Free Republic

Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights obtained information from several reliable sources that Rahman Corps fighters have arrived with their families to Afrin area, and in the details monitored by the Syrian Observatory: members of Rahman Corps after their arrival to Idlib province –during the past few days on board the convoys of displacement; that have been consecutively coming over the past days, and have transported tens of thousands of fighters, their families and civilians refusing Rahman Corps’ agreement with the Russians regarding their departure from Jobar, Zamalka and Arbin– they went...

Rebels threaten historic diversity in province where Jews once visited Kurdish, Yazidi neighbors. Kurds often say they have “no friends but the mountains.” However, after the Turkish and Syrian rebel offensive took over most of the Kurdish area of Afrin in northern Syria in the last two months, they’ve been saying even the mountains cannot protect them against Turkish warplanes. Kamal Sido, the Middle East department director for the Society for Threatened Peoples, is in Israel this week seeking to raise awareness of suffering in Afrin. He describes in detail the suffering which Kurds, displaced by the conflict, now face....

Senate Democrats on March 15 vowed to get answers from Turkey one week after Ankara moved to shut down one of the US government's largest partners for aid to Syria. On the sixth anniversary of the start of the Syrian civil war, Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer testified to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Turkey's recent decision to revoke its registration to operate in the country has disrupted "lifesaving assistance" to 360,000 Syrians every month and "effectively ends" support for 100,000 refugees as well as Turkish families inside Turkey. Turkey hasn't provided a justification for its decision, which was made public March...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Mecklenburg County, the Wells Fargo Foundation and the Temple Beth El Religious School are among the contributors to a $20,000 fund to help keep low-income families from being displaced from motels by rising rates during the Democratic National Convention. The motel fund is part of a multi-tier approach homeless services agencies unveiled Monday in anticipation of as many as 100 families being displaced

Since the war in Afghanistan commenced, we have heard of the casualties among US troops, and the enemy. We have heard stories of civilian casualties caused by US mishaps and the enemies desire for control. But in a refugee camp, 7 kilometers from the heart of Kabul, are uncounted civilian casualties.

BAQUBAH — Families displaced from a town near Baqubah were escorted back to their homes by the Iraqi Army (IA) and Coalition forces, Feb. 13, during ‘Operation Fierce Thrasher’. During the operation, Soldiers from Company F, 52nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division from Fort Lewis, Wash., helped 39 families dislocated due to fear of terrorist attacks return to their homes in the town of Durah. “Today’s mission was to secure the village of Durah to allow the repatriation of the Sunnis into the village,” said Capt. Troy Mills, commander of Company F. The Coalition troops...

The amount of food that will be given to each family donated by (left to right): The Director for the Department for Displaced People and Migrants in Basrah, Hussein Al Sayedi; Captain Luke Conway; and The Manager of The Red Crescent for Basrah, Haytharn Essa AliLCpl Michael Swales R-Signals. With the approach of the holy month of Ramadan, British forces in Basra are helping to distribute two thousand parcels of rice, flour and oil to displaced families in this southern Iraq city, providing food for the evening meal during this religious period.Ramadan is the most sacred of all Islamic...

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2006 – The United States backs Israel's right to defend itself against terrorist groups like Hezbollah, but it also wants to aid thousands of suffering Lebanese who've fled the fighting, President Bush said here today. The Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorists who are assaulting Israel with rocket fire are afraid of democracies, Bush said during a White House press briefing with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Hezbollah's attacks illustrate "a terrorist organization trying to stop the advance of democracy in the region," the president said. Fighting erupted after Hezbollah guerillas crossed into Israel from Lebanon to kidnap two Israeli...

NAACP: Displaced voters face poll tax in New Orleans electionBy CAIN BURDEAU Associated Press Writer March 23. 2006 7:09PM NEW ORLEANS - Up to 13,000 displaced residents would have to make costly trips to New Orleans to vote if the city holds elections as scheduled on April 22, advocacy groups said Thursday. The NAACP and other groups are complaining that an emergency election plan drawn up by the state will disenfranchise large numbers of blacks and have the effect of a poll tax - a voting fee that was banned after it was abused in the South to disenfranchise blacks....

Louisiana wants to help its displaced voters vote Official: They fled to every state but Alaska Sunday, February 5, 2006 New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin talks about the federal response to his city's disaster as he addresses fellow mayors, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006 in Washington. Mayors from across the country gathered for the 74th Winter meeting of the The United States Conference of Mayors. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari) WASHINGTON - Louisiana officials are preparing to send out nearly 1 million mailers as part of a campaign to tell voters who fled the wrath of Hurricane Katrina how to cast...

