The News Review:
- Sierra Leone
- Sierra Leone angry over athletes’ visas
- Sierra Leoneans given Aus asylum
Sierra Leone
ZNet – Aug 21, 2006
Sierra Leone Sierra Leone August 21, 2006 By Lansana Gberie Lansana Gberie’s ZSpace Page. Man Den Nor Glady’O, a 57-minute documentary produced by charmingly named Rice N Peas, an alternative London-based production company, is the latest to relentlessly focus on these vulgar aspects of the country’s recent and current condition. The film maker, who is both narrator and director, is one Ishmail Blagrove, a Caribbean British (or Black British) journalist who previously worked for the BBC. Blagrove brings a passionate and affectionate tone to the subject, and he is most convincing when he is portraying the dereliction and disenchantment of young people in their depressed environments. The young people that Blagrove meets – some in their slums, some secondary school students scrounging in someone else’s veranda to study because the house happens to be the only one in the area providing electricity (Blagrove was staying there, so he had a generator on all night), some in the diamond mines in Tongo, eastern Sierra Leone – are articulate, oddly high-spirited, and are a striking reminder, if this were necessary, of the terrible disillusionment which continues to make Sierra Leone a highly fragile state.
Sierra Leone angry over athletes’ visas
abc.net.au – Aug 21, 2006
18:07 (AEST)Monday, 21 August 2006. 19:07 (ACDT)Monday, 21 August 2006. 16:07 (AWST)The Government in Sierra Leone has reacted angrily to a decision by Australia to grant visas to 10 athletes who absconded during the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March. Australia has recognised 10 of the 14 Sierra Leonean athletes as refugees and granted them permanent protection visas. Four cases are still being considered. The Sierra Leonean Information Minister Septimus Kaikai says the Australian decision amounts to exploitation of his country and is bad for sport as a whole. “This doesn’t bode well for competition at any level at all,” he said.
Sierra Leoneans given Aus asylum
BBC News – Aug 21, 2006
The 10 members of the Sierra Leonean team have been recognised as refugees, and granted permanent protection visas. The Australian government is still considering asylum applications from another four team members. Sierra Leonean Information Minister Septimus Kaikai described the move as exploitation of his country. “This does not bode well for competition at any level at all,” he said.