The Challenges of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa

The Challenges of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa
Author: Sabella O. Abidde
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2020-12-05
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3030566501

This book discusses the phenomena of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDP) across several African countries. There are 40 million IDP worldwide; of these, an estimated 12.6 million are in 37 of Africa’s 55 countries. Written by a team of fifteen scholars across four continents, this book uses both quantitative and qualitative data to analyze the causes and consequences of this displacement, the role of the state in creating and mitigating these situations, and potential policy solutions. The volume is divided into three sections. Chapters in Section 1 discuss the causes of displacement. Chapters in Section 2 discuss refugees in their regional context. Chapters in Section 3 discuss IDP camps in Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana. Bringing scholarly analysis to address two humanitarian crises, this book will be useful to students and researchers interested in African politics, forced migration, and policy as well as members of the diplomatic corps, governmental, and non-governmental organizations actively working towards solving these challenges.

Advancing Refugee Protection in South Africa

Advancing Refugee Protection in South Africa
Author: Jeff Handmaker
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2008
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781845451097

Divided into three thematic parts to guide the reader, this important volume documents the development and implementation of refugee policy in South Africa over a 10-year period from 1996 until 2006. In doing so, it addresses issues of detention, gender, children and health as well as welfare policies for refugees. The contributions, all written by academics and practitioners of refugee protection, vividly illustrate the tangible shifts and concerns of a process that is not only aimed at establishing policies and legislation but also practices concerning refugees.

The Problems of Refugees in Africa

The Problems of Refugees in Africa
Author: Ebenezer Q. Blavo
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2019-06-04
Genre: Refugees
ISBN: 9781138341593

First published in 1999, this volume is an attempt to make the facts of the tremendous physical, social and psychological problems for the uprooted due to the numerous conflicts known to all and to stress the need for a concerted effort by all to achieve lasting peace on the continent. Ebenezer Q. Blavo had substantial opportunity to observe first hand and be in close contact with refugees of almost all African nationalities. He explores concepts and experiences of being refugees as well as current and potential refugee policies for African countries. This book forms part of a series on voices in development management, in which grass roots organisations and development practitioners can voice their views and present their perspectives along with the conventional development experts. Many of the volumes in the series will contain explicit debates between the various voices in development and permit the suite of neglected development issues such as gender and transport or the microcredit needs of low income communities to receive appropriate public and professional attention.

Reflections on the African Refugee Problem

Reflections on the African Refugee Problem
Author: Gaim Kibreab
Publisher:
Total Pages: 168
Release: 1983
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Research report analysing certain assumptions concerning the African refugee problem - discusses the theoretical and historical background, trends and causes, geographic distribution (1966-1981), tribal peoples conflicts resulting from the arbitrary creation of frontiers under colonialism, "hospitality" or exploitation, role of UN (UNHCR), etc.; argues that refugees can, under appropriate planning, economic aid and technical cooperation, stimulate economic development in the immigration country. References.

The Regional Law of Refugee Protection in Africa

The Regional Law of Refugee Protection in Africa
Author: Marina Sharpe
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2018-07-19
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0192560670

This book analyses the legal framework for refugee protection in Africa, including both refugee and human rights law as well as treaty and institutional elements. The regime is addressed in two parts. Part One analyses the relevant treaties: the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. The latter two regional instruments are examined in depth. This includes the first fulsome account of the African Refugee Conventions drafting, an interpretation of its unique refugee definition and original analysis of the relationships between the three treaties. Significant attention is devoted to the systemic relationship between the international and the regional refugee treaties and to the discrete relationships of conflict and complementary relationships between the two refugee instruments, as well as to the relationships between the African Refugee Convention and African Charter. Part Two focuses on the institutional architecture supporting the treaty framework. The Organization of African Unity is addressed in a historical sense, and the contemporary roles of the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights and the current and contemplated African human rights courts are examined. This book is the first devoted to the legal framework for refugee protection in Africa.

