This paper documents reflections on four years of psychosocial support given to young refugees (mainly children up to 18 years of age) from Bosnia and Herzegovina by members of the Center for Psychosocial Help to Refugees at the Slovene Foundation, Ljubljana. It is the opinion of the authors that the deleterious psychological impact of war on children is frequently exaggerated.

Refugee advocates committed to the promotion of asylum and combating the xenophobia that has reduced possibilities for refuge in host countries should be concerned about the recent debate surrounding the issue of internally displaced people (IDPs).

In many situations worldwide where rebel or other movements have wrested large areas of territory from the control of central government or, as in the case of Afghanistan, where the government has collapsed and control is divided between different power holders, humanitarian agencies are having to determine how they should relate to non-governmental power holders.