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East Africa: Refugee Update
East Africa: Refugee Update
Date distributed (ymd): 011004
Document reposted by APIC
Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information service
provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa Policy
Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American Committee on
Africa). Find more information for action for Africa at
http://www.africapolicy.org
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: East Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +security/peace+
SUMMARY CONTENTS:
This set of two postings contains an update from the U.S. Committee
for Refugees on the situation of refugees and internally displaced
people in central and east Africa. This posting contains details
on several countries in east Africa. Another posting today
includes the overview and additional details on several countries
in central Africa. The detailed country sections are abridged here
for length. The full report can be found on the U.S. Committee for
Refugees web site at
http://www.refugees.org/news/press_releases/2001/100301.cfm
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SOMALIA UPDATE: FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2001
(Updated by USCR October 1, 2001)
Background
Civil war and factional fighting have persisted in much of Somalia
since 1988, causing Somalia to produce one of Africa's largest
refugee populations during the past decade. The country lacked a
functioning national government during most of the 1990s, creating
a situation that many international observers characterized as
national anarchy. Numerous warlords head clan-based factions that
compete violently for political and economic control of Somali
territory. Northwest Somalia announced its independence from the
rest of the country in 1991 and named itself "Somaliland." Leaders
in northeast Somalia formed an autonomous territory named
"Puntland" in 1998. Neither Somaliland nor Puntland has received
international political recognition.
In 2000, a fragile new national government formed in the capital,
Mogadishu. The new governing body, known as the Transitional
National Government, immediately encountered armed opposition from
local warlords, some of whom continued to control large parts of
the capital, Mogadishu, as well as significant territory outside
the capital.
At the start of 2001, some 300,000 to 350,000 Somali refugees
continued to live in about two-dozen countries of asylum. An equal
number of Somalis remained internally displaced. Hundreds of
thousands of Somali refugees have repatriated since the mid-1990s
despite their country's turmoil.
Political / Military / Human Rights Developments through September
Violence worsened in many parts of Somalia during the first nine
months of 2001. The Transitional National Government struggled to
exert its authority and ward off attacks by armed factions. The
autonomous region of Puntland suffered an internal power struggle
and its worst violence in six years.
Nine persons died in January during an ambush attempt against an
official of the national government--one of several armed attacks
that targeted government officials. Clashes between armed factions
in Mogadishu left 50 persons dead in May. A resumption of clan
violence killed 17 persons in the capital in a single day in June.
Two days of battles in Mogadishu killed 40 to 70 people in July,
according to various reports. Scores of people died in the capital
in September when a discarded anti-aircraft missile exploded.
Outside Mogadishu, nearly 30 died in fighting in May, and battles
south of Mogadishu during July to September reportedly killed 200
people and triggered population flight. Anti-government forces
temporarily captured the key southern port city of Kismayo in
mid-year.
The UN Security Council stated that "the security situation in
Somalia is still a cause for serious concern." Negotiations between
the Transitional National Government and opposing factions in June
produced no results. Neighboring Kenya banned cross-border trading
with Somalia in July for the second time in two years, citing
security concerns.
Northwest Somalia--Somaliland--remained an area of relative peace,
although it, too, suffered isolated political violence and
demonstrations in mid-2001. Residents of Somaliland voted 97
percent in favor of independence and a new constitution in a May
referendum. Somalia's government in Mogadishu called the referendum
"illegal."
New Uprooted Populations through September
Recurring armed clashes caused Somali families in central and
southern regions to flee their homes during the first nine months
of 2001. Thousands of others left their homes because of crop
failures. Accurate estimates of the country's new population
displacement were impossible, however, because general insecurity
prevented international aid agencies from functioning in many
areas. Many uprooted southerners have relocated to peaceful regions
such as Somaliland. ...
Humanitarian Conditions through September
Restrictions on humanitarian aid programs forced by years of
insecurity continued to hamper thorough assessments of humanitarian
conditions in much of Somalia. Aid agencies cancelled several food
assessment missions scheduled in early 2001. "Humanitarian access
in southern Somalia is at its lowest ebb...since 1995," a UN report
stated in April. ...
Despite successful harvests during 2000, serious food shortages
loomed by mid-2001 because of new crop failures caused by poor
rainfall and pest infestations. The UN World Food Program (WFP)
announced an "early warning of a very serious food situation" in
June and cited a need for 40,000 tons of food relief for up to a
half-million Somalis in August. Other food analysts reported that
half the population in the worst-affected areas would suffer a 40
percent food shortfall. In Somaliland's main city, Hargeisa,
crowded camps for returnees suffered 15 percent child malnutrition
rates in August.
More than 100,000 Somali refugees in neighboring Kenya also
suffered food shortages because of reduced food donations by
international donors. Somali refugees in Kenya received two-thirds
rations and threatened a hunger strike to publicize their plight.
The number of malnourished children in the Kenyan camps doubled
during the first half of 2001, according to Medecins Sans
Frontieres.
Only 14 percent of Somalia's school-age children attended school,
UNICEF reported in July. The country's annual cholera outbreak
afflicted nearly 900 people in the first four months of the year.
