動力がありますから、車でお迎えに行ったりすることは可能だったでしょう。当時は、なんとかしてSARCに来ていただくしかなかったのです。現在であれば、被害者が無理なく来れそうな近くの協力医療機関を案内して、SARCから支援員が飛んでいくことは可能ですし、そうしています。
That was the reason behind why we asked Shiori-san to come to SARC […] Unfortunately, we were not equipped with the capability to bring her in at the time. If she has reported to the police, with their mobility, they could have send out a car to pick her up. […] Today, however, we can guide the victim to a partner medical institution and SARC staff can be dispatched for immediate on-site assistance. And that's how we operate today.
Since Shiori's experience nearly three years ago, there are more resources for survivors of sexual assault in Tokyo, says Tanabe.
In July 2015, SARC Tokyo was able to increase its full-time staff thanks to initial funding from the Tokyo Metropolitan government; this, of course, could not help Shiori who reported her assault in April 2015. The national government also has plans to establish sexual assault relief centers in each of Japan's 47 prefectures. According to Ms.Tanabe, forty of such institutions have already been established, but the total budget is just 163 million yen (roughly US$1.5 million).
SARC東京ができてよかったことは、多くの被害者が泣き寝入りして、それでも心に深い傷を負って生活していて、そうした過去の被害を抱えた方の相談だけでなく、被害直後にお電話くださる方が増えたことです。
One of the good things about establishing SARC Tokyo was that while many of the victims remain silent and are still living in pain, calls from not only those who had been victimized in the past but those who have just been victimized has begun to increase.
As part of her interview with GV, Meili wanted to send a message to the survivors of all forms of sexual assault. To all the still unheard “MeToos” around the world:
孤独を感じてしまうかもしれません。
生きていたくないと思ってしまうかもしれません。
そう思ってしまう自分が嫌になってしまうかもしれません。
しかし、そう思ってしまう程の事があなたの身に起きてしまったのです。辛い時は辛いと言ってください。周りに助けを求めてください。決して独りではありません。
You might feel lonely. You might not want to live anymore. And you might hate yourself for thinking that way. But the reason you think that way is because what happened you was that traumatic for you. So when it's hard for you, say it out. Seek out help. You are not alone. Never.
This article has been updated.

author: Takahiro Katsumi


text:
Mashal Khan Case Verdict Highlights Pakistan’s Blasphemy and Impunity Problem · Global Voices
Anushe Noor

Mashal Khan. Source: Facebook
On 13 April 2017, journalism student Mashal Khan was lynched and shot dead at his university by fellow students after he was falsely accused of blasphemy. Around 61 students were arrested for the killing of Khan. On 7 February 2018, a Pakistani court sentenced to death Imran Ali for shooting Khan. Five of the accused received life imprisonment, 25 were convicted of minor offenses, and 26 were acquitted.
After the verdict was announced, many shared their views on social media. It also revived the debate about whether it’s already time to reform the country’s Blasphemy Law.
Khan was a 23-year old (reported in some media as 25-year old) student of Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan. He was attacked after a nasty rumor linked him to several Facebook pages that allegedly insulted Islam. He died from gunshot wounds while the police were dealing with the mob. Later, the rumor was found out to be baseless.
Khan’s murder sparked public outrage which helped in pressuring the government to prosecute those involved in killing the student. The campaign used the hashtag #JusticeForMashal.
During the widely publicized trial, which was held in an Anti-Terrorism Court in Haripur, Khan’s family members were given security due to constant threats against them.
The guilty verdict handed out by the court marked the first time that the Pakistani police became successful in moving for the conviction of mob members in a lynching incident.
But Iqbal Khan, the father of the murdered student, told BBC Urdu that his family is still seeking justice because 26 suspects walked free despite their participation in the mob that killed his son.
The father’s lament was shared by blogger Imran Khan who reminded authorities that more than 6 people were obviously involved in killing Mashal Khan.
1 death sentence and 5 life sentences for a lynching that was filmed? Surely there were more than 6 people involved. #JusticeforMashal
— Imran Khan (@iopyne) February 7, 2018
Student Syeda Trimzi hopes that this verdict will deter other such incidents:
#JusticeForMashal
In the End it's a Justice ..
May #MashalKhan case will last and No mother will have to lost it's Mashal again pic.twitter.com/6sjPvzKSQy
— Syeda Trimzi (@TrimiziiSyeda) February 7, 2018
This was also the message of journalist Meena Gabeena:
Congratulations Pakistan for finally hearing abt some punishments to the people behind heinous crimes… it’s time to now raise the voice and work harder to prevent such cases at the first place instead of making noise for punishments after they happen. #JusticeForMashal
— meena gabeena (@gabeeno) February 7, 2018
Aitzaz Hassan at Pro Pakistani blog said that the judgment was a step in the right direction, and noted:
We will have to wait and see if any other mobsters will come under the rule of law after the defendants appeal against the current decision.
Meanwhile, lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir tweeted a video of one of the acquitted who proudly admitted his role in the murder and added that he did it for his religion.
Aizaz, another student who was acquitted, got a hero's welcome in Mardan. He was showered with petals and carried on the shoulders of supporters, and he told the cheering crowd in Pashto that anyone who committed blasphemy or spoke against Khatm-e-Nabuwwat (the belief that Prophet Muhammad Peace Be Upon Him was the last prophet) would “meet the same end as Mashal”.
After the release of the verdict, street parties were held by some religious groups calling for the acquittal of all suspects.
After Mashal Khan's murder, political analyst Sohail Khan wrote about the mob mentality and hatred that killed the student:
Killing in the name of religion becomes easy if you are brought up in a particular way. [..] Sectarianism is paraded as a diversity of opinion. Fatwas are delivered as analysis. Calling others kafirs, infidels, atheists (in the popularly misunderstood sense), non-believers, ‘murtads’, enemies of Islam etc is now a trend. With their little knowledge, Wikipedia information, inadequate lives, personal failures, short tempers and long tongues, these hatemongers are all over the place – infecting minds, poisoning hearts, darkening souls. [..]
The incident had rekindled the debate about the role of Islam in state and society of Pakistan in a way not seen before in Pakistan.
The culture of impunity that legitimizes killing merely on the accusation of blasphemy is also to blame. The country’s Blasphemy Law is linked to dozens of killings because of its ‘draconian’ provisions which are easily exploited by some individuals for dubious personal motives.
Among those killed for allegedly committing blasphemy was politician Salman Taseer who was shot dead by his own bodyguard in 2011 for speaking out against the misuse of the law. Taseer's bodyguard, who was executed last year, is revered by many religious hardliners.
In order to prevent false allegations, the Supreme Court asked the Parliament on August 2017 to amend the law by inserting a provision punishing those who make false accusations.
Some believe that the Mashal Khan verdict provides an opportunity to further review the Blasphemy Law and ensure that it’s not used to justify acts of violence against those who belong to minority religions.

