by James Solheim

[ENS] A seven-member team from the Refugee Council USA returned from an extensive tour of refugee centers in West Africa and Egypt with discouraging news--refugees are still facing a bleak future.

"Our purpose was to try to understand more fully the problems of refugee protection in these regions which host thousands of forcibly displaced persons - and to identify specific groups for whom settlement in the United States might be their only hope," said Richard Parkins, director of Episcopal Migration Ministries and a member of the team that visited the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Egypt.

In Cairo, for example, the delegation found scores of Sudanese and Ethiopian refugees seeking a solution as Egypt continues to receive 350-500 new asylum seekers every month. "An intolerable backlog of cases waiting for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to determine their status means that thousands exist in a state of limbo with little or no aid and no clear signal about when their protracted suffering will end," Parkins said.

While Egypt keeps its doors open, the slow movement of people to resettlement countries hardly reduces the impact that refugees are having on the Egyptian social and economic structures, according to Parkins. He expressed concern that the capacity of Egypt to absorb more refugees without also being able to resettle some of them "could further marginalize already vulnerable populations."

Parkins also said that Liberians who fled to Guinea and Sierra Leone had endured years of hardship in both countries, unable to return home and unable to find a secure place in the host countries.

The delegation also expressed deep concern over the 20 percent reduction in assistance that the United Nations was able to provide due to substantially reduced support from donor countries. Parkins noted specifically the thousands of Liberians in West Africa and thousands of Sudanese, Somalis, and Ethiopians in Cairo who receive no assistance from the UN and little or no support from host governments. Unless designated as refugees, those seeking asylum and those whose claims are rejected are without support in Egypt.

Solace from the church

In the midst of this bleak situation, the churches are providing whatever solace they can. Parkins pointed to the generosity of the Diocese of Guinea where its bishop, Albert Gomez, has spearheaded the formation of a refugee committee that has done considerable work with refugees from Sierra Leone who reside in remote camps in the country. This effort has recently been augmented substantially by a grant from Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD).

In Cairo, the principal and possibly only safety net available to thousands of refugees is provided by the churches. During a visit to the Episcopal cathedral, which operates a Joint Refugee Ministry, Parkins witnessed the role it plays as a gathering place for refugees, a center of religious life, and as a critical and often the only source of medical assistance to thousands of the city's most destitute refugees.

With support from ERD, the Joint Refugee Ministry and the ministry of St. Andrew's Church and Church of the Sacred Heart are able to minister to the burgeoning refugee community, using dedicated volunteers and a core of leaders "to make Christian hospitality a powerful force in a desperate situation."

The team will report its findings to the Department of State which has shown keen interest in its recommendations as the basis for urging a more generous program of admissions for African refugees and higher levels of support for the work of the UN High Commission for Refugees.

[James Solheim is director of the Episcopal News Service]