RI in 2004

Sudan and Chad: In May, an RI team visited the border region between Chad and Sudan, where Sudanese refugees are fleeing a campaign of ethnic cleansing organized by the Sudanese government. RI discovered pockets of refugees who had been living outside the reach of international agencies. RI advocacy was instrumental in getting the UN World Food Program to organize an emergency delivery of food to these refugees.

Panama, Ecuador, and Venezuela: RI undertook an assessment mission focusing on the protection and assistance needs of Colombian refugees in neighboring countries. RI found that Colombian asylum seekers in neighboring countries have tenuous legal status and are vulnerable to discrimination and forced returns. RI advocacy has resulted in decision by UNHCR to allocate more of its South America program resources to address the needs of Colombians in the region, especially in Ecuador.

Liberia and Sierra Leone: RI advocates examined the peacekeeping operations, individually and in a regional context; to assess the refugee and IDP situation in each country; and to explore Gender-based Violence and HIV/AIDS problems and programs. In Sierra Leone, they have recommended that the UN peacekeeping mission there be extended to ensure that the transition to peace continues to go smoothly. RI’s advocacy on the UN Mission in Liberia and its risk to women, prompted the United Nations to address a serious human trafficking problem. RI was thanked for raising the issue by the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping Operation’s representative in New York. The leverage led to an inter-agency meeting on the subject as well.


RI in 2003

Refugee Resettlement in the United States: In late 2003, RI accomplished two goals in its campaign to bring more refugees into the U.S. First, working with other agencies, we defeated a State Department effort to convince President Bush to lower his target of resettling 70,000 refugees a year. Second, we helped win an administration commitment to begin resettling new groups of refugees.

Iraq. Since October 2002, RI has been urging greater preparedness by the administration for the humanitarian consequences of war in Iraq. We have maintained on the ground coverage in the region since March and have given frequent media interviews focusing on humanitarian preparations and the military’s role in humanitarian assistance operations to outlets such as NPR, BBC, CBS, and CNN. Our Washington Post op-ed was used by Senator Kennedy in an Iraq Senate debate early this year, and a letter we co-authored with other NGOs urging President Bush to support the UN’s role as humanitarian coordinator in Iraq was quoted twice by the New York Times.

Burma. An RI report on the use of rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minority women was the basis for a New York Times article published on May 12. On a recent visit to Thailand Veronika Martin and Kavita Shukla were able to document an instance of refoulement: the capture and expulsion of registered refugees. The refugees were lucky in this instance; they were not captured or punished in Burma and were able to make their way back into Thailand. Nonetheless, the case is a clear violation of international humanitarian law, a violation that RI has brought to the attention of UNHCR.

Afghanistan. RI completed an advocacy training in January for women leaders of Afghan NGO’s in Kabul, and reviewed refugee conditions in Pakistan. Afifa Azim, the Director of the Afghan Women’s Network, told RI, “Before the advocacy training, we had an idea that we wanted to work on the constitution, but the training really motivated us to work together.” The women themselves talked about how they wanted to do advocacy to include women’s voices in the new constitution. “We are using what you taught us --- the techniques and the planning. Now we know how we can change policies. We know what is possible and how we can make it possible.”

RI in 2002

Afghanistan. RI played a leading role pushing for expanded peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan to improve security there. After press appearances, congressional testimony, letters to administration officials, including President Bush, meetings with government officials and work with other NGOs, the Bush administration adjusted its policy and agreed to not oppose expansion of the peacekeeping forces in Afghanistan.

Burma. Our assessment mission to the Thai-Burmese border chronicled “pervasive rape of ethnic women from Burma’s border states” by members of the Burmese military. In response to our report, the UN’s Special Representative to Burma has agreed to raise the rape issue with the Burmese government.

Sri Lanka. Our advocacy led the U.S. to agree to fund landmine clearance in war-torn areas throughout the northern region of the country.

RI in 2001

Afghanistan. RI quickly reacted after the September 11 attacks on the U.S. to highlight the magnitude of the crisis. This helped generate a $320 million humanitarian aid package from the Bush administration. RI is maintaining an advocacy presence in Pakistan in order to provide continuing updates on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

Tanzania. RI discovered a disturbing lack of protection for refugees serving as counselors for the Sexual and Gender Based Violence Program in refugee camps in Tanzania. These service providers routinely get threatened, harassed and physically assaulted; some have suffered attempts on their lives by fellow refugees threatened by those promoting women’s human rights. As a result of our report, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the agency charged with protection of refugees, is in the process of adding a section on protection of service providers to its universal guidelines on the prevention and response to sexual and gender based violence.

