Sierra Leone:Leone: Backback Fromfrom Thethe Brink?Brink?

VOLUME 1 • NUMBER 118 • 2000

SierraSierra Leone:Leone: BackBack fromfrom thethe brink?brink?

UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees THE EDITOR’S DESK

The debate gathers momentum When U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in late 1999 he asked in the Security Council. “Two-thirds of the urged member states to join a bold new crusade to help homeless people in the world are classified with the odi- millions of civilians caught in an unending series of ous acronym of ‘internally displaced persons (IDPs)’” the wars by subordinating the very basis of their power— legal term used to describe civilians uprooted in their sovereignty and the sanctity of national borders—to the own countries, “but they’re really refugees.” greater good of humanitarian action, he touched off He said that the definition of the term ‘refugee’ was out- what promises to be one of the most important and con- dated and should now include the estimated 20-25 mil- troversial debates of the new millennium. lion IDPs worldwide. The mandate of UNHCR, which Many of these victims, people who have managed to already cares for an estimated 21.5 million refugees and escape the chaos of their immediate surroundings and other groups, should be expanded to include the internally displaced, he said. Roberta Cohen, a refugee expert at the Washington- The bulk based Brookings Institution, said the situation sharply

© H. TIMMERMANS of Somalia’s differentiating the two groups had become ‘absurd’ and population, like that today “we have to have a system that addresses the this family, has needs of people on both sides of the border” but she been uprooted questioned whether UNHCR should be the organiza- by years of war. tion tasked with the problem. High Commissioner Sadako Ogata has voiced similar reach a neighboring country where they are classed as concerns. At a time when major donor governments are refugees, are already entitled to international legal assis- trimming their lending to such organizations as tance under the 1951 Refugee Convention. At the core of UNHCR and emphasizing direct aid to crisis areas, who Mr. Annan’s appeal was the fate of between 20-25 million would fund a greatly expanded UNHCR mandate? Too, additional civilians who remain in their own countries and would the organization be able to help both refugees whose safety and well being is often far more precarious. and IDPs on each side of a border without compromis- Predictably, perhaps, the world community has already ing its original mandate — ending up helping neither split into two broad groups. Western and industrialized group effectively? nations widely support the concept that the U.N. should, Even those issues, however, may appear easy to solve on occasion, involve itself in the internal affairs of nations compared with the fundamental dilemma. Helping the to help hapless civilian victims of war. Nations such as internally displaced requires the consent of govern- China and third world countries argue that sovereignty ments which may be battling for their very survival in and non-interference in internal affairs drive internation- civil war type situations. Judging by the opening salvoes al relations and not humanitarian issues (see Refugees in this debate few capitals in the regions where unrest is magazine, N° 117, The hot issue for a new millennium). most prevalent appear willing to compromise their Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Ambassador to the world body, power. recently joined the public debate. “What is a refugee?” The debate seems set to continue for years to come.

2 REFUGEES N°118 - 2000

Editor: Ray Wilkinson French editor: Mounira Skandrani Contributors: Anne Encontre, Raouf Mazou, Kingsley Amaning, Andrej Mahecic, Khassim Diagne, Diederik Kramers, Guy Noel Ouamba, Fatoumata UNHCR / B. NEELEMAN Sinhoun Kaba, Christine Mougne. EDITORIAL Editorial assistant: 2 Virginia Zekrya The debate over internally displaced Photo department: A drawing by Sierra persons gathers momentum. Anneliese Hollmann, Leonean refugee Anne Kellner 4 children in Guinea Design: vividly illustrates the chaos 4 COVER STORY WB Associés - Paris which has gripped their country for a decade. A A chance for peace in Sierra Leone, Production: recent peace agreement has but a cease-fire is fragile. Françoise Peyroux brought renewed, if fragile, Administration: hope for the country. By Ray Wilkinson Anne-Marie Le Galliard Chronology Distribution: John O’Connor, Frédéric Tissot A brief history of Sierra Leone.

Map: UNHCR - Mapping Unit 16 CENTERFOLD MAP Recent world events Refugees is published by the Public UNHCR / R. WILKINSON Information Section of the United WEST AFRICA Nations High Commissioner for 18 Refugees. The opinions expressed by Refugee problems throughout West Africa contributors are not necessarily those are all interlinked. of UNHCR. The designations and maps used do not imply the expression By Corinne Perthuis of any opinion or recognition on the part of UNHCR concerning the legal status of a territory or of its authorities. 21 ICELAND

Refugees reserves the right to edit all Refugees find an unlikely haven articles before publication. Articles in a faraway place. and photos not covered by copyright © By Ray Wilkinson may be reprinted without prior Iceland is an unlikely permission. Please credit UNHCR and destination for the photographer. Glossy prints and 21refugees. But some 24 TIMOR slide duplicates of photographs not recent arrivals are helping to covered by copyright © may be made change many of the island’s Going home is only half the battle. available for professional use only. habits, including its cuisine. By Paul Stromberg

English and French editions printed in Switzerland by ATAR SA, 26 KOSOVO Geneva. Circulation: 206,000 in English, An evaluation of UNHCR’s performance French, German, Italian, Japanese, during the Kosovo emergency. Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Chinese. 28 SHORT TAKES ISSN 0252-791 X

UNHCR / H.J. DAVIES Brief stories from around the world. Cover: Sierra Leonean refugees await a food distribution in neighboring Guinea. 30 PEOPLE AND PLACES UNHCR / C. SHIRLEY

UNHCR An independent 31 QUOTE UNQUOTE P.O. Box 2500 evaluation assesses 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland 26UNHCR’s www.unhcr.ch performance during the Kosovo emergency. It underlined several major weaknesses but added that many important factors were beyond the agency’s control.

CORRECTION: IN REFUGEES ISSUE 117 THE PHOTO CREDIT ON PAGE 24 SHOULD HAVE BEEN UNHCR / B. NEELEMAN. REFUGEES 3 | COVER STORY |

WEWE WILLWILL FORGIVE…FORGIVE… WEWE WILLWILL NEVERNEVER FORGETFORGET Sierra Leone tries to put a brutal war behind it and build a lasting peace

By Ray Wilkinson he very name of the place, Casablanca Field, is redolent with the same sense of romance and intrigue inspired by the Hollywood classic movie, Casablanca. In the near distance palm trees sway gently in an onshore breeze and a gentle swell from the Atlantic Ocean laps the Tbeach. A ramshackle village, alive with all the noise, cooking smells and bustle of any African township, spreads higgledy-piggledy across the flank of a softly sloping hill. Turn to page 6 Ã UNHCR / C. SHIRLEY War amputees at a special camp in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown. Market women, members of a powerful civic action group, meet in Freetown to discuss local events and peace prospects.

Ã A visitor, already warned about But just as Bosnia will forever be as- the tragedy of the township, is sociated with “ethnic cleansing” and nevertheless beguiled at first by Rwanda with genocide of the Tutsis, the the splash of color, the very live- struggle in Sierra Leone is symbolized UNHCR / C. SHIRLEY liness and the apparent normalcy by the fate of one particular group of of the place. Then, as one local victims—the thousands of innocent gives directions to a passer-by, he civilians whose arms and legs were gesticulates animatedly with what hacked off indiscriminately by rebel sol- is left of the stump of his right diers whose sole aim appeared to be to arm. A smiling girl, perhaps six spread terror among the population and years old, gaily hops by on intimidate the government. crutches and waves. In the shade More than 1,800 of these amputees of a nearby hut, a barber expertly and their families live in the officially cuts the hair of a customer, one- A hopeful sign for the future in downtown Freetown. named Amputee and War Wounded handed. Shockingly, reality in- Camp at Casablanca, which is situated trudes and is overwhelming. in a suburb of the capital, Freetown. This is a center for some of the Two-year-old Memuna is the youngest victims of one of the most vicious wars of and Liberia, to become refugees. Tens of victim here. Her mother and father were modern times, the nearly decade-old civil thousands of persons were killed and killed during a 1998 invasion of the city. conflict in the west African nation of wounded, unknown numbers of women Her right arm was amputated after it was Sierra Leone. Virtually all of the country’s and girls were raped, entire villages were shot away by a gunshot wound. On the ve- 4.4 million people were forced to flee their razed and their occupants kidnapped in a randah of one house a group of men, all homes at one time or another, seeking conflict rooted in ethnic and regional ri- with a single arm, is learning how to be- safety in the surrounding bush or trekking valries and an ugly scramble for the coun- come barbers. A small factory, the only to neighboring states, especially Guinea try’s rich gold and diamond deposits. one of its kind in Sierra Leone, turns out

