Unmet Needs Put Refugees at Risk
Programs to assist and protect refugees
worldwide currently face a financial crisis. Funding by donor nations for
international refugee programs has been seriously inadequate during 2002,
triggering major assistance cutbacks in refugee camps around the world.
The primary agency mandated to protect and assist refugees worldwide, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), currently has a funding shortfall of nearly $200 million and expects to end the year some $170 million short of the $1.04 billion needed to address basic refugee needs. Dozens of private international humanitarian organizations engaged in refugee relief work are confronting similar funding problems.
The funding crisis has had serious consequences on refugee populations, particularly during a period when aid agencies are struggling to assist millions of refugees from Afghanistan and bracing for potentially hundreds of thousands of new refugees from Iraq in the coming year.
The current funding crisis is more than a matter of dollars and budget charts--it is a matter of human misery made worse when the international community fails to fulfill its responsibilities to refugees, who are among the world's most destitute and vulnerable people.
Following are more than 60 examples, compiled by the U.S. Committee for Refugees based on reporting by relief agencies, describing the impact that the funding crisis and assistance cutbacks are exacting on the day-to-day lives of refugees in many corners of the world:
AFGHANISTAN -- Reintegration
Because funding has failed to keep pace with high levels of refugee repatriation, nearly half of the 2 million refugees in the process of returning home will receive no non-food reintegration supplies from UNHCR.
AFGHANISTAN -- Shelter
Fewer than one in five Afghan refugees repatriating to rural areas will receive housing reconstruction/rehabilitation assistance from UNHCR because of budget shortfalls. The agency initially had planned to assist nearly half of the 1 million Afghans returning to rural areas.
ALGERIA -- Food
Funding constraints forced cutbacks in food deliveries to 80,000 refugees from Western Sahara living in arid camps where farming was impossible.
ALGERIA -- Water
Projects to provide cleaner drinking water for 80,000 refugees from Western Sahara living in camps in Algeria's Sahara Desert were postponed because of inadequate funds.
ANGOLA -- Repatriation
Because of funding shortfalls, reintegration programs and protection monitoring for some 40,000 returnees in rural areas have barely begun, and preparations to assist 170,000 Angolan refugees expected to repatriate in 2003 have been delayed. Budget problems have slowed pre-positioning of blankets, soap, and potable water sites for returnees, creating a potential for serious aid gaps when large numbers repatriate.
ARGENTINA -- Refugee Self-Sufficiency Programs
Budget shortfalls have forced suspension of small loan programs and other self-sufficiency projects for long-term refugees among the country's 3,000 refugee population.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA -- Reintegration Supplies
Approximately 10,000 refugees who returned home during the first half of 2002 failed to receive household reintegration supplies from UNHCR because of budget reductions.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA -- Local Resettlement
Programs to permanently resettle 4,000 uprooted persons into local communities were delayed because of funding constraints, impeding the ability of uprooted families to support themselves.
BURUNDI -- Human Rights Training
Budget constraints forced curtailment of human rights training and ethnic reconciliation activities geared towards improving the conduct of government officials and refugee leaders.
CAMEROON -- General Aid and Protection
Some 40,000 refugees from Chad and Nigeria received little or no assistance because budget constraints caused UNHCR to close its office in Cameroon.
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE -- Relief Deliveries
Budget cuts curtailed maintenance and purchase of trucks and boats needed to deliver humanitarian supplies to 90,000 refugees from Angola and Congo-Kinshasa. Deterioration of vehicles is a major impediment to relief deliveries, UNHCR reports.
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE -- Literacy Training
Budget shortfalls forced reductions in adult literacy training for some of the 90,000 refugees from Congo-Kinshasa and Angola.
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE -- Refugee Registration
Long-delayed plans to systematically register 100,000 refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, and Congo-Kinshasa have been cancelled again because of inadequate funding. Registration is needed to verify identities, ensure proper targeting of assistance, and improve refugee protection.