Beyond Charity

Beyond Charity
Author: Gil Loescher
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 273
Release: 1993
Genre: Refugees
ISBN: 0195102940

With more than 18 million refugees worldwide, the refugee problem has fostered an intense debate regarding what political changes are necessary in the international system to provide effective solutions in the 1990s and beyond. In the past, refugees have been perceived largely as a problem of international charity, but as the end of the Cold War triggers new refugee movements across the globe, governments are being forced to develop a more systematic approach to the refugee problem. Beyond Charity provides the first extensive overview of the world refugee crisis today, asserting that refugees raise not only humanitarian concerns but also issues of international peace and security. Gil Loescher argues persuasively that a central challenge in the post Cold-War era is to develop a comprehensive refugee policy that preserves the right of asylum while promoting greater political and diplomatic efforts to address the causes of flight. He presents the contemporary crisis in a historical framework and explores the changing role of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Loescher suggests short-term and long-term reforms that address both the current refugee crisis and its underlying causes. The book also details the ways governmental structures and international organizations could be strengthened to assume more effective assistance, protection, and political mediation functions. Beyond Charity helps frame the debate on the global refugee crisis and offers directions for more effective approaches to refugee problems at present and in the future.

Refugee Rights

Refugee Rights
Author: David Hollenbach, SJ
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2008-04-30
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1589014057

Of the over 33 million refugees and internally displaced people in the world today, a disproportionate percentage are found in Africa. Most have been driven from their homes by armed strife, displacing people into settings that fail to meet standards for even basic human dignity. Protection of the human rights of these people is highly uncertain and unpredictable. Many refugee service agencies agree advocacy on behalf of the displaced is a key aspect of their task. But those working in the field are so pressed by urgent crises that they can rarely analyze the requirements of advocacy systematically. Yet advocacy must go beyond international law to human rights as an ethical standard to prevent displaced people from falling through the cracks of our conflicted world. Refugee Rights: Ethics, Advocacy, and Africa draws upon David Hollenbach, SJ's work as founder and director of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Boston College to provide an analytical framework for vigorous advocacy on behalf of refugees and internally displaced people. Representing both religious and secular perspectives, the contributors are scholars, practitioners, and refugee advocates—all of whom have spent time "on the ground" in Africa. The book begins with the poignant narrative of Abebe Feyissa, an Ethiopian refugee who has spent over fifteen years in a refugee camp from hell. Other chapters identify the social and political conditions integral to the plight of refugees and displaced persons. Topics discussed include the fundamental right to freedom of movement, gender roles and the rights of women, the effects of war, and the importance of reconstruction and reintegration following armed conflict. The book concludes with suggestions of how humanitarian groups and international organizations can help mitigate the problem of forced displacement and enforce the belief that all displaced people have the right to be treated as their human dignity demands. Refugee Rights offers an important analytical resource for advocates and students of human rights. It will be of particular value to practitioners working in the field.

African Asylum at a Crossroads

African Asylum at a Crossroads
Author: Iris Berger
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2015-05-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0821445189

African Asylum at a Crossroads: Activism, Expert Testimony, and Refugee Rights examines the emerging trend of requests for expert opinions in asylum hearings or refugee status determinations. This is the first book to explore the role of court-based expertise in relation to African asylum cases and the first to establish a rigorous analytical framework for interpreting the effects of this new reliance on expert testimony. Over the past two decades, courts in Western countries and beyond have begun demanding expert reports tailored to the experience of the individual claimant. As courts increasingly draw upon such testimony in their deliberations, expertise in matters of asylum and refugee status is emerging as an academic area with its own standards, protocols, and guidelines. This deeply thoughtful book explores these developments and their effects on both asylum seekers and the experts whose influence may determine their fate. Contributors: Iris Berger, Carol Bohmer, John Campbell, Katherine Luongo, E. Ann McDougall, Karen Musalo, Tricia Redeker Hepner, Amy Shuman, Joanna T. Tague, Meredith Terretta, and Charlotte Walker-Said.

The Economic Impact of Conflicts and the Refugee Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa

The Economic Impact of Conflicts and the Refugee Crisis in the Middle East and North Africa
Author: Mr.Bjoern Rother
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 43
Release: 2016-09-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1475535783

In recent decades, the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) has experienced more frequent and severe conflicts than in any other region of the world, exacting a devastating human toll. The region now faces unprecedented challenges, including the emergence of violent non-state actors, significant destruction, and a refugee crisis bigger than any since World War II. This paper raises awareness of the economic costs of conflicts on the countries directly involved and on their neighbors. It argues that appropriate macroeconomic policies can help mitigate the impact of conflicts in the short term, and that fostering higher and more inclusive growth can help address some of the root causes of conflicts over the long term. The paper also highlights the crucial role of external partners, including the IMF, in helping MENA countries tackle these challenges.