African Unification Front
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THE AFRICAN GULAG
INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE AT THE CORE OF CONFLICT
Rwandan Family Displaced in the Congo
Estimates place Africa's displaced at 25% or more of the population. The accumulated effects of economic hardship and political conflict have uprooted and left perhaps as many as 100 million Africans without proper legal status, in slums, refugee camps, Regroupment camps and questionable "resettlement" projects.
Most people who are considered displaced lack full rights, proper citizenship, as well as political and civic representation in the places where they have been sent to. The restriction of movement rights, restricted work permits, and dependence on handouts from international donors, or ghettoisation in substandard housing are all prevalent among displaced populations.
The number of political asylum seekers in Africa is at any one time since the 1970s always above 10 million people. However, the people who are not accounted for, who never turn up at refugee camps but instead move to another location within the region is immense. In fact displacement may be the defining feature of African life. The majority of Afican communities have a significant portion of their members displaced or forcefully relocated. Over 350,000 have fled Angola, 400,000 from Sudan, 450,000 from Somalia, 750,000 from Liberia and 1,700,000 from Rwanda.
Aerial View of Mihanda Emergency Camp in the Mitumba Mountains [DRC]
In the past regional conferences on refugee issues have been held under the auspices of the UNHCR. For over a decade now, Ms. Sadako Ogata, has led the UNHCR organizing humanitarian assistance. However the situation has escalated and the are more displaced and refugees in Africa now than at any other time since the age of slave trade.
Refugees should be not be regarded as outcasts but as partners in development and governments must not subject refugees to forced displacement. All Africans seeking asylum are protected according to the 1969 OAU convention on refugees and asylum seekers.
Because of the way that refugee camps tend to organize around short-term food distribution, they put strains on the environment. Refugees in camps in Tanzania's western Kigoma Region and Kenya are interfering with local wildlife and natural reserves. Refugees from the DRC are feeding on rare species of gazelles, chimpanzees and baboons from nearby national parks and chopping down trees.
The Kenyan government has taken measures to move rare species of gazelle to safer areas. Meanwhile, efforts are being made to conserve the environment of refugee camps, including using solar energy cookers to reduce tree felling. Despite reforestation drives, most areas around refugee camps in the African Union have been left bare.
DISPLACEMENT CAMPS IN THE AFRICAN UNION
Agacha Camp - Benue State, Nigeria
Dadaab Refugee Camp System - Kenya
Dagahaley Refugee Camp - Kenya
Duadu Camp - Benue State, Nigeria
Dzakela Transit Shelter - Malawi
Fugnido Refugee Camp - Gambella, Ethiopia-Sudan Frontier
Gerihun Refugee Camp - Sierra Leone
Hagadera Refugee Camp - Kenya
Ibuga - Uganda
Ifo Transit Camp - Kenya
Jimmi Bagbo Refugee Camp - Sierra Leone
Kakuma Refugee Camp - Kenya
Katakwi - Uganda
Kigoma - Tanzania
Kyaka I & II - Uganda
Maheba Refugee Camp - Zambia
Mayukwayukwa camp - Zambia
Mihanda Refugee Camp - DRC
Nangweshi Camp - Zambia
Nshongerezi Refugee Camp - Uganda
Nyakivale Refugee Camp - Uganda
Olilim IDP Camp - Uganda
Oruchinga - Uganda
El Aaiun, Smara, Dhakla and Auserd Camps - Algeria
Kayes Region - Mali
Wondekenema - Mano River Basin
Katkama - Mano River Basin
Kikagati Camp - Uganda-Tanzania Frontier
Tailama Refugee Camp - Sierra Leone
Ukpiam Camp- Benue State, Nigeria
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