FMR 16, with Its Researchers, Refugees and Internally Displaced People, Afeature Section on African Displace- and Those Who Work with Them

16 January 2003 review

African displacement: roots, resources and resolution

published by the Refugee Studies Centre in association with the Norwegian Refugee Council/Global IDP Project

NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL from the editors Forced Migration Review provides a forum for the regular exchange of practical experience, information and ideas between s we go to print with FMR 16, with its researchers, refugees and internally displaced people, Afeature section on African displace- and those who work with them. It is published in ment: roots, resources and resolution, English, Spanish and Arabic by the Refugee Studies Centre/University of Oxford in association with the we are only too aware of the spreading crisis Global IDP Project/Norwegian Refugee Council. The in southern Africa, the potential for displace- Spanish translation, Revista de Migraciones Forzadas, ment and the scarcity of resources to address is produced by IDEI in Guatemala. the needs. Every crisis, every emergency, Editors underlines the need for organisations and Marion Couldrey & Dr Tim Morris individuals to collaborate ever more closely in Corinne Owen sharing expertise and lessons learned – and to listen to those who are displaced. We Subscriptions Assistant hope that the articles in this issue contribute to this process. Sharon Ellis

Forced Migration Review Enclosed with this issue is a copy of id21’s Insights Issue on ‘Responding to displace- Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, ment: balancing needs and rights’. id21 (www.id21.org) is funded by the Department 21 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LA, UK for International Development and hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)1865 280700 • Fax: +44 (0)1865 270721 University of Sussex, UK. Many thanks to id21 for their generosity in distributing this to FMR subscribers. Global IDP Project Chemin Moïse-Duboule 59 CH-1209 Geneva, Switzerland It’s subscription renewal time… All subscribers should have received an invitation to Email: [email protected] renew. Please do contact us as soon as possible – reminders use up precious resources. Tel: +41 22 799 0700 • Fax: +41 22 799 0701

Subscription rates Issue 17, to be published in May 2003 in association with the Brookings-SAIS Project See subscription form in centre of magazine on Internal Displacement, will include a feature section on ‘when displacement ends’. or www.fmreview.org. Deadline for submissions is 1 February. The feature section of issue 18, due out September 2003, will be on ‘humanitarian logistics’. We will be publishing this issue in collaboration with the Fritz Institute. Deadline for submissions is 1 May. If you would like to write for FMR, please contact us at [email protected] or write to us at the Funders in 2003 address opposite. Brookings-SAIS Project on Internal Displacement We are delighted to announce that in November the Refugee Studies Centre was award- Danish Refugee Council ed the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its contribution to the study of forced migration and refugees. Forced Migration Review Feinstein International Famine Center received recognition in the commendation. See page 50 for details. Ford Foundation, Cairo Office We would like to thank the Tolkien Trust for an unexpectedly generous grant in sup- Fritz Institute port of Forced Migration Review, in particular to enable the wider distribution of free ISIM, Georgetown University copies of FMR in countries of the South. Thanks also to the Feinstein International Lutheran World Federation Famine Center at Tufts University for its contribution to the costs of this issue. Norwegian Refugee Council On-line back issues of our Spanish edition, Revista sobre Migraciones Forzadas, Oxfam GB are now available at our Spanish language website at www.migracionesforzadas.org. The Tolkien Trust Could you set up a link to it from your website? Do you have networks through which UK Department for International you could promote it? Please contact us if you can help. Development We wish you all the best in 2003.

Marion Couldrey & Tim Morris Website Editors, Forced Migration Review www.fmreview.org

Designed by Colophon Media. Printed by LDI Ltd on environmentally Copyright and disclaimer: Material from Forced Migration Review may be freely reproduced but friendly paper. please acknowledge the source. Photographs should only be reproduced in the context of the articles in which they appear (and credited). Materials and information contained in Forced ISSN 1460-9819 Migration Review are the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors, the Refugee Studies Centre or the Norwegian Refugee Council.

Front cover photos: Sudanese refugees · Still Pictures/Jorgen Schytte FMR 16 3 contents

Afican displacement: Camps and freedoms: long-term refugee situations in Africa 4 roots, resources and by Arafat Jamal resolution Transnational linkages between refugees in Africa and in the diaspora 7 by Dianna J Shandy

Burundians use innovative ways to protect the displaced 9 by Greta Zeender

HIV and the internally displaced: Burundi in focus 11 by Raquel Wexler

Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda: from one conflict to the next 14 by Emmanuel Bagenda and Lucy Hovil

Refugee management in Kenya 17 by the Refugee Consortium of Kenya

Western Sahara and Palestine: shared refugee experiences 20 by Randa Farah

In ‘closed file’ limbo: displaced Sudanese in a Cairo slum 24 by Pascale Ghazaleh

Emergency preparedness in South Africa: 27 lessons from the Zimbabwean elections by Hernan del Valle and Tara Polzer

IDP protection in Angola: has momentum been lost? 31 by Kamia Carvalho

Refugees and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 33 by Monette Zard in collaboration with Chaloka Beyani and Chidi Anselm Odinkalu

General articles Yemen and refugees: progressive attitudes – policy void 36 by Nesya H B Hughes

Humanitarian crises: testing the ‘CNN effect’ 39 by Gorm Rye Olsen, Nils Carstensen and Kristian Høyen

Peace in the Middle East: getting real on the issue of 41 Palestinian refugee property by Scott Leckie

Debate UN investigation into sexual exploitation by aid workers 45 by Asmita Naik

Military haberdashery in Afghanistan 47 by Ted van Baarda and Larry Minear

Regular features Update (including ‘Why did they return? The mass return to 48 Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran’ by Peter Marsden) Refugee Studies Centre 50 UNHCR 51 Norwegian Refugee Council 52 Global IDP Project 53 Publications 54

End note Interns and refugees in Africa – an Alchemy experience 58 4 FMR 16 Camps and freedoms: long-term refugee situations in Africa by Arafat Jamal

Increasing numbers of African refugees are stuck in Because prolonged camp stays are largely negative, it is easy to overlook protracted refugee situations. the often critical emergency protection function they provide. In Africa, where s both emergency outflows no longer in an intractable situation. refugees are accepted on a prima facie and dramatic repatriations Circumstances changed, or political basis, camps help preserve the institu- A have decreased in recent will was mobilised, to bring about an tion of asylum. To insist that poor years, over three million African end to their refugeehood. African nations should not only accept refugees (predominantly Sahrawis, thousands of refugees but also let From protected to protracted Burundians, Liberians, Eritreans, them spread throughout the country Somalis and southern Sudanese) find If refugee situations endure because of themselves in protracted situations. ongoing problems in countries of ori- camps provide a safety net Protracted refugee situations – exem- gin, they stagnate and become plified by the iconic refugee camp, of protracted as a result of responses to is unreasonable. Camps help allay which there are over 170 in Africa – refugee inflows, typically involving security concerns represented by exist because of an unlikely conver- restrictions on refugee movement and those perceived, rightly or wrongly, gence of interests among hosts, employment possibilities and confine- as potentially volatile and disruptive. international agencies and refugees. ment to camps. With refugees sequest- Camps also ease the burden that huge Camps may serve an important emer- ered, concentrated, visible and pre- influxes place on host populations. gency protection function but, in the sumably out of harm’s way, camps As traditional African hospitality long run, they deny refugees the free- represent a convergence of interests towards refugees gives way to ‘host doms that would enable them to lead among host governments, internation- fatigue’, camps strengthen asylum by productive lives. This article looks at al agencies and the refugees encouraging hosts to accept the pres- current trends in long-term African themselves. They are not ideal for any- ence of refugees. refugee situations and suggests some one but they help focus attention and ways forward. provide a safety net. By enabling the rapid and efficient disbursement of assistance in emer- Protracted refugee situation: Host governments in Africa are largely gencies, camps provide a safety net. the absence of solutions poor, often insecure and mistrustful of As some refugees venture out they external commitment to shared know that family members left behind Simply put, a protracted refugee situa- responsibility for refugee protection in camps will be cared for and that if tion is one in which refugees find and burden sharing. They see camps they fail to make ends meet outside themselves in a long-lasting and as a means of isolating potential trou- the camp, they themselves may return. intractable state of limbo. Their lives ble-makers and forcing the internat- Refugees can thus ensure that their may not be at risk but their basic ional community to assume responsi- least vulnerable family members are rights and essential economic, social bility. For UNHCR, the overriding able to benefit from the education, and psychological needs remain unful- concern about non-refoulement can health and other services provided filled after years in exile. Such a refugee take precedence over actions to pro- in camps. is unable to break free from enforced vide economic, social or political reliance on external assistance. freedoms. If camps offer basic protec- Despite their drawbacks camps thus tion and a logistically uncomplicated serve important protection functions Protracted refugee situations are means of delivering assistance, they and will continue to be established and neither natural nor inevitable conse- will be favoured. Refugees themselves maintained. The challenge before us is quences of involuntary population may also wish to be grouped in camps. to combine the positive protective ele- flows; they are the result of political Exile is assumed to be temporary and ments of camps while attempting to actions, both in the country of origin some refugees see a need to band remedy the negative ones. 2 (the persecution or violence that led to together for security and social pur- flight) and in the country of asylum. It poses in a new land. Refugees Consequences should not be forgotten that many for- understand that camps make them mer or potential protracted situations visible, and keep their plight, and the The list of the consequences of pro- no longer exist; post-1945 European politics that underpin it, in the world’s longed encampment is long, and refugees, Indo-Chinese boat people consciousness. The Sahrawi camps in includes material deprivation, psy- and South African political exiles are Algeria are a prime exemplar. 1 chosocial problems, violence, sexual FMR 16 Camps and freedoms: long-term refugee situations in Africa 5

exploitation, exploitative employment issue of freedoms. Take Kakuma Taking into account the Sen capabili- and resort to negative coping mecha- camp, Kenya. With high levels of ties notion, and aligning itself with nisms. Protracted refugee situations violence, temporary shelters and World Bank poverty alleviation strate- perpetuate poverty and underdevelop- tense refugee-local relations, it is gies8, UNHCR has recently been ment because they inhibit freedom. often taken as an exemplar of a camp discussing a policy that focuses on Freedom, as Amartya Sen has famous- in which UNHCR has not been able to enhancing the productive capacities ly argued,3 is both a primary end and maintain even minimum standards. of refugees pending a durable solu- the principal means of development. Yet a 2000 study revealed that, broadly tion to their plight.8 This would In order to be able to live the kinds of speaking, not only had minimum involve providing refugees with secu- lives that they value – and have rea- standards been attained but in some rity, removing barriers to self-reliance son to value – people must be able to cases they were better than those pre- and creating opportunities. The pro- enjoy certain instrumental freedoms: vailing in either the refugees’ home ductive capacities notion respects economic opportunities, political free- countries or elsewhere in Kenya. With refugees and their potential. It is both doms, social facilities, transparency distress and listlessness so palpable asylum- and solutions-oriented in that guarantees and protective security. to even a casual visitor to Kakuma, it it can make an impact on a refugee’s is clear that the minimum standards current situation while at the same Do camps provide these freedoms? In paradigm is incomplete, for even time furnishing him or her with the theory, at least, they are supposed to attaining such standards fails to skills, confidence and resources that supply protection and security. address larger questions of needs and both assist and predispose the Asylum provides security from vio- freedoms. 5 refugee towards voluntary repatria- lence at home, and camps are the tion and sustainable reintegration. instruments for ensuring that security From protracted to productive And it should help to sidestep the (i.e. by agreeing to stay in camps, long-running, seemingly irresolvable refugees may save themselves from Given the generally negative and relief/development debate. possible refoulement). In other wasteful consequences of the camp respects, however, camps are not model of settlement, it has been clear Security, self-reliance and designed to enhance freedoms. for some time that there are other, opportunities more logical, humane and cost- They operate under an assistance effective ways of dealing with long- The provision of security is about model that emphasises assistance term refugee situations. As far back ensuring that refugees have the neces- delivery according to certain stan- as the 1960s UNHCR recognised the sary physical and economic security dards. The notion of minimum wisdom of linking relief to develop- to lead productive existences. standards, in particular as codified by ment. This began in the Great Lakes Guaranteeing physical security is a the Sphere Project, remains open to region of Central Africa, continued in core UNHCR concern and involves debate. Nonetheless, in practice, most various countries in Africa in the ensuring non-refoulement and safe agencies in charge of camp manage- 1970s, and reached a sort of apogee asylum. Economic security in a ment attempt to deliver assistance with the ICARA II process in the refugee context means, at a basic 6 according to certain standards. In 1980s. After a period of retrench- level, providing safety nets that pre- times of financial crisis, as is the case ment and increased insistence on vent refugees from having to resort 5 today , it is a struggle to provide even encampment, UNHCR is again explor- to negative coping mechanisms. these minimum standards. ing similar ideas, notably through the ‘development through local integra- The second component involves But the attainment of standards, even tion’ (DLI) strategy and the notion of identifying barriers to refugee self- generous ones, does not address the refugees as agents of development. reliance and undertaking measures to overcome them. Barriers might consist of legal obstacles preventing refugee freedom of movement, employment or legal access to land. Most of these restrictions on refugee liberties are imposed in contradiction of the 1951 Convention, which

Still Pictures/Carlos Guarita attempts to ensure that refugees enjoy a range of freedoms and rights regarding their personal liberty and employment.

The creation of opportunities involves promoting opportunities for refugees to be able 9,000 people depend to lift themselves out of on one tanker for their water supply in poverty. This begins with Cuanza-Sul camp, building on existing refugee Angola. 6 Camps and freedoms: long-term refugee situations in Africa FMR 16

capacities and includes, depending on The fickleness with which funds are continent, it is more prudent for the the asylum context, loans, land, tools provided for refugee programmes humanitarian community to concen- and income generation projects. frustrates long-term planning, and trate on convincing hosts to grant keeps camps on an emergency footing refugees greater freedoms while long after the emergency has passed. urging donors to commit sustained Generalised unfreedom and A strong message is sent to host gov- and generous funding. responsibility sharing ernments: do not count on refugee situations are best addressed by If the solutions are well-known (as, in the international communi- various permutations, they are), then ty. So, hosts opt for dealing with political causes. why are they not implemented, or why maintaining camps. They do they not work? There are two main may be inefficient and miserable but Is this realistic? Many previous initia- reasons: generalised poverty and they are eyesores and, as such, likely tives in Africa have not borne fruit. unfreedom in host countries and the to attract at least some funding. Without favourable economic and imperfections of the international Refugees might do better on their political conditions in the country of responsibility-sharing system. own, in a free environment. Then asylum the provision of freedoms to again, they might not, and the history small groups of refugees is unlikely to The first issue is straightforward. of refugee protection in Africa is full foster self-reliance. But it is the best Refugee camps are restrictive. But if of examples of development-oriented option. Those most affected by con- one lifts these restrictions only to refugee programmes that did not suc- flict are best placed to bring about thrust refugees into an unfree society, ceed. Rather than try for development change. Camps may provide security then one is not likely to achieve much. and self-reliance, and risk failure, from persecution but if refugees are Even in countries where refugees may many host states prefer to maintain to prosper, and prove less of a bur- seek employment outside the camps, the eyesores. den, refugees must be given the many keep a foothold in them freedom to make their own choices because, in a context of general Evidence of sustained donor commit- and to lead productive lives. poverty, their chances of becoming ment to refugee integration self-reliant on their own are not high. programmes would undoubtedly Arafat Jamal works with UNHCR’s Removing barriers to self-reliance and encourage hosts to be more innova- Evaluation and Policy Analysis creating opportunities can work but tive. But since past experience shows Unit (www.unhcr.ch/epau). only if the economic context is wel- that self-reliance and other such This article is written in a person- coming. Worse, the host society may schemes are often pretexts to cut al capacity, and does not purport itself be dangerous for a refugee, in funding, rather than genuine attempts to represent the views of UNHCR. which case urging a refugee to aban- at change, it is not surprising if hosts Email: [email protected]. don the relative security of a camp and even UNHCR prefer to maintain would be irresponsible. the status quo. For additional UNHCR analysis of Africa’s protracted refugee situations What about the sharing of responsibil- Conclusion in Africa, see Jeff Crisp’s paper ities for the protection and assistance prepared for a symposium on the of refugees? It is always tempting to Fearful and untrusting responses to multidimensionality of displacement blame lack of funds for programme refugee inflows conspire to create in Africa, Kyoto, November 2002, soon failures. Yet the lack of international intractable situations. There is room to be available on the EPAU website at commitment to refugee care, protec- for manoeuvre; the security/self- www.unhcr.ch/epau. tion and solutions is at the crux of the reliance/opportunities approach outlined above, even if not fully realis- 1. See the article by Randa Farah pp20-23. protracted refugee problem in Africa. 2. See ‘Refugee camps and settlements’ (The State able, provides a platform to begin of the World’s Refugees 2000) for a resumé of some Refugee protection is a legal obliga- work and exploit possibilities. To an of the arguments surrounding encampment. individual it is not relevant whether a www.unhcr.ch/pubs/sowr2000/sowr2000toc.htm. tion but international burden sharing 3. Amartya Sen Development as Freedom, Oxford, is ‘only’ an international principle. particular intervention should be con- Oxford University Press 1999. States may be taken to task for refoul- sidered relief or development as long 4. See the Update on p49. 5. See Arafat Jamal Minimum standards and essen- ing refugees but not for underfunding as it works and enables him or her to tial needs in a protracted refugee situation: A programmes. Seven out of ten develop skills and exploit opportuni- review of the UNHCR programme in Kakuma, ties useful both in exile and upon the Kenya, UNHCR, Geneva, November 2000. Online at refugees are found in developing www.unhcr.ch/epau. countries, and yet assistance for them attainment of a durable solution. 6. See Jeff Crisp Mind the Gap! UNHCR, humani- is low and erratically provided. Noting tarian assistance and the development process, Ultimately, of course, refugee situa- UNHCR Working Paper 43, Geneva, May 2001. the egregious gap between interna- Online at www.unhcr.ch/epau. tional obligations and international tions are best addressed by dealing 7. As outlined in their World Development Report political and financial commitments with political causes. There have been 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty. www.worldbank.org/poverty/wdrpoverty. to refugees, the High Commissioner some recent hopeful developments – 8. See, for example, ‘Protracted refugee situations: has wondered if "we are not violating in Sudan, Angola and DR Congo and impact and challenges’, speech delivered by Kamel the decision to include refugee issues Morjane, Assistant High Commissioner for the human rights of refugees … by Refugees (Copenhagen, 23 October 2002). not providing them with enough assis- in the New Programme for African Online at www.forgottencrises.dk. tance for them to live with a Development (NEPAD) agenda. But 9. ‘Refugees in a globalised world’, Ditchley Foundation annual lecture, Ditchley Park, 5 July 9 given the international community’s minimum of dignity." 2002. record of non-engagement in the FMR 16 7 Transnational linkages between refugees in Africa and in the diaspora by Dianna J Shandy

This article explores how the ties between resettled the eldest living son was selected to undertake a perilous journey from the Sudanese refugees and those who remain in Africa refugee camp in Ethiopia to a camp in Kenya that was known to be offering shape the lives of people in both settings. resettlement slots.

iscussions of refugee issues Sudan to America These social investments link Nuer in tend to downplay third coun- the US with those remaining in Africa, D try resettlement, because it is The Sudanese armed conflict, active and Nuer living in the US are expected the rarest of UNHCR’s three durable since 1983, has displaced an estimat- to fulfill certain reciprocal obligations. solutions and is seen to affect such a ed three to four million people within Nuer do so by remaining in close con- small minority of refugees. Third Sudan, including more than a million tact through letters and phone calls, country resettlement, however, has living in shanty towns on the out- sending monetary remittances, com- material and cultural impacts on skirts of Khartoum. Out of an pleting paperwork (such as Affidavits refugees in Africa beyond the small estimated population of 27 million, of Relationship or Visa 93 forms) to numbers that actually board the plane conflict has claimed approximately facilitate family members’ efforts to and set off for a new land. two million lives and prompted anoth- come to the US, and returning to er 300,000 to leave the country.2 Africa to visit and to marry. Recent technological innovations – accessible Immigrants have always retained even to those living in relatively some ties with the homes they leave 20,000 Sudanese refugees have been remote rural areas and to those who behind but in the 21st century the resettled in the US since the early are not literate – have facilitated these possibilities are greatly expanded. 1990s when sizable numbers first started arriving. My findings are processes in terms of rapidity in ways Communication is now much cheaper based on ethnographic in-person never before possible. and speedier, and accessible to a research and interviews since the mid- broader swath of the population, and 1990s with several hundred Sudanese Staying in touch African refugees are well aware of refugees living in the US. Most of the this technology. The recently resettled refugees I interviewed belong to the Staying in contact is very important to and much-publicised Sudanese youth, Nuer ethnic group. One noteworthy Sudanese refugees. Sudanese in the or Lost Boys as they were dubbed in facet of their adaptation to life in the US communicate in the same ways as the media1, arrived in the US request- US is the importance of maintaining everyone else: phone, fax, electronic ing internet-based technology to get close ties with family and friends in mail, letters, photos, videocassette in touch with the relatives and friends Sudan, in other African countries and, recordings and in-person visits. They from whom they were separated. to a more limited extent, around the use many of the same means to stay These realities contrast sharply with world. in contact with family and friends in popular images of African refugees Africa. Letters and phone calls, how- that depict people leaving ‘stone-age’ Refugees as individuals; ever, are far more common than societies en route to Western coun- refugees as groups electronic mail and faxes. Sending tries. There is a growing pool of data photos and videocassette recordings to support the fact that refugees Refugee status is conferred at the is also very popular. In this way, retain and maintain multi-stranded level of the individual. Yet the experi- important life events such as gradua- relations between home and host soci- ences of Nuer refugee migrants tions and marriage celebrations can eties. This shift in how we think about demonstrate the ways in which be shared across continents. the relationships between forced actions of individuals were undertak- migrants and the rest of the world en on behalf of family groups. Indeed, Remittances through formal wire has important implications for it was often only through the pooling transfers or informal banking systems refugee policy; refugee policy and of family resources that individuals are also important ways to maintain practice that seek to respond to the were able to access third-country ties with those left behind. Sudanese complexities of refugees’ lives need to resettlement opportunities. In one who send remittances on a regular move beyond popular stereotypes to case, for instance, a Nuer family basis see this money as critical to consider the transnational dimension pooled all the blankets they had just meet immediate subsistence needs of African refugees’ experience. been given by UNHCR and sold them; among refugees in Africa and to invest in the future. Money to buy 8 Transnational linkages between refugees in Africa and in the diaspora FMR 16

food to supplement UNHCR rations or described as an emotional connection If humanitarian interventions target- to supplant a meagre harvest is seen with loved ones, particularly those ing African refugees are to be as fundamental to the survival of such as grandmothers who have no effective, transnational realities need those left behind. Investing in educa- desire to migrate to the US. to be considered. For instance, cultur- tion by paying school fees is also an al orientation programmes for third obligation of those who secured reset- Investment in peace country resettlement candidates that tlement slots. In addition, men in the assume less sophistication on the part US who are betrothed to Sudanese One final dimension of the temporary of African refugees ignore key dimen- women living in Ethiopia with the return migration phenomenon is the sions of the social world of refugees. groom’s family describe sending work of those Sudanese who devote Monetary remittances are an impor- money back to their families to sup- themselves to the cause of Sudanese tant part of their social ties. For port their fiancées and to pay for peace and alleviation of suffering of Africans in the US, the decision to bridewealth cattle. those left behind. One Sudanese man, attend school in the hope of obtaining Stephen Chambang, founded an a better job in the future can necessi- Looking for a wife organisation called SudanHope to try tate reducing or eliminating to make a difference in the lives of remittances to Africa for a specified Marriage and courtship, in fact, are those who remain in the Sudan war period of time. This funding stream key reasons for many Sudanese men zone and in refugee camps in neigh- needs to be seen as unpredictable: to return to Africa for a visit. Nuer bouring African countries. In 2001, highly dependent on the well-being men in the US wish to marry Nuer Stephen self-funded a three-month and employment of the US counter- women but there are very few single trip back to Africa, where he conduct- part. The current downturn in the US or unbetrothed Nuer women in ed research to find out what Sudanese economy is likely to be felt by America. In addition, some Nuer men IDPs’ and refugees’ needs were. Upon refugees in Africa who may have are troubled by what they call "unrea- his return to the US, he secured spon- come to depend on those remit- sonable levels of freedom" accorded sorship from his American employer tances. Alternatively, Sudanese in to women in the US. By returning to to set up an organisation to raise the diaspora might forego opportu- Africa to marry, some Nuer men feel funds to purchase a boat that would nities that enhance their ability to that they are more likely to find a serve as a reliable means of trans- earn a living wage if it means sus- wife who has not yet been "corrupted" portation between Maker, Sudan, and pending remittances. by American ideals and ways of life. Gambela, Ethiopia, to enable people to travel for necessities like medical care Dianna Shandy is Assistant Professor The enduring importance of during the July-February rainy season. of Anthropology at Macalester cattle Recognising the potential for linkages College, St Paul, MN, USA. between those in the diaspora and Email: [email protected] For Sudanese in Africa or the US, the those who remain in Africa as refugees to have an impact on 1. See FMR15 p7, transfer of cattle remains central to www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR15/fmr15.2.pdf. the recognition of marriage and any improving their own lives is an impor- 2. For more information, see children from that union. Keeping cat- tant dimension of the refugee www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/idpSurvey.nsf/wCoun experience that needs to feed policy tries/Sudan tle does not appear to be viable for 3. More information about this project can be Sudanese in the US. Therefore, the and practice. found at www.SudanHope.com. transfer of cattle takes place in Africa – even to recognise Nuer marriages Implications for policy and that take place in the US. The current practice rate for bridewealth among Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia is US$3,900 In the long run, the contributions of which will buy "28 big cows, two small Africans in the diaspora to those who cows, and five bulls" according to a remain in Africa raise a number of Nuer informant who had paid questions. To what extent do undocu-

bridewealth recently. mented flows of resources from the Still Pictures/Jorgen Schytte outside mask the extent of problems Family ties in southern Sudan and the condition of those seeking refuge in neighbour- In addition to marriage, maintaining ing African countries? If Africans ties to family members is an impor- who have been resettled in the US are tant reason for temporary return using resources to support families in migration to East Africa. Many of Africa as well their immediate families these visits revolve around visiting in the US, what impact will this have elders. More than nine out of ten on their integration in a new society? Sudanese in the US are under the age How will this sharing of resources of 40. In fact, the Nuer referred to as play out in the next generation? Do "elders" in the US are in their mid-for- these remittances mean that the ties. For some who return to East humanitarian burden is being unduly Africa for visits, some motivation shouldered by those who are them- appears to be to maintain a stake in selves least financially stable and family wealth. But far more often it is most marginalised in society? FMR 16 9 Burundians use innovative ways to protect the displaced by Greta Zeender Greta Zeender While the international community is disseminating tor of TUBIYAGE, a theatre association IDPs in Burundi of seven theatre troupes and 40 the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement actors. His association, supported by NRC, has been presenting plays at five in Burundi, local actors are also taking matters into IDP camps in the province of Kirundo, and plans to perform in other their own hands to tell people about their rights at a provinces as well. The plays present grassroots level. five rights of particular relevance to people displaced in camps: the pro- eveloped in 1998, the Guiding local professionals to monitor the tection of the property of the Principles consolidate in one respect of the rights of the displaced displaced, the freedom to enter and D document the legal standards and to do advocacy for a better pro- exit the camps, the need to include relevant for protecting and assisting tection of these rights. women associations in resettlement people forcibly displaced within their and return plans, the right of children own country. These Principles are Such initiatives and other innovative to education, and the right of IDPs to widely accepted internationally but approaches are crucial in a country be informed before being displaced. there is a long way to go until they where the civil war has so far killed are followed on the ground. over 250,000 people and displaced The plays usually last an hour and a another 500,000 people since 1993. half and have a participatory During my stay in Burundi in October The displaced are particularly vulner- approach, explains Michel-Ange. 2002, I was told about several innova- able; grave violations, such as rape Actors first illustrate the daily life of tive techniques used by local and torture, have been widely report- the displaced, with their frustrations professionals, which may have implied during displacement. about the violations of the rights cations for dissemination efforts in mentioned above. The play is very other displacement crises. They use Changing reality through art realistic but manages to strike the art, participatory education and ‘tradi- delicate balance between depicting tion’ to disseminate the Principles. "When our theatre association per- what IDPs go through and doing it I was in Burundi with a Norwegian forms plays on the Guiding Principles, with a sense of humour. The play Refugee Council (NRC) team which we show to the displaced the imper- shows the daily life of simple farmers, trains local actors on the Guiding fect reality, to spark in them the who visit their neighbours and rejoice Principles. The training is part of desire to dream of a better world", to see each other, until they hear the NRC’s efforts to build the capacity of says Michel-Ange Nzojibwami, direc- sound of gunfire and start to flee. 10 Burundians use innovative ways to protect the displaced FMR 16

