Perhaps this says something about the nature of the violence in Africa that causes people to flee their homes. A second way to comprehend the scale of internal displacement is to examine the numbers of countries where displacement is occurring. It is not an isolated phenomenon. As of October 1998, significant internal displacement exists in at least 15 African countries, and perhaps in as many as 21 countries. The exact number of affected countries depends on who is measuring the problem and how good their information is.
Information is often sketchy.
The above list conveys to you what various sources are reporting. Moreover, the 21 countries cited above do not include states such as Chad, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Cameroon, and Western Sahara - places where internal displacement has occurred in past years and might still exist, but precise information is lacking. It is not an isolated phenomenon. Old and New A third approach for assessing internal displacement in Africa is to recall the old emergencies that have disappeared and take stock of the new emergencies that have erupted. The picture of displacement in Africa is constantly changing.