While working for a programme to integrate the ‘Lost Boys’ in Syracuse, New York state, I became aware that there are significant discrepancies between typical media narration of their collective experience and the recollections of individuals. Glib articles have focused…
On 28 December 2006 four fishing boats approached the Yemeni coast, manned by smugglers planning to drop off their contraband: 515 people fleeing fighting, insecurity and poverty in the Horn of Africa. Yemeni security forces reportedly shot at two of…
Developed by Columbia University’s Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, in the Mailman School of Public Health1, and Marie Stopes International (MSI)2, the CRHC Programme aims to ensure that the full range of RH needs of IDPs and refugees…
For people from eastern Congo who have lived through more than a decade of violence, the city – located in the vast country’s far southwestern corner – offers an undeniable allure. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the…
Colombia has some of the most advanced national legislation on internal displacement in the world but fails to implement it effectively. In January 2004, the Constitutional Court declared the government’s response to internal displacement to be in violation of the…
Is the world on the verge of establishing a basic form of global welfare for all those affected by war and disaster? Or is the idea of fair and efficient global welfare a non-starter in a world of competing political…
The 30,000 Sudanese in Cairo registered with UNHCR are but a fraction of the vast Sudanese population living in the Egyptian capital.1 In June 2004 UNHCR took the view that the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Government…
The Sahrawis hail from neighbouring Western Sahara, a country invaded and occupied by Morocco in 1975. Western Sahara is on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories and still considered a colony. Repeated attempts to get Morocco to live up to…
Following each country visit, the UN Representative, Walter Kälin (like his predecessor, Francis Deng) issues a publicly available mission report1 which includes a comprehensive list of recommendations. These recommendations – primarily directed at national governments – outline what improvements should…
Uganda has a massive number of IDPs – more than 1.7 million, over 6% of the national population. Although it is one of the few countries with a national IDP policy, ineffective implementation means many IDPs still face security threats,…