Chapter Six: Little Better than Cockroaches
190 In the autumn of 2002: Human Rights Watch, “Liberian Refugees in Guinea: Refoulement, Militarization of Camps and Other Protection Concerns” (Nov. 2002). Also see Amnesty International, “Guinea and Sierra Leone: No Place of Refuge” (Oct. 2001).
196 Though the precise origins: For an excellent recent history of Liberia, see Stephen Ellis, The Mask of Anarchy: The Destruction of Liberia and the Religions Dimension of an African Civil War (London: C. Hurst, 1999).
209 UNHCR is at: See Tania Kaiser, “A Beneficiary-Based Evaluation of the UNHCR Program in Guinea” (UNHCR Working Paper, 2001) and Jeff Crisp, “No Solutions in Sight: The Problem of Protracted Refugee Situations in Africa” (UNHCR Working Paper, 2003).
214 No one really believes: See Robert F. Gorman, Refugee Aid and Development (London: Greenwood Press, 1993).
Chapter Seven: ‘The Corridors of Memory
224 “blend of memory”: Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, A Bethlehem Boyhood (Fayetteville, AR: Univ. of Arkansas Press, 1995).
225 there is no perimeter fence: For good accounts of the history of the Palestinians in Lebanon, see Rosemary Sayigh, Too Many Enemies: The Palestinian Experiment in Lebanon (London: Zed Books, 1994); D. Gilmour, Dispossessed: The Ordeal of the Palestinians, 1917-80 (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1980); and Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War (London: Carlton Books, 1990). See also the archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and of the UN Relief and Works Agency.
230 As villages were deserted: Walid Khalidi, All That Remains: The Palestinian I’il lages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 (Washington, D.C.: Institute of Palestinian Studies, 1992).
231 “a black cave”: Elias Khoury, The Kingdom of Strangers (Fayetteville, AR: Univ. of Arkansas Press, 1996).
242 The voice that has developed: Edward Said, Reflections on Exile (London: Granta Books, 2001), and The Politics of Dispossession (London: Pantheon, 1994).
243 “At one thirty”: Mourid Barghouti, I Saw Ramallah (London: Bloomsbury, 2003).
247 “Basically”: May Seikaly, Al-Jana Tile on Palestinian Oral History, The Aral) Resource Centre, Beirut, 2002.
256 “All those who have been destined”: Barghouti, op. cit.
Chapter Eight: ‘The Illness of Exile
262 The literature of exile: See Paul Tabori, The Anatomy of Exile (London: Hat rap, 1972).
265 Toward the end of the 1970s: For the literature on torture, see the publications of Amnesty International and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.
272 Over the years: Jane Kramer, “Refugee,” The New Yorker, Jan. 20, 2003.
Chapter Nine: Going Home
294 The Afghans know: See David Turton and Peter Marsden, “Taking Refugees for a Ride? The Politics of Refugee Returns to Afghanistan” (Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, Dec. 2002).
296 The refugees did start: Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have produced excellent reports on Afghanistan. See, in particular, Amnesty International, “Afghanistan: Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Fate of the Afghan Returnees” (2003). See also reports of the British Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG); Michael Ignatieff, “Nation-Building Lite,” New York Times, July 28, 2002; and Nicholas Stockton, “Strategic Coordination in Afghanistan,” Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, August 2002.
297 When … Robert Byron: Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana (London: MacMillan, 1937).
301 In 1836: Sir Alexander Burnes, Cabooh: A Personal Narrative of a Journey to and Residence in That City, 1836, 7 and 8 (London: J. Murray, 1842).
302 he remarked on the excellence: The Baburnama Memoirs (New York: Random House, 2002).
Chapter Ten: Dead Dreams
332 “So thick”: Tete-Michel Kpomassie, An African in Greenland (New York, 2001). p. 10.
Epilogue: A Mode of Being
349 When Jeff Crisp: conversation with author, February 2002. See Jeff Crisp, “A New Asylum Paradigm? Globalization, Immigration and the Uncertain Future of the International Refugee Regime” (UNHCR Working Paper, Dec. 2003). See also Amnesty International, “Refugees: Human Rights Have No Borders” (1997).
352 At the beginning of 1999, five hundred people: Philip Rudge, conversation with author, March 15, 2004. See also Philip Rudge, “The Need for a More Focused Response: European Donor Policies Toward IDPs” (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institute, Jan. 2002).
