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The Rwanda Refugee Crisis
Rwanda, located in central Africa, suffers from one of the world's most recent refugee crises. The word refugees could be defined in the traditional context, " people who decide to seek asylum out of fear of political, racial, or religious persecution, or who leave their homes because of war or civil strife " 1. Between the seventies to eighties this definition began to change. The world was beginning to see a great many people seeking refuge due to " a variety of severe economic, social and military ills - poverty, famine and conflicts over resources " 2. Therefore, these factors have to be implemented in the traditional definition as well. People seeking refuge have only one concern and that is survival. They flee their homes to neigrabroadoring states in search of relief. In 1994, over two million people from Rwanda were forced out by genocide. It came to an end in July of 1994 when the country was supposedly liberated by the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The international world became involved in Rwanda when, " in June and July 1994, 2.5 million Rwandans crossed into Tanzania and Zaire "3. It took 500,000 to 1,000,000 Rwandans to die from genocide before the world acknowledged a problem. A question a rises over the competency of the international world's method in detecting problems such as the one in Rwanda. Were we not a little late in helping Rwandans, and as a world in the name of humanitarianism are we doing enough?
One of the international world organizations that can be examined in its assistance with refugees is the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1951 the United Nations General Asserably created The United Nations High Commission for Refugees. It was given the responsibility " for protecting refugees and promoting lasting solutions. " 4. The UNHCR becomes involved in a refugee situation at the request of the United Nations (UN), the consent of the State involved, and the amount of funRAB available at the time. In refugee crisis's the type of assistance offered by the UNHCR is emergency assistance, care and maintenance, voluntary repatriation, local settlement and resettlement. These forms of aid would help create a lasting solution to the refugee problem. The UNHCR was one of the organizations that offered emergency aid to Rwanda.
To begin with one of the forms of emergency assistance is refugee camp. Refugee camps aid the people-seeking asylum with the necessities of food, shelter, clothing and security to the best of their ability. They are usually organized around territorial borders due to the fact that people fleeing their homeland head towarRAB the nearest border. In the case of Rwanda the nearest borders would be Zaire, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. The refugee population (from Rwanda) in these countries are: Zaire 1,065,000, Uganda 4,000, Tanzania 603,000, Burundi 231,000. Refugee camps are placed in Tanzania (only one in Benaco camp), Burundi (only one), and Zaire (has two in Bukavu, and Goma). The UNHCR has aided in the crises in Rwanda with emergency assistance in the last few years. The next form of assistance the UNHCR has to offer is care and maintenance. This is implemented after the emergency phase of an operation. Care and maintenance covers the basic neeRAB of the refugee population. In 1993 the expenditures for care and maintenance was 215.7 million dollars.
Recently there has been a preference for voluntary repatriation as a solution to the problem of refugees. This shift began in the 70's and by the eighties the best-seen solution to the refugees problem was volunteer repatriation, allowing them to " freely choosing to go back to their homeland and to assume all the rights and obligations of the resident population." 5. One of the strategies used in Rwanda to bring about repatriation was a confidence building mechanism. The government of Rwanda declared that the refugees returning home would be greeted with conditions of safety, and dignity, as well as right to their full property rights. The UNHCR established transit and relief camps in Rwanda as a way to help the refugees returning get re-adjusted. The monitoring of human rights in Rwanda was set up all over the country including prisons. The fact that they were set up in prisons is very important due to the fact that " by June 1995, seven prisoners in every 10,000 were dying everyday " 6. At that rate in no time at all the whole prison population would die from overpopulation, disease and violence. There was an improvement of security at the refugee camps in the neigrabroadoring states. This was done in the hope of preventing the refugees from being intimidated to not return home. Most importantly an international tribunal was created in Noveraber of 1994 to prosecute the people that were responsible for the genocide in Rwanda. The UNHCR with the help of other non-governmental organizations (NGO'S) pressured the UN into creating an international tribunal. The tribunal was created in the hope to achieve justice for the victims of genocide. Also, if the people responsible for the mass genocide that occurred were held responsible then the refugees would return back to their homes. If the refugees returning home all returned home at once this would lead to disaster as well. Rwanda is not prepared for the return of all its citizens that have fled. It has to be done slowly in small nurabers so that the safe return of Rwandans to their homes can be assured. Volunteer repatriation has brought refugees the right not only to seek asylum in another state but also have the right to return home at their own will.
