Source What’s up

From the risk of death to the platforms to defend freedom of expression

Nabil Alosaidi is a Yemeni journalist and member of the Council of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate since 2009. He was chairman of the training and rehabilitation committee and supervisor of the freedoms committee of the union.  He has been living in Switzerland for three years now because of the war in his country. Nabil Alosaidi participates in many events held at the Human Rights Council to convey the voices of the victims and to identify violations of freedom of opinion and expression. Reporters Without Borders has classified Yemen as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists.

The beginnings

“I began my relationship with the press as a hobby. During my high school studies, I began to write for some Yemeni newspapers. Then, I continued to acquire more journalism skills studying at the Media College and the University of Sana’a. I worked for many Yemeni newspapers until I became a correspondent and director of the office of Okaz, a Saudi newspaper, in Yemen.” tells Nabil Alosaidi.

The struggle for professionalism and independence

Nabil Alosaidi says that the difficulties on professional and personal levels do not allow the independent Yemeni press to appear. The political and partisan activities, political disputes and conflicts between power centers interfere with the functioning of the press in Yemen. The independent press is important in the country where people need to hear an independent voice that belongs to them.

“Personally, I have faced these difficulties with courage, like do many Yemeni journalists who dream of a homeland with independent press and freedom of speech. I’m still struggling for it, while the war keeps attacking the press continuously. All the parties of the conflict arrest journalists and prevent the voices of the other. Journalists are facing blackmail, detention, abduction and are assassinated. Now ten of our young journalists are in trial, facing the risk of execution” tells Nabil Alosaidi.

Seeking asylum in Switzerland

Nabil Alosaidi believes that the profession of journalism has always been dangerous in Yemen, especially over the last few years of the war between many parties disputing power. For instance, in September 2014, the Houthi militias swept through Sana’a and overturned the government taking control of its institutions, including the media and the press. They occupied newspapers, radio and television buildings and closed the opposition newspapers.

Nabil Alosaidi describes the story of his survival saying: “I had to move from one city to the next until I reached the city of Taiz, where I stayed hidden with the help of relatives and friends. After a few months, I had to move out of the sieged city before they could discover my place. It was like an impossible task because of the closure of all the exits of Taiz. I walked a long distance until I managed to exit the city and then moved between cities to reach Saudi Arabia. I stayed there for a few months before I could travel to Switzerland. I was part of a media delegation accompanying the negotiations between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militias in Geneva. Because the war did not allow an independent press and forced the journalists to side by one of the parties in the conflict, I decided to stay in Switzerland seeking protection and freedom.”

Nabil Alosaidi believes that staying in Switzerland has greatly influenced his professional career in the press. Here, he started to defend the victims of the human rights violations in Yemen. The protection and the freedom he obtained in Switzerland allows him to deliver the voices of Yemeni journalists to the international community and to the human rights organizations. He is determined to continue defending the freedom of press and journalist detainees in the forums of international press and human rights until the press recovers in Yemen. While in Switzerland, Alosaidi could also lead a press campaign, the most known and the strongest ever, against corruption in the Yemeni government. He has received the Journalism Award for Integrity and Combating Corruption and the Public Anti-Corruption Personality Award in 2018 for this campaign. 

Wafa Al Sagheer

Membre de la rédaction vaudoise de Voix d’Exils

Article traduit de l’anglais vers le français par MHER

Contributeur externe de Voix d’Exils

Version française de l’article ici

Logo du festival Layalina

Genève

Né d’un sentiment d’urgence face à la crise syrienne, le Festival Layalina a pour but de faire connaître la culture syrienne au-delà des images de violence quotidienne relayées par les médias et, par la même occasion, de soutenir les victimes du conflit. Layalina, qui signifie « nos nuits » en arabe, se tiendra à Genève du 19 au 22 février 2015.

La démarche de Layalina est fondamentalement neutre, apolitique et non religieuse. Le programme proposé permettra d’appréhender la richesse et la diversité de la production culturelle contemporaine syrienne à travers un large spectre de disciplines. La programmation comporte :

– la projection d’une douzaine de films de réalisateurs syriens, depuis les classiques des années 80 jusqu’aux documentaires récents de réalisateurs engagés. Plusieurs de ces films sont inédits en Suisse.