Then they are brought to a ‘site’ for In Kirundo, schools have been built to the vulnerable. She argues that it is displaced people, where they face outside the displaced sites, which are important to appeal to traditional sol- many problems. Families, for exam- generally mono-ethnic. The schools, idarity to protect the rights of the ple, receive insufficient food rations. unlike the sites, benefit both IDP and displaced and of other vulnerable At one point in the play, they are resident children, Tutsi and Hutu people. Many internally displaced peo- forced to move to another site, alike. Children are taught the Guiding ple have enormous difficulty without prior notice. Principles through a participatory accessing their land when they return approach. They play small parts with to former homes, especially as there According to Michel-Ange, audiences themes like human rights and obliga- are no land inheritance rights for of displaced people agree that the tions in general, and children's rights women. play accurately portrays what they are in particular. They also learn through living through, and they also under- discussion sessions. Traditional holders of authority in stand that it is not right. At this Burundi are a group of men called point, they are invited to replace one According to Jean-Paul, the Guiding Bashingantahe. Generally known for of the actors and try to redress the Principles are a way to establish their sense of justice and responsibili- situation. In contrast to before the equality between the displaced and ty for the overall good of the war, women and young people are the resident population. Because of community, they settle disputes now the ones who act to remedy the the displacement and trauma, IDP peacefully and uphold human rights, situation. This is not always easy for children are very vulnerable and may says Mathilde. In their ceremony of men, adds Michel-Ange; they are often feel rejected or left out, especially at investiture, the Bashingantahe more reserved and are sometimes school. They are also generally promise to pursue justice and to uneasy about the new role assumed unaware of their rights. It is therefore protect widows and orphans. This by women in these participative plays. essential to explain to them that they appeals to an essential element of the have the same rights as other chil- Burundian tradition, Ubuntu (‘humani- Michel-Ange believes that disseminat- dren, including the right to learn, ty and justice’). Mathilde often refers ing the Guiding Principles at the even if they have not had the chance cases of land disputes to their judge- to go to school until then, due to war ment. She also discusses with them “Children can become real promoters and displacement. the importance of protecting the rights of displaced people. of the Guiding Principles" Going to school with other children helps displaced children integrate While tradition seems the most grassroots level is important, since with those who have not been dis- appropriate means to disseminate people often live without knowing placed, and who come from another the Guiding Principles to the their rights. At the same time, he ethnic background. Tutsi and Hutu Bashingantahe and rural populations, points out, these principles must be children can rediscover each other, it is also important to empower disseminated to authorities and camp learn through games, and study in a women and children and to promote managers if the rights of the dis- spirit of equality, he says. self-confidence and dignity, argues placed people are to be effectively Mathilde. Her NGO, Rainbow Center, protected. ‘Ubuntu’ for the displaced? discusses human rights issues with women’s associations. It also runs Participatory education "Tradition is essential but, to better youth groups, where young people defend the rights of women and chil- receive food in exchange for the con- Education is another way to get the dren, we may have to create a new struction of houses for IDPs or for Guiding Principles across. "If we want tradition in Burundi", muses Mathilde, other work. Such work, she says, pro- the human rights situation in Burundi who works for an NGO defending the vides the pretext to discuss human to improve, it is important not to land rights of vulnerable people such rights and responsibility. neglect the education of children. as children and widows. Mathilde Children can become real promoters points out that many aspects of Like Jean-Paul, Mathilde is firm about of the Guiding Principles", says Jean- Burundian tradition grant protection the importance of children knowing Paul, a teacher originally from the northern province of Kirundo, who also worked with street children in Senegal and Cameroon before returning to his native country. Greta Zeender

Now working for NRC, Jean-Paul trains teachers who work with IDP children in an effort to improve their lives. His work is aimed at children who have never been to school but are too old to start at the beginning of the school system. After a year in such a programme, Michel-Ange’s theatre troupe in students are usually able to inte- Burundi (Michel- grate into the formal education Ange, front left). system. FMR 16 11

their rights. Young people are often surprised to discover that education is not a favour granted to them but a HIV and the inter- right. They also learn that the administrator of the commune does not have the right to displace people except under exceptional circum- nally displaced: stances, and that expropriation should be followed by compensation. In a hierarchical society like Burundi, Burundi in focus young people discover that even the head of a community does not have by Raquel Wexler the right to violate the freedoms of the citizens. Such knowledge can be helpful. "Special attention should also be given to the Principles must be locally prevention of contagious and infectious diseases, owned including AIDS, among internally displaced Michel-Ange, Jean-Marie and Mathilde each have their own ways of protect- persons." (Guiding Principles on Internal ing the rights of displaced people, through theatre, education and dia- Displacement, 19.3) logue. But their approaches have much in common. All three dissemi- hile over 250,000 people in households. Such displacements can nate the Guiding Principles through Burundi have died as a last from a few days to a few months participatory approaches and in W result of conflict since 1993, and occur in areas of the country that Kirundi, the national language of HIV/AIDS has become the country’s are at times difficult for the humani- Burundi. All three agree on the central primary cause of adult deaths and an tarian community to access, monitor role of women and children, who rep- important cause of infant mortality. rights abuses and provide needed resent the majority of displaced In this small country of seven million, assistance, creating a major challenge people and who do not traditionally though the general population is as a to the implementation of HIV-related have the same prominence as men. whole vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infec- interventions. Even so there have tion and transmission, some groups been concerted efforts on the part of Fortunately, these efforts are not are known to be more so. Among the some humanitarian actors to conduct being made in a vacuum. In Burundi, prostitutes, truck drivers, refugees assessments and facilitate HIV activi- local initiatives to disseminate the and repatriated who are known to be ties targeting the internally displaced. Guiding Principles have been support- vulnerable, almost half a million inter- ed by the international community. nally displaced persons face Attitudes and practices Since early 2001, international agen- considerable risks of HIV/AIDS infec- cies, national authorities and civil tion. Acceding priority to the easy sell The limited available evidence sug- society representatives have met regu- of traditional emergency assistance gests that IDPs may have heard of larly to assess concrete IDP situations packages, the requisite attention, HIV but have little knowledge of how and to improve the protection of dis- resources and programming for HIV it is contracted or avoided. It is com- placed people. NRC, meanwhile, along interventions for the war-affected dis- monly believed that the primary with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs placed have not yet been sufficiently causes of transmission are sharing has organised training workshops to available. In an attempt to formulate razor blades and having multiple disseminate the Principles to the an appropriate response to HIV pro- partnerships. Only one in 20 IDPs Burundian authorities, international gramming for IDPs, UNICEF Burundi identifies condoms as a means of pro- agencies and local groups, including conducted focus group research in tection from an HIV/AIDS-infected the representatives of displaced peo- four IDP sites. This article describes partner. Although 80% know what a ple, at national and provincial levels. the nature of the problem and sets condom is, only 70% have ever seen, out broad areas for HIV/AIDS mitiga- and less than one-fifth ever used, one. Supporting grassroots efforts is cru- tion strategies. False beliefs and misinformation are cial to promote the ownership of the common among the displaced, as one Guiding Principles at the local level. Officially there were over 387,000 in five IDPs believes that HIV can be Integrating the Principles fully into IDPs living at 226 sites in Burundi in contracted by kissing or dining with local culture can give a stronger voice May 2002.1 These figures do not an HIV-infected person. However, one to women and children, and can create include the temporary displacements message has hit home: more than 90% ‘new traditions’ of protection and that follow the anticipation or launch know that HIV/AIDS has no cure.2 integration. of military and rebel attacks. Short- term, sudden acute displacements Young widows are common within Greta Zeender is Information involving many thousands of people IDP communities, comprising more Officer (Middle East and Africa) at occur frequently throughout the than one-quarter of all heads of the Global IDP Project, Geneva. country as uprooted families seek households. These young unattached Email: [email protected]. safety in schools, churches and mili- women search for sexual partnerships tary camps and with other with both single and married men for 12 HIV and the internally displaced: Burundi in-focus FMR 16 UNICEF/HQ01-0195/Giamoco Pirozzi

sexual fulfilment and for more chil- settlements after having numerous avoid pregnancy; HIV/AIDS informa- dren. Women comment that sexual sexual partners, pregnant and/or in tion is not shared between parents relations provide psychological relief search of a husband. Such young and their children due to ignorance from daily stress. High fertility rates women are stigmatised and and socio-cultural taboos.3 All focus are commonplace with attendant con- ostracised. Young IDP men without group participants said that they did sequences on the health of the work postpone marriage. Uncertain not have enough information on women and their capacity to provide about their future and unable to sus- HIV/AIDS, though the women were for their children. In an environment tain a family, they prefer non- better informed due to their contact where women outnumber men, multi- committed sexual relationships. with health care providers at antena- partnerships are not only common Unlike the mature women, who are tal consultations.4 They report that but, to a certain extent, culturally fearful of learning their seropositive when humanitarian actors arrive at an accepted. status and of community stigmatisa- IDP settlement they usually approach tion, youth spoke positively of voluntary women’s groups as an entry-point into Male participants in the focus groups testing. Many feel testing should be the community. The women reasoned said women should be sexually avail- required by law before marriage. that "women are interested in health able. Refusal to engage in intercourse and men are interested in politics". may be interpreted as a sign of infi- Abrupt, temporary displacements delity and result in physical violence – inhibit access to land as former Opportunities for intervention which is largely tolerated in homes and fields turn into military Burundian society. Men confirmed zones. Kabezi, ten kilometres from Despite the instability of conflict envi- that sexual intercourse is unprotected Bujumbura and far outside the capital ronments in Burundi and elsewhere, almost all of the time. While men city’s ‘safe’ perimeter, has been the a number of HIV/AIDS interventions noted the high number of undesired locus of numerous confrontations can be undertaken that focus on IDPs. and unrecognised children in the since February 2002. The number of Long-term institutional strategies for sites, women drew attention to the displaced rises and falls in concert HIV prevention provide an important high number of unresolved extra- with security conditions. As their fam- means to address HIV/AIDS mitiga- marital paternity cases. ilies go hungry, men depart to tion for IDPs before they are Bujumbura in search of day-work. displaced, as these activities are gen- Child-headed households, highly vul- Insecurity may not permit a return to erally targeted towards improving nerable to exploitation, constitute the site, resulting in nights spent access to essential information and more than 2% of all households in the away from partners. Women in Kabezi HIV-related services for the general two study areas. Some of these chil- report that as a result their husbands population. HIV/AIDS activities can be dren rent out their house for sexual can easily have unprotected sex with appropriately integrated with other activities during the day while the other women. Both women and men interventions, i.e. food and water adults tend to the fields. Promiscuity, cite a high degree of distrust in their distribution; this requires coherent sexual abuse and cases of sibling marriage partnerships. Suspicions strategies and planning based on incest are reported. often lead to arguments and violence. greater coordination of actors on the ground. The Guiding Principles on Fleeing from poverty, young girls Young IDPs note that although some Internal Displacement should be cir- search for work in urban centres. reproductive information is passed on culated to affected populations and Maturing rapidly in their new environ- from mother to daughter and father attention given to educating lawmak- ments, many return to IDP to son, this is largely counselling to ers, the military and humanitarian FMR 16 HIV and the internally displaced: Burundi in-focus 13

actors about international standards external evaluators to ensure trans- ming for IDPs, particularly in Burundi. to curtail and monitor rights abuses, parency and to inspire The 2002 Consolidated Inter-Agency and the role of Government as the humanitarian actors to be more Appeal, the major funding window for guarantor of rights.5 Yet, whether accountable; in-country partners UN and NGO operations in-country, interventions are short-term ‘one-off’ may need training in developing included only three IDP projects with activities, medium-term or develop- appropriate measures of perfor- HIV/AIDS components and one to do mental in scope, it is important that mance. with basic reproductive health ser- there are adequate safeguards to ■ Agencies should work with reli- vices. Of $295,000 requested by ensure that communities take part in gious leaders to challenge UNFPA in the 2002 Appeal, only problem identification, delivery and prevailing attitudes towards HIV $50,000 has been donated. Oxfam GB assessment of interventions. and domestic violence and to care received no funding for prevention, for HIV-infected and HIV orphans. diagnostic and care activities for IDPs. However, there can be no uniform ■ Reproductive health services Faring somewhat better, UNICEF approach to HIV interventions for the should be available to the displaced requested $700,000 for HIV preven- internally displaced. The following list so that women seeking antenatal tion in general (to include IDP of recommendations is not exhaustive services receive essential informa- populations) but by September 2002 and may be modified in response to tion on HIV prevention, Mother- had been given only $384,000, slightly constraints and opportunities within To-Child-Transmission, and the more than half of the sum required. particular programming environments. identification and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. This devastating HIV funding shortfall ■ HIV/AIDS and STD prevention and ■ HIV/AIDS information should be has compelled UNAIDS6 to rally awareness-raising programmes and included in mainstream school cur- humanitarian actors in country. condom distributions should be ricula; where needed, emergency During the preparations for the 2003 developed for government and schooling should be established to Appeal more than $4m for HIV/AIDS rebel combatants. provide normalcy to both children programming will be requested. It is ■ The principal activities of parents and their parents and to deter hoped that the improved collabora- and children within and outside IDP delinquent activity. tion and enthusiasm of implementing sites should be identified, including ■ Flexible communication strategies partners on the ground will be linkages to transit corridors and should be developed to facilitate matched by donor contributions. urban centres; high risk areas such community identification of prob- as truck stops, bars and guest lems, causes and appropriate Raquel Wexler is head of the houses should be mapped. responses, and to eradicate stigma- Planning Project at UNICEF ■ Gender-sensitive placement of tisation; training in interpersonal Burundi. Views expressed in this latrines, water gathering points and communication techniques may be article do not necessarily repre- land for cultivation should be pro- required. sent official UNICEF opinion. moted. ■ Surveillance systems are needed to Email: [email protected] ■ Greater attention should be given track trends in the spread of HIV to assisting child-headed house- and provide benchmarks with 1. UNICEF, OCHA, UNDP Survey, Preliminary holds, reuniting unaccompanied which to evaluate and plan; behav- Results, June 2002. 2. ‘Ministère de la Santé Publique et UNICEF, displaced children and integration ioural surveillance structures Enquête Socio-Comportamentale sur L’infection into foster families. should also be supported to pro- par le VIH/SIDA au Burundi dans la Population ■ There is little point of engaging the vide feedback on changes among Sinistrée: Rapport Definitif’, 2001 (pp26-27). internally displaced in discussions high risk populations. 3. ibid (p23) 4. Public health structures are present, though on HIV prevention if condoms are their services are generally extremely limited, and not readily available; condom Resources not free, rendering health care through the public accessibility must be greatly health system inaccessible to IDPs. 5. See FMR 15 pp43-45 improved. The international community has www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR15/fmr15.17.pdf ■ Contingency planning is essential been wanting in its efforts to address 6. UNAIDS is the joint UN programme on to prepare for the mass return of HIV/AIDS prevention and program- HIV/AIDS: www.unaids.org refugees from neighbouring Tanzania in the event of the bro- kering of a sustainable cease- fire. ■ Appropriate focal points should be identified in IDP sites for peer learning; youth clubs should be supported in which reproductive health issues could be discussed. ■ Evaluations should be undertaken with the assistance of A group of young poeple during a meeting of the UNICEF-assissted ‘My Future is My Choice’ youth health development programme, Namibia. UNICEF/HQ00-0090/Giamoco Pirozzi 14 FMR 16

Sudanese refugees in

northern Uganda: UNHCR/S Mann from one conflict to the next by Emmanuel Bagenda and Lucy Hovil Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda not only placed and are living in so-called ‘protected villages’. It is in this environ- have to contend with the numerous problems associ- ment of insecurity that thousands of Sudanese refugees have been placed. ated with living in a settlement but also have to live Achol-Pii refugee settlement with the daily threat of armed attack. Achol-Pii refugee settlement has host- Sudanese refugees he example of one particular live in designated settlements, most ed refugees since the early 1960s. The unpack their refugee settlement, Achol-Pii, Sudanese refugees live in camps or most recent influx was in 1993 when belongings having in Pader district, reveals some settlements, the majority of which are there was an upsurge in fighting in moved from Achol- T of the specific problems that are cre- located in northern Uganda. southern Sudan between different Pii camp to Kiryandongo. ated when refugees are forced to live Sudan People’s Liberation Army in settlements in the midst of armed However, far from being located in a (SPLA) factions. By early 2002, there conflict. place of safety, Sudanese refugees in were approximately 24,000 Sudanese northern Uganda have been affected refugees living in the settlement. In Conflict and flight by the protracted series of armed addition, Achol-Pii and the surround- uprisings and civil conflicts of which ing area have also hosted a number of The majority of the 174,000 officially those of the Lord’s Resistance Army communities of displaced Ugandans recognised refugees in Uganda are (LRA) under the leadership of Joseph fleeing the war between the LRA and from the country’s northern neigh- Kony have had the greatest impact. the government of Uganda (GoU). bour, Sudan. They have fled from Whilst the LRA claims to be fighting Achol-Pii settlement has become a Africa’s longest standing civil war, a the Ugandan government, it has, in melting pot for forced migrants flee- war that has been characterised by its fact, brutally targeted the civilian ing different conflicts in the region. devastating impact on the civilian population of northern Uganda, killing population. In accordance with and raping, looting villages and However, the concentration of forced Ugandan policy, which stipulates that forcibly conscripting child soldiers. migrants was not reflected in the all refugees and asylum seekers must As a result, thousands have been dis- amount of protection offered, despite FMR 16 Sudanese refugees in Northern Uganda: from one conflict to the next 15

the fact that, throughout the course authorities, making it easy for the sec- of their brutal campaign, the LRA has ond LRA attack to be carried out. The The settlement of refugees in conflict not limited its attacks to Ugandan LRA has since declared that it consid- zones also violates international law nationals but has also targeted vari- ers Sudanese refugees as legitimate in another way, in particular under ous refugee settlements. On 13-14 targets for their attacks. Yet, although the rubric of state responsibility. July 1996, Achol-Pii settlement was roughly one third of the 24,000 Refugees from Achol-Pii have subject to a particularly devastating refugees displaced from Achol-Pii expressed their strong opposition to rebel attack. On the first day, two have since been transferred from being relocated to settlements in drivers and two police officers were Kiryandongo to the relative safety northern Uganda, with many among abducted and approximately 22 of Kyangwali settlement in Hoima them stating that, in such an event, District (Western they would rather return to Sudan. If Uganda), the govern- the refugees in question were actually refugees are being settled in a conflict zone ment intends once driven, by force of circumstances, to again to move the return to Sudan, this might amount to refugees killed; on the following day, remaining refugees back to northern a violation of Article 33 of the 1951 an estimated 76 refugees were round- Uganda, only this time to different Refugee Convention which prohibits ed up and systematically shot, hacked settlements. the (direct or indirect) return or or clubbed to death, with an addition- refoulement of refugees to the fron- al 21 wounded. Calls to close down This decision has two implications. tiers of territories where their lives or the settlement and relocate the Firstly, it means that the refugees are freedom would be threatened. refugees to a safer location fell on being settled in a conflict zone where, deaf ears. quite clearly, their lives will be at risk. Settlement policy Secondly, the refugees, the majority of Although protection was improved whom are Sudanese nationals, will be The story of Achol-Pii settlement also immediately following this attack, the settled close to the border with the reveals a deeper problem associated area continued to be dominated by country from which they have fled. with the settlement policy itself. Quite insecurity. The refugees’ fear of In both instances, international law is apart from being a violation of further attacks proved to be well- being violated. refugees’ right to freedom of move- founded. On 5 August 2002, LRA ment, as enshrined in Article 26 of rebels once again attacked the refugee The 1951 Convention on the Status of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the set- settlement, killing an estimated 60 Refugees and other related instru- tlement structure is indefensible in at refugees and abducting 19 people, ments, and the 1969 OAU Refugee least two other ways. including four staff members of the Convention, enjoin States to protect International Rescue Committee.1 The refugees from circumstances such as Whereas the LRA attacks may be aim- settlement was consequently closed war and persecution which precipitat- ing to make a political point, it is also and the entire refugee population ed their flight from their home possible that they are precipitated by moved to Kiryandongo settlement in countries. To settle refugees in the other factors, related to the settle- Masindi district. midst of another similarly brutal ment structure. In the context of conflict is clearly in breach of this northern Uganda, for instance, the Settlement of refugees in obligation. The significance of this structure effectively creates a concen- conflict zones obligation was further underlined by tration of people within areas that are the UNHCR Executive Committee, already insecure. The presence of The aftermath of both attacks on which categorically "condemns all large numbers of unarmed civilians Achol-Pii settlement has been marked violations of the rights and safety of within a zone of conflict clearly pre- by a government response that lacks refugees and asylum seekers and in sents a soft target for rebels to attack. careful analysis and violates funda- particular, military or armed mental human rights. For instance, attacks on refugee camps and set- The settlement structure also conspires despite the intensity of the first major tlements." The Committee further against long-term development attack in 1996, neither UNHCR nor the urges States and other parties to GoU saw fit to close Achol-Pii and promote measures "to enhance the Furthermore, given the amount of relocate the refugees to a safer loca- protection of refugee camps and set- internal displacement within northern tion. While additional army personnel tlements".3 The onus clearly falls on Uganda and the resulting lack of alter- were sent to defend the settlement, the GoU to take all measures neces- native resources, the settlements their presence was neither consistent sary to ensure the protection of become one of the few areas in which nor sufficient either to reassure the refugees from LRA attacks. food can be obtained. The structure population that a similar attack would thus creates a resource base for the not take place again or indeed to pre- In addition, relocating Sudanese war economy, providing a reliable vent a similar attack. refugees to settlements in northern supply of foodstuffs, people and Uganda places them dangerously information. Further still, a study conducted in close to the frontier with the country Achol-Pii in April 2002,2 made it clear from which they fled. This contra- The settlement structure also con- that the settlement was still vulnera- venes Article II (6) of the Organisation spires against long-term development ble to attack and that, given the of African Unity (OAU) Convention on by disempowering refugees and recent resurgence of the war in north- Refugees, which states that "for rea- restricting their freedom of move- ern Uganda, the lives of the refugees sons of security, countries of asylum ment. It is generally recognised that and those in the surrounding area shall, as far as possible settle refugees refugees can be – and should be were in grave danger. These findings at a reasonable distance from the regarded as – a potential resource, received little attention from the frontier of their country of origin." rather than a burden, for host states. 16 Sudanese refugees in Northern Uganda: from one conflict to the next FMR 16

In order for the development-poten- settlement and trying to survive on tial of refugees to be gainfully their own. The African NGO Refugee exploited by a host state, refugees Protection Network have to be allowed free integration Conclusion among local communities (subject to The African NGO Refugee minimum and necessary restrictions). From this brief analysis, two crucial Protection Network was set up in A policy that indiscriminately con- conclusions emerge. The first is that March 2002 in order to pull togeth- fines refugees to rural settings, settlement of refugees in conflict er the results of research and without taking into account their var- zones is a flagrant breach of interna- practical assistance in a comple- ious backgrounds and potential, tional law. Second, the experience of mentary fashion. clearly does not fit in with this ideal. the Achol-Pii refugees raises questions Likewise, the settlement policy stifles regarding the suitability of the The Network’s members – NGOs any initiatives that might come from refugee settlement structure, both in and academic institutions – come within the local population, often terms of protection and assistance. from countries in the East, Central creating, instead, tension between The decision by the GoU to relocate and Horn of Africa region, includ- refugee and national communities. thousands of Sudanese refugees to ing Ethiopia, Burundi, Kenya, another location in northern Uganda Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan and In addition, the settlement structure does not augur well for the future Somalia. No dues are levied and is detrimental to the personal devel- physical and material well-being of the sole requirement for member- opment of the refugees. By denying the refugees or that of their host ship is active work in the field of them access to areas in which they communities. forced migration. The Network feel safe and placing them in settle- operates out of the offices of the ments, the government and UNHCR Emmanuel Bagenda and Lucy Refugee Law Project (RLP), Faculty erode the refugees’ ability to make Hovil work for the Refugee Law of Law, Makerere University in decisions for themselves regarding Project, Faculty of Law, Makerere Kampala, Uganda. their own safety and personal devel- University, PO Box 33903, opment. This perpetuates a cycle of Kampala, Uganda: The Network currently focuses on paternalism, ensuring that refugees email [email protected] . providing the following services: continually rely on a system that has ■ website 1. The Monitor, Uganda, 6 August 2002. proved unable to provide for their ■ email listserv protection. Moreover, the majority of 2. Between 17 April and 1 May 2002, the Refugee Law Project (RLP) of Makerere University undertook ■ information sharing the refugees do not have the means to research in Achol-Pii refugee settlement. The find- ■ hosting web pages for member A food rations card leave the settlement as this would ings were published in the RLP’s fifth Working organisations Paper – ‘War as Normal, the Impact of Violence on is often the only result in the total withdrawal of their ■ facilitating research/links assistance. They are therefore pre- the Lives of Displaced Communities in Pader identification District, Northern Uganda’. ■ networking refugees have. sented with the dilemma of either 3. Executive Committee Conclusion number 48 Kiryandongo, remaining in an area in which their (XXXVIII) – 1987 on Military and Armed Attacks on The Network is also considering setting Uganda lives are in danger, or leaving the Refugee Camps and Settlements (Report of the up a moderated e-discussion group and 38th Session: UN. Doc. A/AC.96/702, Para 206) members have expressed an interest in carrying out joint projects.

