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Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 20:20:47 -0500
From: APIC <[log in to unmask]>
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Subject: Africa: Refugee Updates

Africa: Refugee Updates
Date distributed (ymd): 000914
Document reposted by APIC

+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++

Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +security/peace+ +US policy focus+
Summary Contents:

This posting contains two recent updates on displaced people in
Africa from the U.S. Committee for Refugees, one highlighting the
additional displacement of at least 1.5 million people in the first
eight months of 2000, and the other focusing on recent harassment
of refugees in Guinea (Conakry). The updates also note the U.S.
Congress is about to cut assistance to African refugees to the lowest
levels in more than a decade.

For additional information, including an extensive database
organized by country, see the U.S. Committee for Refugees website
at http://www.refugees.org

+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

U.S. Committee for Refugees

September 6, 2000

Contact: Jeff Drumtra
202-347-3507, ext. 3024; e-mail: [log in to unmask]

September Update

1.5 Million Africans Flee in Search of Safety During First Eight
Months of 2000

At least 1.5 million people in Africa fled their homes during the
first eight months of this year because of war, violence, or
political repression, the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR)
announced today.

The USCR estimate of 1.5 million newly uprooted Africans is very
conservative and might well undercount hundreds of thousands of
newly uprooted people at locations in Africa where inadequate
reporting makes estimates difficult.

Africa's newly uprooted population is equivalent to nearly 50,000
new refugees and internally displaced people per week. At least 10
African countries suffered significant population flight during
January to August of 2000. The newly uprooted people join millions
of other Africans who remain refugees or internally displaced from
previous years; a cumulative total of some 14.2 million Africans
are currently uprooted and unable to return home.

The estimate of newly uprooted Africans is based on extensive
monitoring of public and private field reports by UN humanitarian
agencies, private international relief organizations, and other
sources in Africa. Although initial reports of new population
upheavals are often inaccurate and frequently are exaggerated
because of chaos on the ground, USCR has analyzed the field data to
arrive at conservative minimum estimates.

The international community has responded poorly to Africa's new
emergencies by curtailing food deliveries this year and leaving
major relief programs drastically under-funded. The U.S. Congress
is poised to pass an appropriations bill in the next few days that
would cut assistance to African refugees to its lowest level in
more than a decade. Congress is also prepared to reduce funding
for humanitarian relief to internally displaced persons worldwide
by as much as $60 million-a cut of more than 25 percent. Moreover,
an appropriations bill passed by the House, and pending in a
House-Senate conference committee, would eliminate U.S. funding for
all UN peacekeeping efforts in Africa.

Following is a summary of significant new population upheavals in
Africa during the first two-thirds of this year:

Eritrea

* Newly uprooted = 500,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 650,000]

* Cause = border war with Ethiopia.

* Minimum estimate includes populations uprooted during military
offensive by Ethiopian troops in May-June.

* Minimum estimate does not include several thousand Eritreans who
fled in August from areas occupied by Ethiopian troops; does not
include larger displacement estimates by Eritrean authorities.

* Total now uprooted, including from previous years = 1 million.
[Higher estimates = 1.25 million]

Congo-Kinshasa (DRC)

* Newly uprooted = 430,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 540,000]

* Cause = civil war; war with neighboring countries.

* Minimum estimate includes UN assessment that more than 400,000
Congolese became internally displaced in first half of year; 30,000
new Congolese refugees to Tanzania, Zambia, and Congo-Brazzaville.

* Minimum estimate does not include higher UN estimate of possible
100,000 additional newly displaced Congolese; does not include
reports of an additional 20,000 new Congolese refugees in
Congo-Brazzaville.

* Total now uprooted, including from previous years = 1.4 million.
[Higher estimates = 1.7 million]

Angola

* Newly uprooted = 200,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 250,000]

* Cause = civil war; current violence in eight of country's 15
provinces.

* Minimum estimate includes approximately 200,000 new internally
displaced persons; 10,000 to 15,000 new Angolan refugees in Zambia.

* Minimum estimate does not include sizable but uncounted August
population movements into central cities of Kuito and Uige; does
not include reports of uncounted numbers recently uprooted in
contested border areas.

* Total now uprooted, including from previous years = 1.8 million
to 2.5 million.

Sierra Leone

* Newly uprooted = 160,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 270,000]

* Cause = renewed civil war.