6 REFUGEES | COVER STORY | UNHCR / R. WILKINSON artificial limbs for the vic- process does hold? “We only say we will have to try to bury the horror, and forgive tims. There is a waiting list forgive them,” the embittered teacher said. and move on. Though of course we will of at least 2,000. “But when they are disarmed there will never forget.” be no forgiveness. There will only be re- Bangura’s group has been influential in A DOUBLE AMPUTEE venge. There will be revenge.” rescuing Sierra Leone from the abyss of Twenty-eight-year-old Surprisingly, given the scale of brutal- perpetual war which began in 1991 when Abdul Sankoh is the head- ity during years of war, Sankoh’s warning former army corporal Foday Sankoh and master of the camp school was a rare call for revenge, at least pub- his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and one of its most tragic vic- licly, among scores of persons interviewed took up arms against then civilian Presi- tims. When rebels invaded recently by Refugees inside Sierra Leone dent Joseph Momoh, articulating years of and almost captured Free- itself and among the 470,000 Sierra repression of the majority of the country’s town in January, 1999, Leonean refugees in neighboring Guinea civilians. Momoh was ousted in a 1992 mil- Sankoh —no relation to guer- and Liberia. itary coup, but the country returned to rilla chieftain Foday Sankoh— civilian rule when lawyer Ahmad Tejan fled into the bush. He was FORGIVE BUT DON’T FORGET Kabbah was elected president in multi- seized several days later as he “We cannot forget what has happened,” party elections in 1996 and signed a peace foraged for mangoes and al- said Sundifu accord with though he offered to act as a Mustafa in Sankoh’s rebels. porter carrying food, he was Guinea’s Fore- Sierra Leone recognized by one gunman cariah camp. “But Tens of thousands of continued to see- and denounced as a teacher for the sake of saw between war and traitor. peace we will for- persons were killed and and peace, civilian The guerrillas burned give. Just give us wounded, women rule and military down his village and Sankoh’s peace.” repression. The accuser seized an ax from the Zainab Ban- and girls were raped, following year victim’s own home, forced gura, the chair- army major him to the ground and person of a group entire villages were Johnny Koroma slashed off his right hand. called The Cam- razed and their toppled Kabbah The rebel then amputated his paign for Good and Sankoh joined left hand before cutting him Governance, an occupants kidnapped. a ruling military around the mouth and slic- umbrella organi- junta. The U.N. ing off part of his ear as he lay zation embracing and neighboring unconscious. “Go to the pres- trade unions, churches, civil associations states successfully isolated the regime in- ident (Kabbah),” the rebels and other groupings said, “This is a pro- ternationally. Internally, Bangura’s taunted, as they did to many other war vic- cess born not of love, but of necessity. We fledgling organization launched a cam- Ã tims. “He will give you your arms back.” As he tried to make his way to safety, Main refugee locations and refugee return areas in west Africa. the heavily bleeding Sankoh was shot at and almost killed by friendly troops be- longing to the West African military force ECOMOG which was fighting the insurgents on behalf of the civilian government and surrounding countries. He eventually walked into Freetown with his wife and two children and helped establish the school for hundreds of youngsters at the amputee center. It is not only the horrors of the past, however, which continue to haunt the schoolteacher, but a dread of the future. After slowly describing his physical destruction at the hands of the rebels, perhaps even more painfully he told a visitor, “I cannot even go to the toilet on my own or clothe myself. My wife is a young woman. I expect her to leave me. What is her future with me? I am a freak.” And what of the chances of co-existing with the young men who unleashed such a reign of terror on the country if the peace

REFUGEES 7 | COVER STORY | UNHCR / C. SHIRLEY

Displaced people live amidst the destruction in Freetown.

Ã paign of civil resistance and virtually shut and Koroma were ignoring their concerns, by an international community which down the country for 10 months until they brought Sierra Leone to another stand- only now had begun to focus on the scale Nigerian-led ECOMOG troops drove the still for 24 hours. Both sides got the message. of atrocities being committed, the warring junta out of Freetown and reinstated Kab- “People say we don’t have guns and so we factions signed an agreement on July 7, bah in March, 1998. don’t have power,” Bangura said in an inter- 1999, forming a coalition government. The civilians flexed their muscles again view. “We have power. We have people They agreed to disarm rebel soldiers, rein- during 1999 peace talks in the Togo capital power.” tegrate them into society and bring hun- of Lome. When they felt Kabbah, Sankoh Prodded by the civilians at home and dreds of thousands of refugees home.

ted in Sierra Leone, the rebels gave no rea- son for mutilating the villager, but they To escape, he ripped his own did hand him a letter for Nigerian troops backing the civilian government, pre- wounded arm off… sumably giving their reasons for fighting. As he crashed through the bush, Alie’s Alie K. a tailor and father of seven chil- ting,” Alie remembers. wounds continued to bleed. There were dren, was captured by rebels when they They placed his hand on top of a tree no bandages available. Eventually, he said, attacked his village of Serekolia in May, stump and slashed it four times until it he ripped the remnants of his own left 1998. The insurgents burned all the vil- was left hanging by slivers of skin and tis- hand away and threw it into the bush, be- lage homes down before chaining Alie to sue. The rebels, who were led by a young cause he “could not hold it together while a boy from a neighboring village and lead- commander with the nickname ‘Moskito’ running.” He eventually linked up with ing them into the bush. After going only also slashed his right hand one time be- his family and walked to neighboring a short distance the guerrillas decided to fore whipping him and a friend and chas- Guinea to seek sanctuary, his wound still amputate his left hand. “Three of them ing them away from their compound. unattended until he reached a local hos- did it, one pointing a gun, the others cut- Like many similar atrocities commit- pital. B

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WORKING FOR A BREAKTHROUGH Ugandan diplomat Francis Okelo spent SIERRA LEONE AT A GLANCE two years as the special representative of 1787 under house arrest during a visit to Nigeria the U.N. Secretary-General in trying to se- Local chiefs sell a sliver of land to British but Major Johnny Paul Koroma leads an army cure a breakthrough, before leaving the refugees. This is later used to settle freed revolt against President Kabbah. Sankoh rallies post at the end of 1999. African slaves and the largest settlement is to the coup but the United Nations slaps a He described the peace process: “I be- called Freetown. fuel, arms and travel ban on the newly installed military junta. gan work with a staff of two, a secretary April 27, 1961 and a political officer. I set myself three Sierra Leone, an area covering nearly 72,000 objectives: to help remove the junta which 1998 square kilometers (27,699 square miles) Nigerian-led ECOMOG troops drive the junta was then in power; to end hostilities; and bordering on the Atlantic Ocean, Guinea to and rebels from Freetown and reinstate to help re-establish constitutional rule and the north and east and Liberia to the Kabbah in March, the first time in Africa that southeast, wins independence from Britain. neighboring states have restored a civilian a permanent peace structure.” Freetown becomes its capital. For much of his shuttle diplomacy, leader after a coup. Sankoh is extradited from Nigeria to Freetown where he is convicted of Okelo felt totally isolated, a seemingly in- 1978 treason and sentenced to death. A reign of visible presence amid the ongoing carnage. President Siaka Stevens makes the country a terror continues throughout the country, Even when Kabbah returned to power, the one-party state. He quit in 1985, aged 80 and including an orchestrated rebel campaign to Ugandan’s mission remained precarious. handed former army chief of staff Joseph sever the limbs of civilian victims. Momoh a sparsely populated country (4.4 “At one point there was an illusion that million people at the start of the new the rebels had been defeated,” he recalled. millennium) rich in diamonds, gold, iron ore 1999 “It was a phoney calm however.” When he and bauxite. Junta loyalists and rebel allies almost take Freetown in an attack during which an raised the possibility that the war could estimated 5,000 people die, but peace talks not be won militarily and negotiations March 23, 1991 Former army corporal Foday Sankoh and his eventually get underway later in the year. were the only solution, he became a vir- Revolutionary United Front take up arms tual pariah. against President Joseph Momoh, beginning a July 7, 1999 Strangely, the turning point came dur- decade-long civil conflict in which more than After earlier signing a cease-fire agreement in ing the rebel invasion of Freetown in early 10,000 persons were killed, tens of thousands May, a peace accord is reached in Lome, the were deliberately mutilated and half the capital of Togo, in which the rebels obtain 1999. “We saw the problem coming a mile population were forced to flee their homes. away,” the diplomat said. “It was obvious four cabinet seats in a national unity government in return for laying down their then there had to be a dialogue, but I could April 29, 1992 arms. have been lynched in the streets for advo- Army captain Valentine Strasser ousts cating a cease-fire at the time.” President Momoh in a military coup sparked by frustration with the war. Late 1999-2000 Eventually, talks did get underway in Disarmament continues, but only slowly. Lome. “The people had become totally January 16, 1996 Many rebels remain in the countryside and attacks and harassment against civilians traumatized,” Okelo said. “The only way In turn, Strasser is ousted by his deputy Julius continue. Sierra Leonean refugees in out of the quagmire was to get out of it, Maada Bio who promises multi-party surrounding countries express their desire to elections and civilian rule. Ahmad Tejan whatever the cost. Perhaps peace could be return home —but only after all combatants Kabbah wins the March 15 elections and signs obtained through the exhaustion of both are disarmed. Contingency plans are drawn up a peace deal in November of that year with by agencies such as UNHCR to help hundreds sides. Sankoh’s rebels. “That is why the government accepted of thousands of people return to their the rebels in a coalition government and homes—but large scale movements depend 1997 on the success of the disarmament and why it granted a blanket amnesty to the The peace deal quickly unravels. Sankoh is put reintegration process. fighters, ” he said. “Amnesty was not a choice. It was a necessity. Striking a deal with the devil was the price that had to be paid.” But, added the departing envoy, “The parties in Sierra Leone have put down the have stopped shooting and we could not “we must also explore what happened and deposit. Don’t lose the sale.” have started the peace process.” why. Until we go back and get the answers, The amnesty was possibly the most con- “We have to move on,” said Zainab Ban- reconciliation will never be complete.” troversial part of the peace deal and has gura, but at some point in the near future Freetown is contemplating the estab- been widely denounced by hu- lishment of a Truth and manitarian organizations. Offi- Reconciliation Commission cials who helped negotiate it, similar to one in South however, insisted, like Okelo, Sierra Leone is symbolized by the Africa which explored the that it was the only deal on the misdeeds of that country’s table. “Justice has not been per- thousands of innocent civilians whose apartheid era. verted, it has been delayed,” in- arms and legs were hacked off One of the most grue- sisted one high-ranking African some questions such a body official. “Without that blanket indiscriminately by the rebels. would have to explore is the amnesty, the rebels would not genesis of the mutilation Ã

REFUGEES 9 Former child soldiers learn car repair as part of their rehabilitation into civil society.

