Their language is force
They want to make a prison for the people
not a country
Love turns away:
Friendship turns away
as do all forms of compassion
Nothing remains
of life’s visage
but authority:
Executioner
Dictator
The drums of war
And the trees are fading in the distance Helge Lunde, executive director of the Norway-based International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), an association of 40 cities worldwide that provide safe-haven for persecuted writers, says among the Arabs being hosted by his network only Bensedrine has gone home since the start of the Arab Spring. Lunde has hosted Rajih in his own city and witnessed how emotionally involved he is with the affairs of Yemen. "I often hear Mansour shouting on the phone when he's speaking to Yemen," Lunde told The Media Line.Nada Yousif, a 28-year-old poet and journalist from the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, used to write articles about women's issues, criticizing the imposition of the veil on women in her city. Yousif was forced to flee her country in 2007 after being threatened by extremist Islamist groups.Iraq is formally ruled by a democratically elected government, but Islamists continue to engage in violence. On Monday, bombings and booby-trapped vehicles killed at least 10 people and injured dozens more. June was the deadliest month for Iraqi civilians this year with more than 340 killed, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry."I can't return to Iraq, because if I return I will certainly be killed," Yousif told The Media Line in a phone conversation from the Norwegian city of Molde which has hosted her for nearly five years. "I'm less concerned about the government than about individuals who are interested in harming me."Yousif says most journalists she knew from Iraq had already fled the country for fear of being tried or even killed for writing critically. She tries to follow current events in Iraq and speaks publicly on Iraqi women's issues in her community."People here are happy to hear about the situation in Iraq. I give them new ideas and information," she said. "I hope to return one day and study the situation firsthand. It's different than just reading about it."Award-winning poet Faraj Bayrakdar says he would return to his native Syria tomorrow if it were not for his son's medical condition, even though President Bashar Al-Asad remains in power and mass protests have led to the death of 1,400 people and the arrest of some 12,000.Bayrakdar spent 14 years in a Syrian prison, half of them incommunicado, for belonging to a Communist party."I could give in to nostalgia and return to Syria, but I would be harming my son who suffers from autism and would receive inadequate medical treatment in Syria," Bayrakdar told The Media Line. "Every writer must reflect on whether he contributes more abroad or in his own country. If he contributes more at home, I think remaining abroad is a point against him."Bayrakdar says that returning would boost the morale of his fellow Syrians engaged in a bloody battle against the regime, but he also plays an important role in his adoptive country of Sweden."I feel I have accomplished a lot here," he says. "I constantly give interviews to local media. There are even people inside Syria who thank me for bringing their plight to world opinion."Bensedrine of Tunisia says she sympathizes with Arab expatriates who don’t return, but she thinks they are mistaken."There are countries, like Syria, where people face the real threat of being killed," she says. "On the other hand, this is a moment we've been fighting for our entire lives. It's much better to be inside for it."