* Minimum estimate includes at least 100,000 newly uprooted
persons registered by aid agencies nationwide; at least 50,000
newly displaced living on their own nationwide; 7,000 newly
displaced in northern town of Bubuna in August; at least 6,000 new
Sierra Leonean refugees to Guinea.

* Minimum estimate does not include additional 50,000 newly
uprooted people reported but not confirmed by aid agencies; does
not include reports of several thousand additional new uncounted
refugees in Guinea; does not include highest estimates for newly
displaced population congregated at Mile 91 in central Sierra Leone
or Port Loko in the north.

* Total uprooted, including from previous years = 750,000.
[Higher estimates = 1 million]

Sudan

* Newly uprooted = 60,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 150,000]

* Cause = civil war; government policies.

* Minimum estimate includes nearly 50,000 new internally displaced
persons in southern Bentiu oil-producing area in August; 10,000 new
Sudanese refugees in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia.

* Minimum estimate does not include unconfirmed reports of tens of
thousands of newly displaced persons in inaccessible areas of
Western Upper Nile Province; does not include possible new
population displacement in central Sudan's Nuba Mountain area; does
not include unconfirmed reports of recent population flight from
government-controlled southern town of Wau; does not include
uncounted numbers of newly uprooted people near northeastern town
of Kassala; does not include reports of newly uprooted people in
western Darfur Province.

* Total now uprooted, including from previous years = 4.4 million.

Burundi

* Newly uprooted = 60,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 100,000+]

* Cause = civil war.

* Minimum estimate includes nearly 40,000 new Burundian refugees
to Tanzania; 30,000 new internally displaced in southern Makamba
Province.

* Minimum estimate does not include new internal displacement in
eastern provinces where violence is ongoing; does not include
newest displacement caused by violence and government policies near
Bujumbura, the capital.

* Total now uprooted, including from previous years = 1 million.

Uganda

* Newly uprooted = 50,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 200,000]

* Cause = armed insurgencies in north and southwest.

* Minimum estimate includes new displacement of 50,000 people in
northern districts of Kitgum and Gulu.

* Minimum estimate does not include higher government estimates
for displacement in Gulu and Kitgum; does not include possible new
population displacement caused by insurgent attacks early in year
near southern town of Bundibugyo; does not include population
displacement caused by recent insurgent attacks in central Uganda;
does not include uncounted displacement triggered by ethnic
violence in northern Karamoja area.

* Total now uprooted, including from previous years = 510,000.
[Higher estimates = 840,000]

Nigeria

* Newly uprooted = 50,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 80,000]

* Cause = religious and political violence.

* Minimum estimate includes Nigerians uprooted in northern central
city of Kaduna and nearby areas by violence that reportedly killed
600.

* Minimum estimate does not include higher unconfirmed estimates
of population displacement in northern Nigeria; does not include
possible new displacement caused by political tensions in southern
oil regions.

* Total now uprooted, including from previous years = 50,000 to
100,000.

Liberia

* Newly uprooted = 30,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 40,000]

* Cause = civil strife; alleged armed insurgency.

* Minimum estimate includes reports of 30,000 or more internally
displaced persons since July in Lofa County.

* Minimum estimate does not include higher government estimates
for population displacement in Lofa County.

* Total now uprooted, including from previous years = 230,000.
[Higher estimates = 270,000]

Somalia

* Newly uprooted = 5,000 minimum. [Higher estimates = 25,000]

* Cause = civil strife.

* Minimum estimate includes new internally displaced persons in
south central Somalia in March.

* Minimum estimate does not include likely displacement caused by
violence in key town of Belet Wein in August, fighting south of
Mogadishu in July, violence in Baidoa in June, and violence north
of Mogadishu in Jowhar.

* Total now uprooted, including from previous years = 780,000.
[Higher estimates = 850,000]

Africa Total

* Total newly uprooted = 1.54 million minimum. [Higher estimates
= 2.3 million.]

* Total now uprooted in Africa, including from previous years =
14.2 million (includes uprooted populations from African countries
not listed above).

