This week we meet in person at Smash Palace Wednesday 6 May
– from 5pm, speaker at 5.30 or live on Facebook at 5.30
This week we have found someone who comes from New Zealand who has worked in conflict areas to share with us their observations of the impact of conflict on the citizens of the countries where conflict is occurring. I often wonder about the children left without parents and the seed bed this creates for future hatred and conflict.
We found Ben Meates working for the Red Cross who has worked in complex conflict and post-conflict environments, including Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, and the Pacific.
Ben has worked with organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Nonviolent Peaceforce. He has led frontline operations supporting communities affected by conflict, displacement, violence, and trauma. His work has involved managing multidisciplinary teams, negotiating access with governments and armed actors, and delivering programmes across migration, protection, and refugee mental health.
A central focus of Ben’s work has been on detention and migration environments, including places where people are held because of conflict or because of migration. In these settings, questions of legal responsibility, access to support, and basic protection often become unclear and difficult to manage. He has worked directly with people held in these systems, as well as with teams responding to the harms they experience.
In this talk, Ben will draw on firsthand experience from the Middle East to explore why detention systems are becoming an increasingly important global issue, and what they reveal about accountability, power, and the realities of conflict.
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