CONGO-KINSHASA -- Refugee Protection Monitoring
Lack of resources for staffing, vehicles, and equipment prevented UNHCR from providing adequate protection monitoring for some 6,000 Angolan refugees in Congo's border areas. As a result, border authorities imposed illicit taxation on Angolan refugees seeking to return home.
CONGO-KINSHASA -- Health Care
Hospitalization of sick refugees in urban areas has been curtailed because of budget constraints. Some 300,000 refugees from numerous African countries live in Congo-Kinshasa.
CONGO-KINSHASA -- Shelter
Budget constraints prevented refurbishment of a center needed to accommodate hundreds of Rwandan and Burundian refugees. Refugees were forced to live in overcrowded conditions.
CROATIA -- Reintegration
Reintegration programs for 20,000 returnees have ceased because of funding shortfalls, potentially endangering returnees' ability to remain at home, UNHCR reports. All legal aid to returnees and 20,000 refugees in Croatia have also been suspended.
DJIBOUTI -- Repatriation
Repatriation of up to 15,000 refugees back to northern Somalia was suspended because of financial constraints.
ERITREA -- Sanitation
Plans to transfer nearly 3,000 Somali refugees to a location with improved living conditions have been cancelled because of budget problems. The refugee population will remain in a transit camp with inadequate latrines, poorly equipped schools, and other substandard services.
ETHIOPIA -- Nutrition Monitoring
Budget constraints impeded the hiring of nutritional experts to monitor potential malnutrition in camps housing 100,000 refugees from Sudan and Somalia.
GEORGIA -- Health Services
Aid workers cancelled several health programs and community services projects for 40,000 former refugees who have returned home to Abkhazia.
GEORGIA -- Education
Budget problems caused a cut in school supplies to more than 2,000 children attending 49 schools for returnee families in Abkhazia.
GEORGIA -- Shelter
Funding shortfalls forced a 50 percent cut in shelter assistance for families repatriating to South Ossetia. Some 1,500 returnee families received no shelter assistance from UNHCR as a result.
GUINEA -- Camp Capacity
Tens of thousands of Liberian refugees continue to live outside of camps without regular assistance in part because funding problems have slowed expansion of existing camps and much-needed construction of new sites.
GUINEA -- Education
Some 14,000 Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugee children are expected to lose access to schools and 370 teachers will be dismissed because of budget problems.
GUINEA-BISSAU -- Refugee Self-Sufficiency
Forty projects to help Senegalese refugees support themselves have been cancelled because of funding shortfalls. Some 5,000 Senegalese refugees live in Guinea-Bissau.
HORN OF AFRICA -- Food
In a region with more than 800,000 refugees, budget problems caused relief workers to cut refugees' food rations.
INDONESIA -- Contingency Planning for New Refugee Influx
Because of budget constraints, aid workers took steps to curtail programs that help local officials and relief agencies prepare in a coordinated fashion for potential new refugee influxes expected from nearby countries.
IRAN -- Housing
Budget cuts curtailed housing construction, skills training programs, and income-generating projects for thousands of Afghan refugees living outside of refugee camps.
KENYA -- Food
Budget problems forced a 25 percent cut in food rations for up to 80,000 Sudanese refugees.
KENYA -- Protection
Financial constraints may force UNHCR to stop supplying firewood to thousands of Sudanese refugee women, thereby potentially exposing them to rape and robbery while they leave refugee camps to collect firewood individually, UNHCR reports.
KENYA -- Rape Counseling
Because of budget constraints, health workers are canceling a counseling program for Somali and Sudanese refugee women victimized by rape and other violence, UNHCR reports. Sexual violence against women and girls amid the nearly quarter-million refugees in Kenya has long been a problem.
KENYA -- Medical Care
Aid agencies no longer have funds needed to hospitalize seriously ill refugee patients. Plans to purchase a new ambulance to service 80,000 Sudanese refugees have been cancelled. Training for ten local doctors and 30 nurses has been suspended for budgetary reasons.
