Category Archives: Home

Cameron’s Folly: Libya, and the importance of looking forward

Posted on 20th September 2016 by Rory O'Keeffe

  (image shows Cameron and Sarkozy on their ‘victory’ visit to Libya, 15 September 2011, and the Sirte they created, at around the same time)   ‘Your friends in Britain and France will stand with you as you build your country and build your democracy for the future.’ David Cameron, address to the Libyan people, 15 September 2011. ‘(the UK government had) no proper idea what was going to happen, no proper understanding of Libya … Continue reading →

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NATO, Libya and when ‘support’ is nothing of the sort…

Posted on 6th July 2016 by Rory O'Keeffe

On 8 July, as part of their international conference in Warsaw, NATO leaders are set to agree a ‘support mission’ for Libya and the Mediterranean. Parts of what is proposed – including, in the words of NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow ‘supporting Libya in building its defence institutions…’ – are not, on the face of it, either negative or especially controversial (though even this proposal is weighed down with a litany of previous fault … Continue reading →

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The 10,000: the bitter result of our failure on refugees

Posted on 14th June 2016 by Rory O'Keeffe

It was sadly under-reported in UK media, but on 7 June 2016, the world reached an horrific milestone: 10,000 men, women and children have died in the Mediterranean sea since the start of the international refugee crisis. In short, we have succeeded in turning a shared holiday resort – used by Europeans, Africans and people from the Middle East alike – into a mass grave. The generally agreed date at which the international refugee crisis … Continue reading →

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War, Refugees and International Law

Posted on 16th May 2016 by admin

I have never visited Dadaab refugee camp. But I have worked with people who work there, and with aid organisations who worked to provide services and opportunities to the 350,000 people effectively trapped in the Kenyan camp between war in their home states (in most cases, Somalia) and a largely indifferent international community. And wherever you work, in refugee and internally-displaced people’s* camps all over the world, those who have been – to live, work, … Continue reading →

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Children in need: and the UK government’s efforts to keep them out

Posted on 12th May 2016 by admin

In the event, the second amendment, detailed below, was successful – albeit with a few codicils attached… The piece which follows was written by me on Tuesday 26 April, hours after the UK government voted to refuse to allow 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children to enter the country. It was featured on 10 May as the lead story at Refugees Deeply, the in-depth online resource focussed on the international refugee situation for journalists and all other … Continue reading →

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