country hosted the UN International Conference on Central American Refugees (CIREFCA). The Conference succeeded in creating uniform standards for the five Central American countries, plus Belize and Mexico, to use in recognizing refugees. One result will be that refugees and displaced persons could be considered for assistance provided under the United Nations Plan for Central America, a massive reconstruction program approved earlier in the year.

Refugee affairs for Guatemala itself were not as encouraging, however. The three-year old trend of 100% increases in annual repatriation to Guatemala ended. In fact, the total of approximately 1,000 repatriations came to only half of those in 1988. Government authorities attributed this to a more-politicized and militant leadership in the refugee camps in Mexico.

Cubans endured a year without respite from government suppression of basic human rights and civil liberties. Those convicted of political crimes led a difficult life characterized by discrimination, denial of meaningful employment, and ostracism. Refugee statistics reflected this. The number of Cubans escaping to the United States in rafts or small boats increased over previous years to a level of 300. The formerprisoner program administered by

the U.S. Interests Section in Havana virtually reached its annual ceiling of 3,000 for FY 89.

Africa

Conflict, whether new or longterm, remained the cause of most refugee situations in Africa. Providing the necessities of life to the huge populations continued to be a mammoth task. Where relative peace and stability was established, significant repatriations were possible.

The size and extent of the refugee situation in Africa remained staggeringly large and complex in 1989. Africa had more than 4 million refugees (and probably the same

number of internally displaced). Roughly half were in the Horn and half in southern Africa. In some areas, refugees outnumbered the native population. Many subSaharan countries both generated and received refugees.

While long-term conflicts in parts of the continent have created a seemingly permanent refugee presence, added to the overall refugee problem were two new troubling developments. In April, a border shooting incident quickly led to a series of violent riots in Senegal and Mauritania, leaving hundreds dead, and forcing thousands of people to flee. Mass repatriations and expulsions followed. Ethnic minorities (Maurish citizens of Senegal, black non-Hassaniyaspeaking Mauritanians) were forced to leave their countries. More than 200,000 people were displaced. This complicated situation had not been resolved by the end of 1989.

In Liberia, another refugeeproducing conflict erupted. In late December, a small group of armed insurgents entered northeastern Liberia. In connection with attempts to quell the rebellion, violent and undisciplined treatment of civilians by the Liberian army quickly escalated the conflict. Ethnically motivated violence by both sides and economic devastation became common. As the conflict intensified and spread, more and more Liberians took refuge in neighboring Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. The total population by mid-1990 approached 250,000. International efforts were underway to provide food and other assistance to the refugees and the local populations whose resources were severely strained by the large and sudden influx of people.

The cessation of conflict brought progress in other parts of Africa. UNHCR repatriated almost 43,000 Namibians from Angola, Zambia, and elsewhere, in anticipation of their country's independence in March 1990. By November, UNHCR had implemented the emergency

rehabilitation phase of its protection mandate, providing basic food rations, material assistance, and health care. In December, the program was appropriately reduced to food and light material assistance.

Significant repatriations occurred elsewhere in Africa. More than 34,000 Chadians returned from Sudan, Niger, Nigeria, Libya, and other countries in response to the stable government and modestly improved economic conditions in Chad. The UNHCR-sponsored repatriation of Ugandan refugees from Zaire and Sudan to the West Nile Region was successfully completed. Zaire and Angola began a joint repatriation in September under UNHCR auspices. By year's end, nearly 3,000 Zairians and over 4,000 Angolans had participated.

For Mozambicans, however, the effects of the long-standing nightmarish civil war overshadowed repatriation efforts. UNHCR estimates that over 200,000 Mozambicans left in 1989, mainly to neighboring Malawi. More than 1.7 million Mozambicans are considered internally displaced.

While the government adopted many political reforms and an indirect peace process mediated by Kenya and Zimbabwe began, the overall situation in the country did not improve. The insurgency continued unabated, as did the atrocities and terror tactics accompanying it. Forced conscription by both sides, ubiquitous hunger, and economic devastation were the additional and all-too-familiar reasons for Mozambicans to leave their country.

The interminable nature of the war had its effect on the situation of Mozambican refugees in Malawi. Tensions over the occupation of scarce arable land by refugees and the denuding of forests, reductions in UNHCR's budget, and the government's desire for expedited repatriation of Mozambicans made it clear that Malawi cannot sustain such a large refugee population indefinitely.

As a region beset by protracted civil warfare and drought, the Horn

of Africa continued to be site of some of the largest refugee populations in the world: 350,000 Ethiopians in Somalia; 335,000 Somalis and 385,000 Sudanese in Ethiopia; 665,000 Ethiopians in the Sudan.

