Management of refugee crisis in Albania during the 1999 Kosovo conflict.
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The report presents key data on Kosovo refugees in Albania during the 1999 crisis in Kosovo. In a three-month period, from March through May 1999, Albania received, accommodated, and cared for 479,223 officially registered refugees from Kosovo (FR Yugoslavia). Many foreign governmental and non-governmental organizations helped the Albanian government during the crisis. The Government cooperated with the organizations through Government Commission, which appointed a Special Coordinator to the Emergency Management Group that coordinated factors and actions in the field. A Health Desk was established by the Emergency Management Group to provide an overview of the health impact of the crisis upon refugees and domestic Albanian population. There were no serious outbreaks of infectious diseases, but the Health Desk registered 2,165 cases of diarrhea without and 14 cases of diarrhea with blood in the stool. Scabies and lice affected around 4% of the refugees. After the refugees returned to Kosovo, Emergency Management Group continued to coordinate the work on the rehabilitation of the refugee-affected areas. In this phase, humanitarian emergency work served as a bridge between emergency activities and normal development. (+info)
International Organization for Migration: experience on the need for medical evacuation of refugees during the Kosovo crisis in 1999.
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The International Organization for Migration (IOM) developed and implemented a three-month project entitled Priority Medical Screening of Kosovar Refugees in Macedonia, within the Humanitarian Evacuation Program (HEP) for Kosovar refugees from FR Yugoslavia, which was adopted in May 1999. The project was based on an agreement with the office of United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and comprised the entry of registration data of refugees with medical condition (Priority Medical Database), and classification (Priority Medical Screening) and medical evacuation of refugees (Priority Medical Evacuation) in Macedonia. To realize the Priority Medical Screening project plan, IOM developed and set up a Medical Database linked to IOM/UNHCR HEP database, recruited and trained a four-member data entry team, worked out and set up a referral system for medical cases from the refugee camps, and established and staffed medical contact office for refugees in Skopje and Tetovo. Furthermore, it organized and staffed a mobile medical screening team, developed and implemented the system and criteria for the classification of referred medical cases, continuously registered and classified the incoming medical reports, contacted regularly the national delegates and referred to them the medically prioritized cases asking for acceptance and evacuation, and co-operated and continuously exchanged the information with UNHCR Medical Co-ordination and HEP team. Within the timeframe of the project, 1,032 medical cases were successfully evacuated for medical treatment to 25 host countries throughout the world. IOM found that those refugees suffering from health problems, who at the time of the termination of the program were still in Macedonia and had not been assisted by the project, were not likely to have been priority one cases, whose health problems could be solved only in a third country. The majority of these vulnerable people needed social rather than medical care and assistance a challenge that international aid agencies needed to address in Macedonia and will need to address elsewhere. (+info)
Surveillance of mortality during a refugee crisis--Guinea, January-May 2001.
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Since 1990, the republic of Guinea (2000 population: 7.5 million) has accepted 390,000-450,000 refugees from Sierra Leone and Liberia. During this 10-year period, refugees have lived in small villages scattered throughout rural southeastern Guinea. During September-December 2000, attacks by armed factions in Guinea led to the widespread displacement of refugees living in the southeastern camps; the refugees subsequently were transferred to safer camps in the northwest. Approximately 280,000 refugees initially were estimated to have been displaced. After the attacks, the number of refugees relocated was approximately 58,000. This report demonstrates methods used to calculate mortality rates when large populations are displaced. The findings indicate that the number of refugees in Guinea before the relocation probably was overestimated. The mortality rates calculated using conservative denominator numbers did not meet the definition of an emergency phase of a complex emergency, and mortality rates were lower for refugees compared with baseline rates for the local population. Accurate methods are needed to estimate population size in complex emergencies to provide resources to vulnerable groups. (+info)
New directions for migration policy in Europe.
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There is a growing debate about the future direction of migration policy in Europe. After nearly 30 years of pursuing restrictive immigration and asylum policies, many European Union (EU) governments are beginning to re-assess their migration policies and to call for a new approach. For the first time in many years, several EU governments have begun to talk again about the benefits of labour migration and, even more significantly, have even begun to take action to recruit more migrants, especially skilled workers. This paper looks at the background to current calls for a new approach to migration in Europe and public reaction to these new initiatives. It first describes recent trends in migration in Europe and then briefly considers the demographic case for more migration. This is followed by a brief outline of some of the measures being considered by European governments to promote selective labour migration. The remainder of the paper is devoted to a discussion of some of the implications of this change in policy, focusing on two main issues: the likely consequences for sending countries, and the implications for the fight against the smuggling and trafficking of people. (+info)
Environmental refugees: a growing phenomenon of the 21st century.