author: Anushe Noor


text:
‘Singing the Tale of Our Pain’: Tajikistan’s Migration Phenomenon Finds a Home in Music · Global Voices
Salam Aleik

Screenshot from Nigina Amonqulova – Yori Musofir (2015). Music Video uploaded onto YouTube January 3, 2016.
In jobless Tajikistan, leaving your loved ones behind to take up menial work in Russia is almost a rite of passage. Local pop music, in turn, has become an important medium to reflect on the social transformations triggered by the mass exodus of young men from the former Soviet country.
Намехоҳам аз ватан дур, зиндагӣ мекунад маҷбур,
Макун гиря модарҷонам, қисмати мо чӣ талху шӯр.
Аз ошиқам ҷудо кардӣ, дилам пур аз ғамҳо кардӣ,
Маро тани танҳо кардӣ, ба дардҳо мубтало кардӣ,
Оҳ ғарибӣ!
No desire to leave homeland, but have to,
Don’t cry, dear mother, our fate is that bitter.
I am separated from friends, and love,
My heart full of sadness, I’m lonely and sick.
Tajikistan is home to more than eight million people. It is estimated that more than half of all working age males seek jobs abroad, overwhelmingly in Russia.
According to World Bank data, migrant remittances equate to a greater proportion of Tajikistan's economy (26.9%) than any other economy in the world, bar those of Central Asian neighbour Kyrgyzstan (30.4%) and Nepal (31.3%).
The factors pushing citizens away from the majority-Muslim country are manifold. It is the poorest of the 15 republics that gained independence from the former Soviet Union. Corruption is rampant and public services are in turmoil. For those able to find work, wages are low and often outpaced by inflation.
Ҳар куҷо шодаму шодон, ба ёди Ватанам,
Ҳар куҷо ташнаву ношод, ба ёди Ватанам
Wherever I am happy and joyful, I think of homeland,
Wherever I am thirsty and sad, I think of homeland.
This upbeat music video put together by the International Organisation for Migration and the Tajik government calls on migrants enjoying success abroad to contribute to their homeland's development.
The clip includes footage (from 2.50) of long-serving Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon meeting with compatriots in Moscow.
The reality of most migrants’ lives is far less colourful than the video above suggests.
Working conditions in Russia and other host countries are often poor, with corruption, racism and exploitation at the core of everyday life.
On average, more than one Tajik labour migrant returns home in a coffin every day.
Теппае гӯри бародар, теппае гӯри падар,
Байни он ду теппа бошад ҷойи як гӯри дигар.
Гар бимирам дар ғарибӣ, Тоҷикистонам баред
Father’s grave on one side and brother’s on the other side,
Is there space for one more grave?
Find it! If I die in gharibi, take my body home, to Tajikistan!
For Tajiks, one of Central Asia's longest-settled peoples, the psychological burden of leaving home is impossible to describe.
It is captured in the Tajik word “gharibi”, which represents a mix of misery, loneliness, humiliation and hunger experienced in an unfamiliar place.
Афсӯс, ки дар ин дашту биёбон мурдан,
Дур аз ватану, ҷудо аз хешон мурдан,
So sad to die in this wilderness,
Far from home, far from loved ones.
It is arguably family members left behind by Tajikistan's Russia-bound migrants that suffer most, however.
Sometimes, men leave for Russia before their wives give birth. In these cases, a child's only connection to his or her father might be through conversations on a messanging app.
For spouses, there is the very real fear of abandonment. Migrants sometimes take new wives in Russia, and occasionally divorce their first wives via SMS messages.
Азизи дури ман, ёри ғарибам, зи оғӯши биҳишт сахт бенасибам,
Мабодо, ки фаромӯшам намоӣ, бигирад тахти бахт ҳамроҳ рақибам.
Love of my heart, who is far from me, leaving me without the embrace of paradise,
I fear your short memory, and that a rival might sit on the throne of my happiness.
While professional pop artists have capitalised on the migration theme to boost their profiles, YouTube is also awash with migration-themed songs performed by migrants themselves.
Як-ду сухане ки дар дилум буд, буромадан,
Чӣ азобойе мекашанд берун ай ватан.
Ҳози боша да фикрум, чида да мулки ғарибум,
Чӣ кор мекунум ма ай шумо дур да и макон,
Чиба дар барум нестед ҳози шумо, очаҷон
I have a few words to say,
Singing the tale of our pain,
Why am I here, in an alien place, far from my mother?
Common to many songs is a call to return to the homeland.
Муҳоҷирбачаи саргардони тоҷик, Наврӯз мерасад,
Дар базми ватан оё, ҷойи ту холист.
Suffering Tajik migrant, Nowruz [the spring equinox] is upon us,
Come to celebrate it at home, you are being missed!
The numbers suggest many migrants are growing less optimistic about the idea of returning home and building a life in Tajikistan.
In 2017 alone roughly 30,000 Tajiks received Russian passports as they look to make their moves north permanent.