The entire country--particularly Somaliland--continued to suffer
economic consequences from a ban on Somali cattle imposed last year
by Somalia's trading partners in the Persian Gulf, who fear that
the cattle are diseased. Tens of thousands of Somali refugees who
have repatriated to Somaliland in recent years continued to
struggle to rebuild their lives amid dim economic prospects. ...
Approximately 300,000 refugees remained outside the country as of
September 2001, and an estimated 350,000 Somalis remained
internally displaced, according to relief workers.
SUDAN UPDATE: FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2001
(updated by USCR October 1, 2001)
Background
Sudan's civil war has endured for 18 years. Rebel armies in
southern Sudan continue to fight against Sudanese government forces
and their militia in a bid for political autonomy or independence
for southern Sudan. The long war is complicated by violent military
and ethnic divisions among southerners. Numerous southern
commanders have repeatedly changed allegiances during the conflict,
and some northern groups opposed to the government have formed a
military alliance with southern rebels. The combination of constant
war and periodic droughts has caused serious food shortages. The
government and rebel armies have manipulated massive amounts of
international relief aid that flows into the country.
The war has left an estimated 2 million persons dead in southern
and central Sudan since 1983. At the beginning of 2001,
approximately 4 million Sudanese were internally displaced, and
420,000 Sudanese were refugees in neighboring countries. Despite
the war, some 360,000 refugees from other countries resided in
Sudan.
Political / Military / Human Rights Developments through September
The war persisted during the first nine months of 2001. Rebels
launched a military offensive in the south's Bahr el-Ghazal
Province, capturing two towns. Pro-government militia also launched
attacks in Bahr el-Ghazal Province. Armed clashes continued near
oil fields in southern Sudan's Western Upper Nile Province pitting
government forces, pro-government militia, rebels, and anti-rebel
southern troops against each other. Splits within the local ethnic
Nuer population also fed the violence.
The government continued to extract oil in the war zone, providing
the government with substantial new revenue that enabled it to
double its military expenditures compared to 1998. Human rights
advocates charged that the government military used airplane
runways and roads built by international oil companies to attack
the local population. "Across the oil-rich regions of Sudan, the
government is pursuing a 'scorched earth' policy to clear the land
of civilians and to make way for the exploration and exploitation
of oil by foreign oil companies," a report by a British relief
agency, Christian Aid, stated in early 2001.
Government planes continued to bomb civilian and humanitarian sites
in southern Sudan, although reportedly less frequently than last
year. ...
The U.S. government continued a thorough review of its policy
toward Sudan. In September, President Bush appointed former U.S.
Senator John Danforth as a special envoy to search for peace in
Sudan. "Sudan is a disaster for all human rights. We must turn the
eyes of the world upon the atrocities in Sudan," Bush said. The
Bush Administration stated in April that improved relations with
Sudan hinged on an end to the Sudanese government's aerial bombings
of civilian targets, fewer restrictions by Sudanese authorities on
humanitarian aid deliveries to the south, and elimination of
international terrorist organizations based in Sudan. The U.S.
House of Representatives approved the "Sudan Peace Act" in June,
which would attempt to bar international oil companies from
operating in Sudan. A Senate version of the bill was still under
consideration. In late September, the UN Security Council lifted
sanctions in effect since 1996 against Sudanese diplomats and
Sudanese aircraft. ...
New Uprooted Populations through September
Many of Sudan's 4.4 million uprooted people have fled repeatedly
from place to place during the course of the long civil war. At
least 150,000 additional people became uprooted during the first
eight months of 2001, according information pieced together from
various field reports.
Aid workers reported that 55,000 newly displaced people fled from
48 villages in southern Sudan's conflicted oil zone during 2000 and
early 2001. A rebel military offensive in Bahr el-Ghazal Province
in early 2001 pushed 50,000 people from their homes. Some 40,000
residents of central Sudan's Nuba Mountains region fled government
military attacks during the first eight months of the year. Smaller
numbers of people fled their homes temporarily because of aerial
bombing attacks.
Humanitarian Conditions through September
"There is perhaps no greater tragedy on the face of the earth
today," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell stated at a
congressional hearing about Sudan in March. The U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom warned at the same hearing that
"the situation in Sudan has grown worse."
The UN World Food Program (WFP) stated that "we have a looming
crisis on our hands," with 3 million Sudanese nationwide facing
food shortages. "The food security situation is worsening more
quickly than expected," WFP warned. Humanitarian aid workers
expressed concern about potential famine in Western Upper Nile
Province of southern Sudan. The town of Bentiu, a magnet for
displaced families in Sudan's oil-producing region, suffered 24
percent malnutrition, according to WFP. Inadequate distributions of
food relief triggered violence among competing populations and
competing armies in Western Upper Nile Province, prompting some
local leaders there to request that food deliveries be suspended.
Crop failures and livestock deaths in and near the key southern
town of Juba might worsen malnutrition among 200,000 local
residents, one international relief agency reported in February.
Catholic bishops in southern Sudan urged aid agencies to establish
emergency feeding centers in addition to aid drops of food to
assist 30,000 newly uprooted people from 17 villages. WFP reported
that it was able to deliver 12,000 tons of food aid during May --
less than half the 28,000 tons needed by local populations.
