Signs of hope include the collapse of the Khmer Rouge (ending decades of civil war), Cambodia’s entry into the Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) in April 1999 and the imminent trial of some former Khmer Rouge leaders.(1) Governance is…
For over 20 years, 10% of the entire country was effectively shut down as a bloody insurgency was fought by tribal groups from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, who felt themselves severely threatened by the government’s construction of a national, homogenous…
This in itself often causes conflicts within the refugee setting. As a result, conflict within a refugee community is often driven by the politics back home and yet, when refugees are finally able to return home, they are expected to…
It provides individuals with the opportunity to re-start and re-build their lives. It has been used successfully to resettle refugee women and girls who have been victims(2) of sexual or gender-related violence, including rape. This article outlines the grounds upon…
These were fundamentally borne of my academic grounding in UN law, international promotion and protection of human rights. I reminded myself of the basic principles of refugee protection in the 1951 Convention and read documents on UNHCR’s evolving mandate. I…
Protracted social conflicts do not erupt overnight. They are the result of a slow accumulation of tensions and hostilities built up over time. In the Horn of Africa an innovative early warning mechanism being explored by the Intergovernmental Authority on…
In its report last Saturday(1) of William Hague’s(2) speech on asylum policy, the Times referred to ‘asylum seekers’ in its first paragraph; ‘immigrants’ in its second; and ‘refugees’ in its third. The terms appeared to be used interchangeably. The Guardian…
It is perhaps too soon to define the broad historical significance of 11 September 2001. It may eventually be seen as the start of a new period of transition from the post-Cold War era to a 'Grey War'. However, for…
In fact, Afghanistan has experienced one of the world's largest refugee crises for more than two decades. Between the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the present day, one in four Afghans has been a refugee. At the peak…
Four months after the establishment of the Interim Administration(1), the central authority and regional power holders are still finding a balance and a modus vivendi. The most striking feature of the situation is perhaps this contrast - between the warlords…