Ã campaign, the systematic severing of precedented in Africa. I know of no histor- turning some into killing machines. We limbs and the gruesome vocabulary which ical links between what has just happened must never overlook this silent suffering accompanied the atrocities. Victims were and anything that has preceded it.” on the day of reckoning.” often offered the macabre choice of ‘short Zainab Bangura believes the rebels “are sleeves’ or ‘long sleeves’ —being cut above still underestimating the level of atroci- ANOTHER CHANCE or below the elbow. The guerrillas named ties they committed and their impact on In downtown Freetown, under a mag- their campaign, somewhat incongruously the country. ” She is equally emphatic that nificent centuries-old cotton tree which but ominously ‘No Living Thing.’ Young while the fate of the amputees was terrible, dwarfs everything around it is a sign: inductees were sometimes initiated by be- the women of Sierra Leone probably suf- “Sierra Leoneans, love one another as God ing forced to kill their own parents and fered even more. loves You.” It is the country’s symbolic mutilate neighbors. “The agony of the amputees is the vis- hope for the future. And despite the bar- Under whatever code name the rebels ible sign of suffering in Sierra Leone,” she barities of the recent past, Sierra Leone operated, one thing is already clear—it was said. “The invisible atrocity is the one has been given another chance. a systematic and well-organized campaign which was organized against the women After ignoring the war for so long, the of terror. Some commentators suggested of this country. It was a well-organized U.N. late last year began dispatching In- ritual mutilation was rooted in local his- campaign to subdue the women of this dian and Kenyan military units which will tory, but African journalist Thomas Ka- country by abducting women and young form part of a 11,100 strong international mara insisted, “Such a campaign is un- girls, raping and gang raping them and force to bolster the peace process.

10 REFUGEES | COVER STORY | UNHCR / C. SHIRLEY

—including robbery and rape— still widespread. Short term, the key to Branded prolonging the peace effort was the disarmament of thousands of a rebel fighters, but that continued fitfully. At the time Sahr ran afoul of former junta this article went to press, soldiers when he made the brash several thousand fighters decision to return to his hometown had emerged from the in Sierra Leone from Guinea bush and surrendered where he had sought sanctuary as their weapons, but many a refugee. A group of rebels cap- others remained at large tured the 29-year-old miner as he and some ‘field comman- was sheltering in the bush. A ders’ were vowing to con- friend who was captured at the tinue the war. same time was immediately placed Some rebels said they in front of a firing squad. “Father, had not been paid an do not kill me,” he implored. “I am agreed bonus for surren- not your father,” one soldier said, dering their arms. Many and the rebels shot him down. others apparently feared Sahr was one of nine civilians retribution once they had who were rounded up at the same surrendered and had no time and their fate was hotly de- means to defend them- bated among the gunmen. “If we selves. don’t kill them ourselves we should U.N. Secretary-Gen- mark them so the Kamajors (a lo- eral Kofi Annan recog- cal pro-government militia) or the nized the fragility of the Guinean soldiers will kill them,” peace accord, and in early one rebel said. The kidnapped 2000 asked that the U.N. civilians were tied down so they force be increased from could not resist and each were 6,000 to 11,100 men in- deeply cut with razors with the cluding 12 infantry bat- rebel initials RUF (Revolutionary talions and support units. United Front). Their heads were The Security Council in then roughly shaved in a crude February approved the cross and they were again beaten expansion. with machetes. But even if disarma- When a second group of eight ment is successful an civilians were captured later the even more difficult, long- same day they, too, had their term problem must be chests, backs and foreheads cut The United Nations High Commis- tackled; the successful reintegration of not with the same RUF initials and sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reopened only huge numbers of refugees, but also that of a second group, AFRC. its Freetown office. Shortly after the Lome the guerrillas. When one man escaped, two other peace agreement was signed, regional UN- Hundreds of thousands of refugees and men were shot in retaliation. An- HCR officials met and drew up contin- civilians displaced within Sierra Leone other escapee inadvertently wan- gency plans which anticipated that per- have all indicated that once disarmament dered back into the rebel camp and haps as many as 170,000 refugees from is complete they will go home as quickly as was gunned down on the spot. Guinea, Liberia and Gambia would return possible and as one of the poorest coun- The Sierra Leonean miner by the end of the year 2000 as peace took tries in the world, Freetown will certainly eventually escaped and made his hold. UNHCR field offices would then be need them. “These refugees will be com- way back to Guinea, but his trou- opened in Sierra Leone to assist the repa- ing back with a lot of skills they will have bles were far from over. Much as triation and reintegration of the refugees. learned, even in the camps, ” said Zainab the rebels had predicted, when he The planning was essential to antici- Bangura. “They want to come home and was stopped by one group of vigi- pate a ‘best case scenario’ but proved to be the country desperately needs them.” lantes they mistook him for a overly optimistic. The future of the guerrillas is another guerrilla. He was flogged with a Inside the country, many areas re- matter. The international community in buckle belt and kicked all night mained no-go zones for humanitarian the past has devoted limited funds and a until he was able to make his way agencies such as UNHCR with ‘banditry’ short time span to obscure conflicts like Ã back to a refugee camp. B

REFUGEES 11 | COVER STORY | UNHCR / C. SHIRLEY

Learning skills in Bo town ready for the peace.

Ã Sierra Leone. Because of those parameters, was captured for 20 days during which nothing. He has admitted being a rebel and problems such as ‘reintegration’ had to fit time four sisters were killed by guerrillas. killing an unknown number of people and into a convenient but implausible time slot. He now runs a center for around 160 chil- when he first arrived was violent, ag- But as Bosnia and Rwanda proved only dren —both the victims of the war and gressive and withdrawn. recently, healing the mental wounds of war some child killers— in an idyllic former A 16-year-old girl who was abducted takes far longer than rebuilding the phys- holiday resort on the coast just outside when she was seven, admits that “I used ical scars. Sierra Leone will be no different. Freetown. a gun” but refuses to say anything further. On one bungalow housing the children “To look at them now, I wouldn’t call CHILD KILLER is scrawled the ominous message ‘This them children anymore” says Father Father Joseph Berton has lived in Sierra house is covered by the blood of years.’ A Berton who added that some of his charges Leone for 30 years. He narrowly escaped 15-year-old youth nicknamed “Killer Cap- occasionally leave the center to go back to with his own life early last year when he tain” glares morosely at a visitor saying their home villages —if they still remem-

Miss A.’s ordeal continued. Between January and March, 1999, she was repeat- Murder… and then rape edly gang raped by thugs she could only When rebel gunmen seized part of the Two sons and a teenage daughter, Miss identify as ‘P1’ ‘05’ ‘55’ and ‘Daramy.’ She capital of Freetown during a 1999 assault, A., were forced to accompany the rebels saw other women routinely gang raped the Conteh family was caught in the mid- as they were pushed out of town, being during her captivity. She was later released dle of the fighting and captured. As the at- employed as porters to carry the rebels during an exchange of rebel prisoners and tackers terrorized the family’s mother, her loot. When one brother collapsed, ex- civilians and eventually reached Guinea. husband begged them to release her, only hausted, he was executed as he lay on the Because of the severity of her experi- to be shot dead on the spot. A hysterical ground. His younger sibling was gunned ences, at the time of Refugees going to wife burst into tears during the ruthless down as he tried to escape to a neighbor’s press, Miss A. had not even been able to execution and the gunmen killed her, too. home. begin a psychological healing process. B

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ber where that is— but often return, unable to face their fellow villagers. But perhaps because of the long time he has spent in difficult situations, Father Berton remains optimistic about the long- term future of Sierra Leone. “I’m telling you, these kids were made by God with

shock absorbers thick enough for the UNHCR / C. SHIRLEY AND R. WILKINSON toughest four wheel drive,” he says in a colorful metaphor. “They can take it and they can recover. But rehabilitation cannot be done overnight. Look how long it took Europe to become ‘civilized.’” In the upcountry Kpayama center, 17 former child soldiers are receiving basic education and other lessons before being reunited with their families. The majority have killed civilians and become drug addicts. They are supposed to stay six weeks, but some stay one year. It will take much longer even than that for them to stand a chance of becoming totally reha- bilitated. Fifteen-year-old Jonathan was captured eight years earlier when rebels attacked his Amputee war victims village and killed his mother and father. “They gave me guerrilla training. They gave me a gun,” he says in a monotone. “Did you take drugs?” “Yes.” “Did you kill civilians?” “Lots.” “Do you think that was wrong?” “It was just war, what I did then. I only took orders. I knew it was bad. It was not my wish.” “What do you want to do when you finish school here?” “I want to go back into the military. I have the knowledge to go there.”