KENYA -- Medical Care
Lack of $30,000 has forced aid workers to reduce medicines available for 80,000 Sudanese refugees, including elimination of all dental care. One of four health clinics for the refugee population will soon close for lack of $5,000.
KENYA -- Disabled Refugees
A shortfall of $70,000 has caused relief workers to cut a rehabilitation program geared to helping large numbers of disabled Sudanese refugees.
KENYA -- Non-Food Aid
Funding shortfalls prevented distribution of plastic sheeting, blankets, and other non-food items to many of the 150,000 long-term Somali refugees in Kenya whose original relief supplies have worn out after years of daily use.
KENYA -- Repatriation
Some 3,000 Somali refugees scheduled to return home could not repatriate in part because of poor funding for the repatriation program.
MEXICO -- Refugee Screening
Efforts to improve the government's ability to adjudicate asylum claims effectively and fairly are threatened by planned reductions in training programs on refugee law for government officials, UNHCR reports.
NAMIBIA -- Latrines
Funding problems blocked construction of additional latrines and other sanitation improvements needed at a transit site for new Angolan refugees. About 2,000 new refugees entered the country this year.
NAMIBIA -- Refugee Screening
UNHCR protection staff are unable to interview 2,000 asylum seekers in part because of budget constraints, UNHCR reports.
NEPAL -- Blankets and Clothing
Distributions of blankets and clothing were curtailed to the neediest Bhutanese refugees because of budget problems. Some 100,000 refugees from Bhutan are in Nepal.
RUSSIA -- Housing
UNHCR warns that budget constraints have endangered shelter construction projects for 7,000 uprooted Chechens as well as for Chechens who might seek to return home. Construction of 100 houses for elderly refugees and female-headed refugee families was delayed in part by budget cuts.
SIERRA LEONE -- Repatriation
Relief agencies suspended the repatriation of up to 50,000 Sierra Leonean refugees in order to shift limited funds to emergency programs for 30,000 new Liberian refugees flooding into the country.
SIERRA LEONE -- Reintegration
Thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees repatriated to regions of the country lacking adequate UNHCR staff and reintegration assistance because of budget constraints. Aid workers estimated at mid-year that 90 percent of essential reintegration needs, such as potable water and education, were being ignored in some areas of the country because of funding and staffing shortfalls.
SIERRA LEONE -- Protection
Because of funding problems, UNHCR fielded only three fully trained protection officers to monitor the safety of 150,000 returned Sierra Leonean refugees and 30,000 Liberian refugees, many of them living in potentially insecure border areas.
SIERRA LEONE -- Women's Programs
Aid agencies have cancelled plans to establish community centers to assist women in four villages where Sierra Leonean refugees are repatriating. Income generating projects for 500 returnee women have been cancelled for lack of $20,000. Programs to discourage violence against women have also been cancelled.
SIERRA LEONE -- Camp Capacity
Some 2,000 new Liberian refugees are unable to transfer to safer locations in part because funding constraints have slowed expansion of existing refugee camps. Tens of thousands of additional Liberian refugees are expected to arrive in coming months despite the lack of camp capacity in Sierra Leone.
SIERRA LEONE -- Shelter
Because of budget problems, transit shelters for newly arriving Liberian refugees remain in disrepair caused by severe storm damage in September. Some temporary shelters lack roofs or plastic sheeting to protect occupants from rain. Latrines and other sanitation for newly arrived refugees are virtually nonexistent at some locations, UNHCR reports. More than 30,000 new Liberian refugees have arrived so far this year.
SIERRA LEONE -- Latrines
A shortage of 250 latrines for nearly 7,000 Liberian refugees will persist because of inadequate funding, posing potential health hazards.
SIERRA LEONE -- Drinking Water
Poor funding has delayed construction and rehabilitation of eight wells in a camp housing 7,000 Liberian refugees. As a result, the camp provides only one water source per 268 refugees; the ratio is expected to rise to 350 or more persons per well as additional refugees arrive.
