A seminar held in Bogotá in November 2008 brought together representatives of the Colombian government, IDP associations, civil society organisations, donors, UN agencies and academic researchers to explore the relationship between Colombia’s protracted IDP situation and transitional justice processes currently…
This grim scenario has unfolded amidst a regrouping of paramilitary groups and disputes between the ELN[1] and the FARC[2], involving repeated attacks on civilians, sexual violence and child recruitment. Military efforts to control territory and eradicate coca crops have only…
Xenophobic government policies designed to drive out farm owners and undermine the political opposition have left large numbers of farm workers with nowhere to go. By 2000, Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party were facing, for the first time…
“FMR aroused my consciousness about issues relating to the reproductive health of refugees and I decided to go to the Oru refugee camp in Ogun State to volunteer as a peer educator and work in the area of health communication…
Refugees may be recognised as such either on a group basis (‘prima facie’) or individually. The vast majority of the world’s refugees are recognised by way of a prima facie group determination, based on an evaluation of the situation in…
Asylum seekers are subject to a variety of procedures examining their individual reasons for being outside their country of origin, and thus determining their status as refugees. Even within states, procedures can vary based upon location, country of origin and…
From 2002 to 2007 the number of refugees, asylum seekers and other persons of concern in the ten countries which constitute the geographical south of Africa has steadily declined. Voluntary repatriation to Angola, the Grand Lac countries and the Democratic…
Every year, thousands of people from over 40 countries come to Turkey seeking asylum. However, since Turkey imposes a ‘geographic limitation’ on the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees from countries outside Europe are not eligible to receive international protection from the…
A research project on the human smuggling industry and its effects on would-be asylum seekers revealed that of those asylum seekers who crossed a land border into South Africa, a substantial majority entered via Zimbabwe.[1] Just over a fifth of…
Situations of protracted displacement require a shift in mindset from immediate, crisis-based humanitarian action to sustainable service provision – and preferably some degree of local integration. The notion of local integration may be uncomfortable for governments and IDPs alike as…