Afghanistan. In June 2001, our advocacy helped stimulate international resources and political will to address the crisis caused by drought and ongoing civil war. For example, RI identified a severe food shortage in the remote district of Shari-i-Buzurg. Responding to our report, the World Food Program announced that it would provide 735 tons of wheat to 47 villages in Shar-i-Buzurg. We have also called attention to the previously unknown opportunity for foreign donors to encourage education, especially female education, in northeastern Afghanistan.

Cambodia. RI advocacy helped persuade the government of Cambodia to grant asylum and protection for Montagnard refugees fleeing political and religious oppression in the highland regions of Vietnam. We have successfully influenced the U.S. government and UNHCR to take an active interest in this issue. The Cambodian government agreed to respect its obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention and grant asylum to these refugees.

RI in 2000

Eritrea. One of our most successful early warning efforts was Eritrea when we alerted the world to the urgent needs of 1.5 million Eritreans displaced by the war with Ethiopia. This produced a substantial increase in humanitarian assistance from the United States to people whose needs were being neglected.

Guinea. We achieved an advocacy victory when an RI representative detected that a Sierra Leonean refugee camp in Guinea was heavily militarized and under the control of former soldiers. Upon return to Washington, our representative privately informed appropriate UN officials. Action was promptly taken; more than 200 armed men were arrested and removed from the camp, resulting in improved security for legitimate refugees. Then, in December, our representatives witnessed the tragic flight of refugees, threatened by militia and anti-refugee feeling, from camps to the capital of Conakry. Our eyewitness reports citing the lack of international action to help the refugees had a profound effect. The result was a drastic increase in efforts to care for the refugees.

RI in 1998-2000

Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro. RI carried out a series of missions to help Kosovar refugees throughout the region. We saw our recommendations to help Roma (gypsy) refugees adopted in Macedonia and Montenegro. Our reports on the plight of Kosovars in Albania generated international attention and, after the refugees returned home in mid-1999, we did a thorough analysis of the international reconstruction effort in Kosovo and pointed out shortcomings that should be corrected.

Cambodia. RI accompanied 2,000 refugees, mostly members of highland ethnic groups, home to Mondulkiri Province. We stimulated emergency assistance and economic development assistance for the returnees and the most vulnerable families of this isolated, nearly forgotten region of eastern Cambodia.

Sierra Leone. RI brought to the world’s attention the mutilations of innocent civilians by Sierra Leonean rebels. Our photos appeared on the front pages of The New York Times and the International Herald Tribune and brought increased international attention to resolving this humanitarian crisis that threatened hundreds of thousands of lives.

RI in 1997-1998

Bulgaria. Bulgaria was in a financial crisis and food was running short. RI generated emergency food donations from the U.S. government and worked with the Open Society Institute to design and implement a free school lunch program that fed more than 150,000 poor children daily.

RI in 1996-1997

Congo. After the Rwandan refugee camps were broken up, RI tracked hundreds of thousands of "lost refugees" in their long flight through the forests of eastern Zaire, now Congo. Our call for an international rescue effort for the refugees went unheeded, but our persistent advocacy resulted in aid reaching some of the refugees and the safe repatriation of more than 100,000 of them.

RI in 1994

Rwanda and Congo. RI was an eyewitness when nearly 2 million Rwandans fled across the border to Zaire (now Congo). We led a successful campaign in Washington to persuade the U.S. that a U.S. military water purification program was necessary to save the refugees who were dying from cholera by the thousands each day.

RI in 1992-1993

Sarajevo, Bosnia. RI was asked by philanthropist George Soros to advise him on the expenditure of a $50 million donation for humanitarian relief to Bosnia. We focused on helping the besieged people of Sarajevo and worked with the International Rescue Committee and humanitarian legend Fred Cuny to pave the way for rebuilding Sarajevo's water and power supply systems.

RI in 1991

Northern Iraq. RI was among the first on the ground in Northern Iraq to witness the flight of nearly a million Kurds from the regime of Saddam Hussein. We briefed the Secretary of State and were interviewed by the major TV networks. Our advocacy for a U.S. rescue of the Kurds was successful.