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There is a new phenomenon in the global arena: environmental refugees. These are people who can no longer gain a secure livelihood in their homelands because of drought, soil erosion, desertification, deforestation and other environmental problems, together with the associated problems of population pressures and profound poverty. In their desperation, these people feel they have no alternative but to seek sanctuary elsewhere, however hazardous the attempt. Not all of them have fled their countries, many being internally displaced. But all have abandoned their homelands on a semi-permanent if not permanent basis, with little hope of a foreseeable return. In 1995, environmental refugees totalled at least 25 million people, compared with 27 million traditional refugees (people fleeing political oppression, religious persecution and ethnic troubles). The total number of environmental refugees could well double by the year 2010, and increase steadily for a good while thereafter as growing numbers of impoverished people press ever harder on overloaded environments. When global warming takes hold, there could be as many as 200 million people overtaken by sea-level rise and coastal flooding, by disruptions of monsoon systems and other rainfall regimes, and by droughts of unprecedented severity and duration. (+info)
Lessons on nutrition of displaced people.
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Policies for protecting the nutrition of displaced people (including refugees) have evolved significantly since the sharp increase in numbers began in the 1970s. Food supplies have often been grossly inadequate, probably contributing to the very high mortality rates and severe malnutrition observed in camps. These are related, in part, to low estimates of food energy needs, moving from the idea of "survival" rations (1200-1800 kcal/person/day) through "minimum" (1900 kcal) to a current target level, likely to be usually adequate, of 2100 kcal. Some donors aim to provide 2400 kcal to preclude the need for supplementary feeding. Micronutrient needs in food supplies have received less attention, despite reemerging epidemics of micronutrient deficiencies (e.g., scurvy, pellagra) in camp populations. Supplied commodity baskets are still not routinely designed to meet micronutrient needs. The relative roles of different feeding programs need clarification; therapeutic feeding in severe malnutrition is well established, although experience of supplementary feeding is mixed. Better information on nutrition, health and survival is now routinely available; in particular, using trigger levels of mortality rates (e.g., 1/10,000/day as a crisis) has helped enhance action. The existence of severe wasting in children is highly predictive of increased mortality and could be tested as a readily observed indicator. Overall, procedures for alleviating and preventing malnutrition have indeed improved, but much more slowly than the scientific basis could allow. A general conclusion is that learning lessons and applying them more quickly could still prevent much malnutrition and save many lives among displaced people. (+info)
Asthma prevalence in children living in villages, cities and refugee camps in Palestine.
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Previous studies have suggested that asthma prevalence is generally lower in the Middle East than in more developed countries. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and severity of asthma and asthma symptoms in schoolchildren in the Ramallah District in Palestine. In the autumn of 2000, 3,382 schoolchildren aged 6-12 yrs were surveyed in 12 schools, using the International Study for Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)-phase III, parents-administered translated questionnaire. The crude prevalence rates for "wheezing-ever", "wheezing in the previous 12 months", and "physician-diagnosed asthma" were 17.1, 8.8 and 9.4% respectively, with urban areas having higher prevalence rates than rural areas. Within urban areas, refugee camps had higher prevalence rates than cities. Yet, within the rural areas, the 12-month prevalence was lower in the deprived villages than other residences. Place of residence remained significant for asthma and asthma symptoms, after adjusting for sex, age, and place of birth. To conclude, children from refugee camps appear to be at higher risk of asthma than children from neighbouring villages or cities. The prevalence of asthma and asthma symptoms in Palestine appears to be close to that of Jordan, but it is much lower than Israel, and lower than some other countries in the region, such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and more developed countries. This initial study is a baseline for a study on lifestyle and environmental determinants for asthma among Palestinian children. (+info)
Chronic Strongyloides stercoralis infection in Laotian immigrants and refugees 7-20 years after resettlement in Australia.
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During the period 1974-91 large numbers of Southeast Asian immigrants and refugees were resettled in Western countries, including Australia. Health screening during this period demonstrated that intestinal parasite infections were common. A cross-sectional survey of 95 Laotian settlers who arrived in Australia on average 12 years prior to the study was conducted to determine if chronic intestinal parasite infections were prevalent in this group. Twenty-three participants had positive Strongyloides stercoralis test results (22 with positive serology, including I with S. stercoralis larvae detected in faeces and another with larvae and equivocal serology). Of these 23 participants, 18 (78%) had an elevated eosinophil count. Two patients had eggs of Opisthorchis spp. identified by faecal microscopy. The detection of chronic strongyloidiasis in Laotian settlers is a concern because of the potential serious morbidity associated with this pathogen. (+info)