The Cross-border Impact of Refugees

Our contemporary world has become a theatre of fratricidal conflicts and violence, which are not only decimating people and their rights, but also forcing many people to become refugees, leading to cross-border effects that have implications for peace and security. The natural, economic and cultural resources of these people are also being destroyed. Refugees are entitled to their fundamental human rights to live with dignity and in peace in their native countries. It is a fact and a reality that more than half of the refugee population of the world is in Africa, especially in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Region (GLR). Refugees flee from their independent African countries because of instability, fear of secession, opposition, criticism, political rivalry and frequent violation of human rights. Political instability and dissatisfaction make many people to move out of their countries and to become refugees. In other words, refugees are not the problem, but rather the victims of intra-state and inter-state conflicts and wars created by conditions of extreme failure of state governance and institutions intended to safeguard democracy.