African refugees must get more helpUNHCR criticizes international failure to resolve causes of conflictBy Rosamond Bakari The international community must pay more attention to the plight of Africa’s refugees than it has in recent years, argues Mrs. Sadako Ogata, the out-going head of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1999, she notes in a forward to the agency’s latest State of the World’s Refugees report, "donors were quick to provide funds and resources for those displaced by the conflict in Kosovo. But little attention was paid to the situation in West Africa, where hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted by crises in Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau." Issued on the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of UNHCR, the report observes that the problem of refugees and other uprooted people is worse than ever. It estimates that globally there are some 22 million refugees and internally displaced people who fall under the agency’s concern, of which 6.3 million are in Africa (see graph).
Mrs. Ogata, who was replaced at the end of the year by Mr. Ruud Lubbers of the Netherlands (see Appointments), is highly critical of the situation. It should serve, she says, "as a sobering reminder of the international community’s continuing failure to prevent prejudice, persecution, poverty and other root causes of conflict and displacement." She also warns of the dangers of ignoring the problem. "History has shown that displacement is not only a consequence of conflicts, it can cause conflict. Without human security, there can be no peace and stability." Beyond the plight of refugees who cross state borders, there is also a growing problem of internally displaced people. According to UNHCR, there are some 20-25 million internally displaced people worldwide — far more than the agency is able to assist. More than half of them are in Africa. The end of the Cold War and the resolution of some of its associated conflicts in Africa brought some optimism in the early 1990s that fewer people would be uprooted, But by the middle of the decade those hopes had been dashed, with the genocide in Rwanda and a series of brutal internal conflicts in East, Central and West Africa. The two main conflicts in West Africa — in Liberia and Sierra Leone — drove millions of people from their homes. By the end of the decade, more than a third of the continent’s refugees and displaced people were in West Africa. In many instances, these refugees and displaced persons are being hosted by small and already impoverished countries – such as Guinea – which are ill-equipped to handle these crises. In addition to political and social strife, Africa also must contend with the AIDS pandemic. UNHCR reports that forced population movements often place people at greater risk of HIV infection. But the agency believes that despite the daunting problems confronting refugees and internally displaced persons, their situation can be markedly improved with sufficient political will. This means not simply providing short-term security and assistance, concludes the report. It also requires "addressing the persecution, violence and conflict which bring about displacement."
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