352 Why should something: Matthew Gibney, conversation with author, October 2003.
353 In the mid-1970s: See Nigel Rapport and Andrew Dawson, eds., Migrants of Identity: Perceptions of Home in a World of Movement (Oxford: Berg Publishers, 1998).
355 Even if the flows: For a good overview, see Stephen Castles, “The International Politics of Forced Migration.” In Leo Panitch and Colin Leys, eds., Fighting Identities: Race, Religion and Ethno-nationalism (London: The Socialist Register, 2002).
356 UNHCR’s mission: Volker Turk, “UNHCR’s Mission,” Refugee Survey Quarterly, vol. 20 (2001).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Lyndall Passerini, Frances D’Souza, Janet Powney, and my son, Daniel Swift, came with me on my journeys: I would never have traveled anywhere, and the book would not have been written, without them. I would like to thank them very much.
I particularly want to thank the following, who read different chapters and gave suggestions and advice: Anne Chisholm, Jeff Crisp, Beth Crosland, Michael Davie, William Hopkins, David Marr, Philip Rudge, and Kirteen Tait. I am also very grateful to the Society of Authors, for their grant from the Authors’ Foundation.
This book would never have been started without the young Liberians in Cairo, and I owe them thanks for the many hours they spent talking to me about their lives. In Cairo, I would also like to thank Magda Ali, Fateh Azzam, Barbara Harrell-Bond, Sofl Elg, Enid Hill, Heba Kasseem, Mulki al-Sharmani, and Nachoua El Azhari, for her generous hospitality. Just as I would like to thank Diana Allen, Virginia Duigan, Gill and Robb Lodge, and Dawn Sparks for very kindly having me to stay on my travels, as well as the staff of the International Rescue Committee, Refugees International, Amnesty International, and UNHCR, who made my journeys in Guinea and Afghanistan possible. The archivists and librarians of the Refugee Studies Centre in Oxford, the London Library, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, and the Refugee Council Archive at the University of East London were extremely helpful.
Many people talked to me for this book, helped me, drove me about, and showed me things. I am very grateful to them all. They are: Ghassan ‘Abdallah, Leena-Kaisa Aberg, Eleanor Acer, Rafaelo Alarcon, Daniela D’Amico, Kathi Anderson, Gervase Apache, Paris Aristotle, Sister Bridget Arthur, Karim Atassi, Gian Luca Avanzato, Kenneth Bacon, Helen Bamber, Peer Baneke, Christina Bennett, Jean-Francois Berger, Paul Bergue, Deslie Billich, Tony Birch, Monica Bishop, Professor Geoffrey Blainey, Father Frank Brennan, Kielo Brewis, Sir Nigel Broomfield, Michelle Brown, Sandy Buchan, Julian Burnside, Sherman Carroll, Stephen Castles, Jean Chandler, Deirdre Clancy, Sister Claudette of the Sisters of Mercy, Rupert Colville, Marguerite Contat, Wayne Cornelius, Sarah Covington, Mark Cutts, Nomita Dave, David Deng, Damtew Dessalegue, Kate Durham, Jean-Francois Durieux, Ann Durst, Sue Emmott, Daniel Endres, Heike Estolen, Nabi Farahi, Erika Feller, Giovanni Fiannaca, Georgina Fletcher, Julian Fountain, Ana Liria-Franch, Joung-Ah Ghedini, Matthew Gibney, John Gibson, Brenda Goddard, Nate Goetz, Monica Gonzales, Guy Goodwin-Gill, Mariette Grange, Stefanie Grant, Aziz and Ayda Halimi, Luke Hardy, Ahmed Hawri, the late Arthur Helton, Anne Henderson, Katherine Henderson, Professor Louis Henkin, Taryn Higashi, Liz Hodgkin, Louis Hoffmann, Andrew Hogg, Christopher Horrocks, Bassam Jamil Hubaishi, Jurgen Humber, Linda Jaivin, Lucy Jones, Tania Kaiser, Maija Kajava, David Kapya, Rose Kasusky, Penny Kelly, Josephine Klein, Michelle Klein Solomon, Michael Korsinki, Kristina Knmpula, Margaret Ladner, David Lambo, Comfort Lamptey, Philippe Leclerc, Nick Leader, Eve Lester, Gil Loescher, Anne-Sophie Lois, Ruud Lubbers, Charles Mac
