RTÉ - Voices

Iranian man, Amir talks of his arrest in Tehran during pro-democracy protests which rocked the country and outlines why he and his family had to be smuggled out of Iran, fearing for their lives.

Irish MSF doctor, Niamh Allen reflects on her time spent working in some of the countries most hard-hit by conflict, including Syria, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Irish lawyer, Aonghus Kelly talks about working on some of Bosnia's biggest war crime cases, a war in which an estimated 100,000 people were killed and 10,000 remain missing.

Dearbhla Glynn is a documentary filmmaker from Cork, Ireland. She has always been interested in war zones, leading her to work in some of the world’s most dangerous places. As part of her work, she’s travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq and Gaza.

Zaynab Salman is from the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. She was involved in the effort to build local governance and promoted the inclusion of women in the formation of a democratic government following the 2003 US-led invasion, the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the sectarian violence that ensued. Zaynab eventually fled the country, after getting death threats.

Salome Mbugua, who is from Kenya, has been spent over two decades working with women and children from countries where war and armed conflict has taken place. In 2016, she produced a report – ‘Healing the Wounds of War’ – narratives of over 100 of these women, who are now living in Ireland.

Hamalis was forced to flee the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo in 2009 because of the conflict in his native country. He now lives in Ireland with two of his daughters. Hamalis worked as a social worker for a non-governmental organisation in the South Kivu province. He educated the local population on issues such as schooling and health, but he became a target for rebel forces.

Glyn Morgan was responsible for all analytical support to the prosecution case of the former Bosnian Serb Leader, Radovan Karadžic, who has been jailed for the worst war crime in Europe since World War Two. Glyn provides consultancy related to crimes that are a violation of international armed war and cross border organised crime.

More than four and a half million people have fled Syria since the start of the country’s conflict. 20 year old Rawan is one of them. She describes how the war escalated, uprooting her family, relocating them in Ireland.

In August of 2013, while in Egypt, 25-year-old Fatima Halawa was arrested along with two of her sisters and their brother, Ibrahim. They were detained during unrest after the military removed from power President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Fatima and her sisters spent three months in prison. Ibrahim is still in prison.