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01/11/2012After nearly 50 years of brutal military rule, Burma is embarking upon a landmark transition to civilian administration. The country has seen some promising political reforms. But the world’s longest civil war, coupled with natural disasters within the country, has created serious humanitarian needs which still persist. Recently, the Burmese government has demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with humanitarian agencies. The international community must seize this opportunity to ensure that the needs of the displaced are met, the military’s abuse of human rights are stemmed, and ethnic conflicts progress toward peaceful resolution. Only by addressing both political reform and ethnic conflict will policymakers be able to break the cycles of violence that have gripped the people of Burma.
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12/14/2011The Republic of South Sudan (RoSS) is going through a major displacement crisis. The country is playing host to tens of thousands of refugees who fled fighting in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States. In addition to this, hundreds of thousands of people are displaced due to violence within South Sudan itself. The country also has to contend with a large influx of southerners returning from northern cities. This crisis could soon become overwhelming for the world’s newest country – a country already struggling to deliver security and basic services to its citizens. If this displacement crisis is not adequately addressed, all the positive efforts now being made to incorporate returnees into the social, political, and economic fabric of South Sudan will be short lived.
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12/12/2011When famine was declared in Somalia in July, the world turned its attention to the crisis in the Horn of Africa. Since then, public and media attention has waned, despite the fact that the crisis is far from over. Food production in Somalia will not return to normal levels until the end of 2012 at the earliest. Rising insecurity inside Somalia and Kenya is impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid while greater numbers of Somalis are forced to flee violence and hunger. In the refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia, UN agencies and NGOs have responded well to meet the basic needs of hundreds of thousands of new refugees, but protection monitoring and programming remains weak. In Mogadishu, non-traditional donor countries have created much needed new streams of assistance. However, their inexperience in aid distribution and coordination is resulting in vast disparities in the delivery of aid. Informal and unmanaged Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) sites inside the capital have become breeding grounds for waterborne diseases. And throughout Somalia, ongoing violence, banditry, and food shortages have trapped people who have nothing left, and nowhere to flee.
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11/08/2011With the death of Muammar Gaddafi, a long-standing dictatorship has come to an end. The majority of Libyans are celebrating a new future; but certain groups – including suspected loyalist civilians, sub-Saharan Africans, and ethnic minorities – remain displaced and vulnerable to violent attacks. The National Transitional Council (NTC), the current de facto government of Libya, lacks command and control over all armed groups, including those responsible for revenge attacks. As such, the NTC cannot yet establish or maintain the rule of law. The plight of these vulnerable civilians foreshadows challenges to reconciliation, integration, and equal treatment of all in the new Libya. Further, civilians suffering losses during hostilities have not been properly recognized or assisted.
RI Advocate Matt Pennington and CIVIC Director of Field Operations Kristele Younes conducted a joint mission to Libya in September and October of 2011 to assess key civilian protection gaps and challenges. -
10/17/2011Gender discrimination in Kuwait’s nationality laws increases the incidence of statelessness by rendering children of Kuwaiti women and bidoun men stateless. Statelessness exposes women to heightened risks of abuse and exploitation. It also endangers family life.
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08/31/2011One year after massive floods submerged much of Pakistan, millions of flood survivors are still without permanent shelter and struggling to access food. It is critical that the U.S. government make strides in demonstrating that flood assistance, in addition to providing life-saving assistance, is also helping to alleviate poverty and to build a more democratic and economically and politically stable Pakistan.
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07/28/2011International interest in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is waning at a time when hundreds of thousands of Congolese continue to be displaced by ongoing violence. This shift risks squandering the substantial investments made towards peace and stability in the DRC and leaves internally displaced people vulnerable to further violence and suffering. Continued political and financial support by the U.S. and other donor governments is still essential to address both the root causes of the problem and emergency needs – all the more so in the context of November’s elections.
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07/28/2011L’intérêt de la communauté internationale à l’égard la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) diminue. Pourtant, des centaines de milliers de Congolais sont toujours déplacés en raison de la violence actuelle. Ce changement d’attitude risque de gâcher les efforts considérables investis afin d’amener paix et stabilité en RDC, et cela expose les déplacés internes à davantage de violence et souffrances. Le soutien politique et financier continu des Etats-Unis et d’autres pays donateurs reste essentiel si l’on veut combattre à la fois les causes du problème et les besoins d’urgence, a fortiori dans le contexte des élections.
