Designed to house 800 people, in mid 2002 it accommodated some 1,300 people with irregular status. Of the 50 or so nationalities represented, the group of Iraqi Kurds is the largest, followed by Afghans and Iranians. The weekly influx of…
I am concerned, however, that having watched this matter languish for 50 years, activists may now feel the need immediately to build on this new commitment by endorsing some kind of a mechanism - even if only a minimally effective…
In 1999, UNHCR appealed for additional assistance for refugees fleeing the political crisis in the Balkans. The Albanian community in New Zealand also asked the government to help with the evacuation of their relatives from war-torn Kosovo. In response, the…
In the course of research in 2000-2001 among refugees from former Yugoslavia in Italy and the Netherlands, I met a Bosnian medical doctor in Amsterdam. This 35-year-old fled to the Netherlands in 1992, became a Dutch citizen and was working…
On 7 November 2001, Somalis around the world were shocked to find that the hawilaad offices they use to send remittances to their relatives were on the list of organisations suspected of links with Osama Bin Laden and al-Qa'ida. Without…
A group at particular risk, especially in largely monocultural areas outside London to which refugees are being dispersed, are girls and women who have undergone, or are at risk of undergoing, female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is the range of…
Findings suggest that programmes for assistance to IDPs should take into more account the degree to which mobility forms part of people's livelihood strategies before, during and after violent conflicts. 'Tourists' or returnees? Back in 1999, in a migrant neighbourhood…
The World Bank has been lavish in its praise of Chinese resettlement policies,(1) citing procedures for the involuntary resettlement of people affected by large development projects as a potential model for other developing countries. However, good policy does not necessarily…
In recent years it has been fashionable to discuss this process in terms of ‘truth’, ‘justice’ and ‘reconciliation’. However, all these terms are open to subjective interpretation and take on different meanings in each post-conflict situation.(1) Citing the cases of…
The conflict also led to the death and disappearance of approximately 200,000 people between 1960 and 1996. It is estimated that 80% of these victims were of Mayan origin and that 440 Mayan villages were destroyed. The Guatemalan UN-sponsored truth…