World Refugee Day 2012 urges support for refugees
Refugees have no choice. You do.That's the theme for World Refugee Day, observed each year on the 20th of June.  According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, every minute, eight people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror.

For the 5th consecutive year, there are more than 42 million forcibly displaced people around the world.

In his World Refugee Day message, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says these numbers represent far more than statistics; they are individuals and families whose lives have been upended, whose communities have been destroyed, and whose future remains uncertain. He says despite budget constraints everywhere, we must not turn away from those in need.

The Secretary-General calls for everyone to work together to mobilize the political will and leadership to prevent and end the conflicts that trigger refugee flows.

Stories from Refugees in Ireland to mark Wolrd Refugee Day  Click here

HUMAN TRAFFICKING  - response to raids on Brothels
Cois Tine commends An Garda Siochana and the PSNI on their joint operation undertaken at dawn today.  The initiative targeted brothels on both sides of the border. The charity has considerable interest in the issues of human trafficking and witchcraft. Only last week it launched a book entitled Open Secrets: An Irish Perspective on Trafficking & Witchcraft.

Indeed initial media reports allege that some of those located in this morning's operation were victims of human trafficking. Author David Lohan says: "These raids, once again, confirm the presence of human trafficking in Ireland and its close relationship to the prostitution sector. Raids on brothels are an absolute necessity for locating victims trafficked into forced commercial sexual exploitation." Recent figures released by Irish authorities reveal that 57 victims of human trafficking were located in the Republic last year. Six of these were Irish children who had been engaged in prostitution.

More than 100 brothels across the country were targeted in yesterday's raids. This reveals the extent of the demand for sexual services on the island of Ireland and the money that can be derived from such services. The practice is made all the more lucrative for criminal brothel keepers if they use trafficked women. In this way they pocket all the proceeds. The sheer number of premises raided points to the issue of demand and the fact that human trafficking is a demand-driven market. Cois Tine urges the public to consider the position adopted by the Turn Off The Red Light campaign, to rethink social attitudes towards the acceptability of prostitution and the need to end this scourge in Ireland by focusing on the demand that fuels it.

For those interested in learning more about human trafficking, witchcraft, and the relationship between them the charity's book, Open Secrets: An Irish Perspective on Trafficking & Witchcraft, is available online from Amazon & Kennys.ie and in store from Veritas, Waterstones & Easons.

Speaking up about Racism
The Irish Times - Thursday, March 22, 2012
It would be all too easy perhaps to dismiss Imran Khan’s comments about racism in Ireland as hyperbole
from the race relations industry. But complacent and wrong.  Read More