author: Salam Aleik


text:
ISIS Has Left the Syrian City of Raqqa, but Its Landmines Continue to Maim and Kill · Global Voices
Mazen Hassoun

The destruction in Al-Qouatli street in Raqqa city. Photo by Abood Hamam, used with permission.
For nearly four years, between 2013 and 2017, Syria's Raqqa city remained under the control of one of the bloodiest jihadist groups of this century: ISIS, also known as ISIL, Daesh, and Islamic State.
During its reign, ISIS forced inhabitants of the city, which it had declared to be the capital of its “caliphate,” to follow its extreme rules. Those who disobeyed were killed by crucifixion or other brutal methods of public execution.
In October 2017, after a four-month-long battle, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — a US-backed alliance of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians and other groups — managed to take control of the city and drive ISIS out. The retaking of Raqqa reportedly included an agreement between SDF and ISIS through which ISIS fighters and their families would be allowed safe passage to Deir Ezzor in Syria's east, according to the BBC.
But despite the group's defeat in Raqqa, ISIS wasn't finished with inflicting damage on the city's population. As one ISIS fighter told civilians before withdrawing from the city, “The land will fight for us”.
One of the ways “the land” is “fighting” for ISIS is through landmines.
Speaking to Global Voices over the phone, Abu Fares, a 53-year-old man who lost two of his sons to landmines planted by ISIS, said in a voice full of sorrow:
When the SDF and the international coalition attacked the city, we were forced to leave. However, we couldn't leave at the beginning of the fight, because ISIS used us as human shields. I lost one of my sons while we were trying to flee the city in the Shahdah district when a landmine exploded.
Abu Fares lost his second son a month after the battles were over:
A month after the battles ended we were allowed to return to our homes. I sent one of my sons to check our home near the clock roundabout, but when he arrived, the landmines were waiting for him in front of the house's door”.
A total of 220 civilian have been killed and dozens have been injured in Raqqa since the SDF victory due to mines planted by ISIS, according to a member of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently”, a group of local activists who document violations in the city.
A landmine planted by ISIS in Raqqa. Photo taken by “Raqqa is being slaughtered silently.” Used with permission.
When operation “Wrath of Euphrates“, the codename for the anti-ISIS operation, started in November 2016, ISIS began to plant a large number of mines to prevent SDF forces from advancing towards Raqqa. But rather than hit their intended targets, these landmines often killed civilians fleeing the battles.
The explosive devices have also killed several SDF fighters, including British volunteer Oliver Hall who lost his life months ago while he was clearing the mines. As of the time of writing, the SDF has yet to announce the number of fighters killed due to these mines.
A voluntary organization called “Roj” (short for Rojava, a region in northern Syria and western Kurdistan) is working in the city on removing thousands of mines with the help of Raqqa's Civil Council and international organizations. “The number of unexploded ordnance in Raqqa is something that we never seen before”, UN assistant secretary general Panos Moumtzis told news agency Reuters in February 2018.
But that work isn't happening fast enough for some residents. Amira, 35 years old, told Global Voices that she had to pay 50,000 Syrian pounds (approximately 100 US dollars) to a private person to clear the mines in her house after the organizations working to clear them in the area rejected her request, saying that her neighborhood's turn hasn't come yet.
She said she had to return to Raqqa after initially fleeing because of the terrible living conditions in the camps in the north for internally displaced people:
ISIS planted mines everywhere, under beds, among the rubble, inside fridges and wash machines even inside an electric lamp experts found a mine.
According to residents, the Al-Tayar, Al-Mishlab and Al-Darriah neighborhoods were the only residential districts that have been completely cleared of landmines so far.
The process of de-mining in Raqqa is going very slow because of the lack of funds and resources available to the Civil Council. This situation is forcing civilians to return to their unsafe homes, causing regular casualties in a city that has already suffered under ISIS occupation for nearly four years.

author: Mazen Hassoun


text:
What Were Global Voices’ Readers up to Last Week? · Global Voices
L. Finch

“Read up!” Photo by Flickr user carnagenyc. CC BY-NC 2.0
At Global Voices, our community researches, writes, edits, and translates stories with a mission to support human rights and build bridges of understanding across countries, cultures, and languages.
We don't publish just to grab clicks or follow a news trend. We do, however, like to keep track of the ways in which our hard work has impact around the world.
To that end, one useful metric is how readers respond to our stories and translations. So let's take a look at who our readers were and what caught their attention during the week of February 5-11, 2018.
Last week, our stories and translations attracted readers from 195 countries! The top 20 countries represented across all of Global Voices’ sites were:
The top 20 countries for readership during the week of February 5-11, 2018. A modified version of a map by Roke. CC BY-SA 3.0
The English-language site is where the majority of original content is first published at Global Voices. The top five most-read stories of last week were:
Lingua is a project that translates Global Voices stories into languages other than English. There are about 30 active Lingua sites. Below is last week's most-read story or translation on each active language site.