Website: www.muklaw.ac.ug/anrpn Email: [email protected] UNHCR/S Mann FMR 16 17 Refugee management in Kenya by the Refugee Consortium of Kenya Kenya hosts approximately 250,000 refugees from cells for many days without being charged while others are forced to over 11 war-torn countries. pay bribes to police officers to secure their release. Police blatantly disre- he majority are from Somalia, the refugees were sheltering was only gard UNHCR documents indicating Sudan, Ethiopia and the Great 500 metres from the border where that the refugee/asylum seeker is T Lakes region. There are two fighting was raging. In addition, the known to the agency. Although official refugee camps in Kenya: local administration visited the site on UNHCR and the government have Dadaab, close to the Somali border, several occasions, threatening the agreed to provide joint documents to hosts about 150,000 refugees; refugees with dire consequences refugees and asylum seekers, this ini- Kakuma, located in northern Kenya should they refuse to return to tiative has been stalled for well over a near the Sudanese border, hosts about Somalia. Most of the refugees were year. Harassment, extortion and 83,000 refugees. women and children. This obvious intimidation of refugees by police contravention of the principle of officers continue unabated. The government implements a refugee non-refoulement went unchallenged. encampment policy: once refugees The plight of asylum seekers in Kenya have gone through the status determi- Legislation would certainly go a long is particularly dire. While awaiting sta- nation procedures, they are obliged to way towards providing a clear frame- tus determination, asylum seekers are reside in a camp while awaiting a work for the protection of refugees. de facto not persons of concern to durable solution. However, for a myri- Under Kenya’s new draft constitution, UNHCR and thus have no access to ad of reasons (including insecurity in refugees are guaranteed the right of social assistance or protection. They the camps, health problems and mal- non-refoulement and parliament is are open to police harassment, extor- adjustment to camp life), many charged with responsibility to enact tion, sexual assault, abuse and refugees defy this requirement and refugee legislation within a year of the discrimination of every sort. The make their way to urban areas. It is new constitution coming into force. In UNHCR branch office maintains that estimated that 30-50,000 refugees/ effect, the new constitution recognis- its mandate extends assistance to asylum seekers live illegally in urban es the right to seek asylum as a recognised refugees only. Realising areas. constitutional right. their plight, there is need for the

Asylum seekers are required to undergo status determination in Nairobi The government has to date abdicated its responsibilities and during this time they are not agency to review its mandate and to under UNHCR protection. They suffer The government has to date abdicated provide the requisite protection and from lack of social assistance, harass- its responsibilities and instead dele- assistance to asylum seekers. ment and extortion by law gated responsibility to UNHCR. In enforcement agents in addition to addition to its own mandate of pro- Attitudes towards refugees hostility from members of the public. tection and provision of humanitarian assistance, UNHCR has accepted Civil society in Kenya remains igno- Responsibilities responsibility for receiving refugees, rant of the plight of refugees and this registration and scheduling appoint- ignorance together with the currently Kenya has acceded to the 1951 ments for status determination, depressed economy often results in Convention and ratified the 1969 OAU conducting eligibility interviews, xenophobia and hostility toward Convention and the Universal making decisions on eligibility, refugees. Although African cultures Declaration of Human Rights as well hearing appeals, making decisions on are renowned for their hospitality, as other international human rights appeal and making camp referrals. this virtue has worn thin. treaties. The National Refugee UNHCR has, in effect, assumed the Secretariat (NRS) in the Ministry of role of a government ministry and in Experience has shown that in the run- Home Affairs is charged with the so doing has seriously compromised up to elections many politicians will responsibility of managing the its autonomy and its effectiveness in not hesitate to manipulate the refugee refugee situation. Although there is a providing refugee protection. situation as an electioneering gim- bill pending in parliament, Kenya still mick. Members of Parliament have lacks refugee-specific legislation. Police harassment been known to distort facts and Without it, the protection inherent stereotype and vilify refugees as the within these Conventions remains One of the main problems faced by sole source of increased crime and fundamentally elusive to refugees. refugees is police harassment. The insecurity, proliferation of illegal arms police carry out regular raids in and scarcity of resources. They have In a recent incident of influx of refugee-dominated areas during which even been known to point to humani- Somali refugees into Mandera in they have been known to search tarian assistance to refugees in the Kenya, the government refused to refugee homes, abuse, assault, intimi- camps as evidence that refugees relocate the refugees to a safer site date and wrongfully arrest refugees. allegedly enjoy a better lifestyle than even though the temporary site where Many refugees are detained in police the locals. Blaming refugees detracts 18 Refugee management in Kenya FMR 16

attention from their own responsibili- continue to be a cause for concern.2 in the face of state violation of ties towards their constituents. No clear disciplinary action has been refugee rights. It must take the lead in taken to address these abuses. The calling for respect for refugees and in UNHCR and refugee protection recently launched UNHCR Code of exerting pressure for positive change. Conduct has been presented as a As the agency responsible for refugee ‘morally persuasive’ document rather Other actors status determination and resettlement than a binding document for staff. NGOs have made significant efforts to processing, UNHCR has been over- call attention to the refugee situation whelmed in executing its mandate and UNHCR in Kenya has been unreach- and to advocate for a positive its dual role has compromised its able and inaccessible to refugees. response to refugee rights. One such effectiveness. Asylum seekers must Eligibility decisions are given in writ- example is the first ever joint work- undergo individual status determina- ing as is rescheduling of shop for Kenyan and Ugandan tion procedures in order to be eligible appointments. Interaction with members of parliament organised in for UNHCR assistance. Unfortunately, refugees is kept at a minimum so that April 2002 by the Refugee Consortium this process can take six to eight refugees neither have a forum where of Kenya in collaboration with the months, during which time the asy- their questions may be addressed nor Lawyers Committee for Human Rights lum seeker has no access to social a means to question the process. On (New York) and the Refugee Law assistance, medical services, education several occasion, NGOs have had to Project in Uganda. The aim of the or other basic amenities. intervene on behalf of refugees and workshop was to educate, inform and set up a meeting with refugee commu- raise awareness on pertinent refugee Resettlement came to a halt over a nity representatives and UNHCR in issues and the pivotal role that parlia- year ago in Kenya as a result of order to address issues of concern. mentarians play in refugee protection. exposure of a long-running corruption UNHCR remains ill informed on the It was a successful initiative and scam involving payments for UNHCR refugee situation on the ground as a demonstrated the clear need for such resettlement assistance.1 To date the direct result of its distance from fora in promoting an environment process has not resumed and this has refugees, the very people it serves. conducive to effective refugee welfare meant that many deserving cases are and protection. This initiative is now unattended, further compounding Having been given state support to being extended to other sectors such their already desperate situation. In take the lead in refugee protection, as the judiciary and law enforcement the interest of refugee welfare, receiv- UNHCR must use its position to com- agents. ing countries need to press for the prehend the dynamics of refugee Somali Bantu active re-commencement of the reset- protection and mobilise support for refugees line up for Recommendations confirmation of tlement programme. resources to effectively address the transfer to Kakuma, challenges of refugee protection in African governments’ hospitality to for resettlement to The corruption and sex scandals that Africa. UNHCR must not resign itself refugees is waning. This is evidenced USA. have dogged UNHCR branch offices to the status quo and remain inactive by stricter encampment policies, UNHCR/B Press FMR 16 Refugee management in Kenya 19

Human Rights Watch report on the plight of refugees in Nairobi and Kampala

Tens of thousands of refugees are living in terrible conditions and danger in the capital cities of Kenya and Uganda whose governments have failed to take minimal steps to protect and care for them, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW)1.

Refugees are forced to sleep in the streets or in squalid and overcrowded apartments in the poorest neighbourhoods of Nairobi and Kampala. They are subject to beat- Still Pictures/Hjalte Tin ings, sexual violence, harassment, Nuer women partiality in the protection of refugees process. It is imperative that representa- extortion, arbitrary arrest and detention by local criminals, persecutors from southern and outright expulsion justified by exag- tives of society at large – people who who follow them from their native Sudan, in geration of the pressures exerted by will actually build peace on the ground – countries (especially state security Walda refugee refugees on struggling economies. be present at these talks. agents from Rwanda, Ethiopia and camp, Kenya. DRC) and even the Kenyan police and One of the major devices for improving Durable solutions in the form of local Ugandan soldiers. the refugee situation is sensitisation. integration must also be explored, par- HRW takes to task not only the gov- The key players in refugee protection – ticularly for refugees with professional ernments of Uganda and Kenya but the police, the government and the skills that can contribute significantly to also charges UNHCR with being judiciary – must be informed of and the local society and economy. "unresponsive" to the concerns of encouraged to accept their responsibility urban refugees. This is the consequence of a 1997 policy which gives vis-à-vis refugee protection. Advocacy In order for successful resettlement to preference to refugees living in desig- must be undertaken to get the judiciary occur, the relevant parties must function nated camps and UNHCR fears that to be more active in refugee protection. efficiently and with a well-informed per- they may offend the two host govern- Civil society must also be sensitised spective. We are currently witnessing the ments which require refugees to live in camps. through the media and civil education preparation for resettlement of 10,000 to eliminate xenophobia and promote Somali Bantus to the US. There is a need The assistance provided to urban adherence to human rights principles. to ensure that these refugees are pre- refugees by such organisations as the pared for the drastic change in their Refugee Law Project in Kampala or UNHCR must divorce itself from the lifestyle and equipped with coping the Refugee Consortium of Kenya in Nairobi is, says HRW, "just a drop in dual role it has assumed in order to mechanisms for the migration. the ocean … these agencies can do execute its mandate effectively. It must little to protect refugees from violent retain its autonomy if it is to speak out The principle of burden sharing must attacks". against government practices that harm not be neglected; host countries cannot HRW calls on UNHCR and both gov- refugee welfare and to be more proactive be left to shoulder alone the impact of ernments to provide legal status to rather than reactive. UNHCR must refugees. It is unrealistic for UNHCR and urban refugees and improve the remain relevant to the context. It must the international community to put pres- status determination systems in both be flexible enough to respond to refugee sure on African states to continue countries. Donor governments are protection needs, as the specific context accepting refugees without addressing urged to provide more resources for protecting and aiding refugees in requires. In particular, UNHCR’s policies the daunting economic, social and secu- urban areas and speeding up their on protection must be tailored to rity challenges that such a responsibility resettlement in third countries. address the peculiarities of the African poses. UNHCR must use its unique posi- refugee situation. tion in refugee protection to translate 1. The full 208 page report ‘Hidden in Plain View’ is online at: www.hrw.org/ verbal commitments to burden sharing reports/2002/kenyugan/ There is a need to actively pursue into reality. On 6 December, HRW published a further durable solutions for refugees. This warning that Kenyan police appeared to be includes promoting peace in the conflict- For further information about the using the 28 November attacks on Israeli ridden regions from which the refugees Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) tourists in Mombasa to justify a crackdown on refugees in Nairobi. Between 29 flee. The Machakos initiative to bring email: [email protected]. November and 5 December, police conduct- peace to Sudan, coordinated by the ed three large raids and dozens of arbitrary Intergovernmental Authority on 1. For details, see www.irinnews.org/report.asp? arrests against refugees from Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and the Democratic 3 ReportID=20160. Development (IGAD) , has given reason 2. See FMR15 pp16-19: www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/ Republic of Congo in several neighbour- for optimism. Nonetheless, their weak- FMR15/fmr15.7.pdf. hoods of Nairobi. ness stemmed from the lack of 3. See FMR15 p48: www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/ FMR15/fmr15.19.pdf. involvement of refugees, educators, lawyers and business people in the 20 FMR 16 Western Sahara and Palestine: shared refugee experiences by Randa Farah Still Pictures/Julio Etchart

Polisario 27th s a student in 1977 I attended abandoned them, forgotten their exis- Spain’s colonial mandate in February February camp, a meeting at which the tence or sided with their enemies. 1976, both Morocco and Mauritania Western Sahara A Polisario representative urged made territorial claims which were students to assist yet one more strug- Headed by the Frente para la rejected by the International Court of gle for liberation and self- Liberación de Sagiau al-Hamra and Rio Justice (ICJ) in its verdict in October determination. Although at the time de Oro (Polisario Front) and the 1975. A UN Inquiry mission that visit- most Arab students supported the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic ed the territory in May-June 1975 Sahrawi cause, a minority, invoking (SADR1), the refugees of Western reported that the Sahrawi population notions of ‘Arab unity’, denounced Sahara are efficiently and highly had overwhelmingly expressed their Polisario as a ‘separatist movement’. organised, have democratic institu- wish for independence and that Today, the Moroccan regime relies on tions and processes and a high level Polisario appeared as a prominent similar slogans to deny the Sahrawi of participation in decision making. political party in the territory. On the people the right to self-determination Laws and institutions guarantee social same day, Morocco’s King Hassan II set out in a 1975 ruling by the equality, including women’s rights, led a ‘Green March’ during which International Court of Justice. provide free education and health approximately 350,000 Moroccans services and the right and duty to crossed into Western Sahara, carrying Twenty five years later, as I flew to work. In general, the level of democra- a bizarre briccolage of white banners, Tindouf in the Algerian desert to visit tisation I encountered in the camps is American flags and the Holy Koran. the Sahrawi refugee camps, I won- unmatched elsewhere in the Arab dered why I – as a Palestinian refugee world. Could the experience of the In 1991 the Security Council mandat- researcher – had not made the jour- Sahrawi refugee-citizens and their ed a UN peace-keeping force ney earlier. As I pondered the mini state-in-exile provide a beacon of (MINURSO)2 to oversee a referendum question I felt that the silence of the light amidst the bleak despair engulf- to decide whether the Sahrawi people sand echoed the disturbing silence in ing the Arab world? wished to integrate with Morocco or the Arab world on the urgent conflicts opt for independence. Morocco’s role in Western Sahara and Palestine. Historical background in obstructing the referendum has Indeed, all those I met in both been amply documented. The latest Palestinian and Sahrawi camps bitter- In 1884 Spain colonised Western Moroccan autonomy proposals were ly complained that the Arab world has Sahara. Prior to the termination of aborted in July 2002, when the FMR 16 Western Sahara and Palestine: shared refugee experiences 21

Security Council adopted Resolution traditions is its institutionalisation of (Jerusalem) and al-Khalil (Hebron), or 1429 "underlining the validity of the women’s rights. Traditionally, women significant events and symbols in the Settlement Plan" and expressing its have total autonomy in managing the political history of Palestine. In both readiness to consider any approach daily activities in and around the tent. cases, the names of original places in which provides for self-determination. Any form of violence against women, the country of origin had been granted verbal or physical, is condemned and to the places of exile as a form of pop- The democracy of the desert: the man is usually ostracised by soci- ular resistance against ‘forgetting’ and ety. Consequently, these incidents are an affirmation of the inseparable rela- SADR and its citizens so rare that the issue of domestic vio- tionship between those exiled and lence against women or children is places in their homeland. The Moroccan takeover of Western almost non-existent. Sahara led to the displacement of Over time most tents in the wilayas approximately 150,000-200,000 However, the Sahrawi people are nei- have been replaced with brick homes. refugees. Many carry the memory of ther ‘primitive’ – as some orientalists The adobe huts have basic furniture, the American napalm and phosphorous would argue – nor ‘communist’. They blankets and kitchen utensils. Despite bombs dropped indiscriminately on have developed livelihood strategies to the lack of public electricity in the them by the Moroccan army as they adapt to the physical and political envi- camps, some families have acquired TV fled in 1975. Four refugee camps and ronment and respond to the Moroccan sets powered by solar energy in order one unofficial settlement have been occupation by maximising what little to access the outside world. In established in what is referred to as resources they have. Their numbers are Palestinian refugee camps, TVs are the ‘uninhabitable’ desert near the few as are their financial and material found in the majority of homes, one of Algerian town of Tindouf. resources. They have to depend almost the few affordable items for entertain- totally on humanitarian aid and a high ment, especially for children. The SADR – currently based in the level of efficiency, organisation and camps – has successfully drawn upon democratic mechanisms to be able to Needless to say, there are important democratic and egalitarian principles wage their political, social, economic differences between the Sahrawi rooted in nomadic, Arab and Islamic and diplomatic battles. wilayas and the Palestinian refugee culture and history. Islam, as practised camps. Not least is the fact that the by the Sahrawis, is tolerant and liberal. Wilayas and camps latter exist within or near urban One of several examples of how SADR centres whereas a massive desert has been able The Sahrawis refer to the camps as separates the wilayas from Algerian Saharawi refugee, to draw wilayas, or provinces, which in turn are urban centres and society. However, Dakhla camp upon subdivided into da’iras, or municipali- the underlying social and economic local ties. Each da’ira is subdivided into imperatives and dynamics in both several hays, or districts. The cases are not as different as may at wilayas and the da’iras are first appear. named after towns and areas in Western Sahara, such as In both cases, the communities are Smaara, al-Ayoun, al- not and never were homogeneous. Dhakle and Oauserd. Sahrawis were never totally nomadic Similarly, most as by the 1960s a sizeable force was Palestinian working in the phosphate industry. refugee camp Similarly, in Palestine, though the econ- areas are omy was predominantly agricultural, a called after the significant number of the fellahin sub- villages of ori- sidised their agricultural resources gin and/or main with mercantile activities, while others urban centres, worked in urban centres as wage- such as mante- labourers. In both cases the initial qat al-Quds years of exile levelled the socio- economic status of the uprooted population and introduced new forms of differentiation.

Undoubtedly, humanitarian aid and its management procedures contribute to the emergence of social and economic variance among refugees. Thus some entrepreneurial Palestinians were able to fill a niche in the ‘refugee market’ by mediating between households and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). New small merchants bought and sold rations, as some families needed cash while others needed more sugar or flour. A few of these UNHCR/A Hollmann 22 Western Sahara and Palestine: shared refugee experiences FMR 16

entrepreneurs succeeded in generat- backs in international aid and stale- The Zionist-Israeli argument that ing capital and expanding. mate in the political situation, a Palestine was not a nation state prior Commercial enterprises began to growing population of Sahrawis may to the establishment of Israel and appear as some shelters were trans- be pressed to look for alternative hence does not have a right to self- formed partially or totally into little social and economic possibilities. determination is invalid. In 1919 the retail shops and today there are large Underlying all these processes is the Covenant of the League of Nations markets in most Palestinian refugee question of how to reconcile the grow- recognised the Palestinian people as camps. Needless to say, there are ing social and economic needs of an independent nation to be "provi- other factors that contributed to dif- individuals with the collective political sionally" placed under the British ferentiation within Palestinian camps, will in order to withstand the Mandate, the British acting as a "cus- such as the size of the household, the Moroccan tactics of procrastination todian" to lead people "not yet able to availability of members with mar- and stalemate. stand by themselves" to indepen- ketable skills and labour markets, dence. remittances from expatriates and The Palestinian case provides insight, social and political relationships. if not answers, to this issue. The Oslo framework for peace Examining the Palestinian movement provided for a form of Palestinian In the Sahrawi community, although over five decades, it is obvious that a ‘autonomy’ or ‘authority’ with the distribution processes of humani- sense of collective belonging and ultimate sovereignty remaining in tarian aid is egalitarian, nevertheless mobilisation appear during some peri- the hands of the Israelis. The conse- some households have economic ods as intense and other times as quences of ‘autonomy’ have become advantages. A few families who subdued. This is due to the fact that clear to the Palestinians: Israeli served the Spanish colonial adminis- the reproduction of identity is a polit- tration receive pensions which give ical and ever changing dynamic that them economic and social leverage. includes active agency but also exter- Others have relations abroad who nal dynamics. The current Intifada send goods or cash. Already there are has had a clear impact in reawakening a few shops in the camps selling a collective sense among Palestinians goods brought from Algeria, in the diaspora, most of whom have Mauritania and elsewhere. Through never seen Palestine. Those who are informal economic trade networks, hoping that the passage of years will the seeds of a cash economy and a weaken the Sahrawis’ collective market are beginning to emerge in the resolve need only look at the wilayas, mirroring similar processes Palestinian case to see that time and in Palestinian camps. distance are no guarantees that conflict will disappear. Collective political mobilisation and socio-economic The UN, self-determination imperatives and ‘autonomy’

New generations are being born in the Sahrawi refugees call 1975 the al- wilayas and SADR’s efforts to invest ghazu (‘invasion’), paralleling the in their education have begun to bear Palestinian nakbah (‘catastrophe’) of fruit. Hundreds of students study 1948. Since these traumatic junctures abroad, returning with degrees in in the lives of the two peoples, numer- medicine, education, chemistry and ous UN and international resolutions the social sciences and with new ideas and declarations have been accumu- to contribute to the cultural and polit- lating dust. Both the Oslo agreements ical life of the community. Children and the Moroccan ‘autonomy’ propos- are participating in a Spanish pro- al for Western Sahara violate gramme, Vaccaciones en Paz, under principles of international law. which thousands of Spanish families host Sahrawi children in their homes The right of the Palestinians and the for two months every summer. The Sahrawis to self-determination is a emphasis on education as a strategic non-negotiable right enshrined in objective for the Sahrawi people principles of international law. Indeed, echoes the Palestinian strategy to it is a central principle in the UN redeem ‘home’ and ‘homeland’ and Charter, as expressed in Article 1(2) tackle poverty by acquiring education and reaffirmed as a human right in and political awareness. Article 1 of both international covenants. In 1960, the UN General The Sahrawi graduates work in the Assembly adopted the Declaration on various wilayas and attempts are the Granting of Independence to made to place the right person in the Colonial Countries and Peoples, which appropriate job. However, with the affirmed that "all peoples enjoy the Still Pictures/Julio Etchart passage of time, especially with cut- right of self-determination". FMR 16 Western Sahara and Palestine: shared refugee experiences 23

land annexations have continued and stayed in Morocco. The 150,000 met a refugee who goes to the south- the settler population doubled since Moroccan soldiers in Western Sahara ern border fence to see if he can the peace process began. The persecute those who oppose integra- glimpse his original village across the Moroccan-American autonomy option tion with Morocco or support the border. When he cannot, he hopes a proposed for Western Sahara would Sahrawi right to a referendum. breeze originating in his land will have had similar consequences, blow his way. leaving key matters such as defence, Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva foreign affairs and the currency under Convention relative to the Protection Walls erected by occupiers are indica- Moroccan control. of Civilian Persons in Time of War tive of a culture of fear and are raised (12 August, 1949) clearly outlaws set- precisely because the occupier realis- The state, the nation and tlements: "the Occupying Power shall es that their occupation is opposed by the nation state not deport or transfer parts of its the rightful inhabitants. It is only a own civilian population into the terri- matter of time before the enclosed The five million Palestinian refugees tory it occupies". The purpose of the and imprisoned populations find and exiles were marginalised in the Article is to protect the civilian popu- ways to overcome the barriers. Oslo negotiations and relegated as a lation of an occupied territory and to Occupying powers must reflect on ‘final status’ issue. They feel betrayed reserve permanent territorial changes, history to realise that walls are no by the Palestinian Authority. Their if any, until settlement of the conflict. match for people’s struggle for free- political nexus in the form of the PLO- Both Israel and Morocco have violated dom. When will they realise the PA was torn away as a result of Oslo the Fourth Geneva Convention by rad- paradox and absurdity of negotiating as refugees were abandoned to fend ically transforming the occupied peace while simultaneously building territories by bringing in new settlers walls? in order to change the demographic walls are no match for people’s make-up of the territories under their Conclusion struggle for freedom. occupation and to utilise the natural resources. The Arab world should stand up for for themselves. Israel’s refusal to con- the rights of the Sahrawi people for template the right of return has been In both the Sahrawi and Palestinian self-determination and learn from the supported by the failure of the Oslo cases it is difficult to think of repatri- successful experiences of democracy agreements to refer to UNGA ation and self-determination as and the building of civil institutions Resolution 194 (III), which calls for mutually exclusive. Rather, they of this small but resilient people. If their right of return, compensation should be viewed as part of a larger left to fester, the Palestinian and and restitution. Oslo’s emphasis on political solution that amalgamates Sahrawi conflicts are threats to building state-like institutions in the the two concepts and is solidly regional and global stability. It is time statelet (22% of Mandate Palestine) grounded in international law. that the silence of the sand is shat- granted to the Palestinian Authority tered. Louder Arab voices must be ignored key questions fundamental to Berms, fences and borders heard calling for the universal appli- the Palestinian predicament. cation of international law to put an Western Sahara is split in two by the end to the impunity with which occu- Who was to represent the Palestinians 900-mile long Moroccan berm, a pying powers strip occupied peoples in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the rest defensive wall extending from the of their rights to self-determination of the world? Settlers and settlements north-east corner of Western Sahara and return. would have been a major hindrance to down to the south-west near the the contiguity of its territory. Schisms Mauritanian border. Built in the early Randa Farah is attached to the over political representation would 1980s, following advice given to Anthropology Department at the have emerged between the PNA and Hassan II by Ariel Sharon, the berm is University of Western Ontario. host countries, especially Jordan – made of earth and reinforced with Website: www.ssc.uwo.ca/ the only country to grant refugees full soldiers, anti-personnel and anti-tank anthropology/farah. citizenship rights – where 40% of all mines, trenches and detectors. It has Email: [email protected] UNRWA-registered refugees reside. been estimated that 1-2 million land- The relationship between Palestinians mines have been planted by Morocco. This paper is based on a larger research project in Ariel Sharon is now building a similar which Dr Dawn Chatty, of the RSC, is the principal living within Israel and the Palestinian investigator. The author would like to express her state was undefined. wall which will devour chunks of gratitude to her Sahrawi hosts and to those who Palestinian land legally considered shared their ideas and experiences which helped Mirroring the Israeli determination to part of the West Bank. It too will be her write this article.