In situations where voluntary repatriation is not obtainable local settlement in that country is the next best solution for the refugee. UNHCR provides the asylum seeker assistance in becoming socially, economically and legally self-sufficient in that country. This is provided through programs that teach people in different areas how to integrate. If it were a rural area they would be taught about agriculture, cottage industries, small enterprise development and employment in public work jobs. This would help them earn an income and in turn be socially and economically independent. Legal advice, counseling, education, vocational training, small enterprise development and job placement assistance is offered individually to those in urban areas. By implementing these programs the community that is offering refuge receives an economic boost. The refugees are also a means to inexpensive labor that can be used by businesses to increase their production. This does not mean the programs offered solve all of the problems refugees' face in a new home. Refugees are often faced with tension and conflict between themselves and the residential population. Especially if there are ethnic and language differences. The UNHCR tries to their best ability to make the refugee population self-sufficient in their new homeland. The movement of mass populations across borders are strainful between the states as well. In Zaire President Mobutu was more than happy to accept the refugees from Rwanda for he would be seen as a key to peacemaking talks and could use them as a bargaining chip. Uganda received very few of the refugees. Tanzania and Burundi have a similar demographic make up as Rwanda. The likeness would most likely make settling easier for the refugees.
If voluntary repatriation or local settlement is not an option for the refugees another form of assistance is offered, resettlement. Before the focus on voluntary repatriation, third country resettlement and local settlement was popular. The refugee could move from the state they are seeking refuge in to another state that allows them legal entrance, this being resettlement. In 1993, the UNHCR " sought resettlement for some 75,000 persons " 7(globally). In 1994, the UNHCR helped about 10,550 African refugees become resettled. They were mostly resettled in " Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States. " 8. Resettlement into developed countries is much more difficult. Developed countries have nurabers they have to follow according to the birth rate and immigration. Only a certain nuraber of refugees will be taken in and the others will be sent back. This is the difficulty faced by refugees, not knowing if they will be able to seek refuge or will they be sent back to live in what is to them hell.
These five forms of assistance from the UNHCR, emergency assistance, care and maintenance, voluntary repatriation, local settlement and resettlement is one way to help to solve the problem of refugees. It is apparent though, there is a change occurring from reactive, exile oriented, and refugee specific, to prevention. The concept of prevention brings a new dimension of the responsibility of the State. Not only is the State responsible for their citizens leaving but it is also responsible for their return. The State neeRAB to solve the problem within to be able to receive those who left to seek asylum. This can be implemented through monitoring and, and early warning, diplomatic intervention, economic and social development, conflict resolution, institution building, the protection of human and minority rights and the dissemination of information to prospective asylum seekers. 9.
The beginnings of this theory was seen in Rwanda. The UNHCR helped alleviate the problem by trying put an end to the amount of people leaving Rwanda and encourage the return of refugees back to their homes. However improvement could be made in the area of justice and involvement. The victims that were killed by the genocide in Rwanda and the families that lost their loved ones will never forget what happened. Do they not deserve some sense of justice? Yes, an international tribunal was set up, with hesitancy from the part of the French, Belgian and American governments. Most of the evidence gathered on the genocide is kept by foreign governments again France, Belgium and the American governments. The tribunal has many difficulties trying to obtain this information which is vital. They can not achieve any form of justice without it. A lack of funding delays the process of justice and it does not have independence which is needed in order to serve its purpose. In order to achieve voluntary repatriation in Rwanda the international world neeRAB to give funding and independence to the tribunal. Then the refugees can see that the people involved with the genocide of their people are held responsible. By seeing this they will return to their homes, solving the problem of refugees.
The issue of involvement with refugee crisis's is very important. Does the world really need to see 500,000, to one million people die from genocide , and about two point five million people fleeing to borders to seek refuge from genocide. No, the international world can do better than that. Watching that many people suffer and die is not human. There is a need to establish a better grounRAB for involvement in the name of humanitarianism. The UNHCR is dependent on the UN. The UN has to make a request of the UNHCR before it may become involved in a refugee crises. This neeRAB to change because if the genocide of so many people is needed for the UN to make a request for the UNHCR there is something terribly wrong.
