Editorial

Ghana is currently home to over 60,000 refugees from the neighbouring countries. As the only country that is seemingly stable in the volatile West African sub-region, Ghana, Sam Sarpong reports, has had the duty of taking care of a vast number of refugees coming in to escape the vicissitudes of war, civil unrest and carnage within the region.
Refugees living in Uganda are crying out for help following incessant abuse of their rights by the Uganda government and UNHCR. According to the November 2002 report prepared by the Human Rights Watch. According to the report entitled Hidden in plain view: the problem of refugees living in Kampala , asylum seekers arriving in the capital city Kampala are taken to one of the camps located in the northern part of the country but a number of them leave the camps due to, inadequate humanitarian assistance, general insecurity and unwarranted attacks. AFRICANEWS Associate editor, Zachary Ochieng, reviews the report.

What happened to Swaziland s reputation as a haven for refugees? During his visit to Swaziland in 1998, Pope John Paul II, commended the country for giving refuge to victims of neighbouring Mozambique s civil war, and others who had fled from regional conflicts. Our correspondent, James Hall, finds out if the country is still a safe haven for refugees. He cites a recent case of a Zambian family that was deported for complaining that their rights had been violated.

Malawi, one of Southern Africa's peaceful countries, is now being termed a victim of its hospitality. AFRICANEWS correspondent, Charles Banda, reports that Refugees from neighbouring countries in conflict are illegally taking over businesses and even engaging in corrupt as well as illicit business deals.

From Zimbabwe, human rights organizations have raised concern over the increasing number of internally displaced people (IDP) in Zimbabwe, in the face of an absence of comprehensive data on the country s domestic refugees. Our correspondent, Rodrick Mukumbira reports.

Other stories from the region focus on women rights to property and dignity in Kenya and Malawi. Linda Frommer s story on Congo highlights the positive developments in the Congolese peace process where a program for the drafting of a constitution and the formation of a unified army was agreed upon early this month.