author: L. Finch


text:
‘We Want the World to Know’: Activists Reporting on Occupation Face Legal Threats in Western Sahara · Global Voices
Ivar Fersters

A crowd en route to join a rally in the city of Laayune is charged by Moroccan forces. The scene was captured by Equipe Media on April 29th 2013.
Among media freedom and human rights groups, Morocco is often described as having a relatively favourable landscape for media freedom, in contrast to other oppressive regimes and dictatorships in the neighbourhood, such as Egypt and Mauritania.
These assessments, which are already subjective, do not extend to the occupied territories of Western Sahara.
In a militarized environment with aggressive controls on media and citizen reporting, few stories of Western Sahara reach audiences beyond the immediate region. Local journalists and media activists reporting on the occupation and Moroccan abuses face legal obstacles and risk lengthy jail sentences in order to make their voices heard.
One group that has found itself on the edge of this divide is Equipe Media, a video documentation and human rights group that mainly reports on rights abuses committed by Moroccan forces in the territory.
Along with a Swedish film production collective, the Sahrawi media group recently released its first documentary film, 3 Stolen Cameras, which addresses the group’s struggle to document and report on Moroccan violations in Western Sahara.
“Our mission insists on showing that we are peaceful,” says Equipe Media co-founder Ahmed Ettanji. “We are campaigning our cause without violence and we want the world to know.”
Multiple Sahrawi journalists who worked with Equipe Media are currently behind bars because of their work activities, including video coverage of the 2010 Gdeim Izik protest movement.
The conflict in Western Sahara dates back to 1975 when the former colonial power Spain withdrew from the sparsely-populated territory and joint forces from neighbouring Mauritania and Morocco moved in to take control. While Mauritania eventually withdrew from Western Sahara, Moroccan forces to date still control what is sometimes referred to as ‘’Africa’s last colony’’.
For 16 years, the rebel group known as the Polisario Front fought a guerilla war for independence against Morocco, before a UN brokered ceasefire came into effect in 1991. The UN recognizes the Polisario Front as a legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people, a mixed ethnic group that lives mainly in Western Sahara and Mauritania.
In late 2010, just weeks before the Arab uprisings swept across the region, Western Sahara saw a massive, largely peaceful civilian uprising against the occupation. The uprising became known as Gdeim Izik, named after the area of the desert where the protest took place.
Thousands of Sahrawis abandoned their homes to join what grew into a huge self-governed tent city, squatting on the land for almost a month before being violently dispersed by Moroccan forces, who then burned the tent city to the ground.
Although largely unknown to the world, Gdeim Izik is an important milestone in the modern history of Western Sahara that rejuvenated the civilian independence movement.
Riots ensued after the evacuation of Gdeim Izik and resulted in several deaths and injuries that the opposing sides still blame each other for. The official narrative from Moroccan authorities holds that two protesters and 11 police and security people were killed on duty. Other sources give different numbers and different identifications.
A report by Sahara Docs cast greater light on the consequences of the event for the protesters:
[The eviction of Gdeim Izik] caused for hundreds of victims among protesters, and some deaths among Moroccan ranks; eleven of them according to Moroccan sources. Some died on the field, while some others did so in hospitals, but as a consequence of their wounds.
Equipe Media made it their mission to document the movement, as there were few other people doing so. Alongside a small network of grassroots media activists, they are paying a heavy price as a result.
Four media activists — Hassana Alia, Bachir El Khadaa, Hassan El Dah, and Abdullahi Lakfawani — affiliated with Equipe Media and similar networks of grassroots journalism are among a group of 25 Sahrawi activists who were prosecuted for their roles in the Gdeim Izik protest movement.
Lakfawani, who was arrested on 12 November 2010, was sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of “membership in a criminal gang” and “violence against a security force member leading to death, with intent.”
“Criminal gang” is a common terminology used by Moroccan authorities to describe activist groups in the region.
El Khadaa and El Dah were arrested at a cafe in Laayune, almost one month after the protest camp was dismantled. While El Khadaa got twenty years in jail for “entering into a criminal agreement” and “complicity in violence against security force member leading to death, with intent,” El Dah was sentenced to thirty years in jail for “membership in a criminal gang and complicity in violence against security force member leading to death with intent.” In addition to contributing to Equipe Media, El Dah was a reporter for the official TV station of Polisario (RASD TV).
