A conference to discuss the protection of African refugees and internally displaced persons ended on 18 February in Harare with concrete proposals to African states and the international community to consolidate action in favour of refugees and displaced persons.
Although the participants agreed that durable solutions to the problems of African refugees and internally displaced persons is the primary responsibility of African states, they called for the whole- hearted solidarity of the international community to enable Africa to address the root causes of displacement.
The three-day conference, which brought together participants from 14 African countries, identified the root causes of refugees and displaced persons as violation of human rights, civil strife, internal
disturbances, political conflicts, armed conflicts, ethnic violence, religious intolerance and mass poverty.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, John Nkorno, in opening the conference, urged Africa to critically examine conventions and protocols conceived by the Western nations and assess their relevance to the African refugee problem.
The seminar was organised by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) in collaboration with the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) “Human rights violations combined with the severe economic deprivation usually lie at the root of the conflict to aggravate it,” said the Representative of the UNHCR in Zimbabwe, Wairimu Karago.
African states were urged to respect human rights by abiding by existing instruments which include the UN and Organisation of African Unity Conventions on Refugees, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, and International humanitarian law, among other instruments.
The seminar noted the need for information to be provided to refugees, returnees, and internally displaced persons concerning relevant principles of protection and international law to enable them to invoke their rights.
It was acknowledged that the media has an important role to play in promoting the empowerment of people to protect and exercise their rights and expose violations.
In consolidating action in favour of African refugees and internally displaced persons, the meeting did not lose sight of the fact that the needs of children and women require special attention.
The participants called on institutions setting policy and making decisions to more accurately reflect gender balance, given that women constitute over 50 percent of refugees and internally displaced persons.
Among issues discussed was the need for governments and all concerned parties to recognize the right to humanitarian assistance to victims of war and displaced persons, and to allow humanitarian organisations access to all these populations by respecting the impartiality and neutrality of humanitarian aid and allowing its delivery in safety.
The meeting was told that Africa is the continent most infested by antipersonnel landmines. The explosives hamper humanitarian relief operations, safe repatriation of refugees and internally displaced persons, resumption of agricultural and other economic activities in post-war situations.
The seminar encouraged African states, the international community and the general public to gather and disseminate detailed information on the social, medical, economic and ecological consequences of landmines to promote efforts for the control or ban of the production, trade, stockpiling and use of landmines.
The conclusions of the seminar will be circulated to ACHPR, the OAU, UNHCR and other parties with the hope that they will act on these conclusions. (SARDC)