NEW APPROACHES Though the war in Sierra Leone may at one time have been viewed in isolation, UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in recent years have begun to try to tackle such problems on a regional basis. The weapons which fuel the fighting in Sierra Leone are supplied by outside arms suppliers and smuggled in via countries such as Liberia. That state has its own massive refugee problem (In a bizarre sit- outside world that it cannot continue to It has begun to promote the idea of bur- uation, even as Sierra Leone was being be a benevolent host to so many people and den sharing among states, including pro- ripped apart in the 1990s by its own war, an watch its own infrastructure crumble. jects to help refugee host countries such as estimated 100,000 Liberian refugees pre- UNHCR restructured its field operations Guinea and their indigenous populations. ferred to take their chances there than face in 1998, creating a regional directorate for UNHCR, in collaboration with the another civil war in their own country). west and central Africa and mechanisms to World Bank and the United Nations De- Guinea hosts the largest number of allocate manual and financial resources in velopment Program (UNDP) also refugees in Africa, a total of 489,000 peo- a more flexible and timely manner through- launched the so-called Brookings Process, ple mainly from Sierra Leone and Liberia. out the region and to try to eliminate over- named after the Washington-based think Increasingly, Guinea has warned the lap and waste. tank, the Brookings Institution, to exam- Ã

REFUGEES 13 | COVER STORY |

No Sankoh, no Sierra Leone As armed guerrillas closed in on his village, chief K. ordered women and children to escape into the bush while 80 men, armed with a motley selec- tion of 17 single shot rifles and few cartridges, tried to defend their homes. They were no match for the attackers and the area was quickly overrun. Chief K. escaped into the bush and watched as all the buildings except the mosque were burned down. The following morning as he sifted through the debris and discovered the bodies of two villagers, the chief was captured. The rebels slashed his foot and attached a padlock to his right ear saying,”This is your earring.” Worse was to follow. Though his life was apparently spared because he was the son of a powerful paramount chief, the guerrilla commander decided to amputate his fingers but not kill him, so he could de- liver a letter to the authorities warning Sierra Leone’s president “No Foday Sankoh (the guerrilla com- A camp in the interior of Sierra Leone for thousands of internally displaced persons. mander), no Sierra Leone.” They also left his thumb, which they said Ã ine such issues as methods of bridging the report said, political and military alliances symbolized “One love, One gap between emergency humanitarian as- were constantly changing and the internal Sierra Leone.” sistance and long-term development. situation in some countries remained “un- Because the machete The three organizations are also at- certain.” was blunt, the rebels had to tempting to “raise attention to the regional The mission identified other areas of hack at the victim’s hand dimensions of national conflicts in West concern including the need to more deeply repeatedly. To make sure Africa and facilitate a discussion on whether engage some West African political lead- the chief reached a friendly country-centered response to conflicts gen- ers and former rebels, the need to improve village and delivered the erally favored by donors is appropriate.” the flow of information between the vari- rebels warning, the local After one recent fact finding mission to ous groups and also to refugees to allow commander personally the region, the three agencies said there was them to decide when and how they would took a rope and tied it still a lot of work to be done in this area and be willing to return home and to better co- around the victim’s hand as that “the regional effort is not moving as ordinate the many humanitarian programs a tourniquet to stop the quickly as envisioned.” The borders between already being undertaken to allow greater flow of blood. B Guinea and Liberia remained closed, the flexibility and to eliminate duplication.

14 REFUGEES | COVER STORY |

Take your wounds to the UNHCR / R. WILKINSON president as a warning Ms. S. was captured by unknown gunmen in late 1999 in the town of Sumaworia. At first the rebels simply robbed the woman of her bag and then ordered her to stay with them, apparently for sexual reasons. When she argued vehemently and said she would pre- fer to die rather than to remain, the youngest of the gunmen forced her into a sitting position on the ground. She was ordered to put her foot on a stump of wood. As the teenage rebel attempted to sever her foot with a machete, she withdrew it quickly. The rebel drew the machete across her throat and warned she would be killed instantly if she did not put her foot down. She placed her left foot on the wood. The young rebel severed two of her toes. He handed them to her and told her to give them to President Kabbah (of Sierra Leone) with a warning that this is what could happen to Access to many grams as soon and people who supported no-go areas out- “To look at them now, I as quickly as possi- the government. side Freetown ble, lest the mo- During the night the must be secured, wouldn’t call them mentum begins to rebels abandoned her. mission members flag and we miss a People hiding in a hut said. Involved children anymore.” crucial window of nearby helped her, wash- agencies must con- opportunity.” ing her foot and putting solidate refugee programs and prepare But whatever programs are put into salt on the wound to stop plans for the rapid return of refugees once place, and no matter how many interna- it bleeding. She was car- political conditions warrant. They also tional soldiers are present to enforce the ried in a hammock to a suggested the creation of income gener- peace, as Zainab Bangura said, “The real nearby town where a ating activities for former soliders and mi- test will come when the guns are all fi- group of hunters looked cro-credit programs for refugees. nally taken away and the gunmen go back after her for a month, un- “Time is of the essence,” a mission re- to their communities to face their own til she was able to walk to port said, “and we must implement pro- kin. We can only hope and pray.” B safety. B

REFUGEES 15 THE WORLD

KOSOVO

When a rocket propelled grenade slammed into a UNHCR- 4 sponsored bus in northern Kosovo on Feb. 2 killing two Serb passengers, the incident ignited the worst inter-ethnic violence in the

UNHCR / H. CAUX province since KFOR troops took control of the region. The incident sparked prolonged clashes between Serb and Albanian communities in the northern town of Mitrovica in which at least 11 persons were killed and dozens wounded. The UNHCR bus service, which was begun to try to promote freedom of movement, was one of the casualties of the fighting. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic denounced the U.N. mission in Kosovo, while in the aftermath of the violence United Nations special representative Bernard Kouchner urged the international community to step up its assistance to the beleaguered province.

SIERRA LEONE Sierra Leone has another chance to establish 3 peace after nearly a decade of appalling civil war symbolized by the brutal mutilation of thousands of civilian victims. A fragile peace agreement between the gov- UNHCR / C. SHIRLEY ernment and rebels was signed in July, 1999, and members of an 11,100-strong United Nations force have arrived in the west African state. Hundreds of thousands of displaced persons are eager to return home – but only after the majority of former rebels disarm in what, until now, has been a slow and laborious process.

3 BURUNDI More than 200,000 2 persons have been killed in a seemingly unending war in the central African state of UNHCR / R. WILKINSON Burundi. There are at least 330,000 refugees in neighboring Tanzania and hundreds of thousands of persons like those pictured are displaced within the country. Africa’s most venerated leader, Nelson CONGO Mandela has now assumed the role of mediator to try to end the conflict. After The Security Mandela tongue lashed the various parties to the 1 Council has war, some progress was reported in ongoing talks and authorized a 5,500- the government agreed to dismantle so-called member force to ‘regroupment camps’ where it had herded many monitor the shaky civilians, but there have been so many false starts in cease-fire in the Burundi peace efforts in the past, there was no Democratic Republic guarantee Mandela’s intervention would end the war. of the Congo. The force will comprise UNDPI 500 military observers and 5,000 troops to protect them in a conflict which has drawn in five neighboring African countries and precipitated what some analysts have called Africa’s first ‘world war.’ The resolution was drafted by the United States, whose U.N. © ESA 1995. ORIGINAL DATA DISTRIBUTED BY EURIMAGE BY DISTRIBUTED © ESA 1995. ORIGINAL DATA ambassador Richard Holbrooke said, “The time has now arrived to act.” The war has destabilized the entire region and 16 produced tens of thousands of new refugees. SERBIA

UNHCR is expanding its operations 5 in Serbia to assist the largest combined refugee and displaced population in Europe. There are an estimated half million refugees from earlier

UNHCR / A. KAZINIERAKIS conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia in the country and they were joined by more than 200,000 ethnic Serbs and Roma who fled the fighting in the province of Kosovo in recent months. UNHCR has 5 budgeted $71 million for the year 2000 to help these people and this will include the expansion of integration projects to help 4 refugees who decide to stay in-country. However, there have been indications in recent months of improved cooperation between regional governments which could result in more longtime refugees like those pictured returning home than in previous years.

AFGHANISTAN 7

When an Afghan 6 airliner hijacked during an internal flight eventually landed in Britain, the UNHCR / A. HOLLMANN incident raised alarm bells not only in the United Kingdom but throughout major 2 asylum-receiving countries. Authorities believe the hijack was deliberately staged to 1 allow the ringleaders and accompanying families to escape Afghanistan— where hundreds of thousands of people such as the woman pictured are displaced and an additional 2.6 million are refugees in surrounding countries—and to seek asylum in a friendly country. Now, the authorities worry that ‘copy cat’ hijackings could take place from other trouble spots.

HONG KONG

The Hong Kong government has agreed to allow the last 7 remaining 1,400 Vietnamese boat people in the territory to settle there permanently. More than 200,000 Vietnamese transitted Hong Kong since 1975, being resettled in third countries or returned to Viet Nam. The last group of Vietnamese could not find UNHCR / A. HOLLMANN a new country to go to and Viet Nam refused to accept them back so as a senior government official said, “The sooner we assimilate these people to make them productive members of the Hong Kong community, the better off we are.” 17 | GUINEA | GUESTS IN A FORGOTTEN COUNTRY

of thousands of civilians have spilled over Guinea is one of the into surrounding countries seeking safety. Although it is one of the world’s poorest world’s poorest nations countries, Guinea took the bulk of them, but hosts more refugees and with an estimated 489,000 mainly Sierra Leoneans and Liberians, hosts the than any state in Africa largest number of refugees of any state in Africa. By Corinne Perthuis “The presence of (so many) refugees is a heavy burden to bear for this very poor hen Mensah Kpognon arrived and forgotten country,” says Christine in the town of Macenta near the Mougne, UNHCR’s deputy Representative W border between the west in Guinea, who went on to emphasize that African states of Guinea and Liberia in the the sheer number of refugees involved was spring of 1999, his task appeared straight- only one of many headaches faced by the forward enough. As the senior UNHCR government in Conakry and by humani- official in the area, his orders were to help tarian organizations such as UNHCR complete the voluntary repatriation of working in the region. 120,000 Liberian refugees in the region As a dirt poor state hosting so many dis- and then close down his office. placed persons, Conakry is obviously a Instead, as fresh unrest broke out in place deserving international sympathy. Liberia, the border was closed, the return But Guinea is not considered a ‘sexy’ oper- program came to an abrupt halt ation for many donors and receives com- and Kpognon found himself dealing with paratively little assistance. a fresh influx of fleeing Liberians. NO ONE WANTS Almost immediately “We It is one of TO KNOW had to shelter 8,000 new As Christine Mougne said, Liberian refugees at the the most “Very few people want to Daro transit camp, which know what goes on here. We had been established ini- challenging have a hard time financing tially for repatriation,” he re- and complex our programs, and we con- calls now. And rather than stantly have to adjust our closing the office, as the new refugee needs downwards.” millennium began Kpognon The government in and his staff were transfer- problems Conakry and the country’s ring these latest refugees 50 anywhere in seven million people have be- kilometers deeper into gun to question the presence Guinea and away from the the world. of so many foreigners, some volatile border region. of whom have been in the The abrupt change of di- country for years. While rection which the Macenta field staff faced Guinea’s limited state resources are under is symptomatic of one of the most chal- massive strain, large regions have been en- lenging and complex refugee problems vironmentally degraded and the country’s anywhere in the world. very security put at risk by the presence Guinea sits at the epicenter of one of of so many refugees, what little aid is avail- Africa’s most unstable regions. Two neigh- able is channeled to the ‘visitors’ rather Refugees make mud bricks to build a bors, Sierra Leone and Liberia, have been than being shared with equally deserving school at Forecariah. devastated by war for years and hundreds locals, they insist.