Hassana Alia member of Equipe Media was tried and convicted in absentia in 2013 on unspecified charges, and sentenced to life in prison. He is currently exiled to Spain where he was granted asylum before the trial. Alia did not appear among the defendants in the 2017 re-trial.
Commenting on the cases, Ettanji told Global Voices:
When our members are put on trial we are never charged with violating the press code, but always some made-up accusations of us assaulting the police or something like that. Foreign journalists are kicked out, Moroccan journalists know the law and keep their mouths shut and us Sahrawis are treated in the worst way possible.
Moroccan authorities accuse 25 activists of the Gdeim Izik protest movement of committing acts of violence in relation to clashes that erupted when Moroccan security forces dismantled the protest-camp on 8 November 2010.
Eleven Moroccan security officers and two Sahrawis died in those clashes, according to official sources. However, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and international observers say the trial is unfair due to forced confessions obtained through torture. Moroccan authorities have not heeded calls from rights groups to investigate these allegations of torture. In March 2013, after more than two years of pre-trial detention, a military court sentenced the activists to jail terms ranging from two years to life imprisonment.
In 2016, after Morocco changed its military justice law to end military trial of civilians, the cassation court ordered a retrial before a civilian court. On 19 July 2017, a court of appeal released a verdict, upholding most of the sentences previously pronounced by the military court of Rabat.
Another Equipe Media contributor also currently in jail, although not in relation to the Gdeim Izik protest, is Mohammed El Bambari, who is currently serving a six-year jail term in relation to his coverage of protests that turned violent in the city of Dakhla in September 2011.
The Moroccan government accuses him of participating in the violence on a number of charges including “committing violence against public servants,” “obstructing a public road,” and the “formation of a criminal gang.” Although the events for which Bambari is accused took place in 2011, he was not arrested until August 2015 when he appeared at local police station in Dakhla to renew his identification card.
Morocco's 2016 Press Code criminalizes any expression that might challenge the “territorial integrity” of the kingdom. Print media accused of undermining Morocco's “territorial integrity” can face suspension while news websites can be blocked in accordance with Articles 71 and 104 of the Press Code. Any discussion or investigation related to the subject, and any independent journalistic activities carried out in Western Sahara, are thus violations that can garner a prison sentence ranging from six months to two years in jail and a fine, under penal code amendments from 2016.
But in this context, where any media coverage that challenges the “territorial integrity” of the Moroccan state is criminalized, the line between journalism and activism becomes blurred. To underground and activist media groups like Equipe Media, the cause for West Saharan self-determination and freedom of expression coalesce into one defiant and dangerous act of resistance.
While there has been a UN brokered ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front in effect since 1991, the conflict is by no means settled. As the gravitational centre of West Saharan resistance started shifting away from the guerrilla fighters in the desert onto the Sahrawi civilian population in the occupied cities, an environment of underground media began to form.
Despite the efforts of groups like Equipe and other independent media workers, there is still very little international attention on the Western Sahara conflict. The silence also plays into the hands of the Moroccan propaganda, a narrative built around a national consensus that “Moroccan Sahara” is a non-issue.
“They push the image that there are no problems here,” says Ahmed. “Whenever resistance is brought to surface they say we are a minority of troublemakers, common criminals or foreign (Algerian) agents.”
When Gdeim Izik happened and news started finding its way out, Moroccan media immediately painted it as a protest over unemployment and economic hardships, making little if any reference to the military occupation. As the territory is exceedingly difficult for foreign journalists to visit and report from, foreign media often resort to reprinting what appears in the Moroccan press.
Ahmed is quick to underline that several governments in Europe, foremost the former colonial powers of Spain and France, are directly complicit and invested in the occupation.
What our group tries to do is to fix the spotlight on this place, the last remaining colony in Africa and we are simply asking to be free. But [Spain and France] continue to put economic interests ahead of our human rights. They just don’t care.