– un atelier vidéo avec des réfugiés syriens en Suisse.

– de la musique syrienne, avec le concert d’Interzone, groupe syro-français, une soirée DJs électro à Motel Campo et une soirée de musique traditionnelle syrienne.

– des rencontres littéraires, sous forme de lecture spectacle et d’une table ronde avec des auteurs syriens.

– une exposition du caricaturiste politique H. Abbas.

– deux ateliers cuisine avec des femmes réfugiées syriennes ainsi qu’un repas syrien aux Bains des Pâquis.

Tous les détails sont disponibles sur le site http://www.layalina-festival.ch/ et la page Facebook https://www.facebook.com/layalinafestival?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Au niveau humanitaire, le Festival soutient l’association « Coup de Pouce » pour la Syrie une ONG genevoise qui correspond aux valeurs de neutralité et de solidarité défendues par l’association Layalina. Coup de Pouce vient en aide sur le terrain à des familles syriennes victimes du conflit en les soutenant financièrement, indépendamment de leur appartenance politique, religieuse ou communautaire.

Le festival Layalina met à disposition des réfugiés et requérants d’asile un nombre limité de billets gratuits pour des séances de cinéma et pour le concert de musique traditionnelle au Temple de Saint-Gervais. Pour obtenir des billets, merci de procéder comme suit :

• Envoyer un mail à info@layalina-festival.ch
• Merci d’indiquer dans le titre/objet du mail « Billets gratuits »
• Merci d’indiquer dans le mail si vous désirez l’entrée gratuite pour le concert ou pour un film, et si c’est pour un film, quel film exactement.

Le festival Layalina

Informations:

Vous pouvez télécharger la version arabe de l’annonce ici

Logo du festival Layalina

Layalina: a festival dedicated to the diversity of the Syrian contemporary culture

Geneva

Layalina Festival was born from a sense of urgency following the Syrian crisis. Its main objectives are to promote aspects of Syrian culture that go beyond the images of violence conveyed daily by the media, as well as to support the victims of the conflict. Layalina, which means « our nights » in Arabic will take place in Geneva from the 19^th to the 22^nd of February 2015.

The innovative aspect of this multidisciplinary Festival is that it combines artistic excellence with humanitarian endeavors. Layalina’s approach is fundamentally neutral, apolitical and non-religious.

Our program will offer a closer view of the wealth and diversity of the contemporary Syrian cultural production through a wide range of disciplines. Indeed, despite the circumstances, Syrian artists have managed to overcome censorship, war and exile, proving constant creativity as much in the thematic than formal aspects of their works. Layalina firmly believes in the idea that art generates privileged spaces of exchange and dialogue. Therefore, through the diversity of disciplines that will be represented, we aim to present complementary views on Syria’s reality. Moreover, we wish to attract audiences from various horizons involving the multiple actors of Geneva’s society.

Our program includes:

• The projection of a dozen films by Syrian filmmakers, featuring works ranging from the pioneers in the 1970’s to more recent documentaries created in the urgency of the conflict. Several of these films are unseen in Switzerland;
• A video workshop organized with Syrian refugees in Switzerland;
• Syrian Music, including three concerts and a special DJ evening;
• Literary encounters with a literary-show and a round table discussion with authors;
• An exhibition presenting works of the political caricaturist Hani Abbas;
• Two cooking workshops animated by Syrian refugees, as well as a literary and musical brunch

In accordance with its humanitarian endeavor, the Festival supports the association “Coup de Pouce pour la Syrie”, an NGO founded in Geneva that complies with Layalina’s values of neutrality and solidarity. “Coup de Pouce” financially supports Syrian families, who are victim of the conflict, regardless of their political, religious or community belonging.