Despite the difficult general circumstances, conditions in some of the camps in the region were relatively stable or improved at the end of the year. In Ethiopia, health, nutrition, and sanitation measures achieved lower mortality rates. A number of non-governmental organizations began participating in the assistance programs there. Nevertheless, deteriorating roads, limited availability of water, and the possibility of drought remained significant problems.

In the Sudan, however, the situation was also worrisome. Quarrels between the government and the private voluntary organizations assisting refugees meant that some groups were in the process of ending operations. In addition, the presence of so many refugees had damaged the delicate ecological balance in the

eastern part of the country, resulting in denuded forests and increasingly

scarce water.

The interminable civil war drove the total number of displaced southern Sudanese to over 3 million people. The war also had external effects. More than 55,000 Sudanese fled to Ethiopia and nearly 50,000 went to Uganda.

In northern Somalia, deteriorating security conditions forced UNHCR to suspend food relief to Ethiopian refugees. At the request of Somalia, the UN launched an Extraordinary Interim Emergency Program (EIEP) to create a short-term food program while the ICRC established a more permanent system. However, the EIEP has unfortunately been plagued by inadequate resources and the lack of government escort for food convoys. A repatriation/local resettlement program for Ethiopian refugees also stalled due to lack of funding and security conditions.

Conclusion

At the end of the 1980's, the world refugee situation presents enormous challenges to the international community. As the number of refugees continues to increase, the accompanying problems seem ever more difficult and complex to solve. Conflicts in the developing world, along with ethnic and religious discrimination and persecution, have produced historically high refugee totals which will affect the way the international community will approach refugee problems in the 1990's.

Yet there are reasons to be hopeful. Democratization in many regions of the world is leading to the resolution of some long-standing refugee situations. The establishment of stable and peaceful conditions has also played a major role. The international community must redouble its efforts to promote these positive trends in the coming decade.

Princeton N. Lyman
Director

Bureau for Refugee Programs
Department of State

Namibia

Under UN Security Council Resolution 435, Namibia became independent on March 21, 1990. From the beginning of implementation of the 435 resolution (April 1989) until the end of December 1989, UNHCR had repatriated 42,736 Namibians (returnees). Of those, 37,288 Namibians returned from from Angola, 3,389 from Zambia and 2,059 from elsewhere. Most of the repatriated Namibians returned to the country in several massive airlifts which ended in August 1989, and were processed in reception centers located either in the north (Ovamboland), or near Windhoek.

By the end of September, most returnees had left the reception centers and been integrated into the local society and communities, although in mid-July reception centers became overcrowded and airlifts had to be temporarily suspended. By early November, UNHCR had already moved into the emergency rehabilitation phase of its protection mandate. This operation, in conjunction with other aid agencies such as UNICEF, UNESCO, FAO, and WHO, provided for basic food rations, some material assistance, and health care, as well as support to vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women and children. By December, the UNHCR repatriation program for Namibian returnees was reduced to providing food rations and light material assistance. Food rations are to be provided for a oneyear period ending June 1990.

Angolans have been coming to Namibia for years, some to escape the conflicts in their home country.

Southern Africa

Estimates of the number living in the country range from 10,000-40,000. The majority of these individuals are well-integrated in Namibian society in the north, making them indistinguishable from the local population.

Mozambique

Mozambique continued to be one of Africa's major refugee-generating countries in 1989. It was also a refugee-receiving country. The RENAMO insurgency continued unabated throughout 1989, in a pattern of sporadic attacks on civilian targets that forced rural populations in all provinces to seek security and sustenance in neighboring countries or in Mozambique's cities. It continued to practice terror tactics against civilians. Several instances of massacres and mutilations occurred.

RENAMO claims that it is waging an ideological struggle against the current Mozambican Government, which formerly considered itself Marxist-Leninist and still defines itself rather vaguely as socialist. The government has moved to adopt many of the liberalizing measures originally demanded by RENAMO, and both sides have announced their willingness to enter into direct talks without preconditions. At the same time, the government has initiated a new, more

democratic constitution which is being discussed nationwide.

Mozambicans escaping from violence and hunger at home generally flee to refugee camps just across the nearest border. Consequently, Malawi which shares borders with the hard-hit provinces of Zambezia and Tete, hosts an estimated 820,000 Mozambican refugees, according to

UNHCR estimates. This was by far the largest Mozambican refugee population in the region.

The number of Mozambican refugees in Zimbabwe also grew steadily throughout 1989, reaching almost 84,000 by year's end. Tanzania, Zambia and Swaziland hosted 72,000, 22,000 and 18,000 refugees, respectively.

In South Africa, refugee movements merge with the flow of economic migrants who have traditionally, if not always legally, sought South African jobs. It is safe to assume that the refugee flow to South Africa increased in 1989, as attacks throughout rural Maputo and Gaza provinces intensified. Very general estimates place the total number of Mozambican refugees in South Africa at 250,000. Involuntary repatriations from South Africa, which considers all undocumented Mozambicans to be illegal economic migrants, averaged 3,000 persons monthly.