End

************************************************************

U.S. Committee for Refugees

September 13, 2000

Contact: Eleanor Bedford, Policy Analyst
(202) 347-3507 x 3136; e-mail: [log in to unmask]

Analysis

Sierra Leone and Liberia Violence Spills into Guinea; Backlash
Endangers Hundreds of Thousands of Refugees

Armed violence in Sierra Leone and Liberia has spilled into
neighboring Guinea in recent days, subjecting refugees and local
citizens there to violent attacks and threatening to ignite the
entire region.

Guinea, one of Africa's poorest nations, hosts more refugees than
any other African country, including nearly 100,000 refugees from
Liberia and an estimated 330,000 from Sierra Leone. Its tradition
of relative hospitality toward refugees has eroded as incursions
from Sierra Leone and Liberia have increased.

After three deadly cross-border attacks into Guinea in the first
week of September, Guinean President Lansana Conte declared in a
nationwide broadcast on September 9, "I am giving orders that we
bring together all foreigners...and that we search and arrest
suspects.... They should go home. We know that there are rebels
among the refugees. Civilians and soldiers, let's defend our
country together. Crush the invaders."

The Guinean president's inflammatory remarks prompted a series of
raids and round-ups resulting in the arrest and detention of at
least 3,000 Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees. Reports of
attacks and serious abuse against refugees were widespread. Large
numbers of Sierra Leoneans sought shelter at their country's
embassy in the Guinean capital, Conakry. Guinean officials agreed
to release the detainees on Monday, but serious protection concerns
remain among the refugee population in Guinea.

The recent pattern of cross-border incursions could trigger new
population upheavals and exacerbate regional destabilization in
West Africa unless checked.

A review of key events during the past week:

September 1: Armed assailants attacked the village of Massadou, in
Guinea's eastern region, about 15 miles (25 km) from the country's
porous border with Liberia. Attackers killed 47 people, burned
huts, and looted local food stocks. The local population, and
refugees living among them, fled. Survivors reported that former
Liberian refugees who previously lived in Massadou accompanied the
attackers from Liberia. Liberia denies the charge.

 September 3: Unidentified gunmen attacked the Guinean town of
Madina Woula, about 100 miles (170 km) northeast of Conakry, along
the Guinean border with Sierra Leone. Thousands of civilians were
forced to flee their homes temporarily.

 September 6: Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF)
rebels attacked the Guinean village of Pamalap in the Forecariah
region, located about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Conakry along
Guinea's border with Sierra Leone. A fierce firefight ensued in
which gunmen attacked a Guinean army garrison and abducted two
Italian missionaries. Guinean authorities dispatched government
troops to protect Sierra Leonean refugee camps about eight miles
(13 km) from the Guinea-Sierra Leone border. Nevertheless,
preliminary reports indicate that several thousand Sierra Leonean
refugees in Forecariah may have fled back to rebel-held areas of
Sierra Leone last weekend, fearing attacks in Guinea.

These recent attacks into Guinea follow closely on the heels of
persistent reports from the Liberian capital, Monrovia, of
cross-border incursions into northern Liberia from Guinea since
mid-summer. The nature of the insurgency in Liberia is unclear.

Considerable conjecture also surrounds the nature of the attacks
into Guinea. Some regard the incursions as a coordinated effort by
Liberian President Charles Taylor to retaliate against Guinea for
providing asylum to Liberian dissidents and armed groups that have
allegedly attacked Liberia. Others speculate that some of these
border clashes are the product of local business transactions gone
awry between RUF rebels and Guineans believed to be involved in
diamond trafficking and other illegal cross-border activities.

Regardless of the underlying causes of the current violence,
President Conte's public threat to the safety of refugees in his
country is unprecedented. Guinea faces legitimate security
concerns. But Guinean authorities should exercise caution in
public pronouncements and should act responsibly to ensure the
protection of hundreds of thousands of innocent refugees seeking
safety on Guinean soil. National Guinean officials should hold
those responsible for abuses accountable. Without proper
safeguards, conditions are ripe for further human rights abuses
against refugees in the region, as many observers predict
cross-border attacks are likely to increase in the months ahead.

The international community should do its share by pursuing a just
peace in Sierra Leone, supporting strong military measures against
the RUF rebels, and bolstering refugee protection and assistance in
Guinea and Liberia. These newest threats to refugee safety in West
Africa are occurring as the U.S. Congress is poised to pass an
appropriations bill that would unwisely cut U.S. funding for
African refugees to its lowest level in more than a decade.

End

************************************************************
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