Ater seeking lawsuit against FEMA for voter information 12/20/2005, 5:41 p.m. CT By MELINDA DESLATTE The Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Secretary of State Al Ater's plans to sue federal officials for data outlining the locations of Louisiana residents scattered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita were put on hold Tuesday after receiving new promises the information would arrive this week. Earlier in the day, Ater told lawmakers he was asking Louisiana's attorney general to file the lawsuit because the Federal Emergency Management Agency provided a list last week of 936,000 names of displaced Louisiana residents that lacked crucial...

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) -- It was like walking into a family reunion. The children were riding scooters outside; the adults were mostly inside talking, surfing the Internet, and just enjoying one another’s company. Tech. Sgt. Christopher Reeves, of the 16th Logistics Readiness Squadron here, opened his base house to 22 family members who left New Orleans with little more than a couple of changes of clothes. What would be stressful for most people is not for him. “I love it,” he said. “We’ve been overseas for more than 10 years in our career, and I’m really enjoying having all...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2005 – Like their military counterparts, families of DoD civilian employees ordered to evacuate their duty stations due to Hurricane Katrina and whose housing is now uninhabitable can seek temporary safe haven anywhere within the continental United States. The policy, announced by David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, in a Sept. 2 memo, affects civilian employees who were ordered to evacuate their official duty stations in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama by installation commanders or civil authorities. Affected civilian employees must remain within the geographic area designated by their respective commanders. However, their...

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- Twenty Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., people who evacuated here because of Hurricane Katrina made a bittersweet day trip back to their homes and belongings Sept. 5, just one week after the storm devastated much of the Gulf Coast. The Airmen rode in a convoy of eight security-escorted vehicles for the three-hour drive from here to Biloxi, Miss. Staff Sgt. Jose Espola-Negron, an air traffic control instructor with the 334th Training Readiness Squadron, evacuated with his wife and 3-year-old and 1-month-old daughters. He had already braved Hurricane Hugo in his homeland of Puerto...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2005 – Military family members ordered to evacuate military installations in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama due to Hurricane Katrina are now authorized to select an alternate safe haven anywhere in the continental United States, defense officials confirmed today. David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, announced the new policy in a memo sent to the service secretaries Sept. 1. The authority applies to family members whose housing was declared uninhabitable following the hurricane, Chu wrote. Families affected by the policy qualify for up to two months of advance pay, and military family members...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2005 – Defense officials vowed this week to keep DoD civilian employees affected by Hurricane Katrina as up-to-date as possible on benefits and other entitlements and to help these employees continue to contribute to the department's mission. "Our DoD civilian employees are a valuable resource and an essential part of our total force structure," Marilee Fitzgerald, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for civilian personnel policy, wrote in a Sept. 3 memo to department employees. "As we move forward to restore operations interrupted by the storm and its aftermath, we must do all that we can to assist...

9/5/2005 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) -- It is not unusual to see vehicles lined up, five to six deep, patiently waiting in the aftermath of a hurricane. Usually these long lines are for fuel to power cars and generators. Here, however, these cars are lined up for a different reason: they are waiting to donate goods to those in need. A lengthy line of cars waited to unload their goods at the Airman’s Attic Sept 2. People brought clothes, furniture, toys and household appliances to help military families displaced by Hurricane Katrina and who have lost everything...

BATON ROUGE, La. — In the chaos that was Causeway Boulevard, this group of refugees stood out: a 6-year-old boy walking down the road, holding a 5-month-old, surrounded by five toddlers who followed him around as if he were their leader. They were holding hands. Three of the children were about 2 years old, and one was wearing only diapers. A 3-year-old girl, who wore colorful barrettes on the ends of her braids, had her 14-month-old brother in tow. The 6-year-old spoke for all of them, and he told rescuers his name was Deamonte Love. Thousands of human stories have...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2005 – Fifty servicemembers applied several hours’ worth of old-fashioned elbow grease Aug. 31 to make a building undergoing renovations suitable for nearly 400 military retirees displaced from Gulfport, Miss., by Hurricane Katrina. Looking around at a bunch of chairs, tables, magazine racks, mops, mop buckets, brooms and trash in the large hallway in the Pipes Building at the Armed Forces Retirement Home here, a frustrated Air Force sergeant bellowed out, “What do you want us to do with all this stuff?” to Air Force Master Sgt. Terry Rawlins. “Just make it look nice and clean, so...