Protect Refugees and Build Peace: Great Lakes NGOs Shout Loud

The International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI)
Refugee Rights News
Volume 1, Issue 1
October 2004

Over the past ten years, conflict has engulfed the Great Lakes region of Africa. The 1994 genocide in Rwanda claimed nearly a million lives. The failure of the international community to respond to this crisis and its aftermath, not only wreaked untold havoc on Rwanda, but helped to spark a civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo which, since 1996, has cost more than three million lives and drawn in most of Congo’s neighbors. Burundi, meanwhile, has been struggling with an ongoing civil war since 1993. No country has been spared: those who have not directly experienced violence have struggled to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees.

But there are signs of hope in the region. In July 2004 the International Crisis Group noted that Burundi could for the first time in more than a decade be headed towards a real resolution to the conflict. A political transition in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) agreed in May 2003 has installed a transitional government which is also working to consolidate peace.

These are, however, processes that remain vulnerable. Violence continues in the Kivu regions of the DRC and the Bujumbura Rurale province of Burundi threaten to unravel peace processes in those countries. Strong regional and international support for conflict resolution and development in the region is required to maintain the momentum.

It is with this in mind that the United Nations and the African Union came together to convene an International Conference on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes Region, a process which will culminate with a meeting of heads of state in Dar es Salaam in November 2004 (the International Conference on the Great Lakes).

A Decade of Shifting Refugee Policies

As a contribution to this effort a group of NGOs gathered in Kampala in April 2004 to take stock of the changing political climate in the region and its impact on refugee protection. The conference, entitled “Ten Years After the Rwanda Exodus: Assessing Refugee Protection in the Great Lakes” was convened by the International Refugee Program at Human Rights First in collaboration with the African NGO Refugee Protection Network, the Centre for the Study of Forced Migration at the University of Dar es Salaam, the Refugee Consortium of Kenya, and the Refugee Law Project of Uganda. The event brought together more than 40 participants drawn from national and international NGOs working with refugees across the Great Lakes to both take stock of the situation of refugee protection in the region and develop a platform for action. Participants aimed to share national experiences, but also to understand and strategize about key concerns in a regional context. Contributions from academic experts and UNHCR brought other perspectives which helped to create a more comprehensive picture.

The conference heard that profound changes have gripped the region since more than two million refugees fled Rwanda in the wake of the genocide ten years ago. That exodus sparked humanitarian and security crises which spread throughout the region, and placed considerable strain on local traditions of hospitality. After nearly a decade, serious concerns remained about the capacity of the region to respond to the needs of the millions of refugees seeking safety. This is especially so in the context of diminishing international support and increasing preoccupations by states and host communities with the security and economic impacts of hosting refugees.

Some of the conference participants were surprised by what was uncovered in the shift of perspectives from the national to the regional and international level. For example, many were struck by a paper presented by refugee scholar Chaloka Beyani on the potential impact of European law developments and the Convention Plus process in Geneva on refugee protection in the region. Concern was expressed, for example, about the proposal to create regional “protection zones” and asylum processing centers for countries of asylum outside Africa in the region. Although a particular plan for Tanzania had been rejected there was fear that similar proposals might reemerge.

Representatives of national NGOs commented that they had not been aware of how great an impact such proposals might have on their work. There appeared to be a recognition that monitoring this type of development would be crucial to working effectively in the future.

While concern was expressed about the impact of some international developments, others were highlighted as introducing useful models. A new program piloted in Kenya which allows NGOs to be more involved in referring cases for resettlement was praised. Participants also remarked on the need to learn from and promote initiatives linking refugees to social and economic development such as those piloted in Zambia (the Zambia Initiative) and the Self-Reliance Strategy in Uganda.

Looking Forward to the Great Lakes Process

At the close of the session, participants agreed a set of recommendations targeted at governments, UNHCR and NGOs which they hoped would be taken forward as a contribution to the wider the International Conference on the Great Lakes.

In September 2004, the International Refugee Rights Initiative attended the NGO preparatory meeting for the International Conference on the Great Lakes in Arusha in order to present the findings of the participants at the April conference. The session, which focused on peace and security, democratic governance, humanitarian issues, economic development and regional integration in the region, was attended both by local, international and regional NGOs. A core of the recommendations of the Kampala conference were endorsed by the group in Arusha, particularly those relevant to the humanitarian pillar.

Citizenship and Forced Migration: Who belongs where?

One key issue which emerged during the Kampala meeting was also strongly echoed in the wider regional civil society discussion in Arusha: the interaction of the concept of citizenship with the generation and solution of refugee crises in the Great Lakes. It was acknowledged that citizenship in the sense of inclusiveness in the national collective lay at the heart of many ongoing conflicts in the Great Lakes region. Participants suggested that constitutional reform might be necessary to integrate groups which currently feel disenfranchised. Emotions ran high, with some participants swearing on the graves of their ancestors that refugees should not be naturalized. Others argued that the extension of citizenship to refugees was an important tool for bringing peace in the region.

The vibrant discussion at the Arusha session is indicative of a vigorous regional interest in addressing the malaise of the Great Lakes in a concerted fashion. We can only hope that the Heads of State who gather in Dar es Salaam next month can show the same energy and commitment in following up the recommendations presented to them by the various preparatory meetings. Over to you dear presidents.