18 REFUGEES | GUINEA | UNHCR / R. WILKINSON UNHCR / B. NEELEMAN

Sierra Leonean refugee women fetch water at a camp near Gueckedou in Guinea.

“It is essential to share assistance to ben- “Naturally, new displacements weaken efit both refugees and the local population,” refugees who have to start life all over again Interior Minister Zainoul Sanoussi, whose in a new camp, only to leave again for home department is responsible for refugee mat- a few months later,” she said. “But we have to ters, insisted in one recent interview. ensure their security” whatever the addi- The rapidly changing political and mil- tional cost and for however long it takes. itary situations in the But such is the volatility neighboring refugee pro- of the region, even when ducing countries and the UNHCR undertakes repa- complexity of the needs of The rapidly triation programs, as in the specific groups, makes changing case of Mensah Kpognon long-term humanitarian mentioned above, these pro- planning not only ex- political and jects sometime turn into tremely challenging, but renewed waves of refugees. almost impossible at times. military Explains Christine situation makes REFUGEE EPICENTER Mougne: “Right now we Guinea, Sierra Leone are offering special assis- long-term and Liberia meet near the tance to the victims of mu- humanitarian town of Gueckedou in a re- tilations (from Sierra gion known as “Foresterie Leone), and to vulnerable planning not Guinea” and in the last women and children. decade it has witnessed the While we have suspended only extremely ebb and flow of hundreds aid to people who arrived challenging, of thousands of people on more than two years ago, the move. A national high- we are receiving new but almost way runs parallel to the refugees, especially in the border for more than 100 west and southeast of the impossible at kilometers and along its country.” times. entire length local villages As the disarmament of and refugee camps former rebels continues in have become interlaced. Sierra Leone, the UNHCR office must pre- Liberian civilians fleeing war in their coun- pare blueprints for the repatriation of try were the first to arrive and then the 370,000 refugees to that country, but in the Sierra Leoneans, escaping similar atroci- interim must still divert precious funds to ties in the west, followed. relocate vulnerable refugee camps from The ‘old refugees’ who fled several years border areas to safer locations inland. ago are easy to spot. They have had time

REFUGEES 19 | GUINEA | UNHCR / C. SCHÜRPF

Food supplies for refugees in Guinea’s Forecariah region.

to build solid mud houses. Further down caped murderous guerrillas by walking Sanadou 3 Camp. Jim is a former child sol- the highway new, white tents, house more through the forest for one month but in dier, one of the guerrillas responsible for recent arrivals. Some refugees have become Guinea “I’ve had the opportunity to con- one of the worst reigns of terror in recent ‘urbanized’ living in large centers such as tinue my studies. In (my home) village, African history. Conakry where they take menial jobs. I’m sure I would have had to stay home to The rebels “made me do bad things, kill Though the Sierra Leone government help my mother. French classes are the Kamajors, our enemies,” he recalled. and the country’s rebels signed a peace mandatory here, and I would like to speak “If I didn’t do it, they would kill me. I saw agreement in July, 1999, (see cover story) the language well before going back some of my friends killed. To keep us go- there is an air of uncertainty among home.” ing, they gave us valium, marijuana or refugees—a reluctance to return home un- Jim’s situation is more painful. While ‘gunpowder.’ til everyone has been disarmed. children play volleyball and football, he is But friends or relatives of some of Jim’s Some refugees employ their time use- in hiding with five other teenage boys in victims could be present in the camp and fully. Seventeen-year-old Redempta es- a hut far away from a leisure center at the the boys could literally be lynched if these people recognize them as killers. “They can suddenly become very violent, or remain prostrate for hours on end,” says Michael Ngaojia, who supervises them. We hope to eventually find their UNHCR / C. SHIRLEY families and relations, but most of them do not even remember their mother’s face. And so many parents have been killed.” As this article was being written, Liberia agreed to reopen its border with Guinea. That development, plus the peace agreement in Sierra Leone raises hope for the refugees…and for the Guineans who have played host so patiently. “We welcomed them because they are our brothers and our family,” said one senior police official in Gueckedou. “But like all people who are close to us, with whom we have much in common, we want them to be happy. And their happiness means living at home. They have already been UNHCR officials and refugees meet at a center near Forecariah, Guinea. here too long.” B

20 REFUGEES | ICELAND | WHERE AM I? Refugees are finding a most unusual home in a faraway place UNHCR/R. WILKINSON

UNHCR / R. WILKINSON

A Kosovo couple in front of By Ray Wilkinson their new house.

hen Nguyen Van Ho escaped his asked if he would like to start a new life in namese, this time mainly northerners who native South Viet Nam in 1979 Iceland. Vranies had wanted to go to had been living in camps in Hong Kong, W and reached his newly adopted Switzerland or Germany, but when those came. homeland, he was shocked. Staring across options were ruled out, he boarded an air- Iceland accepted Polish refugees dur- a treeless landscape of forbidding lava craft with his wife and two daughters and ing the 1980s as the seemingly monolithic rocks, volcanoes and glaciers, his first flew to the capital of Reykjavik in June, communist bloc in central Europe began thought was, “I have escaped Viet Nam and 1998. to crumble and for three years starting in gone to the moon.” Iceland is one of the most unusual and lit- 1996 groups of mainly mixed marriage Two decades later, 37-year-old Zdravko tle known of asylum countries anywhere in Serbs from the Krajina region of Croatia Vranies arrived from the chaos of the the world. The majority of refugees, like who had been driven out of their homes Balkans and had a similar reaction. “Is this Nguyen, have probably never heard of the by the war in 1995, were accepted. In 1999, Mars?” he wondered. place and even among hu- nearly 80 refugees from Kosovo have been Both refugees had, manitarian workers there flown to Iceland. somewhat reluctantly Iceland is one of is often astonishment: and to their own sur- the most unusual “Iceland? Refugees? You MAJOR IMPACT prise, accepted sanctuary must be kidding.” Those numbers may seem small, but in Iceland, a wedge of asylum countries But since the Hun- the population of Iceland is only 275,000 beautiful but harsh garian Revolution in and on a per capita basis, the number of fjords and mountains in the world. 1956, it has been wel- Kosovars accepted this year would be com- stuck between northern coming small groups of parable to an annual intake of more than Europe, Canada and the North Pole. uprooted peoples. In 1979, 34 boat people 70,000 refugees in the United States or Nguyen Van Ho had never even heard of who had fled South Viet Nam, including some 15,000 people in the United King- the country until a visiting delegation to Nguyen Van Ho, arrived to start a new life. dom. The social and cultural impact on the Malaysian camp in which he was living A decade later another group of Viet- both the refugees themselves and the ho-

REFUGEES 21 | ICELAND | UNHCR / R. WILKINSON

A Vietnamese refugee who arrived in 1979 with work colleagues in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik.

mogeneous Icelanders has also probably grant and apartments or small houses erything from beds and freezers to chil- been more pronounced than in other coun- which are furnished by local communi- dren’s toys. Each refugee is given a one tries. ties and the Icelandic Red Cross with ev- year course in the Icelandic language and Minister of Social Security Pall Peturs- children are encouraged to continue to son said his government planned to con- study their native language and culture. tinue taking in refugees in coming years. Local ‘support families’ help the refugees “We have a duty to invite refugees here,” he with everything from shopping to reli- said in a recent interview with Refugees. gious services to finding a job.

