(Regional Director, Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa) On April 22 a young woman in Sudan, Intisar Sharif Abdalla, was sentenced to death by stoning, accused of Zina (adultery). She is married and mother to three small children. Intisar was accused of having a relationship and getting pregnant by a man who wasn’t…
With somewhat predictable familiarity, we witness another round of violence and another round of displacement in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province. Make no mistake: what is happening in North Kivu has nothing to do with “tribalism”, or the idea that somehow Congo and the Congolese people are intrinsically violent – a racist…
In a research published titled “Who Belongs Where? Conflict, Displacement, Land and Identity in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo” by the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) in partnership with the New York-based Social Science Research Council (SSRC), views of the ongoing conflict in the east of the country are presented from the perspective of those displaced by it –…
The International Refugee Rights Initiative, in partnership with Rema Ministries and the Social Science Research Council, released a new paper,”Two People Can’t Share the Same Pair of Shoes: Citizenship, Land and the Return of Refugees to Burundi.” The paper, the second in the series Citizenship and Displacement in the Great Lakes region, tracks the…
This paper outlines serious concerns regarding the protection of refugees in the country: once the camp is closed, approximately 30,000 refugees will be effectively homeless. Pressure to repatriate combined with a clear reticence on the part of refugees to return, calls into question the voluntary nature of the exercise. Meanwhile the outcome of a special…
A note issued by the Darfur Consortium in collaboration with IRRI to the African Union It has been just over one month since the expulsion of 13 international humanitarian agencies from Sudan by the Government of Sudan and the suspension of the operations of three leading local organisations which provided protection and humanitarian aid. Along…
Human rights and civil society activists meeting on the margins of the historic first tripartite summit of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC), and Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Kampala, have asked the three regional bodies to harmonize their work, promote economic justice and ensure early warning…
Following the entry into force in June 2008 of the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in Africa’s Great Lakes region (the Great Lakes Pact), the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) released The Great Lakes Pact and the Rights of Displaced People: A Guide for…
When the meeting between Burundian and Rwandan government officials on Saturday June 11 ended, a decision had been reached. The two sides had decided to rename asylum seekers from both countries as “illegal immigrants” and treat them accordingly. What followed was a quick operation to deport thousands of Rwandan asylum seekers from Burundi. About…
Report of a Consultation on the Feasibility of a Collaborative Network-Building Project Linking Research with Program and Policy Development, co-hosted by The Social Science Research Council and The International Refugee Rights Initiative in Kampala, Uganda. Download full report here
