Afghanistan
Food insecurity in Afghanistan remains a major concern. The lack of adequate rainfall and resulting drought has caused hardship for both farmers and herders. The United Nations has stated that nearly 7 million people are vulnerable to famine. 53% of the population lives below the poverty in a nation where 40% are unemployed (2007 est.).

In addition, Afghanistan continues to be plagued by insecurity and warlordism. NATO and U.S. forces continue to engage pro-Taliban elements in combat. The government and the international community are making slow progress in rebuilding the war-torn country, but Afghans are expressing frustration that they are unable to see more tangible results of peace. The recent attempt on Hamid Karzai’s life is an example of the thin veil of security that does exist. Droughts, ethnic violence in northern Afghanistan, and lack of employment have led to the continuing displacement of between 180,000-300,000 people. Roughly 3.5 million Afghans are living as refugees in Pakistan and Iran alone.

Despite international efforts to tackle opium proliferation in Afghanistan, more than 201,000 hectares are now being used for opium cultivation inside the country. While this number continues a decline in area of cultivation, production has increased, leading Afghanistan to account for 92% of the world’s heroin. Current figures note that $4 billion dollars of drug trade account for almost half of Afghanistan's $9.9 billion economy (2007 est.).

In the past, RI has played an active role in advocating on behalf of Afghan refugees, IDPs and returnees. Our last assessment mission in 2004 spotlighted the plight of a nomadic group, the Kuchis, in southern Afghanistan. Their way of life is threatened by landmines and lawlessness in the southern provinces, where the Taliban and Coalition forces are engaged in constant fighting. Since the fall of the Taliban, more than 3.5 million Afghans have returned, yet many are unable or unwilling to go back. Some 2 million registered refugees remain in Iran and some 900,000 in Pakistan. Both countries have begun a program of forceful deportation of refugees from these camps into Afghanistan in an effort to reduce the presence of Taliban fighters in their own nations. A major concern is that these camps have become successful recruiting centers for the Taliban.

RI Advocates have undertaken frequent missions to Pakistan and Afghanistan to monitor reconstruction progress, security, and the living conditions of Afghans. In January 2003, RI advocates trained Afghan women leaders in effective advocacy techniques and helped them implement an advocacy campaign focused on the incorporation of women's perspectives in the new constitution of Afghanistan. RI advocates plan to return to Afghanistan in mid-2008 to assess conditions in refugee camps in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and the obstacles faced by returnees.

Bangladesh
Refugees International is concerned about the growing and persistent humanitarian and protection issues facing the stateless Bihari, the Rohingya refugee population, and displaced religious minorities in Bangladesh.

The Biharis (stranded Pakistanis) of Bangladesh are of particular concern to Refugees International. The Biharis, an Urdu-speaking Muslim minority originally from the Hindu region of Bihar, have been stateless since the days of Bangladesh independence. After the partition of 1947, the Biharis became a part of East Pakistan, but their past support for Western Pakistan caused tension between the Bihari and the newly independent nation of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has refused to provide full citizenship to the Bihari due to their previous support of Western Pakistan while Pakistan, on the other hand, fears the large influx of Biharis into Pakistan could destabilize the region. Bangladesh continues to host approximately 250,000-300,000 Bihari who live in 66 camps in 13 regions across the country. The Bihari face overcrowded living quarters, poor drainage and sanitation systems, inadequate education, and health care facilities. Most importantly, the Bihari continue to remain stateless after more than thirty years of hardship. Little has been done to improve their current conditions and no plausible solution has been reached.

The Rohingya (Muslims from western Burma) refugee population faces similar hardships. Continued abuse by Burmese officials has led to the ongoing flight of these refugees into Bangladesh. The government fears that if it continues providing refugee status to the Rohingya, more Rohingya will enter the country, and these people will be a burden on Bangladesh’s limited resources. Therefore the Bangladeshi government does not recognize the thousands of Rohingya living outside the camps as refugees, and instead considers them to be economic migrants. Rohingya outside the camps do not have access to food or medical assistance from the Government, UNHCR, or any NGO.

Refugees International has made five trips to southern Bangladesh, the most recent in April 2006, to raise awareness about the growing and persistent humanitarian and protection issues facing the Rohingya refugee population within Bangladesh. The April 2003 mission also focused on the displaced of religious minorities in Bangladesh. In November 2004, RI representatives visited 11 of the Bihari camps where families continue to face sub-standard living conditions. Access to healthcare and education continues to be a problem. In addition, the government has terminated food assistance to some of the most vulnerable families. RI has been advocating for humanitarian intervention by the United Nations. A draft plan of action has now been completed by UNHCR and is under review by the Dhaka office. RI will continue to monitor the situation once the program is operational.

