Refugees International
Refugees International, a U.S-based aid agency, generates lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for displaced people around the world, and works to end the conditions that create displacement. The organisation was founded in 1979.
Burma: Opening the Door
Author: Refugees International
The dialogue is changing. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot Marceil visited Burma and held talks with Burmese officials and Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi. It is the highest-level visit to Burma in more than a decade, and follows the State Departmentâs September announcement of its Burma Policy Review, which began shortly after President Obama took office. Though the rest of the U.S. review largely endorses existing policy, this is a notable opening of dialogue with the Burmese government. It is also representative of a notable change in the debate around all things Burma â" including humanitarian assistance. ...
Author: Refugees International
The dialogue is changing. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and his deputy Scot Marceil visited Burma and held talks with Burmese officials and Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi. It is the highest-level visit to Burma in more than a decade, and follows the State Departmentâs September announcement of its Burma Policy Review, which began shortly after President Obama took office. Though the rest of the U.S. review largely endorses existing policy, this is a notable opening of dialogue with the Burmese government. It is also representative of a notable change in the debate around all things Burma â" including humanitarian assistance. ...
Pakistan: Inconvenient Truths
Author: Refugees International
When they realize youre a Mehsud, they treat you like a suicide bomber whos wearing an explosive jacket. -A displaced Pakistani from South Waziristan, quoted in Dawn Pakistan is in the midst of an internal conflict with severe humanitarian consequences. Tens of thousands of civilians fled South Waziristan in the past few days, as the Pakistani army continues its offensive against the Taliban in the countrys northwest. With the UN declaring that 1.7 million displaced Pakistanis from the Swat and Buner districts returned home since July, its easy to forget that this crisis has been going on for more than a year, and will likely continue for the foreseeable future. Indeed, while I was in Pakistan in early October most aid workers insisted that their biggest challenge will be to sustain the required level of aid in the coming months. More than 700,000 civilians remain displaced, the families whove returned will need help to rebuild their lives. The armys operations continue to displace thousands. The humanitarian community is preparing to launch a fundraising appeal for 2010 based on projections of future large scale displacement. Its hard to fathom why, in the words of a high ranking UN official, the Pakistani government thinks the crisis is over. ...
Author: Refugees International
When they realize youre a Mehsud, they treat you like a suicide bomber whos wearing an explosive jacket. -A displaced Pakistani from South Waziristan, quoted in Dawn Pakistan is in the midst of an internal conflict with severe humanitarian consequences. Tens of thousands of civilians fled South Waziristan in the past few days, as the Pakistani army continues its offensive against the Taliban in the countrys northwest. With the UN declaring that 1.7 million displaced Pakistanis from the Swat and Buner districts returned home since July, its easy to forget that this crisis has been going on for more than a year, and will likely continue for the foreseeable future. Indeed, while I was in Pakistan in early October most aid workers insisted that their biggest challenge will be to sustain the required level of aid in the coming months. More than 700,000 civilians remain displaced, the families whove returned will need help to rebuild their lives. The armys operations continue to displace thousands. The humanitarian community is preparing to launch a fundraising appeal for 2010 based on projections of future large scale displacement. Its hard to fathom why, in the words of a high ranking UN official, the Pakistani government thinks the crisis is over. ...
Chad: "We Would Like Some English Dictionaries"
Author: Refugees International
Two years ago I tried to visit Darfur to conduct an assessment mission with Refugees International, but was blocked from traveling there by the government of Sudan. Now, on the other side of the border in eastern Chad, Im finally getting a chance to speak with people from Darfur, forced to flee their homes because of the conflict in the western part of Sudan. While information about the latest violence in Darfur continues to make the headlines, most of the Darfuri refugees in the camps near Bahai and Goz Beida that my colleague Erin Weir and I spoke with have been in Chad for at least 5 years, if not longer. ...
Author: Refugees International
Two years ago I tried to visit Darfur to conduct an assessment mission with Refugees International, but was blocked from traveling there by the government of Sudan. Now, on the other side of the border in eastern Chad, Im finally getting a chance to speak with people from Darfur, forced to flee their homes because of the conflict in the western part of Sudan. While information about the latest violence in Darfur continues to make the headlines, most of the Darfuri refugees in the camps near Bahai and Goz Beida that my colleague Erin Weir and I spoke with have been in Chad for at least 5 years, if not longer. ...
Ecuador: The Novelty of Supporting Successful Programs
Author: Refugees International
We are often quick to chastise a country when it fails to meet its obligations under international law, but how often do we applaud and support them when they do take these laws seriously? One such case that comes to mind is Ecuador. The country is making an impressive attempt to meet its obligations to Colombian refugees, but so far, no one seems to care enough to make sure their program succeeds. Right now, I'm part of a Refugees International mission to Ecuador that is following an innovative effort to register tens of thousands of Colombian refugees. This Expanded Registration process ensures that these refugees have all the protections and guarantees to equal treatment under the law that the UN Refugee Convention calls for. It gives registered refugees access to public hospitals and schools, and even gives them the right to work in Ecuador. It offers them official identification cards that have these rights printed clearly on them in an effort to fight discrimination against Colombian refugees. After eight weeks, over 6,000 refugees have been registered, and there are plans to continue registering Colombians around the country for a full year. ...
Author: Refugees International
We are often quick to chastise a country when it fails to meet its obligations under international law, but how often do we applaud and support them when they do take these laws seriously? One such case that comes to mind is Ecuador. The country is making an impressive attempt to meet its obligations to Colombian refugees, but so far, no one seems to care enough to make sure their program succeeds. Right now, I'm part of a Refugees International mission to Ecuador that is following an innovative effort to register tens of thousands of Colombian refugees. This Expanded Registration process ensures that these refugees have all the protections and guarantees to equal treatment under the law that the UN Refugee Convention calls for. It gives registered refugees access to public hospitals and schools, and even gives them the right to work in Ecuador. It offers them official identification cards that have these rights printed clearly on them in an effort to fight discrimination against Colombian refugees. After eight weeks, over 6,000 refugees have been registered, and there are plans to continue registering Colombians around the country for a full year. ...
Pakistan: Wake Up Call
Author: Refugees International
There is a sense in Washington that the magnitude of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Pakistan hasn't been fully grasped yet. The latest offensive by the Pakistani military has forced one and a half million people to leave the Swat and Buner districts in less than three weeks. The UN Refugee Agency stated that the fighting is uprooting more people faster than any conflict since the Rwandan genocide. Even before the most recent military operations, half a million people had fled from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan. Thus, this conflict has displaced two million people in a country vital to the security interests of the United States. Yet, the media coverage, the political attention and the Obama administrations response have not been commensurate with the scale and scope of the crisis. ...
Next entries
Author: Refugees International
There is a sense in Washington that the magnitude of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Pakistan hasn't been fully grasped yet. The latest offensive by the Pakistani military has forced one and a half million people to leave the Swat and Buner districts in less than three weeks. The UN Refugee Agency stated that the fighting is uprooting more people faster than any conflict since the Rwandan genocide. Even before the most recent military operations, half a million people had fled from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan. Thus, this conflict has displaced two million people in a country vital to the security interests of the United States. Yet, the media coverage, the political attention and the Obama administrations response have not been commensurate with the scale and scope of the crisis. ...