create demographic facts, the fortified with electric fences, trenches The most comprehensive and regularly updated Moroccan authorities have lured over and motion detectors. source of Internet information on Western Sahara 150,000 settlers into the occupied is the Western Sahara Referendum Association (ARSO): www.arso.org/index.htm. Other Sahrawi territory in order to change the For 27 years Sahrawis have been sepa- links are on the FMR website at: results of the long-delayed referen- rated from relatives and neighbours, www.fmreview.org/4DWSahara.htm dum. As in the occupied Palestinian some living under Moroccan occupa- 1. The SADR website is: www.arso.org/03-0.htm territories, settlements are heavily tion and others in the wilayas in 2. The MINURSO website is: www.un.org/Depts subsidised, giving the inhabitants con- Algeria, Mauritania and elsewhere. /DPKO/Missions/minurso/body_minurso.htm siderably higher incomes than they Palestinians too have not seen their would have enjoyed if they had relatives for decades. In Lebanon I 24 FMR 16 In ‘closed file’ limbo: displaced Sudanese in a Cairo slum

by Pascale Ghazaleh

us drivers idle their engines as they wait at the end of the high- B way leading to Cairo. Exhaust fumes swirling around them, fruit vendors preside indifferently over misshapen and rotting produce, shad- ed from the searing light by tattered umbrellas. A small Sudanese girl trudges past the vendors up the hill to Arba’a wa Nuss. The waste water trick- ling down the hill and the weight of Refugee famillies, her baby brother on her hip make the Arba’a wa Nuss, steep, rutted track harder to negotiate. Cairo Francis Dzikowski, 2002 Arba’a wa Nuss sits in limbo on Arba’a wa Nuss is one of the few according to the occasional work they Cairo’s margins, an hour or more places where they have assembled in find. from the city’s belly through grinding numbers large enough to make a visu- traffic. Its name – meaning four and a al difference. Most of the refugees Counting heads half in Arabic – refers to the distance here are poor. Most have little hope of in kilometres that separates it from leaving and still less to hope for if No one seems to know exactly how the beginning of the Cairo-Suez road they stay. many people fleeing Sudan have but most of its residents know it as ended up in Cairo. The mixed Ezbat al-Haggana, after the camel- The earliest inhabitants of Arba’a wa Egyptian and Sudanese population of mounted guards who first settled in Nuss built houses on land owned by Arba’a wa Nuss may be as high as a the area. the military. Twenty years on, through million. Claims by the Egyptian gov- wad’ yad (roughly, squatters’ rights), ernment that as many as five million Sudanese uprooted by war or poverty they have come to own these displaced Sudanese currently live in have come to swell the settlement’s dwellings, and the government has the country are widely regarded as population, directed here by relatives granted the area de facto acknowledg- exaggerated. The Joint Relief Ministry or compatriots who wait at Cairo’s ment by including as many of its (JRM), a coalition of churches that has downtown train station for new residents as it can count in the census been working with displaced Africans arrivals from the south. These days, and by extending a bus route to their in Cairo since the early 1990s1, regis- the refugees are keeping close watch doorsteps. Water and electricity sup- tered 8,000 new arrivals from Sudan on negotiations to end Sudan’s 19- ply, absent entirely until the mid- in 2000. Almost 6,000 Sudanese year civil war. Few have any hope that 1990s, remains erratic. Yet marginali- refugees are registered with the the talks will change anything. ty offers certain advantages to the UNHCR office in Cairo, 68% of Egypt’s desperate. Rents remain two or three recognised non-Palestinian refugee Beyond city limits times lower than the very cheapest population. rates elsewhere in Cairo, although Displaced Sudanese, especially black affordable to the poorest only if four However many there are, the African Christians from the war-torn or more crowd into a couple of Sudanese, especially those from the south of the country, live in many cramped rooms, or rotate the rent south, stand out on the city’s streets, quarters of the Egyptian capital but FMR 16 In ‘closed file’ limbo: displaced Sudanese in a Cairo slum 25 taller and darker-skinned than the (FMRS) programme at the American Recognising refugees Egyptians waiting with them for the University in Cairo, notes that the bus. The older women wear bright plight of Sudanese refugees is symp- Sudanese government soldiers kid- African wraps, the men dark trousers tomatic of a general "failure to deal napped Wilson in 1987. He was 15. and white shirts. Teenage boys wear with the reality that Egypt is a multi- After killing his father they took him baseball caps and low-slung, over- cultural society. Neither the Egyptian to a training camp and gave him sized jeans and the girls skin-tight state nor the media, nor society in weapons. Somehow managing to trousers and clattering jewellery. general, recognises the right of for- escape, he made it to Khartoum, eigners to basic services," Fabos found work at the YMCA and from While ethnicity and clothing combine declares. However limited the there found his way to Cairo. Literate to increase their visibility, enforced resources available to the displaced, in Arabic, he found a menial job in an idleness makes the displaced easy tar- there is a real basis for resentment office. He applied to UNHCR for gets for their hosts’ potential among their Egyptian neighbours. As refugee status but was refused. To hostility. Because non-Egyptians must recent visitors to Arba’a wa Nuss recount this event, he uses the two- obtain work permits, all but impossi- waded through the sludge past the word English phrase all Sudanese ble for anyone not affiliated with a auto repair stalls that line one of the refugees in Cairo know and learn to foreign company, many Sudanese are main paths into the settlement, an hate: ‘closed file’. These words change unemployed. With too much time on Egyptian mechanic jeered: "Coming to the course of a life, signal that it has their hands and not enough money to see us?" Another replied: "It’s the for- tipped over the edge into illegality feed their families, they feel trapped. eigners again. They’ll be wanting the and inform the recipient that hope Those who do find employment face Sudanese. They’re not about to give has ended. In legal terms, they mark another host of problems. Women you anything, that’s for sure." the border between asylum seeker who clean houses, cook and care for and illegal alien, the possibility of the children of wealthy Egyptians tell Compounding the refugees’ alien- resettlement and the threat of depor- of their salaries being withheld, ation, and aggravating latent tation, the end of waiting and the month after month. If they complain, antagonism from the host communi- beginning of indeterminacy. employers threaten to call the police. ty, is the fact that almost 30% of the The men might do odd jobs in offices, community consists of young single Although it has signed both the 1951 or serve in upmarket restaurants and people who are unable to complete UN Convention on the Status of coffee shops. They are usually impas- their education or find work. Refugees and the 1969 Organisation sive but resentment shows through Sudanese youth must cope with the of African Unity Convention, Egypt tight-stretched smiles when col- difficulties facing young people gener- does not have an official policy on leagues address them as ‘Chocolate’. ally in Egypt, where unemployment refugees. It has allowed other bodies, and drastically limited prospects brew primarily UNHCR, to take responsibili- Race matters resentment in pressure-cooker condi- ty for determination of their legal tions and where the security forces status, and eventually for repatriation Several incidents, including a street are quick to impute subversion to or resettlement. Recognition of battle that brought the riot police out groups of aimless juveniles. Wider refugee status is a precondition for in force, have fuelled the feeling, political developments can also trig- seeking asylum but if UNHCR rejects widespread among the refugees and ger crackdowns on those whose a petition and a subsequent appeal, a many of those who work with them, official identity – or lack thereof – process that can take up to two years, that Egyptians are racist toward black makes them automatically suspect. the asylum seeker’s case is closed. To Africans. In the school built in Arba’a Palestinian university students in regularise their status, rejected wa Nuss upon the initiative of the Cairo, routinely subjected to house refugees must then pay fines for the Sacred Heart Church, the displaced calls or roundups, are frequent vic- months they have stayed in the coun- gather to tell their stories. "Our chil- tims. The media, too, play a part in try in excess of the duration their visa dren are lost here," says one woman. scapegoating refugees as drug deal- specifies – if they had a visa in the "Society rejects them because of their ers, prostitutes, drunkards or rapists. first place. Ten days before it expires, colour, their clothes; they are chased they must apply for renewal. "But away from shops. They can only relax here, among those of their race." Mark unknown numbers wait in Egyptian jails for someone to Bennett, JRM programme coordinator, estimates that black Africans in realise they have disappeared Egyptian society must cope with two sets of problems: first, as blacks ("the UNHCR estimates that some 200 peo- most are scared," explains Vincent darker your skin, the less you are ple a year are arrested for lack of a Cochetel of UNHCR. "Other communi- accepted") and, second, as foreigners, residency permit. While forced ty members warn newcomers against with limited access to services com- returns to country of origin remain contact with the authorities, so peo- pounded by a lack of cultural and extremely limited, unknown numbers ple place themselves in a position of linguistic familiarity. Racism has wait in Egyptian jails for someone to illegality. It’s a Catch-22 situation." grown as Egyptian workers displaced realise they have disappeared. Others by more skilled labour return from are on the run from the authorities, Refugee status determination (RSD) the Gulf and are forced to compete their whereabouts unknown. is among the points on which those with better-educated, multi-lingual Appalling stories of the torture of working with the displaced disagree Sudanese. domestic servants, murder and theft most sharply. The 1969 Convention of body organs circulate among the (which counts as refugees those dis- Anita Fabos, former director of the displaced Sudanese, fostering fear, placed by civil war or wars of colonial Forced Migration and Refugee Studies anomie and insecurity. liberation, and allows for group, 26 In ‘closed file’ limbo: displaced Sudanese in a Cairo slum FMR 16

rather than individual, recognition) the displaced themselves. In a bid to Muslim, it may seem astonishing that defines as prima facie refugees those convey maximum need, "they advise civil society has done so little to directly fleeing a war zone. Barbara each other on the process, and add respond to their needs. "Why are the Harrell-Bond, acting director of the fiction, extra elements. Because their mosques not doing anything?" Harrell- FMRS programme, argues that Egypt, stories are not credible, they are Bond wonders. The UN has met with as a signatory to the Convention, rejected," he maintains. Harrell-Bond, Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, the sheikh "could grant prima facie recognition too, reports incidents of invented tes- of Al-Azhar, in an effort to change and get it over with." In contrast to timonies. In addition, UNHCR’s that. Some mosques have medical the impossibly lengthy, tedious admittedly restrictive definition of a centres but provide health care on an process would-be refugees must go refugee simply does not apply to individual basis and offer no outreach through in Egypt, she points out that many asylum seekers who have spent facilities. NGOs associated with the Iran, with four million refugees, "does months or even years in IDP camps in Islamist movement often have prob- not do individual status determina- Khartoum or Omdurman before com- lems with the authorities and thus tion." In Yemen, too, Somalis are ing to Cairo. "Why don’t they move little inclination to expand their activi- recognised on prima facie grounds. on?" demands Cochetel rhetorically. ties in any visible manner. Subject to "They prefer illegality in Arba’a wa the vagaries of the ‘war on terrorism’, Nuss to the slums of Khartoum. No they confine themselves to propound- "Why don’t they move on?" one forces them to come here." ing Islamic charity for the numerous Harrell-Bond has a ready response: poor Egyptians. Secular human rights With a total backlog of over 17,000 "These people … are still afraid of organisations also contend with dra- cases, UNHCR seems to be doing both genuine persecution in the countries conian government restrictions and far more than it can and much less from which they fled." feel their primary mandate is to help than is necessary. Harrell-Bond Egyptians. believes the agency is spending "too Assisting refugees much time on resettlement" and not Conclusion enough on defending refugees’ rights. The JRM, an ecumenical association, She argues that the RSD system itself receives limited resources from 32 In the desolation of Arba’a wa Nuss, is flawed as procedures recommended donors, among them UNHCR. If the the displaced wait, trying to remem- by UNHCR HQ in Geneva are not fol- refugees in Arba’a wa Nuss need help, ber what pride was like. "We were not lowed. For example, "no one is given a they turn to an explicitly Christian poor," says one of the women at the reason for rejection in a form that organisation whose interests may Sacred Heart school. "They should not permits them to clear up misunder- sometimes have little to do with the think we had nothing. But we have standings adequately or bring new refugees’ welfare. According to lost all this: our land, our music, our evidence to support an appeal." Harrell-Bond, one church offered to songs." help fund the Sacred Heart school but The system consists of a ‘durable on condition that all the Muslim stu- The displaced often feel that their solution’ interview designed to deter- dents were expelled. The headmaster only hope is self-reliance. In 2000, mine whether the applicant can refused. A volunteer with a legal aid a few of them formed a problem- integrate in Egypt. The resulting file is project affiliated to the Egyptian solving committee and, with assis- then referred to the US, Canadian or Organisation for Human Rights tance from Egyptian and foreign Australian immigration authorities, (EOHR)2 recounts that Muslim psychiatrists, lawyers and social whereupon the asylum seeker’s case refugees woke up one morning last workers, began training volunteers, is no longer UNHCR’s responsibility. winter to discover that blankets had recruited principally among the Harrell-Bond, who believes that been distributed to their Christian ‘closed files’, asylum seekers rejected UNHCR should not be spending its neighbours, while they had somehow by UNHCR. "Once you know nobody scarce resettlement resources except been overlooked. The flip side, Fabos will help you," says the organisation’s when people are at risk, argues that points out, is "that the state supports coordinator in Arba’a wa Nuss, "you embassies should do that work. Most a Muslim Egyptian perspective start learning to help yourself." importantly, she says, "it should not through media coverage and various be doing status determination. It can- policies. This is obviously divisive." Pascale Ghazaleh is a doctoral not protect refugees – which is its job candidate at the Ecole des Hautes – and at the same time be their judge Clientelism, agrees Cochetel, is char- Etudes en Sciences Sociales, and jury." acteristic of any religion and, while he Paris, and a freelance journalist is reluctant to "create religious depen- working in Cairo. Perhaps surprisingly, Cochetel agrees. dence" through the supply of Email: [email protected] "This office was not meant to be what assistance, he cites practical consider- it is. UNHCR has been working in ations when explaining UNHCR’s A longer version of this article is published in the Egypt on refugee status determination reliance on the church network. The Winter 2002 issue of Middle East Report No 225. For further details, see: www.merip.org. procedures since 1954. It is filling a churches were already active in the vacuum, determining status for the field. In the great Muslim versus 1. For information on the work of the JRM, government by default because the Christian debate, it is easy to forget see www.geocities.com/jrmcairo/aboutUs.html authorities are not ready to assume that there is also a threat to "the older 2. See www.eohr.org.eg.

responsibility. It is not natural for African religions, for which survival is See also Michael Kagan’s report ‘Assessment of UNHCR to get involved in this field." difficult in the religious environment Refugee Status Determination Procedure at here." UNHCR’s Cairo Office 2001-2002’ at www.auce- gypt.edu/academic/fmrs/Reports/reports.html Cochetel lays at least part of the blame for the low success rate in On the other hand, given that the vast claiming refugee status at the door of majority of all refugees in Egypt are FMR 16 27 Emergency preparedness in South Africa: lessons from the Zimbabwean elections by Hernan del Valle and Tara Polzer

The presidential elections in Zimbabwe in May position that there was no crisis in Zimbabwe, government departments 2002 took place within a context of political vio- were reluctant to admit the necessity for contingency planning. In addition, lence, economic crisis and increasing food shortages. the expectation of a ‘mass influx’, even though this was never officially As conditions deteriorated and the possibility of a defined in terms of numbers or time- frame, diverted attention from an mass population exodus from Zimbabwe increased, alternative possibility – an ‘invisible neighbouring countries started preparations to deal influx’. Official government figures suggest with the possibility of a mass influx of refugees that there was no significant increase in border crossing from Zimbabwe across their borders. into South Africa before or around the election. These figures have been or South Africa, this was the government departments such as used to suggest that no South African first time it had faced such a Health, Public Works and Education preparedness or response was, and is, challenge.1 After a three month as needed. F needed. However, the statistics are contingency planning process, howev- In spite of the fact that political vio- contradicted by interviews from the er, by the eve of the elections the lence was widely predicted for the border area with Zimbabwe where existing preparations only catered for election period and food shortages there is a consensus that a significant 1000 people for three days, and there were already developing, the South number of Zimbabweans have indeed was no effective mechanism to pro- African emergency response institu- crossed into South Africa illegally. vide the identified refugee reception tions did not initiate a contingency They are probably not crossing en camp with potable water, electricity, planning process until encouraged to masse, and not across the main toilets, tents or food at short notice. do so by UNHCR in December 2001. border stations, but rather in small If a mass influx of refugees had The Priority Committee on the groups all along the rest of the bor- indeed occurred, South Africa’s Possible Mass Influx of Refugees was der thus remaining invisible to the response would have failed to meet established by a Cabinet decision in South African authorities. An invisible the basic needs of refugees. early February 2002 to coordinate influx is difficult to confirm empiri- cally but, given the consistency of Emergency preparedness for preparations at the national level. International and domestic NGOs reports from the border and strong the Zimbabwean elections were invited to participate from mid- concerns about the validity of govern- February, i.e. only one month before ment migration statistics because of Preparedness for emergency humani- 2 the elections. Provincial and munici- their composition and methodology , tarian assistance should be seen as a pal contingency planning meetings the scenario is quite probable. If an fundamental part of fulfilling a coun- only commenced in late February. invisible influx is in fact taking place, try’s duty to provide refugee the presence of additional illegal protection and levels of assistance The final, very limited and incomplete migrants could be placing consider- that comply with international stan- contingency plan was presented to able pressure on the South African dards. The legal framework for the provincial and the municipal social system without the support of refugee influx preparedness in South planning meetings at the extremely late organised humanitarian assistance or Africa is given by the Refugees Act of stage of 7-8 March: one day before the international help. 1998, which includes a section on the election weekend. What led to such late reception and accommodation of asy- In assessing the need for further and incomplete preparedness? lum seekers in the event of mass emergency preparedness activities, influx (Article 35). The institutional Invisible influx? it is crucial to take into account all emergency response structure centres probable characteristics of the poten- on the National Disaster Management First, there was lack of agreement tial humanitarian crisis, including Centre which works with the police, among emergency response actors on scenarios such as an invisible influx, defence forces and the National what characterised the crisis at hand. so that appropriate interventions can Intelligence Agency as well as other Because of the official South African be designed. 28 Emergency preparedness in South Africa: lessons from the Zimbabwean elections FMR 16

Clear decision-making would create tensions bilaterally and Consequently, lack of political will structures within the Southern Africa and commitment can easily jeopardise Development Community (SADC). timely and effective decision making. The second main constraining factor Although the OAU Convention speci- South Africa needs to minimise its in the contingency planning process fies that granting asylum (and by reliance on political discretion and was a lack of clear leadership and extension emergency preparedness) is strengthen autonomous systems and decision-making structures. As deter- a "peaceful and humanitarian act and detailed frameworks. mined by international law, the shall not be regarded as an unfriendly ‘receiving’ government has the duty to act by any Member State", political A further leadership issue concerns take the lead in providing protection considerations vied with logistical the prevalence of the armed forces and assistance in cases of refugee imperatives and led to a distinct vacu- within disaster response in South flows. In the context of the African um of political leadership for effective Africa. The military was the main continent, South Africa has very good preparedness. South African actor involved in the pre-conditions to be able to fulfil this high profile Mozambican flood relief duty. South Africa itself is at peace This was reflected institutionally as in 2000, and military responses to and it has a formal national disaster disagreement on which government disasters were the norm during the management structure that has been department would be the lead institu- apartheid regime. Due to the ambiva- tried and tested through domestic tion in overall charge of the lent role of the security forces (being and regional interventions (although contingency plan. The consequence of key players in both refugee protection not mass refugee situations). this national level indecision was the and the deportation process), their However, government leadership was devolution of decision making to participation in the emergency pre- hampered in this case by political provincial and municipal levels but paredness process should be considerations, lack of clarity on a without matching authority and circumscribed to their comparative formal lead department, ‘passing the funds. It was primarily for this reason advantages and availability of buck’ among different levels of gov- that the concrete contingency plan resources to fulfil specific and limited ernment, and the pre-eminence of the was delayed for so long, and was lim- roles within a civilian-run plan. The military in South Africa’s emergency ited to what could be financed from widespread perception – both among response processes. existing municipal funds (1000 people provincial government officials and for three days). The South African defence force personnel – that all Government action in disaster pre- Refugee Act allows for a great deal of Zimbabweans are simply ‘taking paredness is always highly political political discretion in key areas of the advantage’ of the crisis situation to and was so in this case as well. Lack emergency preparedness process, take South African jobs conflicted in of political will to acknowledge the such as the precise role of the lead this case with the legitimate right to crisis brewing in Zimbabwe prompted institution and relations between protection. Villagers queue up top government officials to national, provincial and local for food distribution, describe preparations as interference government offices. A final crucial issue which con- near Chidobe, in the internal affairs of a neighbour- strained early Zimbabwe, 2002 ing sovereign state that decision making was WFP/Richard Lee FMR 16 Emergency preparedness in South Africa: lessons from the Zimbabwean elections 29

the lack of provision for emergency preparedness funding. While emergency response financing is provided for by various acts and funds, its release depends on the formal declaration of an emergency. Government departments, especially at the provincial and municipal levels, were very reluctant to spend money on preparedness, without the assurance that this would be reimbursed, thereby slowing down and limiting actual physical preparedness.

Effective coordination

Literature on disaster preparedness and response stresses the need for smooth cooperation among actors. In the South African case, relationships among actors are shaped by the twin legacies of international isolation and domestic political struggle, which have, respectively, led to a lack of awareness and expertise in international humanitarian and refugee law, standards and best practice, and a distrustful relationship between governmental and non-governmental actors.

Because of their general lack of operational expertise in humanitarian response, the role of indigenous NGOs WFP/Heather Hill within the emergency preparedness process was largely limited to obser- Part of the operational limitations was Unfortunately, these efforts were not vation and monitoring. This role was the strong local NGO focus on integrated into the government-led WFP rations being carried out both at the national and refugees’ legal rights. While this is contingency plan. International agen- distributed in provincial planning stages, as well as clearly an important issue, it is only cies were perceived as a kind of Thaba-Putsoa during the actual election weekend part of the wider context of the crisis fail-safe mechanism by some govern- village, Lesotho, September 2002. and following weeks at the border situation to which the emergency ment actors, with the expectation that post. While monitoring was very effec- preparations needed to respond. they would not let the situation dete- tive in the traditional NGO areas (such The implication is not that specialised riorate but they were only included in as legal support for asylum seekers, advocacy NGOs should diversify their planning and information sharing on perspectives and a need-to-know basis. From the per- NGOs … did not have sufficient experience, activities but rather spective of the international resources or contingency plans that all stakeholders humanitarian actors, their predomi- should work to bring nant focus tends to be crisis information dissemination to govern- NGOs with more service- and welfare- situations where the state is either ment and border officials, and oriented experiences and capacities into exceptionally weak, extremely poor or advocacy for government action), it the emergency preparedness network. has virtually ceased to function at all. could not be fulfilled consistently in Since none of these characteristics mass influx-specific ways, since there The main role of UNHCR and the apply to South Africa, most inter- were not enough financial and person- international humanitarian organisa- national organisations found it difficult nel resources to monitor actual tions involved (IOM, Save the Children to justify to their own donors the government actions along the border UK, Oxfam, ICRC and JRS) was to necessity of spending resources for beyond the main Beitbridge border transfer emergency expertise to South an intervention in this case. crossing. The realisation was African actors. In addition to second- expressed by all NGOs interviewed ing experts and providing information Recommendations that they did not have sufficient expe- materials, many of the international rience, resources or contingency plans agencies committed some limited Reports by international agencies have to be prepared for such an emer- resources to ensure that emergency described the appalling extent and gency. Concrete interventions offered supplies were available. However, all severity of the famine looming in the on standby were mainly in the form of international humanitarian actors Southern African region. Assessments translators and volunteers for regis- made clear that they saw their own on the ground suggest that some 12.8 tration and distribution in the contributions purely as additional million people in the region are at risk planned camp, all of which were not, support in areas that the government of starvation, and nearly half the at- in the end, called upon. was not able to cover. risk population live in Zimbabwe. 30 Emergency preparedness in South Africa: lessons from the Zimbabwean elections FMR 16

Within this context, it is unfortunate emergency preparedness. South Africa information gathering, revise emer- and incongruous that the prepared- has great potential to be a leader in gency decision-making procedures, ness process in South Africa was quality emergency response for the streamline chains of command, deter- broken off a few weeks after the elec- region and in the continent. Donors mine financial models for funding tions, on the basis that ‘nothing had should support international agencies preparedness, and establish a regular happened’. working to build such a system in the communication system among all country, as well as the South African stakeholders (governmental and non- Academics and NGOs should concen- government and local NGOs partici- governmental) to allow for familiarity, trate efforts on collecting more data pating in emergency preparedness trust and smooth coordination. on actual illegal cross-border flows to structures. complement official statistics in order As a leading partner in the region, to establish whether there is, in fact, UNHCR, through its Emergency South Africa’s comparative advan- significant famine-induced displace- Preparedness and Response Section, tages should be utilised for designing ment into South Africa. South African should take the initiative to offer an effective response to the current defence forces should contribute to operation management tools and crisis in the Southern Africa region. this effort by disclosing their official emergency management training to For all the efforts being made to statistics to help monitor border interested local NGOs, as well as address the crisis within Zimbabwe, crossing as the effects of the famine financial assistance for intensive including grain shipments and diplo- deepen. There is a need to consider training and skills development, with macy, it is clear that a large sector of the population remains vul- there are major capacity-building needs within the South African nerable to increasing hunger and malnutrition. Therefore, government and local NGOs the lack of contingency plan- the invisible influx hypothesis seri- a strong focus on comparative advan- ning for potential famine-induced ously, conduct relevant research to tages of specific organisations. In displacement is a serious shortcom- ascertain its probability, and develop addition to the provision of assistance ing. These lessons should be used to responses to it. Within this context, within Zimbabwe, UN agencies and develop an integrated response based the policy of continuing deportations international NGOs should remain on a joint strategy between the South of ‘illegal immigrants’ from involved in working in South Africa, African government, international Zimbabwe, at the same time as con- developing partnership arrangements actors and civil society. ducting emergency preparedness for a with local NGOs working close to the largely famine-based emergency, Zimbabwean border to ensure standby Hernan del Valle and Tara Polzer should be reconsidered. Although a agreements that can be activated at a work at the Refugee Research mass influx has not occurred, individ- moment’s notice in response to immi- Programme University of the uals should enjoy protection and nent and actual emergencies. Witwatersrand www.wits.ac.za/rrp. assistance based on need and regard- Email: [email protected] less of the scale of the actual influx. Furthermore, local service provision NGOs (water, sanitation, child welfare, RRP’s Emergency Preparedness In relation to improved leadership, education, food distribution, shelter Newsletter links organisations work- coordination and capacities for emer- construction) which may have no ing in emergency response in gency response, there needs to be emergency intervention experience Southern Africa. To subscribe, send more regular communication between but do have technical skills that could an email to [email protected] with the words ‘subscribe Zimbabwe government and NGOs on disaster be used to this effect should be iden- newsletter’ in the subject line. preparedness in order to increase tified, offered emergency training and mutual understanding. A new Disaster brought into communication and col- This article is a summary of a longer report avail- Management Bill was passed after the laboration with the emergency able online at: www.wits.ac.za/rrp/emergency_ Zimbabwean elections. This is a valu- preparedness structures. preparedness_zim.pdf. The authors would like to able opportunity for the development thank the National Consortium for Refugee Affairs, of a detailed and practical National Finally, on a regional level, informa- the Foundation for Human Rights and the Ford Foundation, South Africa for their support. All Disaster Management Framework that tion should be shared with other opinions expressed in this paper are the authors’ consolidates a clear division of SADC and donor countries on an own. responsibilities between national, ongoing basis, and a coordinated provincial and municipal levels to strategy for emergency response 1. Although South Africa has been surrounded by countries in conflict for decades, in many of which avoid ‘passing the buck’; it also under- should be developed. It is essential to the apartheid regime was a significant player, there lines the need for humanitarian incorporate international and regional has been only one mass influx of refugees onto expertise in individuals delegated to burden-sharing models and principles South African territory in recent history. However, be responsible for emergency into this strategy. this influx of Mozambicans in the 1980s was not responded to according to international norms by response in each department. Civil the apartheid government, which left the task of society should be active in developing The way forward receiving 300,000 refugees to the then homeland recommendations to be incorporated governments of Gazankulu and Leboa. In practice, within this embryonic framework. Incorporating the lessons learned therefore, the brewing crisis in Zimbabwe is the first time South African institutions are faced with from the Zimbabwean elections of the need to prepare for and potentially succour International donors should recognise 2002 can give a new scope for emer- refugees. that, in spite of a relatively developed gency preparedness and conflict government infrastructure and econo- prevention in Southern Africa. The 2. In practice that border is highly porous and there are reasons to believe that unchanging immi- my, there are major capacity-building South African case highlights the need gration statistics may reflect limited SANDF needs within the South African gov- to strengthen risk assessment capacity rather than static cross-border flows. ernment and local NGOs in terms of through shared and complementary FMR 16 31

IDP protection in Angola: has momentum been lost?