Burma
Refugees International has been engaged on the issue of Burmese refugees for over a decade. Since 2003, RI has conducted missions to assess the situation of refugees living in Thailand, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, and inside Burma itself. RI released a report, entitled Ending the Waiting Game: Strategies for Responding to Internally Displaced People in Burma in response to a mission inside Burma conducted in 2005. RI returned to Burma to assess the conditions for humanitarian workers in the country in February of 2008 and released its assessment of the situation there in the report Burma: A New Way Forward.

RI is calling for increased humanitarian assistance to Burma, and notes that the country receives less humanitarian assistance than any of the poorest 50 countries in the world. The organization has also highlighted human rights violations in Burma, particularly of ethnic minorities, through reports such as No Safe Place: Burma’s Army and the Rape of Ethnic Women , which documented the rape of minority women by Burmese soldiers. RI provided information on the conditions of Burmese refugees and internally displaced persons to various UN bodies such as the offices of the Special Rapporteur on Burma, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the High Commissioner for Refugees.

Cambodia
Refugees International has been involved with providing direct assistance to the Phnong, highland people who returned to their home in Mondulkiri province in 1999 after two decades in exile, and also monitors the situation of Montagnard refugees from the central highlands of Vietnam.

Refugees International established a partnership with a Cambodian NGO, Cambodia Family Development Services (CFDS), to provide direct support to Phnong communities in Mondulkiri. RI channels foundation and private donor funds to CFDS, which in turn is organizing community economic development activities among the Phnong, as well as delivering World Program Food (WFP) assistance to needy families. This work will continue in 2004, though WFP has decided to discontinue its food aid program in Mondulkiri. RI is picking up the slack and providing financial assistance to CFDS to provide food support to especially vulnerable families.

RI has been pivotal in getting the U.S. government to accept Montagnard refugees for resettlement in the U.S. Virtually all the Montagnards who were staying in a UNHCR safe house in the Cambodian capital have now come to the United States. RI will also continue to urge the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh to press the Cambodian government to honor its obligations under the 1951 Refugees Convention.

Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR) is one of the world’s most neglected humanitarian crises. There are just three or four agencies responding to the plight of the 200,000 internally displaced in CAR and the more than 50,000 refugees who have fled to neighboring countries. Issues including security, poor infrastructure, and lack of capacity in the government continue to hamper economic growth and development. Violence in northwest CAR is spreading terror and displacement. In addition, insecurity in neighboring Chad and Sudan threatens to further destabilize the country, and the region as a whole.

Chad
Approximately 200,000 refugees from the Darfur region of Sudan live in camps in an isolated, desperately poor region of eastern Chad. In late 2005 and early 2006 Chadian rebel groups contesting the control of the central government have linked up with Sudanese supporters to harass humanitarian operations in the region. A number of camps are presently cut off from visits by international staff of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and its partner agencies. The concern is that this will negatively impact humanitarian operations on behalf of the refugees, operations which already face many challenges due to the isolation and poverty of the host region.

Colombia
Refugees International’s primary concern in Colombia is the growing number of internally displaced people (IDPs). Colombia’s 40 year internal conflict between paramilitaries, guerilla groups and the Colombian army has created a massive displaced population. In fact, Colombia’s internal displacement crisis stands as the world’s worst after Sudan. Since 1985, the internal conflict has displaced 3.7 million people and the number continues to rise at around 200,000 new displaced a year. Colombia also now has the largest number of new landmine victims in the world.

Despite the fact that the government of Colombia has passed several laws for the assistance and protection of IDPs, the government’s implementation of its policies has been problematic. Refugees International is calling for the Colombian government to recognize that the implementation of its displacement policy continues to have serious gaps in protecting and providing material assistance to the displaced population. In addition, RI recommends that the U.S aid policy towards Colombia be altered to provide a more equitable balance between military support and development and humanitarian assistance, including to millions of internally displaced civilians.

Cote d'Ivoire
Refugees International is concerned about the situation of Liberian refugees who sought safety in Cote d'Ivoire after fleeing the civil war or the recent conflict in their country. RI also focuses on implementation of the peace process, deployment of peacekeepers, and the disarmament of former combatants.

Refugees International has traveled to Cote d'Ivoire several times over the past few years to look at the needs of Liberian refugees who sought safety in Cote d'Ivoire after fleeing Liberia during the civil war or the recent conflict. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has recommended the dispatch of more than 6,000 UN peacekeeping troops to Cote d'Ivoire to disarm former combatants and guarantee security during elections planned for October 2005.