Rwanda, located in central Africa, suffers from one of the world's most recent refugee crises. The word refugees could be defined in the traditional context, " people who decide to seek asylum out of fear of political, racial, or religious persecution, or who leave their homes because of war or civil strife " 1. Between the seventies to eighties this definition began to change. The world was beginning to see a great many people seeking refuge due to " a variety of severe economic, social and military ills - poverty, famine and conflicts over resources " 2. Therefore, these factors have to be implemented in the traditional definition as well. People seeking refuge have only one concern and that is survival. They flee their homes to neigrabroadoring states in search of relief. In 1994, over two million people from Rwanda were forced out by genocide. It came to an end in July of 1994 when the country was supposedly liberated by the Rwandan Patriotic Front. The international world became involved in Rwanda when, " in June and July 1994, 2.5 million Rwandans crossed into Tanzania and Zaire "3. It took 500,000 to 1,000,000 Rwandans to die from genocide before the world acknowledged a problem. A question a rises over the competency of the international world's method in detecting problems such as the one in Rwanda. Were we not a little late in helping Rwandans, and as a world in the name of humanitarianism are we doing enough?
One of the international world organizations that can be examined in its assistance with refugees is the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1951 the United Nations General Asserably created The United Nations High Commission for Refugees. It was given the responsibility " for protecting refugees and promoting lasting solutions. " 4. The UNHCR becomes involved in a refugee situation at the request of the United Nations (UN), the consent of the State involved, and the amount of funRAB available at the time. In refugee crisis's the type of assistance offered by the UNHCR is emergency assistance, care and maintenance, voluntary repatriation, local settlement and resettlement. These forms of aid would help create a lasting solution to the refugee problem. The UNHCR was one of the organizations that offered emergency aid to Rwanda.
To begin with one of the forms of emergency assistance is refugee camp. Refugee camps aid the people-seeking asylum with the necessities of food, shelter, clothing and security to the best of their ability. They are usually organized around territorial borders due to the fact that people fleeing their homeland head towarRAB the nearest border. In the case of Rwanda the nearest borders would be Zaire, Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. The refugee population (from Rwanda) in these countries are: Zaire 1,065,000, Uganda 4,000, Tanzania 603,000, Burundi 231,000. Refugee camps are placed in Tanzania (only one in Benaco camp), Burundi (only one), and Zaire (has two in Bukavu, and Goma). The UNHCR has aided in the crises in Rwanda with emergency assistance in the last few years. The next form of assistance the UNHCR has to offer is care and maintenance. This is implemented after the emergency phase of an operation. Care and maintenance covers the basic neeRAB of the refugee population. In 1993 the expenditures for care and maintenance was 215.7 million dollars.
Recently there has been a preference for voluntary repatriation as a solution to the problem of refugees. This shift began in the 70's and by the eighties the best-seen solution to the refugees problem was volunteer repatriation, allowing them to " freely choosing to go back to their homeland and to assume all the rights and obligations of the resident population." 5. One of the strategies used in Rwanda to bring about repatriation was a confidence building mechanism. The government of Rwanda declared that the refugees returning home would be greeted with conditions of safety, and dignity, as well as right to their full property rights. The UNHCR established transit and relief camps in Rwanda as a way to help the refugees returning get re-adjusted. The monitoring of human rights in Rwanda was set up all over the country including prisons. The fact that they were set up in prisons is very important due to the fact that " by June 1995, seven prisoners in every 10,000 were dying everyday " 6. At that rate in no time at all the whole prison population would die from overpopulation, disease and violence. There was an improvement of security at the refugee camps in the neigrabroadoring states. This was done in the hope of preventing the refugees from being intimidated to not return home. Most importantly an international tribunal was created in Noveraber of 1994 to prosecute the people that were responsible for the genocide in Rwanda. The UNHCR with the help of other non-governmental organizations (NGO'S) pressured the UN into creating an international tribunal. The tribunal was created in the hope to achieve justice for the victims of genocide. Also, if the people responsible for the mass genocide that occurred were held responsible then the refugees would return back to their homes. If the refugees returning home all returned home at once this would lead to disaster as well. Rwanda is not prepared for the return of all its citizens that have fled. It has to be done slowly in small nurabers so that the safe return of Rwandans to their homes can be assured. Volunteer repatriation has brought refugees the right not only to seek asylum in another state but also have the right to return home at their own will.