Still Pictures/Carlos Guarita by Kamia Carvalho

The most overused word to describe Angola is ‘potential’. towards the displaced population and MPLA government established the Normas sobre o troops, Luena, Angola. lessed with petroleum, dia- Angola was one of the first states to reassentamento das populacoes deslo- monds, gold and fertile land, use the Guiding Principles on Internal cadas (Norms for Resettlement of B this former Portuguese colony Displacement1 as a basis for national Displaced Populations). The Normas has the potential to be one of the IDP legislation. Examining the legal are significant in that they recognise richest countries in Africa. And yet, framework and the institutional struc- that the Guiding Principles establish after four decades of war marked by tures being established for the the general principles governing the terror tactics and scorched earth poli- resettlement of IDPs in Angola, this treatment of IDPs, highlight that cies, the countryside is extensively article explores whether the Principles resettlement of IDPs must be volun- mined and forced displacement has are set to provide an effective means tary and acknowledge that IDPs must become part of ‘normal’ life for a to improve conditions for Angola’s be informed and involved in proce- sizeable proportion of the Angolan internally displaced. dures for permanent relocation, land population. The shocking contradic- identification and distribution. tion between its natural wealth and IDP legislation Angola has the potential to become its actual poverty is highlighted by the leading global exemplar of how to the fact that no fewer than 4.1m peo- Since 2000 the Angolan government use the Guiding Principles as a tool ple – a third of the population – are has sought to provide better legal for better protection of IDPs. The real- officially recognised as IDPs. protection for IDPs. A workshop in ity, however, has been different as Luanda – jointly convened by the lack of effective implementation and The death of the UNITA leader Jonas Global IDP Project, the Ministry of new government preoccupations have Savimbi in February 2002 quickly led Social Assistance and Reintegration impeded progress. to an agreement between the Angolan (MINARS) and the UN Office for the government and the rebel group to Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs There has been considerable delay in end one of the world’s longest run- (OCHA) – developed a draft set of preparing draft regulations to ensure ning civil wars. Far from reducing the Minimum Standards for Return and application of the Normas. These reg- humanitarian problems faced by IDPs Resettlement (MINOPS) as a first step ulations set out the role and the in Angola, the end of the war has towards bringing national IDP policy functions of the provincial authorities brought out the stark reality of their into compliance with the Guiding in relation to IDP resettlement and plight. Of the many challenges facing Principles. rules for identifying land issues. Angola none is greater than that of reintegration and resettlement of In January 2001 a government decree The 2002 UN Consolidated Inter- IDPs. clarified the state’s responsibilities Agency Appeal to donors2 noted that 32 IDP protection in Angola: has momentum been lost? FMR 16

there was initial evidence that half the programme, it is clear that the versially stated that OCHA, designated country’s resettlement programmes Angolan authorities are prioritising as coordinator for humanitarian assis- were being implemented in accor- assistance to ex-combatants rather tance and the lead agency on IDPs in dance with the Normas. However, the than adequately addressing the urgent Angola, did not have adequate exper- end of the war in April saw a funda- humanitarian needs of IDPs. The tise and staffing capacity to effectively mental shift of policy focus as the establishment by presidential decree respond to unfolding crises affecting demobilisation and resettlement of in June 2002 of ‘A National IDPs. UNITA troops and their families were Commission for the Reintegration of prioritised. National and international Demobilised Soldiers and IDPs’ high- Despite the criticisms it is important responses to the needs of ex-UNITA lights this trend. The Commission’s to recognise that OCHA is a crucial combatants and IDPs have been role vis-à-vis IDPs is described as that partner with the national authorities thrown into confusion. Initial esti- of coordinator of the resettlement and NGOs in addressing the needs of mates that there were some 40-50,000 programmes and supervisor of the IDPs. From OCHA’s field advisors in UNITA soldiers to be assisted were protection sub-groups. These groups, the provinces (who monitor the condi- shown to be inaccurate, as over however, ceased meeting before the tions of the displaced) to their 80,000 soldiers and 300,000 of their Commission’s role was clarified, thus monthly reports on the humanitarian dependents flooded into the 42 recep- leaving a gap in the protection mecha- situation in all of the 18 provinces, tion centres. nisms at a crucial time for IDPs. OCHA is providing the tools for identifying what is happening and what Compounding the problem of lack of Institutional protection needs to be done. A positive develop- resources to provide food, water and ment has been the collaboration sanitation for these unexpected num- The institutional protection for IDPs between the UN agencies and the gov- bers has been the tension between the set up by the national authorities and ernment in developing provincial Angolan authorities and international the international organisations is a action plans for IDPs. These have agencies seeking access to camps. The complex web of teams and subgroups. emerged from provincial workshops Angolan army initially undertook the Provincial and municipal authorities attended by the military, judiciary, the demobilisation and it is currently the are at the forefront of providing assis- Attorney General’s office, the national responsibility of the provincial tance to IDPs. While the Commission police, MINARS, OCHA, UNHCR and authorities to carry out the resettle- appears to have established structures community stakeholders. Benefiting ment programmes with support from and to be adopting a comprehensive from protection training, these groups the international community. There approach to meeting the needs of have prepared tailored protection has been new emphasis on establish- IDPs, in reality the implementation of plans for the IDPs in their province ing sustainable peace with only programmes is hampered by limited which are then passed to the provin- minimal international ‘interference’. resources. Emphasis on the primary cial governor for approval. In July The authorities imposed a deadline of role of the provincial authorities as 2002 thirteen of Angola’s 18 provinces 15 October 2002 for the end of the the implementers of resettlement pro- had approved plans in place. This demobilisation process and the begin- grammes and enforcers of the Normas demonstrates that there has been ning of resettlement. Though the ignores the reality of the lack of ade- some attempt at improving the nation- government has responded to con- quate governmental capacity in some al response to the plight of IDPs. Relief agencies are cerns over the lack of assistance being provinces. providing food to the provided by extending the deadline to The establishment of the UN Mission most vulnerable people in displaced December, the UN and NGOs are still The UN in Angola, partner of the cen- in Angola (UNMA) by the Security camps in Malange sceptical. tral and provincial authorities, also Council in August 2002 has also been and Lunda Norte has a crucial role in IDP protection a positive step, particularly with its districts, north As politics has become dominated by issues. In July 2002 a damming report focus on the protection and promo- Angola. the cease-fire and the demobilisation on the plight of Angola’s IDPs contro- tion of human rights. The Human Rights Division in the UN should play a pivotal role in efforts to better protect IDPs and other citizens by working with the government and local authorities to build capacity and raise awareness of human rights. This approach is often criticised for not protecting individuals in a more concerted manner but it is important to aid the development of better human rights standards in Angola as a whole. This should impact, directly or indi- rectly, on IDPs and thus improve the authorities’ respect for the Normas.

The way ahead

The spontaneous return to their area of origin of some 750,000 IDPs has been met with both delight and concern. While this is a welcome sign that Still Pictures/Ton Koene Still Pictures/Ton FMR 16 33 freedom of movement within the country is finally being restored, there is concern over the return to areas Refugees and the which are heavily mined or lack infrastructure to accommodate returnees. Recent figures suggest that since the African Commission end of the war only 30% of the IDP returns have been compliant with the Normas. on Human and Angola faces many challenges in respecting and implementing the Normas and the Guiding Principles. Peoples’ Rights There is an urgent need for the donor community and the Angolan govern- by Monette Zard in collaboration with ment to finance rebuilding and Chaloka Beyani and Chidi Anselm Odinkalu resettlement programmes. If peace is to be sustained it is essential that ex- UNITA soldiers receive vocational On paper, African refugees benefit from one of the training and social assistance. Of equal importance, as quartering world’s most progressive protection regimes. camps close and resettlement begins, is to ensure greater respect for the In reality, however, they face endless human rights principles set out in the Normas. hurdles involving forced return, discrimination, Shrugging off criticisms for its early closure of camps, MINARS maintains arbitrary arrest and detention, restricted freedom that it is on course to reintegrate soldiers and their families before of movement and expression, and violations of commencement of the new school year in early 2003. MINARS is follow- social and economic rights. ing a plan which focuses on aced with an ongoing struggle abide by the letter and spirit of inter- emergency and rehabilitation work to bridge the gap between national refugee conventions.2 until 2005 when reconstruction is set F theory and reality, advocates International and regional human to become the policy priority. for refugees have the option of using rights mechanisms – and in particular However, the fluid political situation Africa’s human rights mechanisms the African human rights system – makes it impossible to predict when innovatively to argue the case for may go some way towards making up the humanitarian crises faced by IDPs refugee rights. for this lacuna by providing advocates and ex-UNITA soldiers will be ade- with a complementary means to help quately addressed and resolved. It is not that Africa is short of norms. refugees and asylum seekers actually Far from it; in many respects the benefit from rights they have on paper. Compliance with the Normas should 1969 OAU Convention Governing the remain the barometer for measuring Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems The centrepiece of the African human the success of resettlement pro- in Africa puts the continent ahead of rights system is the 1981 African grammes. Despite a good start, Angola other regions. In addition to introduc- Charter on Human and Peoples’ still has a long way to go. Ensuring ing an expanded notion of who is a Rights3 and its principal overseer, the respect for the Normas requires refugee,1 the Convention reinforces African Commission on Human and strengthening of effective institutional key refugee protection standards, Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)4, which was structures. Above all else, there must including the closely linked principles established in 1987. Apart from be political will to ensure respect for of non-refoulement and voluntary Morocco all 53 African States have the law. repatriation. The Convention is an accepted the provisions of the important regional complement to the Charter as formally binding. The legal Kamia Carvalho is from Angola 1951 Convention. Together, these framework established under the and recently completed an MA in instruments articulate an important Charter offers refugees and asylum Law and Development at the set of standards regarding the treat- seekers (as well as the NGOs that University of Warwick. ment that refugees should expect to represent them) the possibility of Email: [email protected] receive in exile. individually petitioning the ACHPR to seek protection of violated rights. The most comprehensive source of information on IDP issues is provided by the Global IDP project at: The crisis facing refugees on the con- This includes specific rights by virtue www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/idpSurvey.nsf/wCount tinent reflects rather a failure of of being refugees and asylum seekers ries/Angola implementation. A major weakness of as well as more general human rights the current international legal frame- guarantees set out in the Charter. In 1. The Guiding Principles are online at: www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/7/b/principles.htm. work to protect refugees – one that fulfilling its central oversight role, the 2. See www.reliefweb.int/appeals/2002/presskit/ was recognised during the ambitious ACHPR takes into account the UN and angola/angola-cap2002-summary.pdf . UNHCR Global Consultations process OAU Conventions as well as other 3. ‘United Nations: Protect the Displaced in – is the absence of any meaningful regional arrangements in which Angola’, Human Rights Watch, Tuesday 5 March 2002. system of supervision, such as a court refugees have freedom of movement or treaty body, to ensure that States and residence in regions such as 34 Refugees and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights FMR 16

ECOWAS under the Community of equality and equal protection of the reference to violated rights and subse- West African States. law offers refugees additional protec- quent flight. tion against mistreatment by the legal Recourse to the ACHPR enables and institutional system of the State. Implied in the right to seek and refugees and asylum seekers to bring When combined with the duty of obtain asylum is an obligation on claims against the host country where States under Article 1 to take steps to States parties to the African Charter refugee law is deficient or inadequate, implement the rights contained in the to establish institutions and fair pro- and opens up the prospect of claims Charter, these provisions may provide cedures for status determination. against countries of origin on the advocates with an avenue by which to Although the ACHPR has yet to rule basis of continuing violations of their address problems commonly encoun- on whether the due process guaran- rights based on the fact of persecu- tered by African refugees – the lack of tees contained in Article 7 would tion and flight to other States. national refugee legislation and extend to status determination proce- Moreover African governments are appropriate documentation of their dures, one can speculate that this required to ensure that the protection status – which in turn inhibit the would indeed be the case. This con- of the Charter is available to all per- enjoyment of many other Charter clusion is fortified by the provision of sons within their jurisdiction, whether rights Article 26 that requires States parties they are nationals or non-nationals. to "allow the establishment and Governments are thus accountable Of the specific Charter rights that can improvement of appropriate national before this system for how they treat be of use to refugees and asylum- institutions entrusted with the promo- not only refugees but also IDPs and seekers, the right to seek and obtain tion and protection of the rights and migrants generally. asylum has a number of elements that freedoms guaranteed by the present advocates can Charter." Fair procedures in this con- seek to assert and text would include extending legal ohn D Ouko, a Kenyan student leader, was arrested and develop before assistance to refugees in status deter- detained without trial for ten months in the basement the ACHPR. The mination processes. J cells of the Secret Service headquarters in Nairobi. Held first and most important is that Article 5 of the Charter, which notes in a two by three metre cell, he was subjected to physical of gaining entry that every individual shall have the and mental torture. Fleeing the country, he lodged a com- and access to the right to "respect of the dignity inher- plaint against Kenya whilst residing as a refugee in the territory of the ent in a human being and to the host State, includ- recognition of his legal status" and Democratic Republic of the Congo, alleging violations of ing its status which prohibits "all forms of exploita- certain rights under the African Charter. The Commission determination tion and degradation ….particularly found that his persecution and flight from his country of procedures, for slavery, slave trade, torture, cruel, the purpose of inhuman or degrading punishment origin had violated the African Charter’s Article 5 (on seeking asylum. and treatment", is also of particular respect for human dignity, protection from torture, inhuman The OAU importance to refugees. The Article Convention prohibits States from expelling or and degrading treatment), Article 6 (on liberty and security strengthens this returning anyone to a place where of the person), Article 9 (on freedom of expression) and principle by Article 10 (on freedom of association). prohibiting States from rejecting asy- The African Charter is the gateway to lum seekers at the frontier or the ACHPR and understanding how border. The 1951 Convention the rights articulated in the Charter underlies the same principle under can be put to work for refugees is the Article 31 by stating that asylum starting point for any advocate. Two seekers should not be penalised for general guarantees – the principles of making direct illegal entry. non-discrimination and equality in Articles 2 and 3 – can be used to pro- A second element of the right to tect any rights that refugees or other seek and obtain asylum concerns individuals are entitled to. Respond- lawful admission through obtaining ing to a complaint brought by the or enjoying asylum in accordance Organisation Mondiale Contre La with the laws of those countries Torture and others against Rwanda, and international conventions. This the ACHPR found that the expulsion element depends on whether the of Burundian Hutu refugees from asylum seeker meets the criteria Rwanda was a breach of non-discrimi- for refuge as set out in domestic nation under the Charter. The law and international conventions. guarantee of non-discrimination can One area of potential inquiry for thus be used to protect refugees from advocates is whether state practice discrimination on a wide variety of complies with both the Charter and grounds including their status as international law on the issue of refugees, their race, ethnic group, persecution. ACHPR decisions show colour or gender. The principle of that persecution is established by UNHCR/B Neeleman FMR 16 Refugees and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights 35

Mauritania contribution to the protection of or political reasons John K Modise was rendered stateless, alleged that refugees in Africa. stripped of his Botswanan nationality and deported to between 1986 and In conclusion, the African human F South Africa. South Africa in turn deported him to the 1992 black rights system has much to offer those then Homeland of Bophuthatswana which deported him back to Mauritanians advocating better implementation of Botswana. Unable to resolve the question of where to keep him, were refugee rights. It is not, however, a the authorities of Botswana kept Modise over a long period of enslaved, panacea for all the ills facing Africa’s arbitrarily refugees and asylum seekers. The time on a specially created strip of ‘no-man’s land’ along the detained and ACHPR should be seen as a comple- South African border. The ACHPR found that such enforced routinely mentary source of protection for homelessness was inhuman and degrading treatment that offend- evicted or refugees. Taking a case to the ed "the dignity of human beings" and thus violated Article 5. displaced Commission can be a lengthy and from lands time-consuming process and can only that were be pursued when other domestic they are likely to be subjected to such then confiscated by the government. remedies have been exhausted. treatment. Moreover, a violation of At issue (at least in part) were the Success is not always guaranteed. Article 5 (which clearly encompasses conditions of detention which some victims of rape and sexual abuse) also of these individuals encountered. In Prospects of success could be consid- entitles the victim to the right to seek finding violations of Article 16, the erably enhanced where advocates and obtain asylum. ACHPR noted the lack of food, blan- work together nationally, regionally kets, adequate hygiene and medical and internationally to research, com- Of particular note is the ACHPR’s will- attention, the latter having led to the pile and sustain a case before the ingness to interpret Article 5 to include deaths of a number of prisoners. The ACHPR. Similar cooperation is neces- violations of social and economic Charter may thus provide an impor- sary to maximise the advocacy impact rights. For instance, in the absence of tant avenue through which to raise a of the eventual decision, whether pos- an express guarantee of a right to host of social and economic rights itive or negative. Making use of housing in the Charter, ACHPR has questions including the issue of sub- institutions and mechanisms which based protection for such rights on the standard camp conditions. African states have themselves estab- guarantee of human dignity, and the lished, and nurturing their ability to prohibition of torture, cruel, inhuman Finally, the Charter might also be address the plight of refugees, would and degrading treatment. helpful in addressing restrictions on add an important weapon to the freedom of movement and residence refugee advocacy arsenal in Africa. Article 16 of the Charter articulates within host states, which are an all the right of every individual to enjoy too regular aspect of the lives of Monette Zard is a Policy Analyst the best attainable state of physical refugees and asylum seekers in Africa. at the Migraton Policy Institute and mental health and the duty of Both the UN and OAU Conventions do (www.migrationpolicy.org), States to take necessary measures to allow for restrictions on the freedom Washington, DC. ensure this. Five related cases in of movement and residence of Email: [email protected]. refugees in the receiving States in order to ensure the safe location of Chaloka Beyani is Senior Lecturer refugees as well as to ascertain the in Law, London School of identity of the refugee or asylum Economics. seeker. Such restrictions may be Email: [email protected]. challenged before the ACHPR if they are so excessive as to deprive Chidi Anselm Odinkalu is a Senior refugees of their freedom of move- Legal Officer at Interights ment within or outside the (www.interights.org). settlements and where they do not Email: [email protected]. achieve the objective of safely locating refugees away from the The authors are finalising a step-by-step advocates’ guide on how to access and use the African border of their country of origin. Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In any hearing of this issue before the ACHPR, the receiving State For a fuller development of the arguments in this article and wider discussion of Commission judge- would bear the burden of proving ments see the authors’ full unedited article at: that restrictions on the movement www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR16/fmr16Commis sion.pdf and residence of refugees are nec-

essary, justified and reasonable on 1. To include those fleeing external aggression, acceptable grounds stipulated in occupation, foreign domination or events seriously human rights law, namely public disturbing public order (Article 1A). 2. UNHCR’s limited supervisory function is articu- order, public security and public lated in Article 35 of the 1951 Convention. health. Utilising the ACHPR to 3. For the full text of the Charter, see: clarify where and when restrictions www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/z1afchar.htm. 4. The Commission’s website is: www.achpr.org. on freedom of movement are pro- portionate and justified under the law would render a significant

Nangweshi camp for Angolan refugees, Zambia. 36 FMR 16 Yemen and refugees: progressive attitudes – policy void by Nesya H B Hughes Despite accession to the refugee Convention, the The status of refugees in Yemen sources of codified law governing the practice of The Government of Yemen’s prima asylum in Yemen have remained limited…. Similarly, facie acceptance of particular groups and general tolerance towards asylum administrative capacity and policy formulation related seekers represents a progressive to asylum seekers and refugees are still evolving. open-door policy. Yet it has to date been unable to convert its international obligations towards the protection ‘Yemen 2000 Annual Protection Report – Executive of refugees’ rights into national level Summary’, UNHCR Sana’a, Yemen policy.

he Republic of Yemen is the treaties to which the North was As of March 2002, there were 71,313 only country in the Arabian already a signatory. refugees registered with UNHCR, T Peninsula to have signed the 92.5% of who were Somalis.1 The Convention and the 1967 Protocol. Despite having signed the Convention Government of Yemen has recognised Yemen’s proximity to the troubled there has been no significant progress Somalis on a prima facie basis since countries of the Horn of Africa and to on the creation of comprehensive 1992 and continues to do so. Yemen neighbouring wealthy Gulf countries national refugee legislation. Sources has previously also recognised on a have led to its hosting a large number of national law governing the treat- prima facie basis 1,269 Ethiopians of refugees despite its status as one ment of asylum seekers or refugees in (officers and cadets from the former of the world’s least developed Yemen remain limited to Article 46 of Ethiopian Navy forced to flee after the nations. UNHCR regards the Govern- the Republic’s Constitution which 1991 overthrow of the Mengistu ment of the Republic of Yemen as states that “no political refugee shall regime) and 389 Eritreans who fled having a very tolerant and progressive be extradited”. The absence of nation- Assab following renewed Ethio- attitude towards refugees. Yet, as the al refugee legislation means that in Eritrean conflict in May 2000. quotation above indicates, problems legal terms asylum seekers and hinder the full protection of refugee refugees are treated no differently Other asylum seekers must go rights. from other non-nationals and are, for through refugee status determination example, subject to laws pertaining to (RSD) conducted by UNHCR. In 2001, The dearth of academic studies on employment as foreigners. UNHCR Yemen had an overall recogni- refugee issues in Yemen provided the tion rate of 17%, excluding prima facie impetus for this paper. It examines In 1984 Ministerial Resolution No 10 recognitions. It encourages local inte- the legal and administrative context in was passed to establish a Department gration and repatriation as ‘durable which refugees are situated, the cur- of Refugee Affairs within the Ministry solutions’ for refugees. In 2001, it rent socio-economic status of of the Interior. However, the only resettled 157 people to a third refugees and measures taken by gov- Resolution was never implemented country, asserting that "a liberal inter- ernment to assume responsibility for and UNHCR, whose assistance Yemen pretation of the [resettlement] criteria refugee affairs. requested after the large and sudden would produce a pull factor and influx of Somali refugees in 1992, undermine UNHCR policy".2 It conse- The legal and administrative remains the only office to deal direct- quently reserves resettlement for context ly with refugee affairs. vulnerable cases, including medical cases such as HIV sufferers (Yemen Theoretically, the international and national legislations that codify refugee law and the administrative ‘We are not moving forward and we are not moving framework determine the status and backward. We can understand not being given political rights enjoyed by refugees in the Republic of Yemen. In 1980 the or civil rights in this country but [the Government of Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) became a signatory to the 1951 Yemen] cannot keep our economic or social rights from Refugee Convention and its 1967 us. We cannot live this way.’ Protocol. When Yemen united in 1990 the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopian refugee and ex-Lieutenant in the Ethiopian Navy, Yemen (South Yemen) acceded to all who has resided in Yemen for the past 11 years. FMR 16 Yemen and refugees: progressive attitudes – policy void 37

reserves the right to deport non- work permits to present a passport, officials indicate that extra pressure is nationals with HIV) and single female which refugees obviously cannot do. It placed on NGOs to provide services heads-of-household. also requires a letter from a potential because of the fact that many Somalis employer; refugees claim that employ- benefiting from these services are not There is one camp in Yemen, the facil- ers will not do this as employing refugees as defined by the 1951 ity at Al Kharaz hosting 10,000 illegal labour permits them to pay Convention. Some officials believe refugees near the southern port city lower wages. Unable to work, most that Somalis come to Yemen to take of Aden. The camp admits recognised refugees are also unable to afford advantage of, among other things, refugees only, which means that, education and healthcare. In addition, healthcare services provided free of pending RSD, refugees must find their public hospitals will neither serve HIV charge by NGOs. UNHCR has recom- own way. Due to its limited capacity, patients nor, for cultural reasons, sin- mended that the Yemeni government UNHCR encourages local integration gle females requesting reproductive cease prima facie recognition of and urban settlement, reserving the or natal care. This is why the services Somalis in order to ensure that those camp for "vulnerable refugees… who provided by NGOs are in high who do benefit from services are actu- are unable to survive without interna- demand, far exceeding their capacity. ally refugees. tional assistance".3 With the exception of the Al Basateen suburb of Aden, Ten of the 11 NGOs which hosts some 20,000 Somalis who that work with more resources and services are provided arrived in 1992, refugees in urban refugees in Yemen in the camp than in urban areas. areas tend to intersperse with the are implementing Yemeni communities. partners of UNHCR and, therefore, A further obstacle faced by refugees depend at least in part on UNHCR in securing their socio-economic Respecting the 1951 Convention, the funding. This is unfortunate because rights is racial and cultural discrimi- Yemeni government permits refugees UNHCR’s diminishing budget from nation. Ethiopian and Eritrean the right to work, education and Geneva reduces these NGOs’ funding refugees recount stories of harass- healthcare but refugees face obstacles as well. Limited funding has necessi- ment on the streets and several in securing these socio-economic tated prioritising the most serious refugees testify to being victims of rights. Refugees assert that the cases. UNHCR’s assumption that camp racial beatings. Non-Muslim, mostly Ministry of Labour requires foreigners refugees are less able to secure their Ethiopian or Eritrean refugee women, applying rights has meant that more resources often face discrimination, particularly for and services are provided in the camp for not wearing the hijab. In addition, than in urban areas. Urban refugees Ethiopian refugees – both men and felt that this ‘camp bias’ marginalises women – assert that Yemenis have a them, ‘punishing’ them for their preconceived notion of them as being initiative to self-settle and contribute promiscuous and they are, therefore, productively to the economy of their often accused of having AIDS. Racism host country. prevents them from equal employment opportunities and their children In Sana’a, the Yemeni capital, are subject to racism in Yemeni Ethiopians have established an schools. Most Somali refugees accept Ethiopian Community Centre, while that Yemeni treatment of Somalis is the Somali community has estab- better than that afforded to other lished the Refugee Community Africans. This appears to be due to Centre, now attended by refugees the fact that these two peoples share from other nationalities as well. cultural traits – most Somalis are These two centres represent refugees’ Muslim and many speak Arabic. initiatives to support themselves. But they are the only ones of their kind Perhaps the ultimate socio-economic and refugees assert that, while they and civil injustice feared by refugees provide some is unfair detention and deportation. sup- Notwithstanding the absence of data port on the prevalence of detentions, and refugees assert that the threat of it is com- real, in particular outside Sana’a. fort, Municipal authorities do not appreci- they do not ate the meaning of a refugee card. address the core On the other hand, authorities do not socio-economic appear to act strictly regarding depor- problems faced tation. Refugees believe that by refugees liv- deportation is done on an entirely ad ing in cities. hoc basis and assert that detention is Government used primarily as a method to extort and bribes from people.4 UNHCR Still Pictures/MinBuZa 38 Yemen and refugees: progressive attitudes – policy void FMR 16

government service provision. ‘In spite of many problems [with the transfer of respon- Nevertheless, the Yemeni government has made progress towards fulfilling sibility], Yemen may be considered a pioneer in the its international obligation to protect refugees and assume responsibility Arab world for its efforts.’ for refugee affairs. The establishment Interview with Deputy Representative, of the NCRA, in particular, has been productive in catalysing government UNHCR Sana’a, 21.09.02 efforts.