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06/27/2011Afghan civilians are caught in the middle of an intensifying military campaign against a fractured armed insurgency. Despite the U.S. military’s claims of progress, insurgent attacks are up by 50% over last year, and more than 250,000 people have fled their villages in the past two years.
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05/02/2011In recent years the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) has faced tremendous pressure to improve civilian protection in the volatile and violent eastern provinces of the country. The mission has seen its share of high-profile protection failures – including the mass rape of over 200 women, men and children in August of 2010. But MONUSCO is at the forefront of innovative tactics to protect civilians. In order to sustain and maximize these new efforts, however, the mission requires additional civilian and logistical capacity. MONUSCO also requires new information management and analysis systems in order to facilitate moving from a reactive to genuinely preventive protection posture.
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04/18/2011
The Rohingya ethnic minority of Burma are trapped between severe repression in their homeland and abuse in neighboring countries. Bangladesh has hosted hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas fleeing persecution for more than three decades, but at least 200,000 Rohingya refugees have no legal rights there. They live in squalor, receive very limited aid and are subject to arrest, extortion and detention. Unregistered refugee women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual and physical attacks. The international community must urge the Bangladeshi government to register undocumented refugees and improve protection for all vulnerable Rohingyas. Donor governments must also work to restart and increase resettlement of refugees to a third country and increase assistance for communities hosting refugees.
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04/18/2011Malaysia has taken significant steps forward in improving refugee rights. In the past year, there have been no reported attempts to deport Burmese refugees to the border with Thailand and a decrease in immigration raids and arrests of registered refugees. But these advances have not yet been codified into written government policy, leaving refugees considered “illegal migrants” and subject to arrest and detention. The Government of Malaysia should build on this progress by setting up a system of residence and work permits for refugees. The international community should mobilize additional funds for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and non-governmental agencies to leverage this opportunity to improve refugee rights.
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04/13/2011As the conflict in Libya evolves into a drawn-out stalemate, affected civilian populations remain largely inaccessible to humanitarian agencies. The UN Security Council rightly took action to prevent an all-out slaughter in Benghazi. But to fully protect civilians now, the UN must better identify the needs of people inside Libya and ensure they can access assistance. Furthermore, the U.S. and other governments in the region should commit to resettling the growing number of refugees on Libya’s borders and continue funding the evacuation of third-country nationals.
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03/24/2011The eruption of conflict between the Burmese military and an ethnic rebel faction in eastern Burma has forced over 30,000 people to flee to Thailand since November 2010. Skirmishes are ongoing and both parties have planted landmines in people’s villages and farmlands. While the Thai government has a long-standing policy of providing refuge for “those fleeing fighting,” the Thai army is pressuring Burmese to return prematurely and restricting aid agencies. Unless the Thai Government strengthens its policy to protect those fleeing fighting and persecution, current and future refugees will have no choice but to join the ranks of millions of undocumented and unprotected migrant workers in Thailand.
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03/15/2011Before the excitement around the emergence of the world’s newest nation fades, outstanding issues from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement must be resolved. Hundreds of thousands of people are returning south and desperately require support to rebuild their lives and communities. The rights of minority groups on either side of the border need to be guaranteed.
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02/16/2011The next two years will be defining ones for the future of Iraq and the United States' legacy in the region. It would be a grave mistake for the U.S. Government to diminish efforts to protect and assist Iraq's displaced. A reduction of funding and diplomacy on the issue could undermine stated U.S. foreign policy goals and lead to the creation of a second large-scale protracted displacement crisis in the Middle East.
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01/31/2011Two decades after Latvia reasserted its independence during the breakup of the former Soviet Union, references to its traumatic past still surface in the media and during political debates. Often the Russian-speaking minority is blamed for the crimes of the Soviet regime. Divisive rhetoric of us and them reflects social schisms based on ethno-centric power-grabbing and vilification of “the other.” In the mid 1990s, the Latvian government created a category of “non-citizens”, which continues to impede hundreds of thousands of people from enjoying their right to a nationality. This status should be abolished, and Russian-speaking Latvians should be provided the same rights as other citizens, including the right to vote.
