Autor: global-affair

I should not have left my ancestral land, in southern Madagascar, but we were forced to leave. Famine had attacked our land.

I didn’t have much to sell to afford the journey: no goat or zebu (cattle), so we sold the cooking pots and the furniture from our home. That made us enough money for our family of 10 to leave. But it didn’t get us far.

We stopped in Toliaria and then again in Antananarivo. Each time, finding whatever work we could to raise the money for the next bus fare: gem mining, menial work, cleaning and laundry. The whole family, including my wife and my children, worked hard to raise money.

Eventually we made it to Ambondromamy, in the Boeny region, in northern Madagasacar. We were told we could earn a living in the forest by burning charcoal and growing corn and mung beans. Straight away, we began cultivating our crops and producing charcoal.  

Then the authorities came. As newcomers, we were afraid: when we saw their guns, we ran away. Some of us were arrested while others were left behind.

Now we have a place to stay, but we are still suffering

Eventually the local government found a solution for vulnerable people by resettling us to some small huts in Tsaramandroso, nearby. They built a place for people to stay. I did not bring my family this far for us to die, but to save our lives.  So, we accepted the offer of a place to live.

However, when we were settled, we continued to struggle. The huts do not feel like we are sleeping indoors. Especially during the rainy season (every December to April), it feels like a thunderstorm inside: the walls let the rain in, and our space is flooded.

© Amnesty International

The water around us is deadly

When the water is high, during the rainy season each year, it kills people. This water has a monster and invisible creatures in it: the river is infested with crocodiles. It is also very fast flowing, and people have died trying to cross, so we are afraid of passing through until the tide is lower.

We do not have a boat to cross the river, we use yellow jerry cans as an alternative. We attach the jerry cans with a long rope on the other side of the water and pull it across. We are never sure if it will break or not. Several people help: some know how to swim and can help others cross by carrying them on their backs.

© Amnesty International

When there is no more to share, we sleep hungry

We do not have any seeds or food to eat. Because of this poverty, we ignore the danger, and we try to cross the water because we need to look for food. I feel like we live in an abyss, not on earth. Where can we go when we have this water around us?

We would die if we did not help each other. Whenever one of us, from among the 33 households, has something we share it. When there is no more to share, we sleep hungry. We take lalanda leaves (wild sweet potato leaves), boil them with water and salt, and that is what we eat to survive until the next day.

We are fearful of getting sick

My sister went into labour during the rainy season, when the water was high. We did not have enough money to bring her to the doctor. Instead, we walked three hours, crossing the deadly river to see the matron.

Sadly, my newborn niece died because her mother, weakened by hunger and thirst, could no longer breastfeed.

We are fearful of falling sick because we do not have any health insurance. We are poor, so we are careful to avoid complications.

We would only struggle more if we moved elsewhere

We stay here in the North, because we struggled more when we were back in our ancestral land, in the South. And if we leave this place, we will face more struggles. If we leave again, we will be displaced again to a new place, alone, with no government support or humanitarian aid.

We would rather suffer here. It is better to stay with people you are acquainted with. And the land we are staying on is the only place the government has made available for people in our situation.

So, we prefer to stay, but we struggle. We do not have a plough to till the land, we do not have oxen. But we stay here to avoid more struggle.

I am not ashamed to demand humanity 

As the head of the village, I represent the residents here. It’s important to me that I do them justice in this role and use this position to amplify my community’s voices. We are not ashamed of our poverty which is due to the lack of government support given to us.

We are not ashamed to talk about our struggles. There is nothing to hide. If we let shame stop us from speaking out, all of our people could die.

This is where we live, this is our situation. We ask the government to consider our request for support. We look forward to their assistance.

The post Damisoa: we left our drought-stricken land and found new struggles appeared first on Amnesty International.

Against a backdrop of the spread of authoritarian practices, climate collapse and the erosion of international law, Amnesty International is launching its annual Write for Rights campaign on Human Rights Day (10 December) to support the victims of human rights violations and show that humanity can win.