Many areas of the refugee situation in Transfer of responsibility affairs exist at lower government lev- Yemen need to be better understood. els, including amongst municipal The heterogeneous nature of Yemen Since 2000, the Government of Yemen authorities and the Yemeni coast- and the state’s willingness to admit, has taken measures to enhance the guard. UNHCR recognises this, stating but not to fully accept, asylum seek- situation of refugees. It has estab- that "training of Immigration officers ers make Yemen a complex and lished the National Committee for and coastguard personnel on refugee challenging refugee situation in the Refugee Affairs (NCRA) that is law is seen as one of the important Middle East. currently working on two projects objective [sic] in UNHCR strategy".6 with the aim of government assuming However, no projects have been Nesya Hughes is a student at the greater responsibility for refugee implemented to fulfil this strategy. Forced Migration and Refugee affairs. Studies Programme, American Refugees, NGO staff and academics University of Cairo. The first is a pilot project, begun in alike express concern that since the Email: [email protected]. May 2002, between UNHCR and the events of 11 September 2001 the Yemeni government, involving the reg- Government is abrogating from its For further information on refugees in Yemen see istration, issuing and extension of human rights responsibilities in the the US Committee for Refugees at www.refugees. org/world/countryrpt/mideast/yemen.htm. refugee cards. Until recently UNHCR name of national security. The author-

was responsible for this administra- ities, now under pressure from the US 1. These numbers refer only to registered tive process. One benefit of involving to crack down on alleged terrorists, refugees. There are additionally an estimated the Government is that it has agreed can use Article 33 of the 1951 300,000 more Somalis, 70,000 Iraqis, 2,000 Ethiopians and some Palestinians. Whether these to place the Republic of Yemen’s Convention which permits it to deport individuals are refugees fleeing persecution or emblem on the card. Refugees issued refugees suspected of being a threat economic migrants is contested. with the new card testify to fewer to national security7. Greater training 2. ‘Donor’s Meeting Yemen: Briefing Notes’, 9 June 2002, UNHCR Sana’a, Yemen. problems with the authorities because and monitoring on the part of the 3. ibid the new card now appears to carry UNHCR is necessary to avoid any 4. Yemen appears to maintain an open-door policy greater credibility. UNHCR believes unjustified ‘scapegoating’ of refugees. on its northern borders. Refugees testified that many cross into Saudi Arabia for work, returning that government involvement in regis- sporadically and illegally to visit their families. The tration also builds confidence in the Conclusion Yemeni government does not appear to monitor registration procedure so that authori- these northern borders strictly, claiming to not have the resources to do so. But the reasons are ties are more hesitant to arrest Although Yemen is signatory to the more complex. First, the border remains poorly refugees arbitrarily. relevant international treaties that defined and local tribes continue to dominate the espouse a commitment to protection region, hindering the government’s control. Second, the return of illegal migrants is facilitated The second NCRA project involves of refugee rights it has failed to trans- by people smugglers, often tribesmen of the area. drafting national refugee legislation. late this commitment into national Finally, Yemen maintains bilateral re-admission Such legislation is necessary to avoid level policy. Failure is most starkly agreements with Saudi Arabia (and some European countries as well) to maintain good diplomatic rela- the possible contradictions between represented by the marked absence of tions because it is hoping to accede to the Gulf refugees’ rights and the laws that national refugee legislation, a void Cooperative Council. In addition, Saudi Arabia apply to foreigners, under which which means that refugees are often hosts over 200,000 Yemeni workers, many of whom reside illegally and who provide a boon to 5 refugees now fall. National legislation treated as foreigners. Despite this, the Yemeni economy through remittances. Yemen provides the means by which to trans- UNHCR Yemen continues to ‘offer’ does not want them expelled. late international law into national local integration as its primary 5. Currently, a refugee found guilty of a crime faces double sentencing by virtue of being a ‘non- level action. ‘durable solution’. Yet integration can- national/foreigner’. The first, derived from not be considered durable until Yemen’s criminal code, relates directly to the Finally, UNHCR has trained govern- crime. The second, deriving from the law concern- national legislation is in place, as only ing non-nationals, is an automatic deportation ment officials regarding refugee rights national laws can provide the primary sentence, thereby, violating a refugee’s right to and permitted officials from the structure necessary to give people a non-refoulement. 6. ibid endnote 2. Ministry of Interior to attend RSD real (and not theoretical) chance of 7. The Yemeni government is facing external interviews – a bid towards confidence integrating. pressure, particularly from the US government, and capacity building in the RSD to ‘crack down’ on potential security threats. At the time of writing, two Somalis – both of whom process. The UNHCR Representative Other impediments exist that prevent are allegedly trained pilots and aircraft engineers – has also met with the Chief of Justice individuals from successfully integrat- had been arrested on security grounds and their to encourage the judiciary to respect ing and securing employment. On the whereabouts unknown. the principle of non-refoulement. other hand, interviews with refugees showed that individuals and commu- However, greater training is necessary. nities have created their own support Refugees believe that the greatest mis- structures so that they are not entire- understandings regarding refugee ly dependent on NGO, UNHCR or FMR 16 39 Humanitarian crises: testing the ‘CNN effect’ by Gorm Rye Olsen, Nils Carstensen and Kristian Høyen "Lucky are the people of Yugoslavia and Somalia as A second possible explanation for the level of emergency assistance relates the world's eyes rest on them. Condemned are the to the interests, especially security concerns, of donor governments. We people of Juba … It may be a blessing to die in front may assume that emergency donors are basically motivated by the same of a camera – then at least the world will get to kind of interests as when they grant long-term development assistance. know about it. But it is painful to die or be killed, These include security, trade, investment and wider political interests. without anybody knowing it." According to the ‘aid motivation literature’, the allocation of development Hand-written letter smuggled out from the besieged aid from major donor states tends to Southern Sudanese town of Juba, August 1992. be motivated by their own national interests whereas donors such as the hat determines the level of funds and improve the prospects of Scandinavians are mainly motivated emergency assistance? This meeting humanitarian needs. by the needs of the recipients. A basic W paper examines the hypoth- assumption of the donor interest esis that the volume of emergency Academic literature, however, pro- explanation is that the amount of aid assistance generated by any humani- vides no substantial confirmation of received by any low-income country is tarian crisis is determined by three the existence of a CNN effect. Studies proportional to the level of interest of main factors working either in con- indicate that the media have had an the donor. This paper assumes that junction or individually. Quantitative effect only in situations where the the same relationship can be found in and qualitative indicators from recent governments involved were lacking a relation to emergency assistance: that and ongoing humanitarian crises – clear policy. Cited ‘proofs’ of the mas- donor interests play an important role both natural and conflict-induced – sive influence of the media are the in motivating decisions on granting are used to ask whether the amount interventions in Iraqi Kurdistan in aid to specific humanitarian crises. of emergency assistance depends on early 1991 and Somalia in December the intensity of media coverage, the 1992. These seem to be exceptions to As for the significance of stakeholder degree of political/strategic interest the rule since media coverage of commitment, the mere existence of of donor states and/or the level of human suffering only rarely leads to specialised humanitarian agencies, stakeholder commitment (the strength Western policy initiatives. Rather, donor administrations such as ECHO, of the network of humanitarian organ- there is a general tendency for politi- USAID and Danida, early warning sys- isations operating on the ground). cians and governments to turn the tems, standards such as SPHERE, media into their ‘servants’ by commu- specialised information structures The crises selected for analysis and nicating the message of the (IRIN, ReliefWeb) and coordination comparison were selected for their government to the public. bodies such as OCHA, the Steering diversity and their individual ability to Committee for Humanitarian substantiate each of the three compet- If the mass media choose to focus Response (SCHR) and the consortium ing explanations. Data has been massively on a crisis, a number of of European Voluntary Organisations gathered from the two major TV chan- preconditions have to be fulfilled. in Cooperation in Emergencies nels in Denmark and 23 leading The crisis has to be newsworthy and (VOICE) ensure some kind of basic newspapers in six states of the generate dramatic and emotive response to most major or medium- European Union and the US. OCHA footage and stills. Moreover, a human- size disasters. and ECHO databases were used to itarian crisis – particularly an African approximately identify aid allocations. one – has to compete with emergen- The ‘stakeholder commitment’ argu- cies in other parts of the world. ment can be exemplified by the Three determing factors Editors do not perceive it as ‘news’ situation in Sudan. Here, the UN, local when Africans kill each other. Neither and international NGOs, the state and The link between media attention and is it ‘news’ for most mainstream rebel movements, and, to some political action – the ‘CNN effect’– media if Africa experiences yet anoth- extent, even donors are brought suggests that the media, particularly er humanitarian disaster. The ‘news together in coordinated annual needs television, influence the decisions and attention cycle’ is another factor; peo- assessments, programme planning foreign policy agendas of Western ple in the North only pay attention to and fundraising efforts through the governments. It is commonly assumed crises affecting distant people on a UN-led Operation Lifeline Sudan and that massive media coverage of a cyclical basis and rarely have an the UN Consolidated Appeal Process. humanitarian crisis will lead to appetite for more than one crisis at a Other ongoing crises such as the ones increased allocations of emergency time. in North Korea, the Western Sahara, 40 Humanitarian crises: testing the ‘CNN effect’ FMR 16

Congo-Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville confirm the assumption that media North Korea, Angola and and Tajikistan do have UN and inter- coverage is a decisive factor in rela- Sudan: security rules? national NGO presence but in these tion to the allocation of emergency cases the number of actors is smaller, assistance. But is this really the case? From 1997 to 2001 (with the excep- their interactions less coordinated While it is difficult to obtain accurate tion of 1998) North Korea received and they form a much weaker figures for the number of people in more emergency assistance than ‘humanitarian lobby’ than is the case need, information from FAO/WFP Angola and Sudan. The actual scale of for Sudan and Angola. crop assessments and UN CAP shows North Korea’s humanitarian crisis is the magnitude of acute needs in the unquantifiable. Although Pyongyang Floods in Mozambique and three emergencies: prevented country-wide needs assess- ■ In early 1999, around 1.5 million India: media framing is all ments, data from FAO/WFP suggests people were directly affected by that four to seven million North conflict in Kosovo. Some 900,000 Sampled TV stations and newspapers Koreans needed food assistance in fled to Serbia, Macedonia or provided five times more coverage of 1998-2001. The official explanation of Albania while a further 600,000 Mozambique’s January 2000 floods the occurrence of ‘freak weather’ were displaced within Kosovo. In than they had of the cyclone which masks the reality of a near bankrupt July 1999, most of these people struck Orissa three months prev- state rocked by the collapse of sub- started returning to Kosovo but iously. It seems as if the intensity sidised trading agreements with the they returned to towns and vil- of media coverage explains why former communist block. With the lages which were often partly or Mozambique received seven times as media denied access, it was hardly totally destroyed. much aid as India. This was not pro- surprising that there was little cover- ■ An average of at least 2.4 million portionate to the death, destruction age and that the news which did Sudanese were in absolute need of and humanitarian need. While in emerge was based on interviews with food aid during the period 1998- Orissa at least 10,000 died and 12.6 aid workers. Neither has there been 2001. million were affected, in Mozambique stakeholder commitment; strict condi- ■ Using a conservative estimate, there were only 800 fatalities and some tions imposed by the North Korean between 1 and 1.8 million people 1.5 million temporarily displaced. authorities have limited movement of were in need of food aid in Angola agency staff and denied advocacy in the period 1998-2001. As with Why did the Orissa emergency not opportunities. Sudan, ongoing conflict prevented grab the headlines and aid? Media humanitarian access to many access was significant. Reporters were The reason why North Korea received areas, thus preventing proper confined for days to the Orissa state relatively significant humanitarian assessment of need. capital while affected areas were assistance can best be explained by declared off-limits. In Mozambique, by the strong security interests of the A short dramatic war and a refugee contrast, transport of reporters to the largest donor of food aid, the US, and crisis in south-eastern Europe attract- disaster zone was facilitated by the the shared fears of China, Japan and ed five times as much aid per needy authorities, aid agencies and the South Korea of the development of person as the protracted wars and South African Air Force. Unhindered North Korean nuclear capability humanitarian crises in Angola and access led to dramatic and compelling and/or an outpouring of starving Sudan. It should not be forgotten, footage. Key to the development of refugees. however, that Angola and Sudan Mozambique as a major news story received a not insignificant amount of was the framing of the media cover- Afghanistan pre- and post- emergency assistance in 1997-2001 age. Never before had viewers seen a ($90 to $440 million per year) despite 11 September woman give birth to a child in a tree- the absence of media coverage. The top while helicopters hovered Grossly insufficient levels of funding widespread conviction in the aid com- overhead or seen so many people to Afghanistan throughout the 1990s munity that the Kosovo crisis ‘stole’ whisked from treetops by helicopters. can be explained by the lack of media or diverted emergency assistance In Orissa, by the time the media was attention combined with the absence from Africa to Europe (the Balkans) is finally allowed full access to the worst- of any real donor interests in thus difficult to substantiate. affected coastal areas, international Afghanistan. 11 September prompted interest had waned and dramatic a dramatic increase in assistance. In In the last five years Angola and footage was no longer to be had. the final quarter of 2001, pro- Sudan have attracted significant levels grammes in Afghanistan received of emergency assistance, albeit far $433m, while in the previous three Africa versus the Balkans: below actual needs. This somewhat quarters they had only received small victory for human- surprising observation can best be $232m. Security interests and the itarian networking? explained by an influential humanitar- post-11 September explosion of media ian presence and lobby networks. A interest explain the growth in emer- Examination of the media coverage of large number of UN agencies and gency assistance. Media coverage humanitarian crises in Kosovo, Sudan major international NGOs have been statistics confirm the view that it is and Angola reveals an interesting but engaged in humanitarian operations actually the politicians, and in partic- not surprising pattern. Kosovo won in both Angola and Sudan for more ular the US administration, who hands down. In the first quarter of than a decade. They have well-devel- decide the agenda for international 1999 there were some 5,000 articles oped fundraising and advocacy tools, media attention. Correlation between on Kosovo but fewer than 450 articles enjoy direct access to donor bureau- the growth in the volume of emer- on Angola and Sudan put together. cracies and work continuously with gency assistance and the American Aid allocations to the Balkans tripled journalists to generate a low but con- military intervention in Afghanistan is from 1998 to 1999. This appears to stant level of publicity. conspicuous. It could be argued that FMR 16 Humanitarian crises: testing the ‘CNN effect’ 41

emergency assistance to Afghanistan has been an instrument for crisis management. Peace in the Interestingly, in the years preceding 11 September, EU Member States were considerably more willing than ECHO Middle East: to finance humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. While there was a three- fold increase in ECHO funding to Afghanistan from 2000 to 2001, EU getting real on the member States gave eight times more. This difference could be explained by a greater inclination of national issue of Palestinian donors to act in response to emergencies that receive media attention. It is also easier for national governments to find additional money during the refugee property financial year than it is for a multilat- eral donor like ECHO. by Scott Leckie

Conclusion n October 2002, UNHCR issued a Assembly earlier this year: ‘Note on the Applicability of Article In paragraph 2 of its resolution Of the cases analysed, only 1D of the 1951 Convention 56/52 of 10 December 2001, the Mozambique supports the oft-repeat- I Relating to the Status of Refugees to General Assembly requested the ed argument that media coverage is Palestinian Refugees’.1 This essentially Commission to report to the crucial in determining the level of re-affirmed the long-standing interpre- Assembly as appropriate, but no emergency aid allocation. It seems tation of the Convention that – with later than 1 September 2002. The that the media play a crucial role in the exception of a select few who Commission notes its report of 31 influencing aid funding decisions only reside outside the immediate region – August 2002 (A/56/290) and when there are no vital security issues the five million Palestinian refugees2 observes that it has nothing new to at stake. In other words, natural disasters and complex emergencies have a are excluded from the benefits from report since its submission. greater tendency to become forgotten the Convention, and thus of direct pro- crises when Western governments tection assistance by UNHCR. That’s it. This is the entire report of have no vested security interests in Justifying these views on the fact that the sole UN institution mandated to the afflicted regions. Since many dis- the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) provide international protection for aster-prone areas – especially in Africa already provides ‘protection or assis- Palestinian refugees. A similar ‘report’ – are of little strategic concern to tance’ to the refugees, the international is provided each year to the General 3 Western decision makers and since community has thus not only excluded Assembly. media coverage is often very limited in the largest portion of the world’s connection with protracted conflicts, refugee population from the protec- Surely UNHCR could do better than the factor that determines levels of tion that only UNHCR can give but has this. Obviously, a simple assertion by emergency aid will often be the degree also excluded the global refugee pro- UNHCR that the exclusion clause of of stakeholder commitment – the tection agency from being a key player Article 1D was no longer applicable, strength and persistency of the net- in finding solutions to one of the old- though highly desirable, would not of work of humanitarian organisations est unsettled refugee problems in the itself make a radical difference in the operating on the ground. world. elusive search for a viable solution for Palestinian refugees. However, such a Gorm Rye Olsen is Senior While it is understandable that some move would signal UNHCR’s willing- Researcher at the Centre for quarters may not wish UNHCR to take ness to become a player in the process Development Research, on the world’s most intractable leading towards finding permanent Copenhagen (www.cdr.dk). refugee issue, it is a travesty of the solutions for all Palestinian refugees. It Email: [email protected]. truth to argue that the four million could also perhaps enthuse oil rich Kristian Høyen is a Research registered Palestinian refugees in the countries in the Middle East to Assistant at the Centre for five UNRWA fields of operation (Gaza, increase their minimal contributions Development Research. West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria) and thus lessen UNHCR’s current Email: [email protected]. receive adequate protection from the financial woes. Nils Carstensen is an Information agency. Not only does UNWRA itself Officer with Dan-Church-Aid. assert that it does not have a protec- UNHCR’s renewed emphasis in recent Email: [email protected] tion capacity but the ineffectual years on solution-driven approaches to institution meant to provide such pro- refugee situations – particularly volun- This is a greatly shortened version of a paper pre- tection under UN General Assembly tary repatriation, return and the sented at a Conference on the Role of the Media, Resolution 194 – the UN Conciliation restoration of housing and property Decision Makers and Humanitarian Agencies in Copenhagen in October 2002. The full text is Commission for Palestine (currently rights – is ideally suited for helping to online at: www.forgottencrises.dk/Forgotten comprised of the US, Turkey and solve the refugee crisis affecting Crises_Conference_net.pdf. France) – is nothing less than a cruel Palestinians. Refugees in Bosnia, joke. Here, in full, is the report submit- Mozambique, Tajikistan, Kosovo, ted by the UNCCP to the General Rwanda and elsewhere have benefited 42 Peace in the Middle East: getting real on the issues of Palestinian refugee property FMR 16 Still Pictures/Donald Bostrom

Jenin, Palestine, greatly in returning to their original governments (including those in the and to negate history. Today hundreds April 2002 homes, thanks to the direct assistance region that pay extensive lip service to of thousands of Israeli Jews live as and support provided by UNHCR. the rights of refugees) to treat tenants of the Jewish Agency in stolen Palestinian refugees differently from Palestinian homes. Some are still using We need to ask the broader humani- other refugees, as if their predica- furniture, books and family heirlooms tarian community, therefore, why ments and hardships were somehow left behind when the refugees fled to Palestinian refugees are treated so sys- less dismal than refugees elsewhere. save their lives. Israel has never tematically differently from all of the To Palestinian refugees, political, legal allowed any refugees to return to their world’s other refugee groups. On what or financial arguments are simply homes and lands, nor has it paid com- grounds are Palestinians’ rights to excuses for inaction, the result of pensation for these thefts or for the housing and property restitution so which will be a prolongation of the damage they have caused. casually ignored? Is it because the injustice and misery they suffer each challenge is so immense, that UNHCR and every day they are prevented from The restitution question remains very risks failure from the start? Is it returning to their homes, lands and much an open one. Recent calculations because large parts of the internation- properties. Any claim that Palestinian put the total current market value of al community know that the extremist refugees are getting the support, pro- Palestinian land, housing and property position taken by Israel towards tection and attention they deserve stolen or destroyed by Israel at Palestinian refugees is so entrenched borders on the absurd. US$250 billion. This figure does not that finding solutions for the refugees include the billions claimed by such in a manner that is consistent with Israel’s theft of refugee Palestinian refugee-hosting countries their rights is simply unachievable? property as Jordan.4 Or is it because the international community simply cannot be bothered The longstanding Israeli policy of Successive Israeli governments have with such a difficult refugee popula- destroying the lives and livelihoods of introduced laws that have sought to tion when UNHCR is preoccupied with Palestinians and taking Palestinian give some form of formal ‘legitimacy’ financial crises and internal morale homes and lands has been a core com- to this massive property grab. The problems? ponent of the ethnic cleansing that innocuous name of Israel’s 1950 Israel has carried out for over five Absentee Property Law belies the reali- it seems the world simply doesn’t care decades. Although often forgotten, it ty that it has provided a ‘legal’ basis is vital to recall that when Israel was for five decades of ongoing theft. Whatever arguments may be used to created in 1948 the Palestinian majori- Legal challenges against the 1950 law seek to justify the continuing lack of ty population owned more than 90% of have repeatedly failed. willingness to provide protection for the land, houses and properties in his- refugees, many of whom have been toric Palestine while Jews possessed Tellingly, all of the so-called abandon- displaced from their homes for more less than 10%. Today that figure is ment laws adopted by all sides during than 54 years, the fact of the matter is almost precisely reversed, thanks to the war in Bosnia took as their guid- that, when viewed through the eyes of massive housing, land and property ance Israel’s 1950 Absentee Property the refugees themselves, it seems the rights violations and other crimes car- Law. Since the end of the Bosnian war, world simply doesn’t care. Their exclu- ried out by Israel against Palestinian all abandonment laws have been rele- sion from the protection granted refugees. Over 500 villages have been gated to the rubbish bin of history, under the Convention has the effect of destroyed by Israel in their haste to comprehensively repealed and encouraging other institutions and create ‘so-called’ facts on the ground replaced by laws designed to ensure FMR 16 Peace in the Middle East: getting real on the issues of Palestinian refugee property 43

enforcement of the refugee return and for property illegally confiscated dur- cal, non-discriminatory and equitable restitution provisions of the Dayton ing the Second World War. proposals on the negotiating table that Agreements. adequately address the restitution The failure to address this issue in the issue. It is hoped that the massive Housing and property resti- case of Palestinian refugees means restitution benefits rightfully enjoyed tution for all Palestinian that there is no real movement for- by hundreds of thousands of Israeli refugees ward and no reason to hope that the and other Jews will infuse the restitu- next agreement, whenever it is, can tion policies Israel places on the table. There can be no prospect of a work- last. Unresolved housing, property and Likewise, it will need to be realised by able peace agreement until the return land disputes almost always have a the Palestinians that overly politicised and property restitution question is nasty way of causing the next conflict, rhetoric and diatribes will not lead to properly addressed. Indeed, this is a wherever this may be. So to ignore this the development of viable restitution major lesson of all post-conflict situa- question in the final status talks processes. tions throughout the world: address between Israel and Palestine – whenev- restitution issues head on, and more er these may occur – would be a recipe Inclusion of a detailed restitution likely than not peace will hold. Ignore for future disaster. arrangement within the peace agree- it, and the war that was so hard to ment: All players – the UN, UNHCR, stop in the first place will be much Towards a restitution blueprint UNRWA, the EU, Russia, the US and more likely eventually to re-ignite. others that will be involved with even- If refugee rights are universal in tual peace talks, along with the Israeli In the case of Middle East peace, this nature – which they are surely intend- and Palestinian delegations – should would mean that part of any peace ed to be – then Palestinian refugees heed the lessons learned from other agreement between Israel and need to be offered the same solutions similar exercises, and include, in as Palestine would, by necessity, include that are routinely available to refugees detailed a manner as possible, the a detailed plan upholding the right of elsewhere. This would include recogni- contours of the restitution rights, every Palestinian refugee to an effec- tion that protecting the housing and institutions, mechanisms and proce- tive remedy for the housing, land and property restitution rights of refugees dures within the eventual peace property rights violations they have is now the rule, not the exception. Not agreement itself. These decisions must suffered. To date, most proposals for only has this right been affirmed on not be delayed for some indeterminate rectifying this massive illegal confisca- numerous occasions in UN resolutions time in the future, as was the case tion have centred either on the addressing the Middle East conflict under Oslo. They must be included in payment of non-defined amounts of but so too have many peace agree- the peace agreement itself. financial compensation (the most pro- ments and voluntary repatriation gressive Israeli position) or on the full agreements directly addressed the A workable and independent restitu- exercise of the right to return (the housing and property restitution tion institution: Any peace agreement mainstream Palestinian position). rights of returning refugees. Various worthy of its name will need to create Inadequate attention has been given to international legal standards also an independent institution to coordi- the policies, mechanisms, procedures explicitly address these rights, and the nate the entire restitution process. and institutions that could be created UN recently proposed the appoint- This institution must be entirely to make the re-assertion of Palestinian ment of a Special Rapporteur on the independent of both parties and be housing, land and property rights a Restitution of Refugee Property to give adequately supported – both financial- workable component of a permanent even greater prominence to this issue. ly and politically – by the international peace. If Palestinian refugees are to be So many countries have undergone community. Important lessons can be accorded the rights to which refugees restitution processes in the past two learned in this regard from the just about everywhere else are now decades, in fact, that a series of impor- Commission for Real Property Claims entitled, then the refugee issue must tant lessons can be readily identified in Bosnia, the Housing and Property be addressed through the lens of resti- to enhance the effectiveness of future Directorate in Kosovo and the Land tution and the rights to re-establish efforts at restorative justice. Claims Court in post-apartheid South control over confiscated properties. Africa. The restitution institution What would it take, then, in institu- would then coordinate all the bodies The Palestinians are hardly trying to tional terms to ensure that Palestin- created to implement the restitution break new ground. The right to return ians, like refugees from many other provisions of the eventual agreement. and the right to restitution of property nations, were able to implement their Needless to say, changes in Israeli law have a long legal history, and have rights to housing, property and land would need to precede any equitable been most recently actualised in such restitution? restitution process; most notably, the places as Bosnia, Kosovo, Absentee Property Law would need to Mozambique, South Africa, Tajikistan A renewed peace process based on be repealed in full, just as the repres- and throughout eastern and central human rights: A rights-based sive laws preventing restitution in Europe. The US has often provided approach to restoring the housing, Bosnia, South Africa and elsewhere political and financial backing for property and land rights of Palestinian were repealed. restitution. Nobody has done more to refugees, based squarely on basic prin- enshrine the establishment of the ciples of human rights and inter- A fair and equitable claims process: right to restitution of property than national law, provides the only reason- Any restitution process must allow all Jewish groups of Holocaust victims. able and fair basis for a just and Palestinian refugees and/or their heirs Through phenomenal organisation and lasting solution. Both sides in whatev- to submit a detailed restitution claim, determination they have helped ensure er talks may eventually emerge – and within a defined time-frame, outlining that hundreds of thousands of people they surely will, no matter how distant the precise nature of the restitution have been rightly allowed to return to, a prospect that may now seem – need remedy being sought by that particu- regain control over or be compensated to put human rights-consistent, practi- lar individual or family. This would 44 Peace in the Middle East: getting real on the issues of Palestinian refugee property FMR 16