Layalina is naturally rooted in the tradition of “Living together”, dear to the Spirit of Geneva. The Festival will therefore host collaborations between artists from Geneva and Syria and will encourage the participation of Syrian refugees, who will have the possibility to enhance their competences. Thus, the Festival will offer a space of encounter and exchange to populations that usually coexist without necessarily mingling (refugees, artists and Geneva’s public). This approach, which brings together culture and humanitarian assistance, perpetuates the tradition of Swiss humanism, particularly in Geneva, land of asylum and international capital of humanitarian aid.

The Layalina Festival

Keerthigan Sivakumar lors du tournage du film. Photo: Voix d’Exils

Comprendre ce qu’est Voix d’Exils en moins de 8 minutes : c’est le défi qu’a brillamment relevé Keerthigan Sivakumar, requérant d’asile d’origine sri-lankaise, qui s’est attelé à la production d’un film sur le blog. Après plusieurs mois de tournage, en 2013, lors desquels il a suivi les trois rédactions de Voix d’Exils, Keerthigan Sivakumar a finalisé ce projet exigeant à l’aide d’une équipe motivée. Visionnez en primeur le film en cliquant sur les liens qui se trouvent dans l’article.

Passionné de cinéma et membre de la rédaction vaudoise de Voix d’Exils, Keerthigan Sivakumar s’est lancé dans la production d’un film sur le blog en mars 2013. Un défi d’envergure, car Voix d’Exils ne disposait ni du matériel adéquat, ni des compétences techniques pour mener à bien ce projet. Sa proposition a été accueillie très favorablement par les membres des différentes rédactions cantonales, ainsi que par plusieurs partenaires qui n’ont pas hésité à lui apporter leur soutien. Donner en priorité la parole aux membres des rédactions pour qu’ils racontent leur expérience du blog, mais aussi leur expérience de requérant d’asile en Suisse, telles sont les axes qui ont guidé les choix artistiques de l’auteur: des portraits serrés, des plans fixes sur des regards qui en disent long, des lèvres qui racontent. Pour Keerthigan Sivakumar, en plus de présenter le blog Voix d’Exils, ce film porte aussi un message plus général qu’il adresse aux spectateurs: «Ne préjuge pas qui je suis avant de me connaître. Je suis comme tout le monde. Regarde-moi comme une individualité et ne me réduis pas à une catégorie.»

Pour visionner la version française du film, cliquer sur le lien suivant: http://youtu.be/uAVnobYaQQU

Pour visionner la version anglaise du film, cliquer sur le lien suivant: http://youtu.be/hydE3gkv5e0

Pour voir le film en qualité supérieure: modifier le réglage qui se trouve au bas de la fenêtre Youtube au niveau du symbole en forme d’engrenage en augmentant la qualité de l’image jusqu’à 1080 p HD.

Ce film est sous licence Creative Commons et peut être librement diffusé. Merci de partager largement les liens du film sur vos sites Internet et réseaux sociaux.

Nous tenons ici à remercier chaleureusement nos partenaires sans lesquels ce film n’aurait jamais pu voir le jour. Un grand merci à Pôle Sud, à TV Bourdonette et à Alexi Sans S pour leur soutien.

Omar Odermatt

Responsable du blog Voix d’Exils

Photos des coulisses du tournage

La formation multimédia de Voix d’Exils au centre de formation « Le Botza ». Photo: Voix d’Exils.

La rédaction intercantonale de Voix d’Exils. Photo: Voix d’Exils

Interview. Photo: Voix d’Exils.

Alexi sans S en train de finaliser le montage du film. Photo: Voix d’Exils.

A refugee camp in Northern Uganda. Author: Ed
(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

The year 2013 seems to be a breakthrough for the Tel-Aviv and Canberra administration in terms of cementing their unwelcome attitude towards refugees. Though it might be contrary to international law, Israel and Australia have come up with a new approach towards Asylum.

It all started in July when news came out that Australia was to start exporting the refugees entering the country by boats to Papua New-Guinea. The two nations from Oceania have since signed an agreement whereby refugees are now going to be sent to settle in Guinea instead of Australia. Of course, the latter will be funding the program which is a first of its kind. Possibly due to sharing some similar history, Israel, also in the month of August, was reported to be willing to export African refugees to Uganda, an East African nation.

