Editorial

This issue focuses on the plight of refugees. Kenya has remained an island of peace as its neighbours are embroiled in vicious civil wars that have left thousands dead and displaced many others. Consequently, the country is now home to thousands of refugees from the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa nations. As Fred Oluoch writes, the country has borne the heaviest brunt in terms of insecurity occasioned by the proliferation of small arms.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland last month referred to the conflict in Northern Uganda as “one of the world’s worst forgotten emergency crises.” Our Uganda correspondent Grace Candiru reports that as the LRA insurgency continues unabated, life in the IDP camps has become unbearable, with the victims having no option.

Although a number of Burundian refugees would like to return home, their efforts are being hampered by the scarcity of land. Despite the improved security situation in Burundi, Refugees International and the Nairobi-based African Centre for Technological Studies [ACTS] are calling on the United Nations High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR] to slow down the process until the Burundi government addresses the thorny issues of land and housing. Henry Neondo has the story.

In our Action and Contacts section, we carry a summary of the National Catholic Youth Needs Assessment Report 2004, a result of a study commissioned by the Kenya Episcopal Conference.