“And we want to do a first class job in wel- UNHCR/R. WILKINSON After five years, refugees can apply for coming and integrating them,” he said with citizenship (curiously, they then must take a touch of pride which most Icelanders one Icelandic name. Nguyen Van Ho, who seem to share. works as a mechanic with the Reykjavik Iceland’s attitude towards its new arrivals county council, is now officially known as is not only “first class” but almost deluxe Halldor Nguyen). compared with other parts of the world. Many European countries, for instance, only SHOCK ON SIGHT accepted Kosovar refugees on a temporary Culture shock begins at first contact be- basis. Legal and physical barriers to refugee tween refugees and Icelanders. One offi- entry are going up virtually everywhere else. cial remembers his initial exchange with “Once they arrive in Iceland, they can refugees. “I showed one man a map of Ice- stay for the rest of their lives,” says Minis- land, surrounded only by the sea,” this of- ter Petursson. Refugees are provided with At work in the Icelandic capital ficial said. “He was very anxious to know of Reykjavik. free medical care, a generous financial what the name of the nearest country was-

22 REFUGEES | ICELAND |

-east or west. Another man remembered our children were nervous, wild. No disci- authorities took no chances and made sure that people in Iceland lived in snow houses.” pline. No schooling for months. Even here, that most of the Kosovars were housed far Vessel Veselaj, his wife and five chil- when they see a uniform they ask, ‘Are from the Serbs. Still, as Minister Pall dren, had been herded aboard an infamous these policemen going to kill someone?’ Petursson now admits, “We were rather ‘refugee train’ in Kosovo in early 1999 and But they are becoming happy again. They anxious about the situation. But nothing found himself languishing in a Macedo- enjoy school. Even though we are Moslems happened. It will pass.” nian refugee camp when he was ap- we sometimes go to the local church. No Some people worry, Icelanders and problem. There is only refugees alike, that if the economic boom one God.” ends and jobs become scarce, Iceland might Food might be a prob- become less welcoming than it is today. lem. A few years ago Ice- That is for the future, but for now 42- land was a severely insu- year-old Ismete Krasniqi and her four girls

UNHCR / R. WILKINSON lar society where a visitor and young son are wrestling with the kind might be served such culi- of dilemma refugees around the world of- nary delights as rotten ten face. When Serbian security forces shark and sheep’s head. raided her Kosovo village in early 1999, this year, mother and children were separated CULTURAL from her husband. She eventually made it AWAKENING to Macedonia and Iceland and her husband Today, thanks partly escaped into the mountains, but for a long to the influx of refugees time each thought the others were dead. Iceland’s parliament building in downtown Reykjavik. and a current economic “My life started again in Iceland,” Mrs. boom, the country is Krasniqi said in her neat one-storey home blossoming culturally. on the outskirts of Dalvik. Her children proached by an Icelandic Red Cross dele- Until recently there was not a single for- are attending school and she would like to gation. He was reluctant to go to a place eign restaurant. Now, in Reykjavik alone, stay. However, they recently he had never heard of before, but a friend there are around 10 Vietnamese-Chinese made contact with her hus- did an Internet search and told him, “Are eating establishments started by refugees. band again and he wants to you crazy? Iceland is paradise compared “We are eating food we knew nothing stay in Kosovo. with here.” Veselaj and his family were about 10 years ago,” says Minister Pall “I don’t want to go back,” waiting for the Red Cross team the next Petursson. “They have helped change our Mrs. Krasniqi said quietly. day. eating habits.” But her 14-year-old They eventually ended A Serbian exile has spent daughter, Sadete, had the up in the northern Icelandic Culture shock nearly two years compiling last word. “We want to town of Dalvik, a place many a Serbo-Icelandic dictionary live here, but I want my people might consider being begins at first which will be published father more than Ice- on the very edge of the contact soon. land.” B world. Brooding hills, repre- To be sure, there are senting an ever present between problems in this northern threat of avalanches, tower paradise. Some ‘south’ and above the brightly painted refugees and ‘north’ Vietnamese, ene- homes where 2,300 people Icelanders. mies during the In- live. Deep sea fishing boats dochina war, still eye line the harbor. A deep fjord each other warily. Ser- leads to the open sea. The next stop literally bian refugees who arrived in the mid- A church is the North Pole. Rain squalls and vicious 1990s were ‘surprised and hurt’ when in Iceland’s winds lash the area for many days of the year. Iceland invited the Kosovars in 1999. capital. In summer there is almost permanent day- The Red Cross held emergency meet- light and in winter virtual around-the-clock ings to calm Serb fears that they had twilight and darkness. somehow been ‘betrayed’ by their Some refugees have trouble adjusting adopted country. “Iceland, after to this hostile climate. One unlucky ar- all is a member of NATO and rival who was attempting to repair a roof NATO was bombing was recently blown into the sea, along Kosovo,” a Red with the roof. He survived. Cross official said. Vessel Veselaj appears undaunted as he “It was a very chats in his blue, two-storey, three-bed- uncomfort- roomed house on the edge of Dalvik town. able time for “Icelanders are a happy people, even in this the Serbs.” darkness. Why not us,” he says. “In Kosovo Icelandic

REFUGEES 23 UNHCR/R. WILKINSON East Timorese arriving home in Dili. UNHCR / M. KOBAYASHI

firmed, Alberto’s next task was more tricky—trying to reintegrate him into a badly traumatized society by acting as an GOING HOME IS ONLY effective honest broker between the returning refugee and a hugely suspicious local community. While the original mass exodus, the subsequent killings and destruction and PART OF THE STORY then the start of the refugees return, received the bulk of the world’s attention, nized’ as one of the militias who had this kind of work has gone largely unher- Being accepted by old wreaked terror on the capital and alded. It is often painstakingly slow, labor neighbors may be even was severely beaten before the police could intervene. more difficult Now Alberto, a protection assistant with UNHCR, had been called in to help decide the truth and what to do next. But when By Paul Stromberg Luis Suares was led into the room Alberto broke into a smile. “This one is going to be lberto sat patiently at a child’s easy,” he recalled. “I knew this man. He was school desk in the headquarters of not in the militia.” A Dili’s new civilian police, waiting Suares, the suspect, described how four to quiz an alleged militia member. The sus- men had knocked at the door of his home pect’s tale had become a familiar one as tens only moments after he, his father and of thousands of East Timorese who had sister had returned. Spurning the offer of fled or been forcibly evicted from their coffee, the visitors instead punched and homes in the chaotic weeks following the kicked him and insisted his cousins had territory’s vote for independence in 1999, been militia members and probably continued to straggle back. As the suspect responsible for many of the killings in Dili, made his way through a local neighbor- the East Timor capital. UNHCR construction materials to help rebuild East Timor. hood on his first day back he was ‘recog- Once Luis Suares account was con-

24 REFUGEES | TIMOR |

intensive, expensive and low-key, but is nevertheless part of the organization’s ‘core’ mandate of providing legal and physical protection for the vulnerable and UNHCR

has intervened in dozens of similar cases UNHCR / P. STROMBERG in Timor.

NO DANGER Alberto’s first move is to assure members of the U.N. mandated police force, commonly known as ‘civpol’, that Luis Suares poses no danger to the community. He then must track down the leader of the zone where Suares lives and a representative of the territory’s fledgling local administration, known by its Portuguese acronym CNRT, to enlist their help in rein- tegrating this latest returnee and other suspected or real members of the old militias. “More former militia members are ac- cepting the calls they have heard from lead- UNHCR staff begin mediation efforts to reintegrate a returnee back into civil society. ers like Xanana Gusmao and are coming home to East Timor,” says Cristina Planas, Luis Suares points to the dangers of rush- former neighbors about specific cases, so- UNHCR’s senior protection officer in Dili. ing to judgement, these officials tell peo- liciting local opinions on the possible re- But they face a difficult and potentially hos- ple over and over again in meetings held turn of a particular person and gauging po- tile environment. in living rooms and communal halls tential opposition. These meetings in turn East Timor’s national justice system is throughout Dili and other centers. There provide Timorese with an opportunity to still in a planning stage and the territory must be no popular revenge. Instead, as Al- air their own worries about the return of does not have the capacity to detain, in- berto will do with Luis, former militia. vestigate or prosecute alleged killers and he patiently and labori- Some town meetings criminals. There is deep and simmering ously tries to elicit The work is draw hundreds of people, resentment among a civilian population pledges from neighbors but the proceedings are which was so deeply traumatized so re- that the returnee will be slow, labor generally orderly. At one cently. protected. recent gathering, a local of- “One day a man who villagers may have intensive, ficial tells the meeting that seen last setting fire to their homes, climbs PROTECTING PEOPLE, expensive and the international commu- out of a truck with other returnees,” says NOT CRIME nity must protect all Tim- Cristina Planas. “It is easy to understand “We preach patience,” low-key, but is orese including one partic- the villagers reaction.” But, she adds, ”Right says local attorney Anto- part of ular person who has not now, no matter what someone is suspected nio Goncalves. “We make been allowed to return to of, there is no other place for them to go.” it clear we are protecting UNHCR’s core this zone after he repatri- The dilemma fac- people, not crimes.” ated. Zone leader George ing UNHCR protec- Goncalves is an unlikely mandate of Claudio adds his support, tion and local officials conciliator. He was im- protection. telling locals that by pre- is to try to find a bal- prisoned by Indonesian venting the suspect’s re- ance between all of authorities in 1986 for in- turn they are stooping to these conflicting dependence activities but the level of the militias. UNHCR / P. STROMBERG problems and emo- was eventually able to finish his studies in To no avail. The meeting breaks up tions. “We must find exile and joined a team of lawyers repre- without agreement. UNHCR and local of- an acceptable way to senting jailed Timorese leader Xanana ficials will try again in a few days, but they move people back Gusmao in 1997. He returned to Timor in have already begun looking for other ar- home and to ensure late December. eas which might accept the man. that returnees’ rights “It is not strange to help people others Meanwhile, Luis Suares has gone are respected,” might consider criminals,” he said shortly home. He sits on his front porch with Cristina Planas said, after asking Australian peacekeepers to in- local leaders and key neighbors while while at the same tervene on behalf of three ‘suspect’ re- UNHCR’s Alberto explains the purpose time being sensitive turnees in his own neighborhood. “It is nor- of the meeting. Everyone has a chance to the pent-up anger mal work to reintegrate all East Timorese to speak. Eventually they all nod their of so many civilians. in order to rebuild Timor.” assent. Luis has been accepted back A case such as This work involves talking patiently to home. B