Funding shortages and security risks continued to impede
humanitarian efforts during the first nine months of 2001. WFP
appealed to international donors for $135 million but received only
a fraction of that amount. Sudanese government officials regularly
blocked relief assistance to about 15 locations and placed new
restrictions on UN humanitarian flights to the village of Mapel, a
key staging point for relief flights in the south. ...
UGANDA UPDATE: FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 2001
(Updated by USCR October 1, 2001)
Background
Despite relative peace and economic growth in large sections of
Uganda, insurgencies and violent communal clashes have plagued
three areas of the country for years. An estimated 5,000 to 10,000
people have died in more than a decade of violence.
In northern Uganda, an insurgent force known as the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) and counterinsurgency tactics by the Ugandan
government army have forced approximately 400,000 persons from
their homes. In northeastern Uganda, violence clashes over land use
and cattle-raiding have displaced up to 80,000 residents in the
past two years. In southwestern Uganda, a rebel force known as the
Alliance for Democratic Forces (ADF) has uprooted as many as
100,000 people.
Insurgents have kidnapped thousands of women and children during
the past ten years, pressing many of them into service as
combatants, servants, and involuntary sexual partners. Insurgent
attacks have killed more than 100 of the 200,000 refugees from
Sudan who live in northern Uganda.
Political / Military / Human Rights Developments through September
Attacks by insurgents became less frequent during the first nine
months of 2001 but did not disappear completely. Although some
displaced Ugandans cautiously returned to their homes, the vast
majority of uprooted people remained uprooted.
The LRA appeared to weaken in early 2001 because of stronger
military actions by Ugandan government forces and deteriorating
relations between the LRA and its main supporter, the Sudanese
government. Uganda's military crossed into southern Sudan to hunt
and attack LRA combatants. Ugandan officials met with LRA
combatants in mid-year to discuss amnesty for the insurgents.
LRA troops--many of them children who were abducted and forced to
become combatants--remained capable of launching several deadly
raids during mid-2001. ...
In southwestern Uganda, government officials claimed that they had
virtually eliminated ADF insurgents from the area. Isolated attacks
by insurgents or bandits continued, but less frequently. A camp for
displaced persons suffered an attack in August.
In northeastern Uganda, relative peace in the first three months of
2001 gave way to renewed communal violence in April that reportedly
forced thousands of local residents to flee again.
New Uprooted Populations through September
The number of internally displaced Ugandans declined during the
first nine months of 2001 because of slightly improved security in
some areas and a new registration procedure in the north that
enabled improved estimates of the displaced population. ...
An estimated 500,000 Ugandans remained internally displaced
nationwide as of September.
Thousands of new refugees from neighboring countries entered Uganda
during the first nine months of 2001. Some 5,000 new refugees from
Sudan reportedly arrived in northern Uganda, joining the estimated
200,000 Sudanese refugees already living in Uganda. About 5,000 new
refugees from neighboring Congo-Kinshasa--and their 25,000 head of
cattle--entered southwestern Uganda, bringing the Congolese refugee
population in the country to nearly 15,000. Some 7,000 asylum
seekers from Rwanda arrived in Uganda, many of them after living in
Tanzania or after transiting through that country. ...
Humanitarian Conditions through September
Most displaced Ugandans in the north continued to live in what
government officials called "protected villages" guarded by
government troops. Many displaced families have lived in the
protected villages involuntarily since 1996, while others have
resided there voluntarily. A partial new census in mid-year
concluded that the size of the uprooted population in the north was
20 percent smaller than officials and aid workers had previously
reported.
Local religious leaders publicly criticized "appalling conditions"
in the government's protected villages and complained that the
living conditions among displaced populations had eroded family
structures and encouraged prostitution. A new UN report warned that
sexual violence and HIV/AIDS were problems at displacement sites.
Ugandan President Yoweri Musevini acknowledged in July that poverty
in the north has worsened during the past three years. A decade of
insurgency, counterinsurgency, and widespread population upheaval
in the north have crippled economic activity in what was previously
regarded as an agriculturally rich area.
Government officials suggested moving uprooted families from large,
crowded camps to smaller sites, but funding constraints posed a
serious obstacle to the plan. ...
In southwestern Uganda, some displaced persons returned to their
homes in and near the town of Bundibugyo. ... A UN report in April
suggested that the relief emergency in the southwest no longer
existed and that humanitarian aid programs should emphasize
long-term rehabilitation and development.
In northeastern Uganda, up to 90,000 displaced persons resided in
46 camps, according to UN aid officials. A mid-year UN report cited
poor conditions at the isolated camps and charged that Ugandan
authorities largely ignored the displaced population's humanitarian
needs. Many northeastern camps offered no health care, leading to
growing concerns about malaria and other diseases.
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by Africa
Action (incorporating the Africa Policy Information Center, The
Africa Fund, and the American Committee on Africa). Africa
Action's information services provide accessible information and
analysis in order to promote U.S. and international policies
toward Africa that advance economic, political and social justice
and the full spectrum of human rights.
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