The state of the world's refugees, 1995

Bosnia, Iraq, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Somalia... During the past few years, the world has witnessed a succession of massive refugee movements and humanitarian emergencies. The number of people uprooted by war, social conflict and persecution terror now stands at some 50 million and is increasing every day. Humanitarian organizations are struggling to keep pace with the demands of each new exodus, while governments around the world are becoming increasingly reluctant to offer refuge to these victims of violence. What can be done to resolve the global refugee problems? That is the question posed in this important report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The book examines the origins of the current crisis and provides a comprehensive account of the way in which approaches to the problem of human displacement have changed since the end of the Cold War. While the right of asylum must be scrupulously maintained, the book argues, greater efforts must also be made to tackle refugee problems at their source, by restoring peace and prosperity to countries where large numbers of people have been forced to abandon their homes. And to achieve this objective, concerted international action will be required to protect human rights, establish effective peacekeeping operations, promote sustainable development and manage migratory movements. . As well as providing a detailed analysis of these major policy issues, the book provides a set of statistical tables, graphs and maps, describing the state of the world's refugees. The report also includes 25 care studies, examining key refugee situations around the world and showing how new approaches to the problem of human displacement are being put into practice.