News Digest (World)

Afghanistan's refugee crisis 'ignored'
13th February 2008

A growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is being overlooked as an unknown number of people are fleeing their homes, caught between security forces and the Taliban, Red Cross officials have told the Guardian.

They say they have less access now to displaced people than at any time over the past 27 years. "The conflict has not only intensified but it has also spread over the last few years. Prolonged human suffering is causing real concern in ever larger areas," said Reto Stocker, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Kabul. "There is little capacity to address it. We've never had so little access."

Read full article >
.............................................

Australia's new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has delivered a historic apology to the country's Aboriginal community
12th February 2008

In the first act of parliament today, he apologised to the Stolen Generations - young Aboriginal children taken from their parents in a policy of assimilation which lasted from the 19th century to the late 1960s. One of those, Ruby Hunter, was eight when she was taken from her parents.

Read full article >
.............................................

What can an apology achieve for Aborigines?
12th February 2008

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said sorry for the past mistreatment of indigenous people by successive parliaments and governments. In particular, he apologised for the long-running policy which saw the forcible removal of thousands of aboriginal children from their families; a practice that persisted in Australia until the 1970s.

Australians hope the apology will help repair the breach between the country's white and black citizens. How significant do you think is this move by Mr Rudd? Can it bring reconciliation to the Australian society? Do you think the action has come too late? What can other countries learn from Australia? Are you an Aborigine or a white Australian? .

Read full article & comment >
.............................................