Democratic Republic of Congo
Refugees International is concerned with the estimated 400,000 refugees and 1.1 million internally displaced people forced from their homes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as a result of armed conflict, systematic killings and human rights atrocities over more than a decade. A decrease in violence has allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced individuals to return home, but in several locations the security situation remains extremely volatile. Armed groups and government troops continue to carry out attacks against civilians mainly in the eastern part of the country. Returnees face further violence and many suffer from a lack of adequate resources and infrastructure.

Dominican Republic
Refugees International’s interest in the Dominican Republic relates primarily to the status of Haitians in the country. RI is concerned that Haitian migrants and their children are being denied legal status, leaving them vulnerable to forced expulsions, random violence, and an inability to access basic services. Since many migrants lack documentation of their original citizenship in Haiti, they are effectively stateless. RI carried out an assessment mission to the Dominican Republic and Haiti in November 2006 to highlight this problem and develop possible solutions.

Ethiopia

RI’s primary concerns in Ethiopia relate to chronic food deficits, which plague the country and periodically result in widespread famine, and displacement resulting from the development of wildlife parks. In January 2003, RI examined the impact of drought on Ethiopians in the highlands and among the Somali pastoralists of the desert zones. RI advocated for additional international aid which was urgently needed to prevent large numbers of deaths through deprivation and starvation. In November 2004 RI focused on the root causes of the chronic food deficits and recommended policy changes for adaptation by the government of Ethiopia to address these causes. On the same mission, RI discovered an instance of forced displacement of 5,000 people as the result of the development of a national park in Necha Sar. RI has conducted its own studies and has supported the work of other researchers to highlight this displacement and to influence an international foundation, the Africa Parks Foundation, to refrain from colluding with the government in driving local people off their land in the name of eco-tourism development.

Haiti
Haiti is in an extremely fragile transition phase. Failure to bring sustained peace and stability to Haiti may lead to future outflows of refugees, mostly to the United States, but also throughout the Caribbean. This is a concern for RI not only because of the dangers posed to those who might flee, but because the U.S. seems intent on a policy of violating international law and forcibly returning Haitian refugees to a place where their very lives are in jeopardy. Countries like the Dominican Republic do not provide a viable protection option either. For Haiti to emerge from its history of political violence, the U.S. and the international community must do more to help Haiti, and they must be prepared to engage in Haiti for an extended period of time.

Iraq

An estimated 1.8 million Iraqi refugees have been internally displaced since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and some 2 million Iraqis are now living throughout the Middle East in places like Turkey, Iran, several Gulf States, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon. Many of these people have fled targeting by insurgents due to their alleged collaboration with U.S. forces and the new Iraqi government. Others are fleeing the growing sectarian violence at home. RI conducted assessment missions to the region in November 2006, February 2007, and again in February 2008 to assess this crisis and is working to bring these refugees to the attention of U.S. officials and UNHCR.

Read our detailed information about the Iraqi Refugee Crisis here.

Jordan
Jordan is host to hundreds of thousands of refugees from Palestine, Iraq, and other neighboring countries. Officials also assert that the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank may increase the movement of more Palestinians to Jordan. Increasing sectarian violence in Iraq is pushing growing numbers of refugees into Jordan, which is increasingly selective about receiving them. Learn more about Iraqi refugees here.

Kuwait
Kuwait has imposed hostile policies aimed at restricting refugee rights. Like most of her neighbors, Kuwait has imposed hostile policies aimed at restricting refugee rights so as to deter additional Iraqis from entering Kuwaiti territory. The restricted military zone of Kuwait was a staging area for more than 200,000-coalition troops amid preparations for a U.S.-led campaign to disarm and remove Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. There were no plans to establish camps to accommodate any influx of refugees fleeing a war. Fortunately, there was limited movement of refugees out of Iraq during the U.S. war.

Lebanon
In July 2006, hostilities erupted between Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim party in Lebanon, and Israel. The conflict, which lasted over one month and involved intense widespread bombing by Israel, especially in southern Lebanon, and indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hezbollah in northern Israel, displaced almost a quarter of the Lebanese population and left over 1,000 dead. Humanitarian access during the conflict was extremely limited due to the intensive bombing campaign.

In response to the crisis, RI sent a team to assess the humanitarian response to the forced displacement. As Lebanese organizations provided the bulk of the emergency services, RI advocated for the international community to ensure that especially vulnerable and neglected groups were being protected. In the reconstruction phase, RI has advocated that the government of Lebanon must be strengthened and that donors should fund livelihood reconstruction programs.