In situations where voluntary repatriation is not obtainable local settlement in that country is the next best solution for the refugee. UNHCR provides the asylum seeker assistance in becoming socially, economically and legally self-sufficient in that country. This is provided through programs that teach people in different areas how to integrate. If it were a rural area they would be taught about agriculture, cottage industries, small enterprise development and employment in public work jobs. This would help them earn an income and in turn be socially and economically independent. Legal advice, counseling, education, vocational training, small enterprise development and job placement assistance is offered individually to those in urban areas. By implementing these programs the community that is offering refuge receives an economic boost. The refugees are also a means to inexpensive labor that can be used by businesses to increase their production. This does not mean the programs offered solve all of the problems refugees' face in a new home. Refugees are often faced with tension and conflict between themselves and the residential population. Especially if there are ethnic and language differences. The UNHCR tries to their best ability to make the refugee population self-sufficient in their new homeland. The movement of mass populations across borders are strainful between the states as well. In Zaire President Mobutu was more than happy to accept the refugees from Rwanda for he would be seen as a key to peacemaking talks and could use them as a bargaining chip. Uganda received very few of the refugees. Tanzania and Burundi have a similar demographic make up as Rwanda. The likeness would most likely make settling easier for the refugees.
If voluntary repatriation or local settlement is not an option for the refugees another form of assistance is offered, resettlement. Before the focus on voluntary repatriation, third country resettlement and local settlement was popular. The refugee could move from the state they are seeking refuge in to another state that allows them legal entrance, this being resettlement. In 1993, the UNHCR " sought resettlement for some 75,000 persons " 7(globally). In 1994, the UNHCR helped about 10,550 African refugees become resettled. They were mostly resettled in " Nordic countries, the United Kingdom, and the United States. " 8. Resettlement into developed countries is much more difficult. Developed countries have nurabers they have to follow according to the birth rate and immigration. Only a certain nuraber of refugees will be taken in and the others will be sent back. This is the difficulty faced by refugees, not knowing if they will be able to seek refuge or will they be sent back to live in what is to them hell.
These five forms of assistance from the UNHCR, emergency assistance, care and maintenance, voluntary repatriation, local settlement and resettlement is one way to help to solve the problem of refugees. It is apparent though, there is a change occurring from reactive, exile oriented, and refugee specific, to prevention. The concept of prevention brings a new dimension of the responsibility of the State. Not only is the State responsible for their citizens leaving but it is also responsible for their return. The State neeRAB to solve the problem within to be able to receive those who left to seek asylum. This can be implemented through monitoring and, and early warning, diplomatic intervention, economic and social development, conflict resolution, institution building, the protection of human and minority rights and the dissemination of information to prospective asylum seekers. 9.
The beginnings of this theory was seen in Rwanda. The UNHCR helped alleviate the problem by trying put an end to the amount of people leaving Rwanda and encourage the return of refugees back to their homes. However improvement could be made in the area of justice and involvement. The victims that were killed by the genocide in Rwanda and the families that lost their loved ones will never forget what happened. Do they not deserve some sense of justice? Yes, an international tribunal was set up, with hesitancy from the part of the French, Belgian and American governments. Most of the evidence gathered on the genocide is kept by foreign governments again France, Belgium and the American governments. The tribunal has many difficulties trying to obtain this information which is vital. They can not achieve any form of justice without it. A lack of funding delays the process of justice and it does not have independence which is needed in order to serve its purpose. In order to achieve voluntary repatriation in Rwanda the international world neeRAB to give funding and independence to the tribunal. Then the refugees can see that the people involved with the genocide of their people are held responsible. By seeing this they will return to their homes, solving the problem of refugees.
The issue of involvement with refugee crisis's is very important. Does the world really need to see 500,000, to one million people die from genocide , and about two point five million people fleeing to borders to seek refuge from genocide. No, the international world can do better than that. Watching that many people suffer and die is not human. There is a need to establish a better grounRAB for involvement in the name of humanitarianism. The UNHCR is dependent on the UN. The UN has to make a request of the UNHCR before it may become involved in a refugee crises. This neeRAB to change because if the genocide of so many people is needed for the UN to make a request for the UNHCR there is something terribly wrong.