Overview

UNHCR - the world's leading refugee organization - examines the major refugee crises of the last 50 years and the changing nature of international responses to the problem of forced displacement. Refugees and other displaced people are the victims of events beyond their control: persecution, armed conflict, and human rights violations. Increasingly, they are also recognized as an important factor affecting both national security and world politics. With over a million people forced to flee their homes in Kosovo, East Timor, and Chechnya in 1999 alone, it is clear that the problem of forced human displacement will remain a major concern of the international community in the 21st century. This book describes the development of international refugee law and the establishment of institutions devoted to the protection of refugees and other displaced people. It traces the major crises in which UNHCR has been involved since its establishment 50 years ago. Beginning with the mass displacement in Europe after the Second World War, the book addresses the flight of refugees from Hungary in 1956, crises associated with process of decolonization in Africa, the Bangladesh refugee emergency in 1971, the sustained exodus from Indochina which began in the 1970s, and the large outflows resulting from the protracted wars of the 1980s in Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and Central America. Looking at the challenges of the 1990s, the book examines the popular shifts in the former Soviet region, the Kurdish exodus from northern Iraq following the Gulf war, the increasingly restrictive asylum policies in Europe and North America, and the recent crises in the Balkans, the Great Lakes region of Africa, East Timor, and the Caucasus. In this timely and important publication, UNHCR emphasizes the need to find lasting solutions to problems of forced displacement. Without human security, it argues, there can be no peace and stability.

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9780199241064

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Reviews

"`The book is a goldmine of valuable information and a 'must-read' for all those involved in humanitarian assistance, educators, and students of forced migration, the media, and law' Development in Practice `the book provides useful commentary and insight on the nature and evolution of refugee operations over 50 years, a first-ever of its kind.' Development in Practice, vol.11, no.5 `the text boxes, which are mini-archives, [are] especially informative' Development in Practice, vol.11, no.5 `The team of researchers and writers, ably guided by editor Marc Cutts, has covered a vast amount of territory and pulled into relief the past and current events which have shaped global policy and practice.' Development in Practice, vol.11, no.5 `takes an indispensable first step toward helping the writing and thinking to catch up to the new realities fo refugee policy.' Arthur C. Helton, Senior Fellow for Refugee Studies and Preventive Action, Council on Foreign Relations New York, International Journal of Refugee Law, vol.13 `The book has an encyclopaedic scope, and it will be an important reference work for researchers and others interested in the evolution of modern refugee policy. Moreover, ""The State of the World's Refugees 2000"" is a relatively easy read, no small feat given the fact that there are 100 listed contributors, many of whom were from outside of the agency.' Arthur C. Helton, Senior Fellow for Refugee Studies and Preventive Action, Council on Foreign Relations New York, International Journal of Refugee Law, vol.13 `The book is also beautifully designed. It provides a well of graphs, diamgrams, maps, statistics and photographs' Millennium `a well-researched analysis of the world's major displacement emergencies in the latter half of the twentieth century' Millennium `an impressive and insightful work revealing how the international community's attempts at dealing with displacement crises have evolved during the last fifty years' Millennium `The State of the World's Refugees 2000 is the most ambitious and impressive of the series so far' Millennium `the book is a must purchase for the library reference section ... indispensable reference work for all general and academic collections.' J.Hein, Choice, June 2001 `'... essential reading for all those who seek a better understanding of the word-wide crisis of displacement ' Francis M. Deng, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Dispaced Persons `'A well-documented history with a balanced and comprehensive treatment of the politics of humanitarian action and inaction.'' Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York The book ranges widely and provides a very readable and thought-provoking history of the last 50 years. It helps to see things in perspective `'It is starkly realistic ... an invaluable contribution to the history of the last half century.'' William Shawcross, Writer and broadcaster"

This account of the tragedies of the past half-century should be widely read throughout civil society and by those in power, both to realise the full scale of human suffering and to engender the necessary political will Development Policy Review The volume's perspective on crises in which it has been involved is invaluable, and the impact of global events on the institution's evolution is intriguing Journal of Refugee Studies The book is a goldmine of valuable information and a 'must-read' for all those involved in humanitarian assistance, educators, and students of forced migration, the media, and law Development in Practice

`The book is a goldmine of valuable information and a 'must-read' for all those involved in humanitarian assistance, educators, and students of forced migration, the media, and law' Development in Practice `the book provides useful commentary and insight on the nature and evolution of refugee operations over 50 years, a first-ever of its kind.' Development in Practice, vol.11, no.5 `the text boxes, which are mini-archives, [are] especially informative' Development in Practice, vol.11, no.5 `The team of researchers and writers, ably guided by editor Marc Cutts, has covered a vast amount of territory and pulled into relief the past and current events which have shaped global policy and practice.' Development in Practice, vol.11, no.5 `takes an indispensable first step toward helping the writing and thinking to catch up to the new realities fo refugee policy.' Arthur C. Helton, Senior Fellow for Refugee Studies and Preventive Action, Council on Foreign Relations New York, International Journal of Refugee Law, vol.13 `The book has an encyclopaedic scope, and it will be an important reference work for researchers and others interested in the evolution of modern refugee policy. Moreover, The State of the World's Refugees 2000 is a relatively easy read, no small feat given the fact that there are 100 listed contributors, many of whom were from outside of the agency.' Arthur C. Helton, Senior Fellow for Refugee Studies and Preventive Action, Council on Foreign Relations New York, International Journal of Refugee Law, vol.13 `The book is also beautifully designed. It provides a well of graphs, diamgrams, maps, statistics and photographs' Millennium `a well-researched analysis of the world's major displacement emergencies in the latter half of the twentieth century' Millennium `an impressive and insightful work revealing how the international community's attempts at dealing with displacement crises have evolved during the last fifty years' Millennium `The State of the World's Refugees 2000 is the most ambitious and impressive of the series so far' Millennium `the book is a must purchase for the library reference section ... indispensable reference work for all general and academic collections.' J.Hein, Choice, June 2001 `'... essential reading for all those who seek a better understanding of the word-wide crisis of displacement ' Francis M. Deng, Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Dispaced Persons `'A well-documented history with a balanced and comprehensive treatment of the politics of humanitarian action and inaction.'' Thomas G. Weiss, Presidential Professor, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York The book ranges widely and provides a very readable and thought-provoking history of the last 50 years. It helps to see things in perspective `'It is starkly realistic ... an invaluable contribution to the history of the last half century.'' William Shawcross, Writer and broadcaster

This account of the tragedies of the past half-century should be widely read throughout civil society and by those in power, both to realise the full scale of human suffering and to engender the necessary political will Development Policy Review The volume's perspective on crises in which it has been involved is invaluable, and the impact of global events on the institution's evolution is intriguing Journal of Refugee Studies The book is a goldmine of valuable information and a 'must-read' for all those involved in humanitarian assistance, educators, and students of forced migration, the media, and law Development in Practice

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