SIERRA LEONE -- Education
Support has virtually ceased to 21 schools in eight camps serving 15,000 Liberian refugee students because of budget constraints. Much-needed training for 400 teachers has been suspended. Construction repairs to ten refugee schools have been cancelled. More than 100 classrooms lack desks and blackboards.
SIERRA LEONE -- Abductions
Liberian refugees have temporarily taken aid workers hostage and have staged riots in frustration over inadequate assistance in camps housing 30,000 refugees.
SOMALIA -- Education
Access to primary education was unavailable to hundreds of urban refugees from Tanzania and Ethiopia because of budgetary constraints imposed on aid programs.
SUDAN -- Malaria Prevention
Anti-mosquito spraying to prevent malaria has been cancelled due to lack of funding, UNHCR reports. As a result, tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees in northern Sudan will be susceptible to malaria outbreaks.
TANZANIA -- New Refugees
Assistance to some 10,000 newly arrived Burundian refugees is jeopardized by budget constraints, according to UNHCR. Aid agencies stretched by tight budgets already provide assistance to nearly a half-million refugees in Tanzania from Burundi, Congo-Kinshasa, Rwanda, and Somalia.
TURKEY -- Education/Vocational Training
UNHCR prepared to suspend education grants and cut back on vocational training programs for 600 refugee students because of budget shortfalls. More than 5,000 refugees reside in Turkey, primarily from Iran, and Iraq.
TURKEY -- Reproductive Health
Because of funding problems, health workers have begun to curb reproductive health programs and counseling services for many of the 10,000 refugees in Turkey.
TURKEY -- Protection
Programs to relocate persons at risk and provide emergency shelter to refugees are facing possible cutbacks because of funding problems, according to UNHCR.
YEMEN -- Shelter
More than 1,000 Ethiopian refugees continue to live without adequate shelter in the aftermath of a storm that seriously damaged their camp in September. Budget cuts have slowed housing repairs.
YEMEN -- Refugee Registration
Despite estimates of 10,000 new Somali asylum seekers per year, UNHCR lacks funds to register refugees in some areas and has postponed construction of a new site to process new arrivals.
YUGOSLAVIA -- Medicine
Budget shortfalls produced a shortage of medicines for a half-million refugees and displaced persons in Serbia and Montenegro. The budget situation forced health workers to give lower priority to youth and urban refugees needing medical assistance.
YUGOSLAVIA -- Winter Shelter
Winterization repairs to refugee centers housing more than 3,000 residents have been postponed because of funding problems.
YUGOSLAVIA -- Refugee Integration
Some of the 400,000 refugees in the former Yugoslavia wish to integrate permanently into Serbia, a step that the Serbian government now accepts. Poor funding for integration programs, housing, and small business loans is slowing refugees' efforts to support themselves and move off aid rolls.
YUGOSLAVIA -- Food
Because of budget constraints, aid workers have cancelled plans to distribute three-month food rations in Kosovo to nearly 700 newly returned vulnerable families.
ZAMBIA -- Food
Funding shortfalls forced a 50 percent cut in food rations for 35,000 refugees from Congo-Kinshasa, resulting in higher malnutrition rates. Much of the refugee population was entirely dependent on food rations.
ZAMBIA -- Relief Deliveries
Roads remain in poor and often impassable condition in part because of budget constraints, impeding deliveries of relief supplies to 20,000 Angolan refugees, particularly during heavy rains.
WORLDWIDE -- Sexual Violence
Programs to prevent sexual and gender-based violence against female refugees have been curtailed by funding cuts despite investigations this year pointing to the persistent problem of violence and exploitation committed against refugee women and girls. Many workshops to build awareness of the problem among government officials, aid workers, refugee leaders, and refugee women were cancelled, UNHCR reports.
For further information contact:
Jeff Drumtra
(202) 347-3507