Refugees Everywhere

Homa with Rosaline Idowu, UNHCR Regional Representative


On Wednesday I was sitting under the shade at a nice café across from the American Embassy with some time to wait for friends to pick me up. As I was looking around, I noticed a distinguished African woman at a nearby table.

I normally would not approach a lone diner, but something told me it was alright. And it was. I took four pages of notes and learned so much from Mrs. Roseline Idowu. She is the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Representative, based in Dakar, Senegal, originally from Nigeria. She oversees matters for tens of thousands of refugees from five nations in West Africa that have been going through various civil wars. While we in the US are just getting our heads around the crisis in Darfur, northeast Africa, for the past two decades this region has experienced civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Togo, and in the Casamance region of Senegal.

The problems of refugees are staggering. No one knows how many there actually are, as many don’t make it to a UN camp (only those who register at a camp are counted among the statistics). At one point, as many as 150,000 individuals were being served at various camps throughout the region. Conflicts I have never heard of, like that between northern and southern Togo following the death of its President-for-Life 2.5 years ago generated 25,000 refugees fleeing to Benin in a short period, and this past August the low intensity conflict in Southern Senegal saw 5,000 seek refuge in the tiny Gambia.

The UN provides non-food items like blankets, mats, and cooking pots through its regional stockpile in Ghana, for this region. It arranges for medical facilities and for police to provide a measure of safety. Anywhere they have a presence they partner with local non-governmental organizations to provide on-the-ground assistance. She described their operation as: “We work like an accordion, according to the member states’ interests and demands.” So, they are responsive not only to the humanitarian pressures of horrific civil conflicts, but also to the agendas set forth by delegates in New York.

The life of the refugees is “dysfunctional” and “de-humanizing.” Family structures break-down when many people (women and men) sleep under a tent, when they have to stand in a line for rations to feed their families, fathers lose all authority, and no one knows when they’ll go back home or what they’ll return to. For women in particular – from traditional (often Muslim) societies operating with age-old rules of conduct – the threat of domestic and community violence grows, and they must suddenly take charge of all matters for their families. As Mrs. Idowu described “She’s suddenly swimming in the deep end.”

One benefit of traditional African society in the refugee equation is the fact that often times the same ethnic group lives across various national borders. For example, members of the Jola ethnic group live in Senegal, Guinea Bissua and the Gambia. If one can get away to other Jolas across the border, he will be treated like family, and those who already have little but live in relative peace will share whatever they have.

When asked about the biggest challenge she sees, Mrs. Idowu answered with little hesitation: “globalization.” Conflicts eventually end, but then what will young, idle people do? There are fewer jobs for them and then they become economic refugees, with no way to make a living. When they try to return to their post-conflict home, what do they return to? With no capital and devastated infrastructure, how can they make a living? Also, those that stayed behind to brave the circumstances do not welcome with open arms the returning refugees, adding to the challenges.

Just as it felt too overwhelming to bear, Mrs. Idoku shared the “bright light” of her work:

“When I see the results of our care and maintenance: young people acquire skills to go back and cope with life. Women gain safety and self-sufficiency. Children are able to go to school and with education they can do so much more…”