author: Ivar Fersters


text:
East African Women in the Music Industry Sing Out Against Male Domination · Global Voices
Amanda Lichtenstein

Movers and Shakers networking session on women in music at Sauti za Busara on Saturday, February 10 featuring left to right: Zeitoun Amour, Copyright Society of Zanzibar (COSOZA), Carola Kinasha, MC of Sauti za Busara festival 2018, Amina Omar, lead singer of Siti and the Band, and the artist Saida Karoli. Photo by Jamie Topper with permission.
“Women in music: We have made ourselves known in the music industry around the world. Yet gender inequality, sexism, and pay gaps persist,” said Carola Kinasha, a Tanzanian-based musician and activist who recently moderated a panel discussion on women in music.
“It’s not that we’re not skillful enough. It’s that all the decision-makers are men.”
The panel was part of the three-day Movers and Shakers networking series within the 15th edition of Sauti za Busara (Sounds of Wisdom, in Swahili) music festival in Stone Town, Zanzibar.
On February 10, Kinasha spoke about the challenges women face in the music industry with leading women artists American singer-songwriter Somi; Tanzanian singer and musician Saida Karoli; Amina Omar, of the Zanzibari group Siti and the Band; and Zeitun Amour, a representative of the Copyright Society of Zanzibar (COSOZA).
Kinasha opened her remarks by pointing out that in the United Kingdom, women make up only 16% of the leadership within the music business. While limited data is available on the status of women in music throughout Africa, “Clearly, there’s a major issue with male domination in the music industry,” she said.
Somi, a jazz artist with roots in Uganda and Rwanda who now lives between New York City and Johannesburg, describes how pushing back against tradition has been her biggest challenge as an African woman in music:
Being part of an immigrant family and choosing a path as an artist had its challenges. I had to think carefully about when and how and in which spaces we as women are supposed to use our voices.
Saida Karoli, one of Tanzania’s most popular singers who stole the hearts of festival goers with her electrifying nighttime performance on February 10, spoke with raw truth about the myriad challenges she has faced as a woman in music in Tanzania, highlighting intersectional injustices as a poor, uneducated woman from the remote village of Rwongwe, in the Bukoba region of Tanzania around Lake Victoria.
Karoli started drumming at the age of five, going on to write and produce five albums to critical acclaim:
I’m from a small village and I was an orphan. I didn’t have any idea how to make it in the music industry and my manager was like my father, I believed in him wholeheartedly.
With her manager “Muta” at the steering wheel, Karoli’s popularity grew as she traveled the region from Burundi to Rwanda to Uganda, packing venues to such an extent that four people once allegedly died of suffocation. Yet according to Karoli, her manager exploited and abused her talents, claiming copyrights on all her songs and albums:
I was young, inexperienced in the music business, and at the end of the day, I didn’t have even 100 shillings [0.10 US dollars] in my pocket. Life has been hard.
Karoli revealed that while her manager opened new doors for her, he also kept her behind closed doors for a period of seven months like a prisoner, refusing to allow her to speak with other managers or producers. When she finally decided to break away she went to the port city of Mwanza, where, she said:
I hid from my fame. I was ashamed. I didn’t know how to advocate for myself. I had no rights in this work. When the journalists came asking for interviews, I just ran. I couldn’t face the shame.
Amour, Zanzibar’s authority on copyright issues, assured Karoli that as the author of all her music, she still does have basic rights under the Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act of Tanzania (1999), but that it depends on the actual existing signed contract and the case demands further investigation and legal representation.
Karoli, who no longer works with a manager, said she is counting on her debut back in the spotlight at Sauti za Busara to boost sales and build a name for herself again after years in the shadows.
Amina Omar, lead singer of Siti and the Band who lit up the festival stage on February 10 with soulful Taarab (Zanzibari soul) fusion roots, expressly thanked Karoli for speaking out on a subject so few women in the region are willing to touch — the various forms of abuse and harassment women face not just in music but within society as a whole.
Omar remembers singing at 11 years old with her sister Rahama, now an award-winning violinist in her band. But neighbors and family members frowned on the girls’ musical inclinations and eventually, her family encouraged her to marry and have children as is the tradition within Zanzibar, an archipelago where most families follow conservative Islamic customs:
So, I got married. I had my first child. My husband told me he’d support me as a musician, but when our child was grown enough to let me go back to singing, he simply said no. ‘No,’ he said. ‘You are my wife. I own you. You have to do what I like.’
When Omar decided to enter as a contestant in “Bongo Star Search,” an interactive musical reality television show based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, it sparked a violent argument with her husband. “You know, I never really talk about this but to this day, I still can’t see very well from one eye, and it’s from that night,” Amina revealed, pointing to her right eye. She struggled to leave her husband in Dar es Salaam and rebuild a life for her and her son back home in Zanzibar:
I love Zanzibar, I love my society, but there are good aspects to it as well as bad. I don’t like the idea that women are forbidden to speak in public in my society. I don’t like the position of women. I also don’t like that when my society sees me succeed, some want to keep me down. When I came back to Zanzibar, I joined the Dhow Countries Music Academy and got my education, and now I know who I am. I really love singing, it’s my life and it’s in my blood.
Women in music often seek out role models to guide them on the path, but according to Somi:
[W]e have so few role models as African women in music, that we’re basically here to carve out new paths, to be the models for future generations. We’re tasked with telling our truth(s) as African women, and there’s not that many of us — it’s a short list.
Somi referred to Angelique Kidjo as a great inspiration, while Karoli mentioned Lady JayDee and Omar mentioned legends like Bi. Kidude and Siti Binti Saad, for whom her band is named.
Siti Binti Saad, Zanzibar's original Taarab singer (1880-1950) from the village of Fumba, trailblazed as the first woman in East Africa ever to record her music in Swahili, recording over 150 gramophone records in India. She was known to perform on stage wearing a black veil over her head as was the custom for Muslim women along the Swahili Coast. In a world dominated by men, Saad insisted on a musical path and was known to protest violence against women through her music.
At February 10’s show, Omar channeled the spirit of Siti Binti Saad when she introduced her song with a powerful message directed mainly at men:
This next song is my story. And I say, a woman is your wife, is your mother, is your sister. Why beat your woman? She should be respected. She needs respect!
The crowd cheered.
Editor's note: The author of this story has worked for the Sauti za Busara festival in the past.

author: Amanda Lichtenstein


text:
How Indigenous Communities Are Using Data to ‘Reframe’ Their Narratives Through Digital Storytelling · Global Voices
Belen Febres-Cordero

