Prior to 1990 Albania was isolated from East and West, strictly controlled all movement across its borders and did not recognise the 1951 Refugee Convention. Border controls collapsed as the post-communist authorities were keen to allow Albanians to leave the…
A million Somalis are thought to have fled their country as a result of fighting and the collapse of the Somali state following the overthrow of Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. At the end of 2003 nearly 280,000 officially registered…
The tiny republic of Chechnya proclaimed its independence from Russia in late 1991, a declaration that went unrecognised by Russia and the international community in general. Since then, Chechen civilians have lived through two major waves of conflict: the first…
Aware of US preparations for an attack on Iraq, the humanitarian community was ready to receive thousands of Iraqis expected to pour into Syria and Jordan at the end of March 2003. However, instead of arriving as expected en masse[1]…
Abkhazia, a small strip of land in northwestern Georgia that hugs the Black Sea, has traditionally been inhabited by a mix of nationalities. By the time the USSR broke up, the Abkhaz population of Abkhazia was estimated at 18%, while…
Faced with the challenges of siting and designing a refugee camp, most professionals turn to UNHCR’s Handbook for Emergencies[1] and/or Sphere’s Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response[2]. These one-size-fits-all manuals set out everything from the minimum area of…
The conceptual apparatus in forced migration and population resettlement research is being continuously enriched. One important – but still relatively unknown – development was introduced recently into the resettlement policies of the World Bank, African Development Bank and Asian Development…
With a population of over 130 million and more than 250 ethnic groups, Nigeria has a multitude of religious, ethnic and political fault lines that periodically lead to communal violence. At least 10,000 have died since military rule ended in…
UNHCR is currently revising the Policy on Refugees in Urban Areas which it introduced in 1997. While this policy represented a step towards protecting the rights of urban refugees, it has been difficult to implement for technical, logistical and political…
Concerns over illegal immigration and the spread of international terrorism have moved the asylum issue up the collective and individual agendas of EU member states. Asylum and illegal immigration have become issues on which governments can fall, extremist parties and…