An assessment of the socio-economic impact of refugee movements in selected African countries

Abstract

African countries are currently hosting millions of refugees. By 1989, for instance, it has been estimated that nearly 5 million of the world's 15 million refugees were in Africa. The significant sizes of the refugee populations along with the elusiveness of voluntary repatriation, the preferred durable solution, for the vast majority, have lent urgency to the consequences of the movements. The African refugee problem started becoming significant in the 1960s. In 1964, for instance, the total number of refugees in Africa was estimated at 400 thousand. By 1970, this number had increased to three-quarter million; and about 3 million by 1979. During the 1980s the number of refugees peaked at 5 million. The major refugee generating and receiving countries have changed over the years. However, the evidence establishes that in the recent years, the countries of East and Central Africa, especially Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Malawi, Tanzania and Zaire as the major hosting locations of refugees, with the first three also among the major source countries.