Andrés Tapia, Apawki Castro, and Juan Diego Andrango were some of the people who participated in the first series of the Reframed Stories project.
In 2017, Global Voices and Rising Frames started the Reframed Stories project, an ongoing, participatory digital storytelling initiative that works with community members to analyze data around media representation.
The main objective of the Reframed Stories project is to work with indigenous communities that have been historically excluded or misrepresented in media and to help them see how they are being depicted in the news. The story initiative also provides a platform for discussion about this representation and a place where communities can respond to the coverage from their own perspectives. In the initial phase of this collaboration, the Reframed Stories’ team works with community members to analyze media data and then they create stories together.
In this post, we reflect on the success of our first Reframed Stories collaboration and discuss our plans for the future.
At the Reframed Stories project, we believe that stories about communities must be told by the community itself. All too often, these stories are distorted or not included in media coverage which only serves to deprive community members of their voices. We wanted Reframed Stories to be a space where indigenous communities could analyze media coverage and use this data to reflect on the ways they are portrayed in the media.
Following this principle, we developed the first series of the Reframed Stories project in close collaboration with the indigenous community of Sarayaku and the Shuar nationality, both situated in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. These groups have been standing up to extraction projects in their territories for years and have taken their fight to the national and international level. As such, they have important insights to share about the media coverage of community resistance strategies.
For the first phase of our project, we began an initial exploration of national mainstream coverage around this community and the fight to protect their land; however, our findings suggested that it was not always explaining the whole story. The motivation behind these protests as well as the proposed solutions offered by members of these groups were often left out.
Media Cloud, a tool for media analysis, allowed for a deeper exploration of this coverage. The Media Cloud tool helps to analyze media coverage by highlighting keywords used by different media sources around chosen topics at specific moments in time. For example, the word cloud below shows the most common words used by Ecuadorian mainstream media in stories referencing the Shuar people between May 2016 and June 2017.
Looking at the word clouds, such as the one above, members of the Sarayaku community and the Shuar Nationality were able to see how Ecuadorian media sources were covering certain topics of interest. Through this method, they were able to reflect on the ways that groups in power have framed their community and their protest movements in a negative light. They were also able to see how national mainstream media is neglecting to include indigenous youth in its coverage as well as other crucial topics that represent the diverse and positive initiatives emerging from their communities.
Dominant words from 697 articles published between May 2016 and June 2017 found mentioning “Shuar” within four Media Cloud collections of Ecuador’s Spanish-language media outlets. (View original query; View larger image).
This collaboration also offered them the opportunity to dive deeper into their communication strategy, allowing them to reflect on their ability to successfully communicate both their struggles and achievements to a broader audience and to find different avenues to respond to biased media coverage.
Both Juan Diego Andrango, collaborator at the Confederation of the Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), and Andrés Tapia, communication representative for the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE), felt that this process could inform and strengthen their communication strategies. For Andrango:
This is a very good tool because it allows us to analyze the way in which words, information, and discourse are being managed by the media. It adds to collaborative processes of our own communication because it shows that mainstream media tends to represent aspects more linked to commercial interests, but it does not generate information from the reality of indigenous communities and nationalities. Tools of this kind can become an element to analyze our communication work and guide us in choosing the best way to respond to the information generated by traditional media.
Esta herramienta es una muy buena propuesta porque permite analizar el manejo de la dinámica de las palabras y elementos discursivos en los medios de comunicación. Suma al proceso colaborativo de construcción de esfuerzos de comunicación propios porque demuestra que los medios de comunicación masivos tienden a representar temas más ligados a los intereses comerciales, mas no generan información desde la realidad de los pueblos y nacionalidades.  Herramientas de este estilo pueden servir como un elemento para ver desde qué línea trabajar desde la parte comunicativa y cómo responder a la información generada por los medios tradicionales.
According to Tapia:
These kinds of tools could be very useful for us both in terms of internal organization for communication work with indigenous communities and nationalities, and for our educational and training purposes. We work very closely with communities and these types of programs would help us show a visual representation of the ways in which media is covering certain topics, while proving that communication does have an important impact.
Este tipo de herramientas pudieran resultar muy útiles tanto en términos internos para el trabajo comunicacional de los pueblos y nacionalidades indígenas como para un tema formativo. Nosotros hacemos mucho trabajo con las comunidades y este programa nos ayudaría a mostrar visualmente cómo los medios están cubriendo ciertos temas, y a la vez demonstrar que la comunicación sí tiene un impacto importante.
Members also thought that the use of tools, such as Media Cloud, can encourage collaborations between people from diverse backgrounds and experiences. For Abigail Gualinga, a young Sarayaku leader:
Abigail Gualinga, young Sarayaku leader
Communication helps youth to connect among ourselves, expressing what we feel and think to a broader audience and documenting the activities that we implement to keep working and joining efforts with people of all ages.
La comunicación nos ayuda a los jóvenes a conectarnos entre nosotros, a decir lo que sentimos y pensamos a un grupo más amplio, y a documentar las actividades que implementamos para seguir trabajando y uniendo fuerzas con gente de todas las edades.
Similarly, Apawki Castro, elected leader of communications for the Confederation of the Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), highlighted the potential of these new tools in generating collaborative communication processes that complement the efforts of indigenous communities:
Every era brings new things and we want to continue generating more networks, using new technologies which can allow us all to share what we learn along the way in a collective construction in unity, where each of us contributes and helps each other in different ways. Globalization and technology should not absorb the work of our communities. Instead, we use these technologies as tools to complement our efforts.
Cada época trae algo nuevo y queremos seguir generando más enlaces, usando nuevas tecnologías que nos permiten seguir creando nuevos tejidos donde todos vamos  compartiendo desde una forma colectiva de construcción en unidad, donde cada quien aporta su granito para contribuir y para ayudarnos de distintas formas. La globalización y la invasión de la era tecnológica no deben absorbernos a los pueblos y nacionalidades. Mas bien, desde los pueblos tomamos a la tecnología como una herramienta complementaria a nuestras acciones de lucha.
As José Santi, one of the people in charge of Sarayaku’s blog stated, these new tools can build bridges that connect groups from all over the world, creating collaboration and solidarity networks that reach beyond national borders:
José Santi, one of the people in charge of the Sarayaku blog, Sarayaku: el pueblo del mediodía
Besides creating our media such as our blog, we are interested in collaborating with different media and groups using new tools and technologies so that people both inside and outside Ecuador can know more about what we are doing in Sarayaku and in other places of the country and we can join efforts and learn from each other.
Además de crear nuestros propios medios, tales como nuestro blog, nosotros estamos muy interesados en colaborar con distintos medios y grupos usando nuevas herramientas y tecnologías, para que así la gente dentro y fuera del Ecuador conozca más sobre lo que estamos haciendo en Sarayaku y en otros lugares del país, y podamos unir fuerzas y aprender los unos de los otros.
These new media tools can be powerful allies in the fight for representation in media ecosystems. Through the participant comments from the members of the Sarayaku and the Shuar Nationality, we can see that new communication tools, such as Media Cloud, have the potential to help communities participate in conversations about their representation and reflect on possible ways to respond to this coverage. In doing so, bridges between communities can be built, fostering collaboration and strengthening existing efforts. These bridges become even stronger thanks to the Global Voices’ Lingua project, which translates stories to more than 45 languages. Posts from the first Reframed Stories series reached a global audience through their translations into Spanish, Russian, Malagasy, French, and Chinese.
Inspired by what we learned from this experience, we are now looking forward to working together with Indigenous and First Nations peoples in Canada. We also hope to provide existing collaborators with what they need to continue using Media Cloud in the future.
We are working towards making this tool available so that more communities can learn about their representation in the media. If you are interested in finding out more information, please contact us. We would love to help you find new ways to tell your own stories!

