AFRICA: More than 13 million displaced, says NRC

NEW YORK, 13 February 2002 (IRIN) - The African continent has more internally displaced persons (IDPs) than the rest of the world put together, according to new analysis by the Global IDP Database, run by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). During the second half of 2001 the number of IDPs in Africa reached 13.5 million, an increase of more than 5 million since 1998, NRC said, more than three times Africa’s estimated refugee population at the beginning of the year. Many of the conflicts, while internal in nature, are sustained by external factors – not least cross-border support for armed groups or rebel movements active in resource-rich areas, according to NRC. “Armed groups often deliberately target civilians to forcibly conscript them as fighters or sex slaves,” Database Coordinator Andreas Danevad said. “ They also like to loot villages for supplies.” The protracted wars in Angola, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have produced about 10 million displaced – three quarters of those displaced in Africa - and fighting in Liberia, Guinea and Nigeria have caused hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, according to NRC. Displaced persons are often unable to find shelter in organised camps or protected areas, forcing them to seek refuge in host communities already exhausted by the effects of war, or to hide in the bush. “A main concern is the lack of physical protection and the limited humanitarian assistance that reach the internally displaced in Africa," Danevad said. “Relief agencies are in general unable to gain safe access to them, donor response is often inadequate and the level of national response is usually negligible,” he added. But despite the generally bleak statistics, NRC cited some positive developments. With the disarmament of more than 45,000 former fighters in Sierra Leone, officially marking the end of the country's bloody ten-year civil war, large numbers of displaced persons and refugees have been returning home. And since the 2000 peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea, ending trench warfare reminiscent of World War One, the return processes have gathered pace in both countries. The NRC/ Global IDP Project – of which the Database is a component – works closely with the UN and NGO community to raise awareness and improve response to the situation of the millions of internally displaced around the world. The Database - the only comprehensive information resource of its kind – has recently achieved global coverage of conflict-induced displacement in the world, currently a total of 47 countries. For more information check the web site at http://www.idpproject.org