include the right to submit a claim to Having a pronouncement by a restitu- acknowledge crimes committed by an independent judicial body seeking tion institution for Palestinian their own governments, whether these the restitution of their original homes refugees will not be enough for actual were committed long ago or in recent confiscated by Israel since 1947. This restitution to occur. Some form of years. For Israel to survive as a nation process would be legal in nature, powerful enforcement will need to be at peace with its neighbours, Israelis rather than solely political, and would a central element within the process. and Jews everywhere need to recog- include the establishment of a judicial nise that stealing the homes, lands body independent of both the Israeli Protecting the rights of secondary and properties of millions of innocent and Palestinian judiciaries but which occupants: For restitution to succeed, people is a price too high for the had sole jurisdiction over all outstand- the rights of all secondary occupants world to accept, and that this unprece- ing restitution claims and the power to (current occupants of Palestinian dented theft is something that will enforce these decisions within Israel refugee properties) to re-housing must never be forgotten by those who are and Palestine. be respected and secured. No one – still waiting for restitution. neither Israeli nor Palestinian – should A broad evidentiary base: In contrast end up homeless as a result of the Permanent peace will come when to many other instances of ethnic restitution process. discrimination ceases and tolerance cleansing, virtually all Palestinian own- returns, systems of apartheid-style A time limit to the process: As evi- ers and heirs whose properties have governance and military occupation denced by the more than two dozen been stolen still possess titles, deeds, are no longer accepted, and just and restitution programmes underway dur- land documents, keys, photographs equitable solutions are found to meet ing the past decade, any Palestinian and other pieces of evidence proving the reasonable demands of refugee restitution process will also their ownership. One of the few con- Palestinians to return to their original surely take considerable time to imple- crete things the UN has done to homes. Bringing UNHCR into the ment in full. It will be one fraught with promote the rights of Palestinian process would be one more step likely political and other tensions and tem- refugees is to digitalise many of the to make Palestinian restitution rights a pers are sure to become frayed. These property records held by the refugees, reality. are challenges facing all restitution the results of which are now under processes and will not be unique to Scott Leckie is Executive Director lock and key in the UN in New York. the Middle East. of the Centre on Housing Rights Physical proof of rights, rather than and Evictions, Geneva (COHRE) military muscle, should form the basis Conclusion www.cohre.org. for restitution decisions. Email: [email protected] From the outside, it appears almost An enforcement procedure: impossible for the average Israeli to For further information on fora available for Restitution has worked in Bosnia, come to terms with the fact that Israel Palestinian refugee restitution, see South Africa, Tajikistan, Germany, has had to commit decades of human www.badil.org/Publications/Briefs/Brief-No_2.html Latvia, Czech Republic, the Chagos rights violations and other crimes in and Al Awda, The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition www.al-awda.org. Islands, Hungary and many, many its attempt to create a so-called Jewish other places because effective enforce- State (recalling that one million Israeli 1. To see the Note, together with commentary on Jenin, Palestine, ment mechanisms were in place, citizens are Palestinians). However, cit- UNHCR’s revised interpretation of Article 1D, go to www.badil.org/Protection/Documents/Protect_ April 2002 whether judicial or political in nature. izens of other nations have had to Docs.htm. 2. For statistics on the total Palestinian refugee population, see www.shaml.org/resources/facts/ palestinian_refugees_fact_sheet.htm 3. For a review of the inadequacy of the Commission see www.badil.org/Publications/ Briefs/Brief5.pdf 4. See the excellent and very detailed article of Atif Kubursi ‘Valuing Palestinian Losses in Today’s Dollars’ in Palestinian Refugees: The Right of Return (Naseer Aruri, ed), Pluto Press, London, 217-251. See also: www.passia.org/publications/ Still Pictures/Donald Bostrom bulletins/english_refu/REFUGEES9.pdf FMR 16 Debate 45 debate

In FMR 13, an article on ‘Civil-military relations in Afghanistan’1 raised political or other extraneous factors). concerns over the blurring of roles between military and humanitarian In contrast, the military is not independent of but – in democracies, at actors in Afghanistan. In this piece, Ted van Baarda and Larry Minear least – subject to political control. debate more fully the question of uniforms… Yet in Afghanistan, as earlier in Kosovo, US forces are belligerents. Military haberdashery in When American troops, civil affairs Afghanistan First, to be lawful according to inter- personnel and Special Forces carry national law, a combatant must wear out aid activities, considerations of id agencies acknowledge the insignia or uniform that distinguishes humanity are not an end in them- contribution that soldiers can him or her at a distance from the selves but a tool to advance military A make in Afghanistan by recon- civilian population and carry his/her and political aims. As a result, funda- structing schools and roads but weapons openly. US military person- mental principles may be eroded. protest when US troops do aid work nel who wear civilian clothes and in civilian clothes and carrying conceal their weapons while on duty Third, humanitarian law specifies that weapons. Blurring essential distinc- risk losing their status as lawful com- just as military operations must be tions between humanitarian and batants. That is the very point that US distinct from humanitarian opera- military personnel, they argue, puts officials have themselves made in tions, so too must their personnel. professional aid workers at risk. By seeking to deny captured Taliban and Humanitarian personnel are non- contrast, European military forces in al-Qa’ida forces prisoner of war sta- combatants and may not be shot at. the International Security Assistance tus. But the Defence Department has As US servicemen in civilian clothes Force doing civic action work wear its own concerns. "When the bad guys repair school buildings, they are likely uniforms throughout. start wearing uniforms so that they to be seen as unlawful combatants or can be shot at 300 metres", a US com- spies (one objective is, in fact, intelli- The laws of armed conflict, including mander in Kabul states, "my guys will gence gathering) and become a the four Geneva Conventions on the do so too". Yet the issue is fundamen- legitimate target for hostile fire. The Protection of Victims of War adopted tal. Although a uniformed combatant desire for camouflage endangers aid following World War II, require com- who fulfills the stated criteria may law- professionals of all nationalities who batants to be visually distinguishable fully kill an enemy combatant, an pride themselves on their transparen- from non-combatants. When 15 American soldier in mufti may not nec- cy, and imperils those they assist. respected American aid agencies essarily do the same. Winning the war wrote to US Defence Secretary Donald on terrorism by copying al-Qa’ida tac- Aid professionals have good reason to Rumsfeld and National Security tics may represent a Pyrrhic victory. encourage the military to give top pri- Advisor Condoleezza Rice to empha- ority to ensuring security for Afghan sise the risk posed to them by US Second, international humanitarian civilian populations rather than doing servicemen doing civic action work in law makes firm distinctions between hands-on relief work. The refusal of civilian garb, the Bush administration humanitarian activities and military the US to join the new International accommodated their request to the operations. According to the Criminal Court and the Pentagon’s extent of requiring American troops International Court of Justice, the for- rather loose interpretation of the laws dispensing aid in Kabul and Mazar to mer should comply with the Red of war may well call into question the wear full military uniforms. Cross Movement’s fundamental prin- desirability of further military-civilian Elsewhere, they would be expected to ciples including independence from cooperation. wear only a piece of their uniforms. political considerations, neutrality Aid agencies view these concessions with respect to issues at the heart of Given the internationally recognised as inadequate. Three fundamental the conflict and impartiality (i.e. aid legal obligations of military personnel, issues arise. responses based on need rather than it is not too much to insist that American soldiers dress properly for the aid jobs they tackle.

Ted van Baarda directs the Humanitarian Law Consultancy in the Hague, Larry Minear the Humanitarianism and War Project at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. Emails: [email protected] and [email protected]

1. FMR13 pp14-15. www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/ FMR13/fmr13.5.pdf

FMR 15 included two articles on the need to protect children from sex- searching it appears for any means to ual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian crises. Since then, the UN undermine the original assessment. Virtually every sentence made about has carried out its own investigation into the matter. Asmita Naik – the West Africa report can be rebutted author of one of the articles in FMR 15 – responds here to the UN’s (with evidence in support). To me, the report. most unsavoury part of all this is that it is a huge denial of the victims and Opinion viduals from 3 different countries and communities whose voices resound several camps – hundreds of miles throughout the original study. I find UN investigation into sexual apart. It seems unlikely that all those the continual use of the words exploitation by aid workers1 to whom we spoke committed a spon- "rumour", "gossip" and "stories" a – justice has not been done taneous but orchestrated act of particularly insulting denigration of perjury. Surely it was right to confiden- the heart-felt concerns raised by these “ idespread sexual exploita- tially note their concerns and submit people. tion of refugees has not them to the UN for investigation? W been confirmed," according After a litany of what appear to be to the UN investigation into allega- Right it may have been, but welcome – disparaging comments about the tions brought forth last year it seems not. We now find our report assessment report, the UN does at concerning the abuse of refugee chil- rejected on a variety of unfounded least supply one objective reason for dren in West Africa. As one of the and spurious grounds. For example, its apparent failure to verify cases: it’s team that carried out the original we are accused of providing a "few difficult to find people as the refugee study2, I find this conclusion implausi- vague and dated examples" only – population is highly mobile. Yes ….. ble and misleading. hardly a fair description of the sup- especially given the several months porting documentation; relying on that seem to have elapsed by the time The UN claims the allegations in the "third party" accounts – we talked to the investigation began work on the original report cannot be substantiat- victims and even suspects; including a ground. Tension was so great by then ed – even though only a minority of miscellany of irrelevancies e.g. "war- that few witnesses, no doubt, would the core complaints appear to have related incidents", "adult prostitution", have braved coming forward. Other been fully investigated. The UN was "locals and IDPs", "nicknames", "ini- reasons why the majority of allega- given 64 pages of supporting docu- tials" etc – such information, if tions are side-stepped include (by mentation: core information included at all, was carefully demar- deduction since it is never revealed) comprising current allegations against cated; and concluding that a very restricted terms of reference 67 named aid workers, the names of exploitation is "widespread" – we took which can only have fully covered UN over 40 alleged child victims, other care not to make such a judgement (and possibly even only UNHCR) staff, useful contextual observations; sec- (however well-founded) in the assess- given the lack of authority to force an ondary material included additional ment report. A motley collection of investigation into recalcitrant workers allegations that were either dated or examples and case-studies are fed from other agencies. Internally dis- less specifically identified, numerous back to indicate that nothing could be placed children are also excluded reported incidents involving unnamed proven. The common denominator of from the mandate which restricts peacekeepers, and more general all these instances seems to be that itself to refugees; sex for money or claims against particular agencies. The they are the ‘exceptions which dis- other material exchange is left out (as UN says it investigated 12 cases and prove the rule’, i.e. extreme or if only sex for aid is a violation of the appears to report back on no more marginal cases that were not the Convention of the Rights of the Child); than a possible 4 of the 67 main alle- mainstay of the report. For example, and only two countries are properly gations. Under the circumstances, it the UN implies that under-aged girls covered (missing a much needed full does not seem quite appropriate that in our report were in fact grown enquiry in Liberia whose refugee the remainder are dismissed in their women (but does not state explicitly camps, alongside those in Guinea, entirety. that at least 40 girls under 18 were were said to harbour the most chronic named in the report nor does it and entrenched pattern of this type of The implication, moreover, is that specify how many of these were abuse). Searching questions can also nothing can be substantiated because actually traced and proven to be be asked about the investigation itself. the information provided was useless. adults – relatively few, I suspect). Did it have the specialised methodolo- The allegations had come up unex- gy and skills to verify such cases? And pectedly during the course of a broad Instead of reaching for the heart of was it independent enough of UNHCR qualitative sociological study on sexu- the matter and the 67 current allega- to want to do so? al violence and exploitation tions about aid workers, the UN seems commenced with no intention of to skirt around the edges, reciting Despite these limitations, the UN itself investigating aid workers. Complaints obscure cases involving unnamed appears to stumble across 43 new were received from over 80 separate peacekeepers or dated and inherently allegations – and then reduces these sources comprised of groups and indi- difficult to prove allegations, to 10 ‘provable’ cases. The UN FMR 16 Debate 47

operating in a lawless environment should be subjected to the same reports/a57_465.htm certainly has greater success than the scrutiny as national governments? 2. I participated in the original study as a UNHCR employee. The original study has never been pub- British police who estimate that only The UN bureaucracy, existing in some- lished but an official UNHCR executive summary of one in ten cases of rape are reported thing of an international cocoon, is initial findings and recommendations is online at to them and of these, only one in spared an inquisition from opposition www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/open- doc.pdf?id=3c7cf89a4&tbl=PARTNERS. The full seven ever results in a successful politicians, disgruntled backbenchers, study is variously referred to in this article as the prosecution. Moreover, the UN notes a dissatisfied electorate, vocal pres- "original", "assessment" or "West Africa" report or that conditions are "ripe" for exploita- sure groups, pundits, political study. tion; its own cases prove graphic and satirists, public enquiries and a relent- startling reading; and it makes exten- less tabloid press. The diplomatic and sive recommendations – unjustified, NGO community surrounding the UN, one would think, for such a purport- which had been moved at one stage to edly limited problem. heated accusations behind closed doors, now appears virtually quelled FMR Editorial I have to conclude therefore that jus- into silence – just when it needs to Advisory Board tice has not been done to the original speak up for the victims. report and the complaints raised Although the EAB members’ institutional therein. Its contents have been grossly From the outset and to this day, this affiliations are listed below, they serve in misrepresented in my view and stand case highlights the desperate need for an individual capacity and do not neither proven nor dis-proven for the an independent mechanism of human- necessarily represent their institutions. most part. The array of information itarian accountability. The victims that emerged unexpectedly at the needed to have their concerns impar- perimeter of our broad sociological tially investigated; they now deserve Sanjib Baisya study showed at the very least a to have an independent review of the DFID significant and recurring pattern of management weaknesses that seem to behaviour which needed acknowledg- have led to this travesty. There would Jon Bennett ing and addressing – not playing be much for such a body to review: a Oxford Development Consultants down. probe into the apparent misinformation which has circulated these past Stephen Castles Moreover, the UN’s own findings do months and a fair hearing for all sides Refugee Studies Centre not, to my mind, support a minimalist concerned would be good starting conclusion. If anything the total sum points. B S Chimni of the cases from both reports (67 + Jawaharlal Nehru University 43) signals a very worrying trend The legitimate questions raised by the Maurice Herson indeed. The new scandals in the study about the responsibility of Oxfam GB refugee camps of Kenya, Zimbabwe humanitarian agencies (the type of and Nepal etc further fuel the suppo- questions habitually asked about gov- Michael Kingsley-Nyinah sition that this is a problem of global ernments and corporations) are UNHCR proportions. In short, I believe the UN dismissed by the UN which instead report to be a whitewash and a traves- rebukes us for having "unfairly tar- Andrew Lawday ty of justice for the victims. nished the reputation and credibility" Global IDP Project of UN and NGO workers. In my view, So what recourse do the victims have? it is rather this attitude which taints Erin Mooney Little, it seems. The weakened legal the humanitarian world by implying Brookings-SAIS Project on systems in such war-torn countries that wounded egos are more impor- Internal Displacement mean de facto immunity, both for tant than the physical sanctity of a individuals from criminal prosecu- child. Surely this does a dis-service to Bonaventure Rutinwa tions and for employers from those in the humanitarian sector who University of Dar es Salaam negligence lawsuits. Furthermore, have tried to respond to this problem the UN and its staff apparently enjoy with integrity and makes their job on Dan Seymour diplomatic immunity and more than the ground even harder. UNICEF ample protection from ever being made to answer for their actions. Asmita Naik [email protected] Marit Sorheim The foregoing is the opinion of the author alone, and Norwegian Refugee Council Other forms of accountability, normal should not be imputed to the publisher or others. in any functioning democracy are also Laurence Whitehead 1. See Report of the SG on the activities of the University of Oxford absent. Surely inter-governmental Office of Internal Oversight Services ‘Investigation organisations, funded by the public to into sexual exploitation of refugees by aid workers Richard Williams in West Africa’, UN document number A/57/465 provide a public service and with Refugee Council, UK political appointees at their helm, available at http://www.un.org/Depts/oios/ 48 Updates FMR 16 update UNIYA/Jesuit Refugee Service

Why did they return? The mass return to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran by Peter Marsden

Over the spring and summer of 2002, Afghanistan received a reported 1.8 million refugees returning from Pakistan and Iran. This was perceived by many Western governments, anx- ious to return their own Afghan refugee populations, as a massive Afghan returnees vote of confidence in the new Afghan receive mine- government established in the wake awareness training, of the US-led military intervention of Pul-i-Charkhi distrib-

October 2001. It is clear, however, UNHCR/N Behring ution centre, Kabul. from a recent study undertaken by a sustained media campaign in which with UNHCR and the government of the Kabul-based Afghanistan Research 1 Afghans have been advised that it is Afghanistan to provide assistance to and Evaluation Unit that the reasons now time to return to Afghanistan, up to 400,000 returnees from March for return were far more complex and that they will be provided with free 2002 onwards, Pakistan firmly closed that refugees have returned to a situa- transportation to their home areas its door on new arrivals. This change tion which can barely sustain them. and that the UN will be there to assist in the climate with Pakistan was com- them on their return. Returnees are pounded by concerted action by the Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan therefore aggrieved on arrival in Pakistan police to substantially reduce and Iran from the early 1980s Afghanistan to find that UNHCR is the Afghan refugee population in the onwards, in response to the Soviet only making a contribution to their cities of Pakistan, leaving those in the military engagement, and there have transport costs, not meeting the full camps to be dealt with subsequently. been successive outflows over the costs, and that the UN is not Refugees were also encouraged to course of the 1990s as a consequence resourced to provide assistance to return by the media coverage of a of inter-Mujahidin fighting, the more than a small fraction of the donor conference held in Tokyo in Taliban conquests of one city after returnees and that even this is on a January 2002 which gave the clear another, Taliban restrictions on the very limited scale. The Iranian govern- impression that a substantial amount population and the effects of the ment’s media campaign has also had of funding would be provided for the 1998-2001 drought. There have also the effect of fuelling long-standing reconstruction of Afghanistan and been some returns, notably in 1992, prejudice in the Iranian population so that there would be plenty of jobs when almost a million went back from that Afghans have been subjected to available. The reality has fallen far Pakistan to mark the ending of the much higher levels of verbal and short of expectations. The fact that jihad against the Soviet Union follow- physical abuse. 1.5 million returned from Pakistan ing the collapse of the Soviet-backed while fewer than 300,000 returned government. Pakistan received substantially greater from Iran can be seen as reflecting assistance from the international com- the much greater ease with which Iran has been placing steady pressure munity than was accorded to Iran. Afghans can return to Pakistan. It on Afghans to return since the three- However, its tolerance also waned in would also appear that as many as year voluntary repatriation agreement, the mid 1990s after donor support half a million people returned imme- negotiated with UNHCR and the for food assistance and the provision diately to Pakistan after claiming the Afghan government in December of basic services to Afghan refugees assistance package. The numbers 1992, failed to secure the return of effectively ceased in September 1995. therefore need to be treated with more than a few hundred thousand A major downturn in support for the some caution. out of its 2.9 million Afghan refugee refugees occurred at the beginning of population. This pressure has taken 2001, following a further large influx The AREU study poses the question as the form of a progressive withdrawal of refugees and the Pakistan govern- to whether UNHCR, by offering an of entitlements to health and educa- ment made the conditions for new assistance package, was lending legiti- tion services and the introduction of arrivals extremely unattractive there- macy to a premature return regulations to impose penalties on after. This, combined with growing programme. UNHCR is now taking Iranian employers who employ police harassment and the closing of steps to ensure that those considering Afghans. The Iranian police have also one of the major camps, sent a power- return next year have more realistic maintained a climate of fear through ful message that Afghans should not expectations of what they will find on the use of arbitrary arrests and depor- see themselves as having a long-term their return. tations of Afghans and the use of future in Pakistan. Then, when a detention centres. These pressures repatriation agreement was drawn up Peter Marsden is Coordinator of BAAG, the British have been compounded, this year, by Agencies Afghanistan Group. FMR 16 Updates 49

Email: [email protected]. for the Great Lakes region and $38 government and the Moro Islamic Website: www.baag.org.uk million for southern Africa. Liberation Front (MILF) led to the

1. The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit return of nearly a million people who (AREU) is an independent research institution that In November, it had been reported had been displaced, tens of thousands conducts and facilitates action-oriented research that UNHCR’s funding crisis was are still displaced due to security and analysis to inform policy, improve practice and increase the impact of humanitarian and adversely affecting the implementa- fears and lack of support to rebuild development programmes in Afghanistan. tion of a wide range of programmes their homes. Fundamental to AREU’s purpose is the belief that for the welfare of the world’s its work should make a difference in the lives of Afghans. AREU is the only humanitarian and devel- refugees. Funding by donor nations Displaced people, or ‘evacuees’ they opment research centre headquartered in for international refugee programmes are often called in the Philippines, Afghanistan; this allows the unit both to produce valuable research and to ensure that its findings had been seriously inadequate during mainly flee their homes lest they be become integrated into the process of change tak- 2002, triggering major assistance cut- caught in the crossfire or accused of ing place on the ground. backs in refugee camps around the supporting the MILF or ASG. Many

Recent publications: world, according to the US Committee have fled due to the impossibility of • Addressing Livelihoods in Afghanistan, by for Refugees.3 USCR reported that farming in heavily mined areas. Adam Pain and Sue Lautze UNHCR was experiencing a shortfall Indiscriminate government shelling of • Strategic Coordination in Afghanistan, by Nicholas Stockton of some $200 million and that the rebel areas has caused widespread • The A to Z of Afghanistan Assistance: A Guide organisation had severely curtailed fear. to Aid Mechanisms, Processes and Structures • The Public Health System in Afghanistan: programmes providing food, water, Current Issues, by Ronald Waldman and health care and education. The fund- Displaced people and civilians face Homaira Hanif ing crisis had also forced dozens of serious human rights violations per- • Review of the Strategic Framework for Afghanistan, by Mark Duffield, Patricia relief agencies that depend on UNHCR petrated by the army and the rebels. Gossman and Nicholas Leader funds to cut their services to International observers have noted refugees. For example, programmes to that the Philippine military have been All AREU publications can be downloaded at www.areu.org.pk. Hard copies are available by prevent sexual and gender-based vio- responsible for ‘disappearances’, arbi- emailing [email protected] or by contacting the lence against female refugees have trary arrests of suspected ASG AREU office in Islamabad: Tel: +92 (0)51 227-7260. Fax: +92 (0)51 282-5099. been curtailed despite investigations sympathisers and burning of houses. this year pointing to the persistent Further displacement is feared as the problem of violence and exploitation US and the Philippine army focus on UNHCR funding crisis? committed against refugee women Abu Sayyaf. Many observers question and girls. the alleged links between al Qa’ida and ASG used to justify the offensive, By early December 2002, it was 1. See IRIN, UNOCHA’s Integrated Regional arguing that the ASG – notorious for reported that UNHCR had received a Information Networks: www.irinnews.org. To ransom kidnappings and beheading of record US$317 million in pledges for receive IRIN reports via email, subscribe via www.irinnews.org or contact [email protected]. hostages – is a localised bandit group 2003, amounting to one third of its 2. See www.unhcr.ch and click on ‘Global Appeal with no political agenda. overall projected requirements for the 2003’ in right column. year.1 UNHCR said that the pledges, 3. USCR report (20 November 2002): see www.refugees.org/news/press_releas- Prolonged residence in overcrowded which were made in response to its es/2002/112002b.cfm 2 evacuation centres without adequate 2003 Global Appeal , were seen as a health and sanitation services has "good early signal" of donor support. exposed IDP children to measles, "These initial pledges are higher than Filipinos displaced by war cholera, stomach disorders and upper ever and they are generally more flexi- on terror respiratory problems. A third of chil- ble – a sign that the donors heeded dren in the most affected regions of our call for early pledges with less The Global IDP project has drawn Mindanao are reported to be under- earmarking for specific regions," said attention to the plight of those dis- nourished. Though assistance is being Anne Willem Bijleveld, UNHCR’s placed in 2002 by US-Philippine provided by the UN and NGOs, the Director of Communications and military operations against Muslim government of the Philippines has Information. rebels in the southern island of Mindanao. It highlights the need to made little effort to seek external assistance. Offers from donors to pro- Despite the pledges for next year, provide greater assistance to rebuild vide direct aid have been rejected as however, High Commissioner for homes and livelihoods in a region the government prefers resources to Refugees Ruud Lubbers added that a torn by ethnic and religious conflict be channelled through state institu- shortfall of about $25 million was still for three decades. tions. faced for this year. "There is an urgent need to receive this amount," Thousands of villagers, mainly women Global IDP Project reports on the Philippines can he said. Africa is the most needy area and children, have been affected by be accessed at: www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/ for 2003, requiring a total of $325 military operations on the islands of idpSurvey.nsf/wCountries/Philippines. For further information, contact Frederik Kok, tel: +41 (0)22 million. $112.8 million is required for Basilan and Jolo against the Abu 799 0700; Email: [email protected]. East and the Horn of Africa, $84.8 Sayyaf Group (ASG). Although an million for West Africa, $82.5 million August 2001 agreement between the 50 RSC news FMR 16

Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, 21 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3LA, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1865 270722. Fax: +44 (0)1865 270721. www.rsc.ox.ac.uk Email: [email protected]

Queen’s Anniversary Prize Southeast Asia Regional Palestinian Refugees and the for the Refugee Studies School in Forced Migration Universal Declaration of Centre 8-18 December 2003: Human Rights Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10-11 May 2003 : Oxford

This Regional School, run in collabora- Through a mix of lectures, working tion with the Asian Research Centre group exercises and interactive ses- for Migration at Chulalongkorn sions, participants engage actively and University, aims to provide those who critically with the contemporary work with refugees and other dis- debates in the human rights move- The RSC’s contribution to the study of placed people in Asia and Oceania ment and analyse the specific context forced migration and refugees has with a better understanding of the of Palestinian refugees in the Middle been recognised by the Queen’s forces and institutions that dominate East (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Anniversary Prize for Higher and their world and the worlds of those Bank, Gaza and Israel) in light of these Further Education. The Prize is award- who have been uprooted. Participants debates. Instructors: Dr Randa Farah ed every two years to 20 or so typically include host government (University of Western Ontario, academic units that can clearly officials, intergovernmental and non- Canada) and Fiona McKay, LLM demonstrate the outstanding achieve- governmental agency personnel (Lawyer’s Committee for Human ment and benefit of their work. engaged in planning, administering Rights, New York). Fee: £100. and coordinating assistance. Contact Dominique Attala at The RSC was commended on its cen- Enquiries to: SEA Regional School [email protected] or at the RSC tral role in developing Refugee Studies Administrator, Asian Research Centre address. as a distinct field of investigation; its for Migration, 7th Floor Prajadhipok- work with UN agencies and interna- Rambhai Barni Building, tional organisations; its teaching Chulalongkorn University, Phyathai International Summer School programme; the establishment of the Road, Bangkok, 10330, Thailand. in Forced Migration 2003 world’s leading library on forced Tel: +66 2 2187462. migration and refugee issues; its wide 7-25 July 2003: Email: [email protected]. range of publications, including Wadham College, Oxford or: SEA Regional School Project Forced Migration Review; the develop- Manager, RSC (address above). ment of Forced Migration Online; and This three-week residential course Email: [email protected] the establishment of effective interna- provides a broad understanding of the tional networks. issues of forced migration and humanitarian assistance; participants The Rights of Refugees examine, discuss and review theory under International Law 1st Annual Student and practice and develop communica- Conference on Forced 26-27 April 2003 : Oxford tion and analysis skills useful for the Migration workplace. Designed for managers, This weekend seminar focuses on the administrators, field workers and 22 February 2003 : Oxford specific human rights to which all policy makers in humanitarian fields. refugees are entitled under the 1951 Cost: £2300 (incl. B&B accommoda- The organisation of the 1st Annual Refugee Convention and its 1967 tion, weekday lunches, tuition fees, Student Conference on Forced Protocol. Its goal is to equip policy course materials, social activities). Migration (organised by RSC students) makers, advocates and scholars with a Contact the International Summer aims to create a relaxed and support- solid understanding of the interna- School Administrator. ive environment in which tional refugee rights regime. Tel: +44 (0)1865 270723. postgraduates can meet, present and Instructor: Prof James C Hathaway, Email: summer.school @qeh.ox.ac.uk share their research and their experi- Director, Program in Refugee and ence. To register, email fmsc03@ Asylum Law, University of Michigan hotmail.com with name, contact details Law School. Fee: £130. The Bob Johnson (email/tel), univ/dept, programme Contact Dominique Attala at Scholarship and/or thesis title, year of study. Cost: [email protected]. £10 if registered by 31 January; The RSC is delighted to announce the £15 thereafter. Cost includes lunch. establishment of a new scholarship for a European student on its Master Forced Migration Online : www.forcedmigration.org of Science course. The scholarship is FMO resources include: research guides; digital library of full-text the gift of Bruna Johnson, the widow documents; searchable web catalogue with descriptions of/links to relevant web-based of the Centre’s most generous friend, resources; directory with contact details for related organisations; photo section; plus regularly updated newsfeed. Email [email protected] for details. Robert A Johnson. For more information, email [email protected] FMR 16 UNHCR 51

UNHCR evaluation and research on refugee programmes in Africa

he African continent hosts the continuation review (G Bettocchi second largest refugee popula- and A Jamal, May 2002) This is a regular page of news T tion of concern to UNHCR (3.3 ■ Responding to protracted refugee and debate from UNHCR’s million refugees) and is one of situations: Liberians in Ghana (S Evaluation and Policy Analysis UNHCR’s main areas of operation. The Dick, July 2002) Unit (EPAU). For further Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit ■ Responding to protracted refugee information, or suggestions (EPAU) has, accordingly, undertaken a situations: Liberians in Côte number of projects that deal with dis- d’Ivoire (T Kuhlman, July 2002) regarding this feature, contact placed persons in Africa. Below are ■ A beneficiary-based evaluation of Jeff Crisp, head of EPAU. details of some recent evaluations UNHCR’s programme in Guinea, Email [email protected] and other reports on refugees in West Africa (T Kaiser, Jan 2001) Africa. In line with UNHCR’s policy of ■ The Sudan/Eritrea emergency: May keepers and UNHCR’s ‘ladder of full transparency regarding evalua- – July 2000: An evaluation of options’ (L Yu, August 2002) tions, all these documents are in the UNHCR’s response (A Jamal, Feb ■ Pastoral society and transnational public domain and may be accessed 2001) refugees: population movements in at www.unhcr.ch/EPAU. ■ UNHCR’s programme for internally Somaliland and eastern Ethiopia, Evaluation reports displaced persons in Angola (A 1988 – 2000 (G Ambroso, August Jamal and O Stage, May 2001) 2002) Since 2000, EPAU has issued eleven ■ Lessons learned from the imple- ■ Changing priorities in refugee evaluation reports that touch directly mentation of the Tanzania security protection: the Rwandan repatria- on forced displacement in Africa. A package (J Crisp, May 2001) tion from Tanzania (B Whitaker, number focus on protracted refugee ■ The WHALE: Wisdom we have February 2002) situations; other topics include sexual acquired from the Liberia ■ Liberians in Ghana: living without violence, internally displaced persons Experience: Report of a regional and security. humanitarian assistance (S Dick, workshop, Monrovia, Liberia, 26-27 February 2002) ■ UNHCR and internally displaced April 2001 (J Crisp, May 2001) ■ Mobility, territoriality and ■ persons in Angola: a programme Evaluation of UNHCR’s policy on sovereignty in post-colonial refugees in urban areas: Case study Tanzania (S Van Hoyweghen, of Cairo (S Sperl, June 2001) October 2001) ■ Evaluation of the Dadaab firewood ■ Mind the gap! UNHCR, project, Kenya (CASA Consulting, humanitarian assistance and June 2001) the development process (J Crisp, ■ Minimum standards and essential May 2001) needs in a protracted refugee situa- ■ Humanitarian issues in the tion: a review of UNHCR’s Biafra conflict (N Goetz, April 2001) programme in Kakuma, Kenya ■ Vital links in social security: (A Jamal, November 2000) Somali refugees in the Dadaab New Issues in Refugee camps, Kenya (C Horst, April 2001) ■ Research Working Paper The humanitarian hangover: Series transnationalization of governmental practice in Tanzania’s This EPAU series covers a wide range refugee- populated areas (L Landau, of topics. A diversity of opinions is April 2001) presented by UNHCR staff, lawyers, ■ Refugee aid and protection in humanitarian practitioners and acade- rural Africa: working in parallel or mics. Among recent papers focusing cross-purposes? (O Bakewell, March on Africa are: 2001)

■ Separating ex-combatants and refugees in Zongo, DRC: peace- UNHCR/R Wilkinson 52 Norwegian Refugee Council FMR 16

Angola: meeting the challenges of peace

he signing of the peace agree- of the entire population. Many have to international law and Angola’s own ment between UNITA and the been displaced for decades. NRC has Minimum Standards. It is therefore T Angolan government in April taken responsibility for the return very important that NRC and the rest 2002 revealed a tremendous humani- process in three municipalities in the of the international community moni- tarian challenge in areas formerly Huila province. Initially the govern- tor the return process closely. occupied by UNITA. The Norwegian ment stated that all displaced people Refugee Council has given this work should return by 15 October 2002. Many IDPs have lived in other parts of the highest priority but the funding This ‘deadline’ has now been post- the country for long periods, and situation for NGOs and the UN organi- poned to the end of 2002. This some prefer to settle there instead of sations in Angola is critical. schedule is not realistic, and NRC is returning home. This right is estab- working to ensure a voluntary return lished in the UN Guiding Principles. After 26 years of civil war the human- in security and dignity. itarian situation in Angola is dire. Two Since 1995 NRC has worked in the million people are in need of humani- The security situation in the return north of Angola, assisting Angolan tarian assistance on a daily basis. areas is still fragile, especially in the refugees returning from DR Congo. In Many of those live in former UNITA- southern part of the country, because recent years the scope of repatriation controlled regions. Prior to the of land-mines. It is essential that dem- has been limited but the number of signing of the peace agreement, ining and infrastructure rehabilitation returnees is expected to increase in humanitarian organisations had no and reconstruction complement the the coming months. NRC is planning access to these areas. return process. Angola is one of the the repatriation in coordination with few African countries to have devel- UNHCR and local authorities. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) oped Minimum Standards for Return is one of many NGOs that has made and Development, modelled on the For further information on an extra effort to support the popula- UN Guiding Principles on Internal NRC’s work in Angola, contact tion in these areas. NRC has extended Displacement.1 However, the Angolan the Angola programme its activities to remote areas of the government has not been very good at coordinator, Marit Sorheim. Cuando Cubango province in the putting its principles into effect. Email: [email protected]. southeast of the country, where food There have been examples of forced and non-food items, including agricul- return, which is prohibited according 1. See the article by Kamia Carvalho on p31-33. tural tools and seeds, are being distributed to IDPs and families of former UNITA soldiers in cooperation with the World Food Programme.

Only 5,000 out of 80,000 ex-UNITA soldiers have been included in the Angolan army. It is crucial that these former soldiers are given an alternative to picking up arms again. The future for the ex-combatants is a key issue if peace is to be sustainable.

Because of lack of extra funding to assist people in areas that have recently become accessible to humanitarian organisations, it has been necessary for WFP to cut rations for IDPs already living in camps. These people will remain in need of humanitarian aid for a long time. There are four million IDPs in Angola, one third Norwegian Refugee Council FMR 16 Global IDP Project 53

Liberia: learning from a foretold disaster

ive years after Africa’s oldest In 2002 fighting spread and intensi- States. Both had posited elections as a republic held the first elections fied, at times coming close to the magic remedy for Liberia’s ills and F in its 150-year history, Liberia’s capital, Monrovia. More than 180,000 had an interest in being seen as a return to war has created a devastat- displaced Liberians are living in champion of democracy in Liberia – ing humanitarian and human rights camps around the country. Tens of Nigeria to maintain its status as crisis that remains largely hidden thousands of others are seeking assis- regional superpower after leading a from the outside world. tance from relatives and friends. peacekeeping force in the 1990s and Conditions are miserable: increasing the US out of a desire to rid itself of Liberia enjoyed two years of tenuous numbers have taken shelter in public moral responsibility to its former peace before fighting re-erupted at buildings and warehouses or are liv- colony. Taylor has seen off UN and the end of 1999 after the rebel move- ing in the open air. As many as Nigerian diplomatic and military ini- ment, Liberians United for Reconcilia- 300,000 Liberians have fled to neigh- tiatives to contain him. Donor tion and Democracy (LURD), struck bouring countries. The number of antipathy is acute and humanitarian from bases in neighbouring Guinea. civilians trapped inside conflict zones operations thus severely constrained. Lacking defined leadership, the in the north and west of Liberia is Once again the cost is borne by inno- LURD’s sole objective is to topple the unknown. Fleeing civilians report fla- cent civilians. government of President Charles grant and systematic human rights Taylor. The conflict pivots around abuses by all parties. An October As a result, Liberia has a ‘legitimate’ control of gold and diamond-rich 2002 Amnesty International report government that does not tolerate areas in the region where the borders of detailed forced recruitment, summary challenge or dissent and a president Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea meet executions, arbitrary killings, torture, with regional aspirations who has and has embroiled all three countries. rape, abductions and detention. backed and continues to harbour Military claims on all sides are often Attacks often entail massive looting armed dissidents bent on destabilis- hard to verify. The situation is compli- sprees. What has been documented ing neighbouring countries. Massive cated by reports of in-fighting between may be just the tip of the iceberg; refugee flows have resulted from the various pro-government militias. insecurity and a climate of terror cycle of violence that ebbs and flows ensure that much of what happens in between Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea The Global IDP Project is a project of the Liberia goes unreported. and now Côte d’Ivoire. Norwegian Refugee Council and is admin- istered through its Geneva office. Humanitarian agencies warn that an Liberia is not the first country to Staff alarming number of IDPs are dying – demonstrate the potentially disas- Project Coordinator: Elisabeth Rasmusson principally of malaria and diarrhoea – trous consequences of engineering Database: Andreas Danevad as conditions worsen. "Compared with sham elections without addressing Information Officers: Christophe Beau, Liberian refugees, their situation is the causes of conflict. Unless the Frederick Kok, Greta Zeender, Johannes much worse", noted the International international community learns that Klok, Cathy Benetti, Claudia McGoldrick Rescue Committee in a recent health there can be no quick-fix solution to a Training & Protection: Bjorn Pettersson, assessment.1 Funding for humanitari- complex crisis which has uprooted Publications & Advocacy: an programmes in Liberia has been hundreds of thousands of people and Andrew Lawday extremely poor, forcing agencies to destabilised an entire region, it will Donor Relations: Catherine Hubert reduce their services to the displaced. not be the last. Without long-term Donors How was this nightmare allowed to engagement to find a durable political Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden recur? The warning signs of renewed solution, further displacement, dis- (SIDA), Switzerland, UK-DFID, ECHO, crisis seemed clear enough. The main ease and death mortality will again be International Development and Research cause for concern should have been the sad and predictable outcome. Centre - Canada, Norwegian Church Aid, Charles Taylor, the megalomaniac World Vision, Save the Children UK, warlord who in 1989 plunged Liberia Claudia McGoldrick is an UN agencies and private donors. into West Africa’s bloodiest civil war Information Officer at the Global since Biafra’s attempt to secede from IDP Project, Geneva. Email: clau- Website Nigeria. In 1997 the demagogic Taylor [email protected]. www.idpproject.org won the legitimacy he craved through contact us at: the ballot box. Held in fear and awe 1. The IRC’s report ‘Health Assessment: Internally Global IDP Project by an impoverished and largely illiter- Displaced Camps in Liberia’ can be found at http://intranet.theirc.org/docs/LiberiaHealthAsses Chemin Moïse-Duboule 59 ate population, he had no need to rig smentp.pdf CH 1209 Geneva, Switzerland the elections. Taylor was subsequently Tel: + 41 22 799 0700 embraced not only by the majority of The Global IDP Project’s Liberia report is at Fax: + 41 22 799 0701 the Liberian people but also by his www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/idpSurvey.nsf/ Email: [email protected] erstwhile foes, Nigeria and the United wCountries/Liberia. 54 Publications FMR 16

The Refugee Experience – a psychosocial training publications module

Statistical Yearbook 2001 estimates range from 600,000 to Refugees, Asylum-seekers 800,000 in the north of the country and Other Persons of and up to 300,000 in the south. This report discusses why this state of Concern – Trends in affairs has come about, how effec- 30-hour training package available Displacement, Protection tive attempts to help have been, and via: www.forcedmigration.org/rfgexp and Solutions the role of the UN and the govern- Béla Hovy. UNHCR. 2002. ISSN 1684- ment of Iraq. 9051. 165pp. Online at For those wishing to improve their competency in planning, implement- www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/sta- Contact: Gimena Sanchez-Garzoli, ing and evaluating psychosocial tistics (then click on box in righthand Brookings-SAIS Project on Internal programmes supporting refugees. column). Displacement. Tel: +1 202 797 6168. Also for those who do not necessari- Email: [email protected]. ly have a professional background in the social sciences but who wish to gain insight into the psychosocial Adult Wars, Child Soldiers: dimensions of working with refugees. Voices of Children Involved in Armed Conflict in the CD ROM and printed versions also East Asia and Pacific Region available. Enquiries: Maryanne UNICEF. October 2002. 81pp. Free. Loughry, Refugee Studies Centre Online at www.unicef.org/media/pub (address on page 50). lications/adultwarschildsoldiers.pdf Email: maryanne.loughry@ qeh.ox.ac.uk

HPN publications now on a free CD-ROM

A CD-ROM is available with publications from the HPN and the Humanitarian Includes chapters on: populations, Policy Group at ODI. Hundreds of arti- new arrivals and durable solutions; cles, research papers, briefing papers gender, age and location; govern- and good practice reviews chart the ment and UNHCR refugee status Thousands of children are still being development of humanitarian practice determination; asylum and refugee recruited – often by force – into and policy from 1994 to March 2002. admission in industralised countries; state- and non-state armies in the The CD-ROM contains: country indicators. Plus maps. East Asia and Pacific region. Based on interviews with 69 current and ■ 20 issues of the HPN newsletter and Humanitarian Exchange Free copies can be obtained by send- former child combatants from six ■ 38 HPN Network Papers ing an email to [email protected] countries (Cambodia, East Timor, ■ abstracts of eight HPN Good Practice (Subject: 2001 Statistical Yearbook), Indonesia, Burma/Myanmar, Papua Reviews for as long as stocks last. New Guinea and the Philippines), this UNICEF report provides often ■ research reports, briefing papers and moving first-hand accounts of their research summaries from the experiences. It calls for the systemat- Humanitarian Policy Group The Internally Displaced ic demobilisation of all child People of Iraq soldiers; provision of support for All HPN publications are available in by John Fawcett & Victor Tanner. their reintegration, with an emphasis English and French. Copies of the CD- Brookings SAIS Project on Internal on access to education and vocation- ROM are free. Contact Alison Prescott at Displacement. October 2002. 54pp. al training; and strengthening the [email protected] or write to her at: Free. Online at capacity for provision of appropriate ODI, Portland House, Stag Place, London www.brook.edu/fp/projects/IDP/arti- psychosocial care and support for SW1E 5DP, UK. cles/iraqreport.htm former combatants.

If you would like to publicise one of This report is one of a series of pub- Contact Mark Thomas, UNICEF your organisation’s publications or if lications and activities to focus EAPRO, 19 Phra Atit Road, Bangkok you would like to recommend a publi- attention on IDPs in areas largely 10200, Thailand. Tel: +66 2 356 cation for this page, please send us full closed off from view. Numbers of 9407. Email: [email protected] details – and, preferably, a copy or IDPs in Iraq continue to grow; cover scan. FMR 16 Publications 55

Condemned to Repeat? Order from www.cornellpress.cornell. The Paradox of edu or any online bookstore or contact: The Kyoto Symposium on Humanitarian Action Sales Department, Sage House, Cornell Displacement in Africa University Press, 512 East State St, by Fiona Terry (Médecins Sans Kyoto, Japan: Nov 2002 Ithaca, NY 14850, USA. Frontières). Cornell University Press. Kyoto University’s Center for 2002. 304pp. ISBN 0 8014 8796 X. The Dressing Station: A African Area Studies held an $19.95. Surgeon’s Odyssey international symposium on by Jonathan Kaplan. Pan Macmillan. the ‘Multidimensionality of 2002. 416pp. ISBN 0330 480790. Displacement Risks in Africa’ to £6.99 paperback. analyse the underlying causes of displacement, identify the multiple risk groups, explore the multidi- mensional risks they encounter and discuss the means for counter- ing displacement problems. The symposium organisers were Prof Itaru Ohta and Prof Yntiso Gebre.

Participants included prominent scholars and experts from Africa, Asia, Europe and the US: profes- sors and/or researchers in universities and government institutions, policy makers from major international agencies such as the Fiona Terry was the head of the World Bank and UNHCR, and French section of MSF when it with- This is not the usual sort of publica- consultants. Based on their experi- drew from the Rwandan refugee tion that readers find in this section ences as planners, policy makers, camps in Zaire because aid intended of FMR but occasionally we (the researchers, educators, coordina- for refugees actually strengthened Editors) like to recommend something tors and practitioners, the those responsible for perpetrating a bit different. Surgeon Jonathan participants presented a wide genocide. Humanitarian groups have Kaplan has flown around the world on range of analytical papers covering failed, Terry believes, to face up to the medical assignments, sewing people different aspects of displacement core paradox of their activity: humani- together whose lives and countries are and impoverishment risks in tarian action aims to alleviate being ripped apart – countries such as Africa. suffering but by inadvertently sustain- Kurdistan, Mozambique, Burma and ing conflict it potentially prolongs Eritrea. The Dressing Station is The Symposium has issued a sum- suffering. Terry examines the side- described as "a book from the medical mary including proposed strategies effects of intervention by aid front line which shatters any precon- for researchers and practitioners. organisations and points out the need ceptions we may have about the A more detailed report can be to acknowledge the political conse- nature of surgery… an unforgettable found at www.fmreview.org. quences of the choice to give aid. portrait of modern, global medicine." For more details, contact Dr Gebre at the Condemned to Repeat? focuses on Order from any online bookstore or Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto four historically relevant cases: contact Bookpost: Tel: +44 01624 University, 46 Shimoadachi, Yoshida, Rwandan camps in Zaire, Afghan 836000. Fax: +44 01624 837033. Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. Tel: +81 75 753 7370. camps in Pakistan, Salvadoran and Email: [email protected]. Email: [email protected] Nicaraguan camps in Honduras, and Cambodian camps in Thailand.

UNHCR’s RefWorld on CD-ROM re-launched RefWorld 2003 is a comprehensive collection of reliable and up-to-date documents selected by UNHCR specialists from information partners throughout the world. Browser-based technology and a simple navigation structure provide rapid access to more than 70,000 full-text searchable documents ranging from country reports of governmental and non-governmental organisations to UNHCR policy and position papers and guidelines on the rights of refugees. Over 3000 cases of national and international jurisprudence and hundreds of maps not available on UNHCR’s website can be accessed off-line together with UNHCR’s entire library catalogue, contain- ing more than 15,000 references to books, refugee magazines, articles, conference reports and the Refugee Thesaurus.

Price: the complete package of two sets of RefWorld 2003 CD-ROMs costs: ■ $150 for governments, UN agencies, academic institutions, libraries, bar associations. ■ $75 for NGOs, legal clinics, individuals or lawyers involved in work with refugees/asylum seekers. 30% reduction for orders of 5 sets or more.

The first set of four CD-ROMs will be released at the beginning of 2003, followed by a second updated set to be published in autumn 2003. To order, or for more information, contact: UNHCR, Department of International Protection, Protection Information Section, Case Postale 2500, CH-1211 Genève 2, Switzerland. Tel: +41 22 739 8142. Fax: +41 22 739 7344. Email: [email protected] Interns and refugees in Africa – an Alchemy experience

The Alchemy Project at Tufts University offers a rare and residential areas. Ellen spoke with them about their access opportunity for graduate students to obtain field expe- to credit and their dreams of engaging in economic activities rience in refugee situations. In 2001 Tufts’ Refugees and once the World Relief microcredit project, which has shown Forced Migration Programme was given a grant to fund liveli- remarkable success in neighbouring Rwanda, opens in Goma. hood programmes in refugee camps and conflict-affected areas in Africa. Our goal is to support refugees’ livelihood activities In Johannesburg, South Africa, Maura Nicholson and Kim Perez by providing a resource that is in very short supply in many evaluated our programme for urban refugees with the Jesuit refugee hosting areas: credit. Small loans – microcredit – help Refugee Services (JRS): "The internship experience at JRS far refugees get on exceeded our their feet. expectations. We worked with a vari- We began with ety of refugee seven microcredit communities, programmes locat- women’s groups ed in the and unaccompa- Democratic nied minors to get Republic of Congo, a well-rounded pic- Guinea, Liberia, ture of a refugee’s Mozambique, life and challenges Sierra Leone, South in Johannesburg. Africa and Sudan. The insights we Our loan pro- gained through grammes enable our fieldwork refugees to start enabled us – joint- such microenter- ly with the JRS prises as Loan Officers – to shoemaking, mar- restructure the ket stands or Small Business hairdressing Loan programme salons. In rural to better meet the areas rotating unique needs of sering Gellek funds enable pur- T refugees in the chase of goats, city." Hairdressing salon set up by Congolese refugees with microcredit assistance, chickens or bicy- Maputo, Mozambique, August 2002 cles. Programmes In Kinshasa, are experimental Omekongo and flexible. Sometimes we have jettisoned the loan approach Dibinga, the son of Congolese exiles, traced his roots back to and given small grants to organisations or individuals with good the Congo and worked with JRS Kinshasa and a University of ideas on how enterprises can reduce conflict in their communi- Kinshasa student to understand how best to implement our pro- ties. Once we simply gave cash to a rural hospital caught up in grammes in the western DRC. In Mozambique, Kathy Macias rebel fighting in the eastern Congo and desperate to pay its worked with World Relief to evaluate their very successful staff in order to keep going. microcredit programme in the refugee camps outside Maputo. In Sierra Leone, Tim Nikula assessed our microcredit pro- A key component of Alchemy is that graduate student interns gramme with American Refugee Committee and helped them from Tufts University spend part of the summer working along- develop an assessment tool that targets clients in war-affected side NGO partners. areas.

In 2002… All the interns agree that the opportunity to live and work with a relief organisation has been a valuable experience in learning Mehlaqa Samdani, a Fletcher student from Pakistan, went to about refugees and humanitarian assistance programmes. The Khartoum and later to Juba in southern Sudan, to look at two Alchemy Programme is based on the belief that research and Alchemy programmes. Travelling by boat to a small village up learning can be combined with programmes that provide essen- the Nile from Juba, Mehlaqa visited our NGO partner, ACCOM- tial cash and credit to refugees in protracted situations. PLISH, which is buying a fishing boat to rent out to people Involving our students is a key part of this alchemy. displaced by conflict in the DRC and the war in southern Sudan. For further information, see http://nutrition.tufts.edu/feature/alchemy. In eastern Congo, Ellen Kramer spent time in Goma where peo- shtml or contact Karen Jacobsen, Director, Refugees & Forced Migration Programme, Feinstein International Famine Center, Tufts University, ple had been displaced twice – first from the ongoing war and Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA. Email: [email protected]. again by the lava which engulfed the town’s business district