Voluntary agencies and government sources estimate that an additional 1.7 million Mozambicans are internally displaced.

According to UNHCR statistics, a total of 69,531 people returned to Mozambique in the first ten months of 1989. In 1988, Malawi signed a tripartite agreement with Mozambique and the UNHCR, providing for the orderly repatriation of the refugees who wished to return. A similar agreement with Zimbabwe is also in effect. Several thousand refugees have returned under UNHCR auspices; others have returned of their own accord. In addition, involuntary repatriations from South Africa continue.

The government officially encourages repatriation and strives to assist returnees to the extent possible, but resources are extremely sparse. In practice, however, the continuing violence has made resettlement in many districts difficult or impossible. As a result, thousands of repatriates remain in camps, and are almost wholly dependent on aid from the UNHCR or the DPCCN (the Mozambican Government relief agency). Major camps for returnees at Benga and Dondo, in the Tete and Sofala provinces, respectively, both suffered RENAMO attacks in 1989.

Mozambique also provides asylum for a very small number of refugees. A significant number of these were Chileans, some of whom have returned home following democratization in Chile. Most of the remainder are South Africans, East Timorians and Malawians. UNHCR provided assistance for 191 of the 368 refugees currently in Mozambique.

Malawi

Malawi, one of the smallest, poorest, and most densely populated countries in Africa, hosts over 820,000 refugees from the civil war in neighboring Mozambique, giving it the continent's largest refugee population. Refugees now account for about one-tenth of Malawi's total population. The refugees are mostly peasant farmers. They have fled to escape fighting between the Mozambican Government and RENAMO rebels, atrocities committed (primarily) by RENAMO on civilian populations, forced conscription from both sides, and the general devastation caused by the war.

Malawi's Refugee Act, enacted in 1989, provided for individual determinations of refugee applications. However, the majority of Mozambican asylum-seekers are granted refugee status under a blanket

provision of the Act. Malawi is a signatory of the UN and OAU conventions on refugees.

Refugee influxes during 1989 were smaller than in 1988, when 150,000 refugees streamed into Malawi in May and June alone. A lower level of conflict and the depopulation of Mozambican areas bordering Malawi were the chief reasons for the slower rate of increase. Nevertheless, the refugee population still increased by 200,000 during the course of 1989, through a combination of new arrivals and registration of refugees already in the country who had not been counted before.

The largest number of direct arrivals from Mozambique during 1989 were in Malawi's two southernmost districts of Nsanje and Chikwawa. At year's end, Nsanje's refugee population stood at over 260,000, almost one and one half times that of the district's Malawian population.

Refugees continued to arrive in almost all areas bordering Mozambique. Many cited the total breakdown of the local infrastructure and continued harassment by RENAMO, rather than actual fighting, as the main reasons for their flight. Although the refugees coming into Malawi were in better physical condition that in 1988, they still arrived destitute and in rags.

UNHCR and relief authorities in

Malawi have put together a comprehensive refugee assistance infrastructure with some success. Health services have been improved, and mortality rates and disease levels are below those of previous years.

Nutritional deficiencies were a serious concern, however, and the greatest health problem facing the refugees in 1989. The refugee food basket lacked some important components. Moreover, the constantly rising number of refugees coupled with deteriorating roads have prevented UNHCR from accumulating suitable buffer stocks of food in the camps.

A number of government ministries, UN agencies, and private organizations assist in the relief effort. The Office of the President and the Ministry of Health coordinate the Malawian Government effort. UNHCR works with the government to develop programs in refugee-impacted areas, and funds many of those projects directly.

The World Food Program channels food donations to Malawi. The Malawi Red Cross does the actual distribution of food and

clothing to refugees, with technical assistance from the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Medecins Sans Frontieres, the International Rescue Committee, and other private organizations provide health services in the camps. A growing number of other private organizations are active in the areas of health, water, sanitation, incomegenerating activities, vocational training, and education.

The Malawian Government and people continue to accept the refugees with an almost unparalleled degree of generosity. Many of the refugees are settled in Malawian villages rather than camps, and refugees are granted equal access to health, water, and other social

services.

However, the strain of hosting such a large refugee population became very apparent during 1989. The large refugee population has exacerbated transport problems caused by the closure of Malawi's traditional rail links to the sea through Mozambique. (The Malawi refugee feeding program is the second largest in the world.) Meanwhile, cuts in UNHCR's worldwide budget forced it to postpone or cancel numerous projects designed to reduce the impact of the refugee population on Malawi. Local tensions also began to build over the continuing occupation of scarce arable land by refugee settlements, and over the denuding of forest cover caused by the refugees' need for cooking and building materials.