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12/10/2010As the January 9 referenda in south Sudan and Abyei approach, so does the possibility for violence and humanitarian crises. The United Nations has mapped out potential flashpoints for conflict and drawn up detailed contingency plans, but many critical challenges remain unresolved. With less than a month remaining until the referenda, agencies lack sufficient staffing, humanitarian access has become a growing issue, a coordinated response to gender-based violence has yet to be developed, and a systematic plan to protect minority communities and returnees has not been finalized. These issues must be resolved immediately in order to effectively protect and assist the Sudanese people if a large-scale crisis emerges.
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12/01/2010One year after President Obama’s announcement of the Afghanistan strategy, the country continues to slide into crisis.
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11/30/2010The UN Refugee Agency’s approach to urban refugee protection in Nairobi, Kenya should serve as a model and best practice for programs worldwide. By embracing the Age, Gender, and Diversity Mainstreaming Initiative, UNHCR has significantly improved their relationships with the refugee community and has drawn upon resources within that community to strengthen protection.
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11/29/2010While the international community has not succeeded in bringing stability to Somalia, it can succeed in improving the lives of Somali refugees. The single most important way the donor community can assist the Somali people is through increasing educational opportunities. Humanitarian assistance alone cannot meet the needs of three generations of Somali refugees. Donors and the United Nations must provide greater development funding to refugees and host communities living in and around Dadaab. To improve urban protection, the UNHCR must dedicate more staff for registration in Nairobi and, along with donors, prioritize support for local Kenyan NGOs assisting urban refugees.
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10/13/2010La solidaridad impresionante de la República Dominicana tras el terremoto de enero en el vecino país de Haití ya ha conducido a mejores relaciones entre ambos países, que deben mantenerse con la celebración de un acuerdo bilateral sobre política migratoria que respete los derechos humanos. El Gobierno de la República Dominicana debería establecer el reglamento, largamente esperado, de la Ley de Migración de 2004 e instituir un proceso transparente de regularización que abra el camino para la legalización de los extranjeros que han vivido en la República Dominicana durante mucho tiempo. A pesar de los avances en las relaciones con Haití, el Gobierno de la República Dominicana continúa privando ilegalmente a los dominicanos de ascendencia haitiana de su nacionalidad, aumentando así la apatridia. Es necesario cambiar esta política.
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10/13/2010The impressive solidarity demonstrated by the Dominican Republic in the aftermath of the January earthquake in neighboring Haiti already has led to improved relations between the countries. This must be sustained by reaching bilateral agreement on a migration policy which respects human rights. The Dominican Government should pass the long-awaited regulations for the 2004 Migration Law and put in place a transparent regularization process that gives a path to legal status to foreigners who have lived in the DR for long periods. Despite advances in relations with Haiti the Dominican Government continues to illegally strip Dominicans of Haitian descent of their nationality and is thus increasing statelessness. This policy must be changed.
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10/06/2010Nearly ten months after the January 12 earthquake, the people of Haiti are still living in a state of emergency, with a humanitarian response that appears paralyzed. Camp inhabitants are protesting against their living conditions and threats of evictions and objecting to the arbitrarily appointed or completely absent camp managers. Gang leaders or land-owners are intimidating the displaced. Sexual, domestic, and gang violence in and around the camps is rising. More experienced United Nations personnel and resources for humanitarian protection are urgently required. Further, agencies must focus much more attention on developing livelihood opportunities that would enable people to transition out of the camps.
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10/06/2010Près de dix mois après le tremblement de terre du 12 janvier, la réponse humanitaire semble être paralysée et la population haïtienne vit toujours dans l’état d’urgence. Les habitants des camps protestent contre leurs conditions de vie et les menaces d’expulsion auxquelles ils font face, et expriment leur désaccord à l’égard des nominations arbitraires ou l’absence totale des gestionnaires de camp. Les chefs de gang et les propriétaires de terrains intimident les résidents. La violence sexuelle, domestique et celle perpétrée par les gangs augmente. Il est urgent que du personnel des Nations unies plus expérimenté ainsi que des ressources supplémentaires soient affectés aux initiatives de protection humanitaire. Par ailleurs, les agences doivent accorder davantage d’attention aux activités visant à développer des modes de subsistance afin de permettre aux personnes de quitter progressivement les camps.
Refugees International (RI) advocates for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises.
We are an independent organization, and do not accept any government or UN funding.
We are an independent organization, and do not accept any government or UN funding.