This year’s campaign brings people together from around the world to fight for justice, dignity and a shared future, supporting those who are paying the price for defending human rights and speaking truth to power. From an Indigenous reindeer herder fighting to protect her community’s land in Norway, to a photojournalist jailed for reporting on a cyclone in Myanmar, and a little boy who lost his life after falling into a pit toilet at his pre-school in South Africa, all those featured in this year’s campaign are connected because their human rights have been violated.

We have a choice to make at this critical moment in history: continue to let authoritarian practices erode our freedoms or resist together and stand up for human rights.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

“Despite the stark challenges facing humanity, every year Amnesty witnesses countless people from all over the world coming together to demonstrate the importance of activism and the lifechanging power of solidarity. Amongst others, this year’s Write for Rights campaign features people on the frontlines of the climate crisis, fighting to protect their communities from droughts, gas flares, development projects and pollution, who urgently need our collective support,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. 

“We have a choice to make at this critical moment in history: continue to let authoritarian practices erode our freedoms or resist together and stand up for human rights. By taking just a few minutes to write a letter, post on social media or sign a petition, anyone can help change the world and even save a life. Together we will prove that, even in the most adverse of circumstances, humanity can, must and will win out.” 

Supporting people at risk

This year, Write for Rights is calling on millions of people to come together to change the lives of individuals whose rights have been violated around the world.

Those featured in this year’s campaign include:

• Damisoa, from Madagascar, who is fighting for climate-displaced people in his country.
• Unecebo Mboteni, a three-year-old boy who died after falling into a pit toilet at his pre-school in South Africa.
• Juan López, from Honduras, shot dead after fighting to protect local rivers and a national park from mining and energy projects.
• Members from Mother Nature Cambodia, jailed for defending Cambodia’s environment from exploitation.
• Photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike, arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison with hard labour for reporting on the aftermath of a cyclone in Myanmar. 
• Ellinor Guttorm Utsi, fighting to ensure Sámi voices in Norway are heard and their rights are respected. 
• Sonia, a Tunisian lawyer who has dedicated her life to defending human rights and is facing years in prison for speaking out.
• The Guerreras por la Amazonía, from Ecuador, who are protecting their communities from gas flares which are causing toxic fumes and environmental degradation in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

For Ellinor Guttorm Utsi, the support she is receiving as part of Write for Rights has given her hope. The reindeer herder’s land and way of life are currently under threat, as the Norwegian Government plans to build several hundred wind turbines, which would disrupt the reindeer’s herding patterns.

While Ellinor is calling for a stop to these wind turbines, in a bid to protect her land and her culture, the 60-year-old is struggling to do it on her own.

“I am so pleased Amnesty International, an organization focused on activism, is supporting my campaign today. I am so happy to have the support of people who do this work every day,” said Ellinor. “This is our life – I don’t know another way of living. We need to fight for our land, to protect future generations.”

Changing lives

Since Write for Rights started in 2001, millions of people have changed the lives of those whose human rights had been stripped from them. Over 100 people featured in the campaign have seen a positive outcome to their case.

In 2023, Rocky Myers, a Black man with an intellectual disability, featured in the Write for Rights campaign. Rocky spent three decades on death row in Alabama for murder. He was convicted following testimonies blighted by inconsistencies and alleged police pressure. Hundreds of thousands of Amnesty supporters called for Rocky’s release, writing letters to demand that Alabama’s governor grant him clemency and commute his death sentence. In February 2025, this was granted.

“I know the outpouring of support meant the world to Rocky, and to know that so many people felt called to action is truly inspiring.

Miriam Bankston, a member of Rocky Myers’ legal team

Rocky’s fight is not over, as he seeks justice for violations in his case, but the threat of execution has been stopped. 

“Not only did this campaign bring awareness to his case, but it was done in such a way that honoured Rocky as a person, father, and grandfather,” said Miriam Bankston, a member of Rocky Myers’ legal team. 

“I know the outpouring of support meant the world to Rocky, and to know that so many people felt called to action is truly inspiring.”

Join this year’s campaign and become part of a community working to make the world a more just and compassionate place. Join Write for Rights today.

The post Global: Amnesty International’s annual letter-writing campaign demonstrates how humanity can win appeared first on Amnesty International.