There is a tale of a renowned Greek scientist, Archimedes, who is credited of finding a way of measuring the volume of irregular objects. This discovery happened accidentally when he entered into a tub and noticed that the water level increased as a result of his action. He suddenly understood that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had just submerged. Well, the tale continues to mention that upon realizing his discovery, he shouted EUREKA and ran out of the house naked to celebrate. I am sure that the Australian and Israeli government are happy with their draconian solution but as they shout Eureka, it’s Papua New-Guinea and Uganda that are showing their nakedness to the whole world by supporting a controversial arrangement.

As I mentioned in the beginning, Israel and Australia share some history whereby they are both relatively young nations whose foundations were built on misfortune; the convicted ancestors of modern Australians were pushed away from the United Kingdom in order to settle in a strange land thousands of miles away from their relatives. For Israel, the history is still recent; the Israeli nation was formed 70 years after the horrors of German concentration camps. No other nation in world history has known the challenges of being a refugee than the ancestors of the modern Israelites.

The persecution of Jews dates back to the middle ages. In 1396, 100,000 Jews were expelled from France. In 1421, thousands were expelled from Austria. Many of the expelled Jews fled to Poland. The trend of their killing and persecution reached its crescendo in the 20th century when Hitler’s evil anti-Semitism led to the death of millions. Actually the Jews were in the same bracket as the blacks (being the unwanted). I would therefore have expected more from the Israel nation, having shared the experience of persecution to handle the refugee burden in another way.

The amazing paradox came from Uganda, in 2010, when the Kampala administration had been pushing out the Congolese refugees back to Congo yet the M 23 rebels continued to terrorize Eastern Congo. One wonders as to why the Ugandan government is trying to portray a good humanitarian image of itself, yet the Congolese and the Rwandese refugees are being pushed out of the country. Those who still remain are mistreated and their children are being denied access to education and are also frequently beaten by the Ugandan police. There is no explanation to why Uganda cooperated with Israel apart for financial reasons. Uganda’s respect of human rights is very low and a certain percentage of refugees in Israel might have run away from their countries due to lack of respect of human rights.

For the past 5 years, Uganda has closed more than 6 private radio stations twice and the police keep on brutalizing opposition leaders…so it leaves a lot to be desired that Israel chose such a country to send its refugees.

When Uganda was still a colony under the control of the British, there was an idea of creating the Jewish state in Uganda in 1903. The meeting was held in Basel, Switzerland. The next year, a three-man delegation was sent to inspect the area. Its high elevation gave it a temperate climate, making it suitable for a European settlement. However, the observers found a dangerous land filled with lions and other creatures. A hundred years later, the problem of Uganda is not one of dangerous animals and other creatures but that of the dictatorship of President Museveni, who has been in power with an Iron fist for the last 28 years. This makes Israel’s decision of sending vulnerable refugees to Uganda an inconsiderate step.

As the world keeps walking on the road of turmoil and life becomes more dangerous, the rise of extreme nationalism and protectionism will see more countries signing covert agreements with the underdeveloped, « underdog” countries. Maybe the words “Every man on his own and God for us all” will be heard more and more as countries continue to close their borders to refugees.

Marcus

Membre de la redaction valaisanne de Voix d’Exils

After five years in Europe, including two years in Switzerland, Emmanuel C. finally decided to return back to his country, which is Nigeria. He is among his people since January 10^th 2011. The former asylum seeker declares today that his is very happy to be back in his country. He even plans to celebrate his wedding, as soon as possible, and to start his own business . Meeting with a man who “doesn’t regret his decision to return back”.

Voix d’Exils : How was your trip to Nigeria ?

Emmanuel C. : My return to Nigeria went well. I left Switzerland on the 10^th January with another Nigerian of the program of voluntary return. Arrived at the Lagos international Airport, we were welcomed to our descent from the airplane by an officer of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). He booked a room in a hotel in Lagos, where I spent my first night. The next day, I returned to my native State which is Imo State, located about 450 km from the capital Lagos (the economic capital of Nigeria).

