06/20/2002

Refugees: Even Chronic Problems Can be Solved

Today is World Refugee Day, which marks the 50th anniversary of the adoption of basic United Nations protection for people who have fled their countries to avoid persecution. In New York and Geneva, the UN will celebrate achievements by refugees, but the day is also a time to worry about the plight of approximately 35 million refugees and displaced people who are struggling to feed themselves and their families, hoping that they can stay alive long enough to return home. Parts of Africa, the Middle East and South Asia are staggering under the burden of millions of people who have left their homes to avoid war or drought. More that 3.5 million Afghans have fled to neighboring countries, mainly Iran and Pakistan. Long civil wars in Angola and Sudan have displaced nearly eight million and plunged much of the population into poverty. More recent wars in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been notable for their unspeakable brutality and high death tolls. It is easy to look at the despair and destruction flowing from these wars and see nothing but chronic, unending problems with no hope of resolution. But in West and Central Africa there are encouraging signs that fighting is abating. Rebel groups are demobilizing, armies are disengaging and refugees and displaced people are beginning to return home. For years the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, US aid programs and humanitarian organizations have been struggling to provide food and medicine to keep displaced people alive. Now there is a chance to promote stability, reconciliation and reconstruction. This is an opportunity that the world cannot afford to waste by failing to commit adequate resources, personnel and leadership. The most encouraging developments are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where fighting began in 1996 and ultimately involved troops from six countries. The war drove 300,000 refugees from the country, displaced 1.8 million in the country and contributed to 2.5 million deaths from violence, disease and malnutrition, according to a report by the International Rescue Committee. Early this year Joseph Kabila, the country's new president, resurrected a moribund 1999 peace agreement. The war is not yet over, but fighting has slowed, foreign troops are pulling out, child soldiers are demobilizing and humanitarian workers are beginning to deliver assistance to vast areas of the country that were previously too dangerous for aid operations. In Sierra Leone, where a 10-year civil war drove 400,000 refugees into neighboring countries and displaced as many as one million within the country, fighting is also slowing. Refugees are returning home and members of the Rebel United Front, which made mutilation and amputation its trademark, are beginning to demobilize. Peace is not assured in either country, but now, unlike last year, there is reason for hope. There are five paths that the world community must follow to promote this progress toward peace, and the same steps ultimately could work in other countries, such as Sudan or Angola, as well. First, maintain a UN security presence. The deployment of a UN peacekeeping force to Sierra Leone and UN observers to the Congo have played an important role in building confidence and promoting security, in spite of early US doubts that the UN could succeed. Second, promote the demobilization of child soldiers and work diligently to create education, psycho-social rehabilitation and job creation programs that will turn child fighters into adult citizens. Child soldiers symbolize the depravity of Africa's wars, and their rehabilitation can help turn a brutal past into a bright future. Third, improve the status of women through education, expanded reproductive health services, economic empowerment and political inclusion. More than 70% of displaced people are women and children. Mothers and children will benefit the most from peace, and mothers hold the key to rebuilding peaceful societies. Fourth, move quickly from aid to development programs that will promote self-sufficiency and give war-torn countries a reward for peace. Fifth, continue to work for peace. Even though the steps toward peace in he Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone are tentative, the lesson is clear: never give up on a peace process; there is always room to do more. In each of these areas US aid and leadership can make a difference, but we can do even more when we work with the UN and our allies. The best way to honor refugees is to enable them to return home to stable, peaceful countries.