REFUGEES 25 | KOSOVO |

The refugees were too important to leave to UNHCR

nored or underestimated the An independent complexity of such issues. In evaluation of the Kosovo the final analysis, the report said, the major powers viewed crisis gives the agency the fate of the refugees in this mixed marks particular crisis as too important to their own national interests to leave them to he 1999 Kosovo crisis was probably UNHCR alone. the most complex emergency in The agency accepted the Canned food is distributed to refugees arriving in T UNHCR’s nearly 50 year history. majority of the findings and Kukes, Albania, in April, 1999. Within 11 weeks, nearly one million peo- said it was already working on ple fled the embattled province and just as methods to strengthen its strategic plan- terests of major powers, strong regional or- suddenly returned home. The agency had ning, leadership capacity and ability to re- ganizations and military action in Europe. never faced such a rapid whiplash of move- spond more quickly to major emergencies. In this situation, the displacement issue ment—exodus and repatriation—of so many Within the overall context of the Kosovo became an important element in the diplo- people in such short a time. The humani- crisis, it is also important to note that UN- macy of war. As a result, many factors af- tarian aspects of the emergency, over- HCR worked effectively to help hundreds fecting UNHCR’s performance were not whelming as they were, were nevertheless of thousands of Kosovars, both before the under its own control. dwarfed by political and military consid- launch of the NATO airstrikes and after erations involving the refugees returned Q. What was the result of the politicized the national inter- to Kosovo (the evalu- nature of the emergency? ests of the world’s The agency is ation covered only the A. It brought enormous resources to the leading powers, actual period of war) emergency, but relatively little of it was regional organiza- strengthening its and that even during channelled through UNHCR and consul- tions and the the bombing cam- tation with UNHCR varied considerably. involvement of strategic planning and paign the refugees The top six European Union contributors NATO in its first leadership capacity... had received ade- allocated $279 million in humanitarian as- shooting war. quate assistance and sistance… but UNHCR received only 3.5 UNHCR re- mortality rates were percent of this directly. cently released the results of an indepen- actually below other, similar emergencies. dent report it had commissioned to assess The following questions and answers Q. What differences emerged between the lessons of this unique crisis. The 141- address some of the ma- page document confirmed early criticisms jor issues. The answers that the agency had performed poorly in are direct extracts either some areas of the emergency—responding from the report itself or slowly to the developing crisis, having in- from UNHCR’s response. adequate emergency supplies in place and UNHCR / H.J. DAVIES deploying senior staff too slowly. The re- Q. Why is it impor- port, however, judged the agency’s perfor- tant to put UNHCR’s mance within the unique overall context performance in context of the time and concluded that “many fac- of the overall crisis? tors affecting UNHCR’s performance were A. In political terms, not under its own control” and that in judg- the emergency was a rare ing such areas as coordinating other agen- event in contemporary cies, protecting and registering refugees international relations. It Refugees at Stankovec 2 camp in Macedonia in April, 1999. and the supply of aid itself, critics had ig- involved the national in-

26 REFUGEES | KOSOVO |

underestimation of the special require- numerous actors made system-wide coor- ments of a high profile emergency. dination extraordinarily difficult. UNHCR was the accepted, rather than the formally Q. Should UNHCR have anticipated designated, lead agency and it could only

UNHCR / R. CHALASANI the crisis? coordinate those (among an estimated 250 A. UNHCR did not anticipate the size non-governmental organizations and gov- and speed of the exodus, nor could it rea- ernments) willing to be coordinated. sonably be expected to have done so. No aid agency has subsequently claimed it an- Q. How did UNHCR perform its pro- ticipated this kind of outflow. tection role? A. UNHCR invested considerable ef- Q. Did UNHCR meet its own assis- fort to provide international protection in tance standards? a difficult context. The outflow presented A. The levels of UNHCR’s emergency the agency with particular pressures ex- stockpiles were below the agreed target of ercised by key donor states whose inter- 250,000 persons and the decision to dis- ests were tied to the NATO military cam- patch emergency response teams was not paign and not necessarily to universal stan- taken soon enough. (However) the dards of protection. Some donors criticized refugees generally received adequate the agency for not being sufficiently sen- assistance and mortality rates were well sitive to the destabilization concerns of below the generally accepted threshold Macedonia. Some human rights groups for emergencies and there were no criticized the agency for not putting serious epidemics. enough pressure on the government (on behalf of refugees). UNHCR performed as UNHCR and other actors? Q. How can UNHCR’s assistance be well as the situation permitted. A. The most important difference in improved? perspective concerned the first asylum is- A. It could improve supply capacity to Q. How did UNHCR perform on reg- sue in FYR Macedonia. UNHCR vigor- meet existing standards; use its own re- istration of refugees? ously defended unconditional first asylum sources to encourage other actors to allo- A. The pressure to register refugees (a person’s right to seek asylum in the first cate their own capabilities and either co- stemmed from concerns that differ from country he/she reached). The United ordinate more fully or del- normal operations; it fo- States and United Kingdom were more at- egate activities when cused on family tracing tuned to destabilization concerns in Mace- appropriate to other ac- and issues related to denial donia and worried the refugee presence tors such as the World of nationality rather than would make the government withdraw its Food Program. The the provision of assistance. support for NATO’s military campaign. agency should also de- UNHCR / H.J. DAVIES This led to unrealistic de- velop ‘standby’ agree- mands from donors, and Q. Did UNHCR meet expectations? ments and other ‘service’ UNHCR could not rea- A. The political and refugee challenges packages with govern- sonably have been ex- left UNHCR with a daunting task and lim- ments and organizations. pected to complete a full ited room to manoeuvre. A persistent gap registration in the 11 weeks between expectations and reality fuelled Q. What were man- the emergency lasted. UN- criticism that the agency failed to meet power deployment prob- HCR’s registration policy, objectives. lems? however, should be modi- A. Staff deployment fied and technological ad- Q. What were the external and was generally slow, criti- A NATO center for new vances experimented with internal constraints on UNHCR? cal mid-level manage- arrivals in Macedonia. during Kosovo could con- A. Externally, these included donors ex- ment for field operations tribute to protection activ- tensively bypassing UNHCR to fund op- was lacking and some key ities if refined. erations directly; significant blurring of field positions were not staffed. The agency humanitarian and military-political mis- had an insufficient number of high-level Q. Why did UNHCR work with the sions; the powerful role and agenda of staff to address critical diplomatic chal- military in Kosovo? NATO in the humanitarian sector; reluc- lenges. A. Although UNHCR’s status as a non- tant government hosts; complex institu- political humanitarian organization would tional rivalries and the emergency’s high Q. Did UNHCR fulfil its coordination seem to preclude close cooperation with a visibility. Internally they included, limited role? military, in Kosovo it was widely accepted ‘surge’ capacity of staff and other resources A. Weakness in staff deployment re- as necessary to save lives. Cooperation has for emergencies, inappropriate decision duced the effectiveness of UNHCR’s coor- been similarly accepted when military making structures, limited financial and dination role. At the same time, the dom- forces were involved in U.N.-authorized human resources, recent restructuring and inance of bilateralism and the presence of peace enforcement operations. B

REFUGEES 27 B BELGRADE: Infamous Serbian B TIMOR: Some 150,000 refugees paramilitary leader ‘Arkan’ was have returned to East Timor but SHORT TAKES gunned down in a Belgrade hotel. militiamen continued to hamper repatriation.

BURUNDI Seekingasylum Another peace effort for Burundi GEORGIA most revered of any world statesman to- The U.N. Security Council day, began his task with a verbal broad- approved a six-month renewal side against the government leaders, sol- until the end of July to the 101- © KEYSTONE/AP diers and rebels of the tiny country of six member U.N. Observer Mis- sion in Georgia which, togeth- million people. “Why do you allow your- er with Russian and other con- selves to be regarded as leaders without tingents has been helping to talent, leaders without vision?” he de- keep the peace between the manded in his first meeting with them. government and the break- “When people in the West hear these away Abkhazia region things (of the ongoing atrocities) they say (REFUGEES magazine, N° 117). More than 250,000 ethnic ‘Africans are still barbarians. No human Georgians fled the Abkhazia being could do what they are doing. Please region during the 1992-93 civil Former South African President Nelson Mandela, join the modern world.’” war and there have been peri- pictured with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is Burundi has been wracked for decades by odic outbursts of renewed the new Burundi mediator. on-again off-again wars between the ma- fighting there and in other jority Hutu people and the minority Tutsis parts of the former Soviet Re- ne of Africa’s most venerated leaders, who, nevertheless, have dominated the country public during the 1990s. the late President Julius Nyerere of since independence from Belgium in 1962. As the UGANDA OTanzania, tried without much success war intensified in recent months, the govern- A December 1999 to broker some progress in one of the conti- ment herded an estimated 350,000 civilians into agreement between Sudan nent’s most intractable crises. Now, another dis- ‘regroupment camps’ to allow the army to more and Uganda seeking to end tinguished leader, former South African Presi- easily pursue Hutu rebels—a ploy it has tried un- years of conflict along their dent Nelson Mandela has assumed the role of successfully in the past. Under pressure from common border has begun to mediator to try to end the conflict in the tiny Mandela and the U.N. Security Council, Burundi pay modest dividends. A group of 21 Ugandans who central African state of Burundi where more agreed to start dismantling these camps, but a were kidnapped by the so- than 200,000 people have been killed in a seem- meaningful negotiated breakthrough which called Lord’s Resistance Army ingly never ending civil war. Mandela, a Nobel would allow hundreds of thousands of displaced which has terrorized north Peace Prize winner, South Africa’s first demo- Burundians, and 330,000 refugees in Tanzania, and central Uganda for a cratically elected president and perhaps the to return home still appears a long way away. B decade recently returned home. Another 54 people were handed over to U.N. authorities in Khartoum. The EUROPE LRA has seized as many as 10,000 young people in recent years. Asylum claims in Europe jump in 1999 BOSNIA Five Bosnian Croats he number of people bourg, 6.8 and Switzerland 6.5. in 1999 and the overall Ger- have been found guilty of seeking asylum in Eu- Portugal received the lowest man figure, while still the crimes against humanity by Trope in 1999 rose to number of asylum seekers highest in Europe, decreased the United Nations tribunal 437,400, an increase of 19 per- compared with its total popu- by three percent compared for former Yugoslavia. They cent compared with the previ- lation at 0.03 percent, less than with the previous year. Inter- were sentenced to prison ous year. Germany continued one third the European aver- estingly, a separate U.N. report terms ranging from six to 25 to receive the largest overall age. Slovakia experienced the suggests that Europe will years in connection with the massacre of an estimated 100 number of applications, a total largest increase in the num- need 160 million immigrant Muslim villagers in the village of 95,300 followed by the Unit- ber of applicants last year, the workers by the year 2025 to of Ahmici in 1993 when gangs ed Kingdom with 91,400 and figure rising by 155 percent support a rapidly ageing pop- of Croats overran the area and Switzerland with 46,100. followed by Liechtenstein, 126 ulation which is set to decline killed everyone in sight. The Compared to a country’s pop- percent and Finland with an by five million in the next defendants were arrested by ulation size, Liechtenstein increase of 122 percent. The quarter century. The ratio of British soldiers and went on came out on top, receiving 16.3 number of people seeking workers to non-workers was trial in August 1998. A sixth de- fendant was acquitted. asylum seekers per 1,000 in- refuge in the Netherlands and also set to halve in the same habitants followed by Luxem- Sweden dropped by 13 percent period. B