How did you meet with your family ?

My sister came to me at the airport of Imo State. She was really happy to see me again and when we got home, my family has exploded with joy. My mother was the more delighted to finally find her only son which is me. I postponed so many times my return so that ultimately, she really did not believe in it anymore.

What motivated you to take the decision to return back to Nigeria?

The first reason is that I realized that it is useless to try to stay somewhere where people do not want you. The Swiss authorities have not come in on my application for asylum. I spent a total of five years in Europe. I was in Austria and Spain before landing in Switzerland. And I can tell you my stay in Europe was not easy at all. I went through a lot of problems. The last two years I spent in Switzerland were the most difficult in my life. I even spent time in the prison. So I finally realized I had no more perspectives in Switzerland, and that the best was to return to my country, where people who love me are waiting for me impatiently.

The second reason, directly related to the first one, is that I had to refocus my life and stop hurting those I love and who love me too. My mother, for whom I am the only son, would not stop crying because she wanted to see me before her last day’s. Unlike those who hide the real situation of their life in the West and dangle their families in homeland that all goes well, I have played fair with mine. My family knew the truth about my situation in Switzerland. She knew that I was an unsuccessful applicant and that I lived on the social help. Given the dramatic situation in which I lived with, my mother used to tell me that if I did not know where I went, I should at least know where I come from. Faced with the various reports of my return, she lost her patience and resolved to answer anymore to my phone calls.

On the other hand, I left the country where is my love was. I could not wait desperately my future wife who spent five long years to wait for me, for a life without a future in Switzerland. Then, one day, I took stock of my life and decided to return to live among my people, whatever it would cost.

Can you tell us about your new life in Nigeria, especially since you have not received the aid for return?

I am doing my best. Aid to return had not actually been given to me because of delinquency acts I committed. But life goes on as usual. It would be dishonest and an outright lie to say that today, I live in opulence or I did not need especially financial means to get up. But, what I am however sure, it is that the satisfaction which I feel to find myself among mine gives me a great stability and imports at the moment more than anything. Today, I take time to make the space in my head and to digest my stay in Europe. And then, I will face my new life here. Now, I prepare my wedding with my wife who had to be patient and who waited for me during all these years, and then I will look for ways to create my own business. I can’t tell you yet in what kind of business I’ll work. But, I have a Master in Management and Marketing, I have no doubt that I have the knowledge needed to manage my own business, and I have the will to succeed in my new life. Moreover, the fact of seeing my family again gives me energy to face the challenges that lie ahead and I don’t regret my return to the fold at all.

Returning back of the unaccepted asylum seekers from Nigeria, suspended nearly one year ago, starts again this year in Switzerland. What do you think about that?

I have the impression, like most of my country follower’s for asylum in Switzerland, that because of prejudices, the Swiss authorities have informally agreed to systematically reject asylum application from my country Nigeria. There are among us people who really deserve it grants them asylum. I would like to ask the Swiss office of immigrations (ODM) to avoid putting all files in one basket and to penalize those who deserve recognition as refugees.

What did you learn after your stay in Europe and to lesser extent in Switzerland?

When you are in Nigeria, and in Africa more generally, you think that Europe is a paradise. But when you put your foot in Europe the disillusion comes very quickly. In my case, I realized that Europe didn’t not want me anymore, and I decided to leave this continent. Nevertheless, I can’t advise my brothers, Nigerians or Africans, to return back as I did, because my decision is absolutely personal and belongs to everyone. However, I would ask the West countries to encourage the establishment of a real democracy in Africa, to take measures to ensure that their banks do not host more funds embezzled by African leaders at the expense of their people’s. This situation creates poverty in Africa, as poverty afflicts the continent despite its abundant resources, Africans always choose to take the way to Europe. And migration will remain an unresolved issue.

This Interview was translated from French to English and was partly done in Visp (Switzerland) threw phone calls with Nigeria by CDM .

CDM is a member of the Valais’s editorial office of Voix d’Exils