author: Belen Febres-Cordero


text:
In Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Network Shutdowns Leave Civilians Unreachable — And Unable to Call for Help · Global Voices
SMEX

A demonstration against mobile shutdowns in North Sinai. Banner reads: “We don't want to use Israeli networks because of your neglect.” Photo by Sinai2014/SinaiOutofCoverage group page.
This post was written by Asser Khattab and originally published on the SMEX blog. It is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
As part of a military operation to root out “terrorists and criminal elements and organizations” from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and adjacent areas, the Egyptian Armed Forces have ordered a region-wide shutdown of internet and telecommunications services.
Dubbed “Comprehensive Operation: Sinai 2018,” the military campaign is targeting insurgents affiliated with ISIS in the northern and central areas of the Sinai Peninsula, west of the Nile valley, and the Nile Delta.
Online activists and Egyptian citizens are sounding the alarm on Twitter using the hashtag #سيناء_خارج_التغطية [“Sinai is out of the coverage area”] to express concern over the fate of Sinai civilians, which is largely unknown since they are now both physically and virtually inaccessible. Since July 2013,  Northern Sinai has been treated as a closed military zone by Egyptian authorities, who have banned access to journalists and human rights observers. Thousands have been forcibly evicted and displaced as the Egyptian military bulldozed homes to create buffer zones on the border with Gaza, and most recently around the Sinai airport.
This major military campaign has effectively placed the Sinai in a media blackout, with telecommunications shutdowns disconnecting Sinai residents from each other and isolating them from the rest of the country and world.
Such shutdowns have become commonplace for residents of Al-Arish and other cities in the sparsely populated North Sinai, who are subjected to network disruptions “whenever military and security operations are conducted in the desert area south of the city,” according to an engineer from al-Arish who spoke to SMEX on the condition of anonymity, fearing that he could be summoned by the authorities. The source added that the government does not warn residents before a shutdown and does not provide any justifications once services are restored.
The Egyptian government has been launching offensives against the Sinai insurgency since it began in 2011, in the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution that toppled the presidency of Hosni Mubarak. Extremist militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (ABM) repeatedly attacked Egyptian security forces before pledging allegiance to the self-proclaimed Islamic State in the Sinai Peninsula, known as ISIL-Sinai Province.
Mohannad Sabry, a journalist and researcher who has extensively covered the Sinai, told SMEX in a phone interview that internet and telecommunications blackouts are simply ineffective.
“Government forces suffer from network disruptions more than the insurgents,” he said, referring to instances when ground forces lost contact with each other or with the Ministry of Interior during combat. Insurgent groups “have alternative ways to communicate, like through BGAN portable terminals and shortwave walkie talkies,” Sabry added, explaining that disruptions to telecommunications services have little impact on their alleged targets.
These shutdowns prevent local and foreign journalists and non-governmental organizations from reaching sources on the ground.
“Limiting coverage of the failure of Egypt’s strategy in the Sinai and of the negative impact it has had on the community there is one of the reasons behind these disruptions,” Sabry said.
On February 3, The New York Times exposed a “secret alliance” between Egypt and Israel in the war against militants in North Sinai. The Egyptian government is trying to conceal such information from the public, according to Sabry, “Egyptian leaders wanted to cover up the approval of Israeli airstrikes on Islamic State positions in Sinai,” he said.
The telecommunications sector in Egypt is operated by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), which “means that this body is implicated in any network disruptions that occur in the country,” a freedom of expression activist told SMEX on the condition of anonymity, as a safety precaution.
“Various government bodies interfere in the work of the NTRA, including the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior, the National Security Agency, and others like the Ministry of Telecommunications,” the activist added.
The recurring interference in internet and telecommunication services comes as press freedoms and freedom of expression are jeopardized by the military rule of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. In 2016, Egypt was the world’s third-ranked offender in terms of imprisoned journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Reporting on the North Sinai is even more difficult since the area was declared a closed military zone in July 2013 and rendered inaccessible to journalists. Our source in Al-Arish said that while journalists can request permission to enter the area from Egypt’s military spokesperson, Tamer al-Refai, “he barely gives any authorizations … no one has been allowed to write about this story or any story that actually matters [to Sinai residents].”
Asked if any organizations are advocating on behalf of residents’ right to access the internet and other telecommunications services, the engineer in Al-Arish said: “absolutely not, no one is … just like the press, the work of NGOs is very restricted here.”
Sabry said that the real victims of those disruptions are the local civilians in the North Sinai because “they cannot report cases of collateral damage or injuries and they have limited access to emergency services.”
“Several women were unable to call an ambulance while in labor,” he added.
For residents like our source in Al-Arish, who are directly impacted by these shutdowns, “the worst aspect is the element of surprise.” Some residents have been unable to learn about a relative’s death, learning of it 10 to 12 hours after its occurrence. Others have had to travel long distances, as much as 90 kilometres, to simply make a phone call or send an email.
Hindering and limiting access to information and communications services is a national concern in Egypt that extends far beyond the Sinai Peninsula. Since May 24, 2017, the Egyptian government has blocked at least 496 websites, according to the Association of Freedom of Thought and Expression, an independent legal firm.
Websites of several international news outlets, such as The Washington Post, and independent local media outlets, such as Mada Masr, are blocked. Under the pretext of supporting terrorism or the catch-all “fake news,” the Egyptian public is being deprived of essential services and information while the work of local journalists is coming under systematic attack.

author: SMEX