In November 2006, RI is returning to Lebanon, this time as part of an effort to assess the situation of Iraqi refugees. Though Syria and Jordan remain the largest host countries for Iraqis, Lebanon is estimated to host tens of thousands of Iraqis, making it the third largest host country in the Middle East.

RI also assessed the humanitarian situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon in 2002. RI recommended and has advocated that: Palestinian refugees be given the right to return or appropriate compensation; The Lebanese government and the international community, through UNRWA, accord Palestinian refugees full access to services; Lebanon find a workable system of employment for Palestinians, such as temporary work permits; and The property law pertaining to Palestinian ownership be repealed immediately and that rightful ownership be reinstated.

Liberia
Refugees International advocacy has focused on the implementation of disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation (DDRR) programs in Liberia in the context of the internationally overseen peace process. The coming year is a critical one to support the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, as well as ensuring that demobilized soldiers are integrated into the social and economic life of the country.

RI has also been concerned with incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse of the local population by United Nations peacekeepers and other international personnel. RI has been involved in a regular dialogue with the new UN Special Representative of the Secretary General, Alan Doss, who oversees the peacekeeping and reconstruction program in Liberia on behalf of the UN system. Mr. Doss has assured RI that measures have been put in place to reduce incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse and to achieve justice for the survivors. RI expects to continue to monitor this issue in Liberia.

Malaysia
RI conducted its first mission to Malaysia in March 2005 to assess the situation of Burmese Chin and Acehnese refugees. RI is advocating for a speedy registration process for refugees and asylum seekers, especially in outlying areas. Very few international NGOs work in Malaysia and the Chin, along with other refugees, suffer from lack of access to most social services and decent housing.  RI will advocate for other countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, or Sweden to consider resettling the Chin who are unable to return to their home country soon because of the extreme danger of doing so.

Nepal
Refugees International is concerned with the internal displacement and suffering of an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Nepalese as a result of the escalating nine-year conflict with Maoist insurgents, increasing political tension, and military intervention in state and civil affairs. King Gyanendra’s increasingly authoritarian nature and disregard for the welfare of Nepal’s displaced, especially those displaced by the government’s own military actions, has resulted in heightened unrest, an escalation in conflict and further suffering.

RI is also concerned with the situation for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. Approximately 100,000 Bhutanese, most of Nepali ethnicity, fled Bhutan in the early 1990s when the Royal Government of Bhutan introduced highly discriminatory citizenship policies targeting ethnic Nepalis, especially ones critical of the government’s policies. Attempts by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to broker an agreement that would allow many of these refugees to return to Bhutan have foundered as the joint verification process conducted by the governments of Nepal and Bhutan resulted in the Royal Government insisting that the vast majority did not have claims to valid Bhutanese citizenship. Thus, despite the best efforts of UNHCR, these refugees remain in limbo with no durable solution in sight.

RI is advocating for the development of a consistent national policy towards internally displaced people that does not differentiate between those displaced by rebels or government security forces. RI has also suggested that the Nepali government facilitate access for humanitarian organizations and, in collaboration with these organizations, proactively assess conditions of the displaced in order to effectively address their protection and assistance needs.

North Korea
Refugees International is concerned about the lack of protection for North Koreans in China. China treats North Koreans on their territory as economic migrants, subject to arrest and deportation. At any given time approximately 30,000 North Koreans are in China, having fled their country to escape persecution, starvation and forced labor. RI believes that many North Koreans in China have a strong case for consideration as refugees based on two primary factors: the fact that deportees are punished with prison terms upon their return to North Korea and the fact that the North Korean government allocates food and other public goods based on political criteria. RI has urged the Chinese government to stop arresting and deporting law-abiding North Korean citizens on humanitarian grounds, bearing in mind the harsh punishments that deportees receive. Ideally, China would live up to its obligations under the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol and allow the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees access to North Koreans in China to provide protection and assess their status as refugees. The North Korean government announced in the fall of 2005 that emergency food assistance from the UN World Food Program was no longer required. While WFP has been able to maintain some small-scale feeding programs for vulnerable groups, the total amount of food aid it is providing has dropped considerably. China and South Korea provide substantial quantities of rice, but this food goes primarily to the elite and to the military. The South Korean non-governmental organization Good Friends, which maintains a network of contacts along the border between China and North Korea, reported in July 2007 that famine deaths are on the increase in the North, with 10 people dying daily of starvation in five of the poorest northern provinces.