From: hrcoord@igc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Subject: REFUGEES: WORLD'S REFUGEE POPULATIO
Date: 30 Jul 92 18:29:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700300:000:4706
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Jul 30 11:29:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: REFUGEES: WORLD'S REFUGEE POPULATIO

/* Written 12:16 am  Jul 30, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: REFUGEES: WORLD'S REFUGEE POPULATION A STAGGERING 17 MILLION


new york, jul 27 (ips) -- the refugee flows of the post cold war
era have brought the world's refugee population to an
unprecedented 17 millign people, more than double what it was a
decade ago, a high-ranking u.n. official said here monday.

albert peters, director of the new york office of the u.n.
high commissioner for refugees (unhcr), warned that recent
emergencies in the persian gulf, the horn of africa, south west
asia and europe were challenging ''unhcr's capacity to respond
and the international community's ability to achieve regional
and global security.''

in his address to members of the u.n. economic and social
council (ecosoc), peters pointed out that ''each day in
recentd
months, 10,000 refugees have been forced to flee their
homes
often under appalling physical and psychological conditions, and
not infrequently into asylum situations which are themselves
fraught with insecurity and other dangers.''

he said that in the face of such massive displacement, caused
by people fleeing conflict, inter-communal tension and a wide-
range of associated human rights abuses, the question of refugee
status, protection and asylum was a growing concern.

''urgent challenges coffronting unhcr and the international
community include finding ways to ensure that the victims of
contemporary events are protected and assisted until such time as
tmey can return home in safety and dignity,'' peters said.

peters pointed out that ''the progress of peace in a number of
regions and, more generally, the impetus towards democracy in
many parts of the world have opened up avenues to solutions,
notably and most welcomely, through voluntary repatriation.''

according to unhcr, in this year alone, voluntary repatriation
could see up to three million refugees return home worldwide.

peters told the ecosoc that africa, which hosts some 30
percent of the world's refugees, would remain a top priority for
unhcr.

the u.n. agency reports that since the 1991 deterioration of
the political situation in the horn of africa, 300,000 refugees
have fled somalia and southern ethiopia into kenya. in addition,
the ongoing civil war in somalia has precipitated a massive
spontaneous return of 450,000 refugees to ethiopia.

in malawi, unhcr states that the mozambique refugee population
continues to grow at an alarming rate and has passed the one
million mark, in a context increasingly complicated by the
southern african drought. (more/ips)

refugees: world's refugee population a staggering 17 million (2)

further, unhcr reports that strife in sierra leone, liberia
and the former yugoslavia have lead to ''a major new exodus of
refugees'' into neighbouring countries.

for yugoslavia, peters continued, ''thousands more are fleeing
daily as a result of the ongoing conflict and related human
abuses, including the terrible process that has come to be known
as ''ethnic cleansing.''

peters said an international meeting on humanitarian aid
for the victims of the former yugoslavia, convened by the u.n.
high commissioner for refugees, sadako ogata, would be held in
geneva on july 29.

meanwhile  in asia, over 270,000 refugees by the end of june
had poured out of myanmar into neighbouring bangladesh,
unleashing a full-scale refugee emergency.

in addition, by late june, strife in bhutan had forced some
65,000 ethnic nepalese into nepal.

but, the unhcr official pointed out that developments in
south east asia have been far more positive with the successful
repatriation of about 25,000 'boat people', or indo-chinese
refugees, to viet nam since 1989.

also, some 50,000 out of a total of 370,000 cambodian
refugees in thailand had been successfully repatriated back to
their home country.

meanwhile, in afghanistan, 100,000 afghans crossed the border
home from pakistan, bringing the total number to have done so
since the beginning of 1992, to 600,000.

according to peters, before repatriation began in 1990, there
were a total of 3.2 million afghan refugees in pakistan and a
further three million in iran. since then, nearly one million
refugees have returned home.

h but, peters warned, repatriation alone could not solve the
problems faced by returnees unless simultaneous efforts were
taken to ensure that refugees were ''properly anchored in the
process of national development.''(end/ips/jd/da/92)