28 REFUGEES B U.N. The U.N. raised $1.47 B TIMOR: A quarter of East B NEW ZEALAND: The govern- B TIMOR: United Nations billion towards its $2.2 billion Timorese refugee children suffer ment said it will ban all HIV-posi- peacekeepers have taken over target for relief aid in 1999 with from acute malnutrition. tive immigrants, including responsibility for security in East the U.S., European Union and refugees, starting July 1. Timor from the Australian-led Japan the largest donors. multinational force (INTERFET).

CROATIA A new start for Croatia’s refugees? Seekingasylum CHINA here may be a glimmer recent parliamentary and pres- from Bosnia-Herzegovina, UNHCR has condemned of hope at the end of the idential campaigns, the issue have the right to return. They China for deporting seven tunnel for hundreds of was treated as a humanitarian have also told UNHCR that cer- T North Koreans who the thousands of civilians who fled and social problem rather than tain discriminatory laws which Croatia during the 1991-95 war the highly sensitive political have effectively blocked the re- agency had recognized as in former Yugoslavia. Follow- one it was during the Tudjman turn of civilians will be ex- refugees back to their home ing the recent death of Presi- era. “I am ready to make ges- punged. Croatia has paid lip ser- country. The North Koreans, dent Franjo Tudjman, the coun- tures that will help end collec- vice to the return of refugees in ranging from 13 to 30 years try’s new government said it tive accusations (of the Serb mi- the past, and although 112,000 old, entered China to seek wants to move quickly to intro- nority) even if no such gestures have gone home, including food. They were subsequently duce sweeping democratic re- come from their side,” Presi- 36,000 Croatian Serbs from the caught by Russian guards forms… and allow refugees and dent-elect Stipe Mesic said in Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, while crossing the border internally displaced persons to one interview. The new author- an estimated 280,000 are still from China and were recog- return to their old homes. In ities have said all refugees, in that country and neighbor- nized as having refugee status. one encouraging sign, during whether from Croatia itself or ing Bosnia. B However, they were returned to China which in turn sent them back to North Korea saying it viewed the seven no differently than thousands of

UNHCR / F. DEL MUNDO other North Koreans who have crossed the border searching for food.

BELGIUM Belgium recently offered people residing illegally in the country—the so-called ‘sans papiers’, a one time opportunity to regularize their residency. Between 35,000- 40,000 applications were received and will be examined by panels consisting of a lawyer, magistrate and a non- governmental organization. A new beginning? Croatian Serbs who fled the Krajina region in 1995 could soon return. Applicants include persons who had requested refugee status in recent years without ERITREA receiving a final decision, persons who can demonstrate humanitarian reasons to stay, A fresh start in Eritrea who are seriously ill or who cannot return to their former NHCR has restarted operations in the proved recently and Eritrea opened an embassy countries of residence or na- east African state of Eritrea after an ab- in Khartoum in January after a six-year-long tionality for reasons beyond Usence of nearly three years. The agency break in ties. That helped pave the way for UN- their control. was expelled from the country in May, 1997 over HCR’s return to the region where it hopes to draw what the Eritreans saw as its ‘undue insistence’ on up plans to repatriate nearly 150,000 Eritreans the return of Eritrean refugees from eastern Su- who fled to Sudan, some as long as a quarter cen- dan. Relations between those two countries im- tury ago. B

REFUGEES 29 | PEOPLE AND PLACES |

kits could be fully deployed, but field tests have continued since then with up- graded software. UNHCR has been provided with 100 of the 40 kilogram, $20,000 portable kits, accompanied by Microsoft’s Bill Gates and High Commissioner Sadako Ogata at the recent Davos their own generators and recently de- economic summit meeting. ployed several of them to the west COPYRIGHT African state of Senegal to help registration there. Says UNHCR information systems analyst Ioli Kimyaci who worked Technology transfer in Senegal, “Normally the refugees have to come to us for registration. It is a time s hundreds of thousands of refugees need to give back to the refugees an iden- consuming and inefficient process. Now A poured out of Kosovo in early 1999 tity was obviously a problem of a far we can go directly to the refugees. It takes one of the most distressing aspects of greater dimension than in a ‘normal’ 10 minutes to set up the system and begin their plight was the attempt by Serbian refugee crisis. Microsoft, aided by indus- work. It’s very easy to use.” In addition to authorities to strip many of them of any try partners such as Hewlett-Packard, the kits themselves, Microsoft will con- form of identification – effectively trying Compaq, Securit and ScreenCheck—de- tinue to support the program by provid- to make them ‘non persons’. UNHCR veloped from scratch a so-called registra- ing backup personnel and technical ad- registers refugees—but only after they tion field kit including computers, digi- vice. In an assessment of its Kosovo have settled in a camp or a reception cen- tal cameras, signature pads, special ID performance, UNHCR recognized that it ter and normally to allow them to receive card printers and related hardware and needed to strengthen its registration pro- emergency aid such as food. The scale software. The majority of refugees re- cedures. The mobile kits will go a long and speed of the Kosovo exodus and the turned home before the revolutionary way towards reaching that goal. B

Goodwill ambassador through UNHCR to refugee children ne of the Arab world’s most famous Sports aid projects in education, health and Oshowbiz personalities, Egyptian co- sport. Some of the funds will help median Adel Imam, has become a good- orway’s three-time Olympic promote an ‘Olympic Sports Day’ in will ambassador for UNHCR in the Mid- N speed skating gold medal win- 12 refugee camps around the world in dle East and North Africa. Imam, who is ner Dr. Johann Koss has established a June where youngsters will play a se- in his 60s and whose latest film, Hello humanitarian fund raising group ries of events including soccer, vol- America, was a hit, will combine his act- called Olympic Aid to coincide with leyball, netball running and jump- ing career and his new duties. “As good- the September games in Sydney. The ing. Australian disadvantaged will ambassador I will try to accomplish organization hopes to raise at least children will benefit from the local three main missions,” he said. “They in- five million Australian dollars from part of the Olympic Aid project run the public and industry. The bulk of by Australian tennis stars Pat Rafter clude visiting refugee areas worldwide, B fund raising and developing artistic pro- the donations will be channeled and Evonne Goolagong. jects to benefit refugees.” B

30 REFUGEES | QUOTE UNQUOTE |

part. I think our children have forgotten how to cry.” A Chechen nurse describing the destruction of her region and its people. FFF

“When they hear (about the killings) people say ‘Afri- cans are still barbarians – no human beings could do what they are doing. Please join the modern world.’” Former South African President Nelson Mandela, in his new capacity as a mediator for the conflict in Burundi, appealing to the various factions to make peace. FFF

“We are all against terror- ism… but the force used against them must be pro- portionate. We must be REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION. very careful to avoid a situation in which violence is visited on civilians.” U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the role of the Russian military in Chechnya. “What is a refugee? They don’t care. FFF

They are all homeless” yet “two-thirds “The misery of the Burundi people affects us all and of the homeless people in the world are diminishes the humanity classified with the odious acronym of of all of us.” Former South African President internally displaced persons.” Nelson Mandela as he took up a new role as mediator to try to halt America’s U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke during a U.N. debate on the difference between the two groups. the fighting in Burundi. FFF “Can we speak of any sub- Gen. Klaus Reinhardt, Com- “Look at what happened in stantive reconstruction pro- mander of NATO forces in Bosnia in five years and “The forces of disintegra- gram, like those generously Kosovo on efforts to raise $120 then see what has hap- tion are substantially funded by governments in million to pay civil servants in pened in Kosovo in five stronger than the forces of Kosovo or East Timor, in any the province. months, and please stop integration.” African country.” the preaching. Never has a Carl Bildt, former High Repre- U.N. High Commissioner for FFF U.N. mission gone so fast.” sentative in Bosnia, on the situ- Refugees Sadako Ogata on the U.N. Kosovo administrator ation in Kosovo. world’s ambivalence toward long- “The whole town is like Bernard Kouchner answering term aid for Africa. Coventry, or Warsaw or charges the U.N. was not mov- FFF Stalingrad, there’s nothing ing fast enough in the province. FFF worse.” “Serbs here feel the same as A Chechen civilian comparing FFF the Jews in Auschwitz.” “I asked for funds. All we the destruction of his capital, A Serb leader in the Kosovo town have to date are pledges, but Grozny, with other cities de- “The children don’t cry any- of Mitrovica following recent not a single dollar.” stroyed in World War II. more. That is the scariest ethnic clashes.

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