Fadden, Ewen MacLeod, Dennis McNamara, Monique Malha, Robert Mann, Lucia Marghieri, Delphine Marie, Peter Marsden, Anne-Charlotte Martineau, Roberto Martinez, Pablo Mateu, Laura Maxwell, Peter Maxwell, Nicholas and Kerry Minchin, Robert Montgomery, John Morrison, David Murphy, Nancy Murray, Kathleen Newland, Clementine Nkweta Muna, Sayre Nyce, Pia Oberoi, Comfort Ofolabi, Grainne O’Hara, Patricia Omidian, Ekhlas Osman, Dr. Biagio Palumbo, Alison Parker, Mervyn Patterson, Dr. Michael Peel, David Petrasek, Charles Petrie, Margaret Piper, Michael Pugh, Ian Purves, Archi Pyati, Cesar Pastor Ortega, Ron Redmond, Rachel Reilly, Marianne Reiner, Ngareta Rossell, Aziz Royesh, Katherine Sainsbury, Eva Sallis, Angel Santa Ana, Rosemary Sayigh, Jason Scarpone, Ed van Schenkenberg, Col Mark Schnur, Nasir Shansab, John Shattuck, Zainab Sheik-Ali, Alanna Sherry, Ann-Charlotte Siren-Borrego, Russell Skelton, Malcom Smart, Elaine Smith, Dr. Thierno Maadjou Sow, John Spooner, Dr. Zachary Steele, Barry Stoyle, Tim Swett, Derek Summerfield, Larry Thompson, Robbie Thomson, Steve Tull, Volker Turk, Dr. Stuart Turner, David Turton, Amanda Vanstone, Susan Varga, Fulvio Vassalo, Sally Verity Smith, Andrew Wilder, Sara Wills, Arnold Zable, Monette Zard, and Abu, Ali, Hussein, and Mahmud Zeidan.
As always, I am most grateful for the help and encouragement of my agent, Clare Alexander, and my publishers and editors, Penny Hoare, Jennifer Barth, and Vanessa Mobley.
INDEX
Abdul (Afghan refugee), 307
Abdula (Liberian refugee), 5, 10, 23, 360
Abdularam (Liberian refugee), 5, 354, 360
Abdullai (Liberian refugee), 5
Aberg, Leena-Kaisa, 333
Aboriginals, 117, 119–20, 128–29, 141, 148–49
Abu (child refugee in Guinea), 10, 204–5
Abu Ghraib prison, 104
Abudu (Liberian refugee), 6, 360
Adrean (Liberian refugee), 64, 65–66, 80–81
Afghan refugees, 307
Australia and, 122, 127, 129–33, 134–35, 151, 153
resettled in Finland, 338
Afghanistan, 294–95, 310–11
and heroin, 314, 358
returnees and IDPS in, 292–94, 296–97, 303–20, 231–27, 352
See also Al Qaeda; Kabul; mujahedeen; Shomali plain; Taliban
Africa
AIDS in, 188, 206, 281
IDPs in, 45, 48
postcolonial turmoil, 40, 43
UNITCR and, 40–41
African refugees, 1–27
Italy and, 74, 79
Lebanon and, 224
Newcasde, England, and, 156–63, 169–79, 183–85
as percentage of world refugees, 188
as torture victims, 160
See also specific nationalities
Aga Khan, Prince Sadruddin, 40
Agei, Simon Maderi, 339–40
AIDS, 23, 48, 188, 206, 281
aid workers
in Afghanistan, 321
in Guinea, 203–6, 207–9, 213–14
sexual exploitation scandal, 211–12
targeting of, 207
Al Azhar (Islamic university in Cairo), 18
Al Haghsect, 136
Al Qaeda, 291, 297
Alayarian, Aida, 275
Albanian refugees, 73, 74
Alem (Sudanese refugee), 339
Alex (Liberian refugee), 68–69
Algeria, 39
Algerian refugees, 168, 257–62, 278–81
Ali (Kurdish refugee), 170–72
All American Canal, 99
Allende, Salvador, 282
All That Remains (Khalidi), 230
Amal (Shiite militia), 238
American Friends Service Committee, 251
American University in Beirut, 234
American University in Cairo, 4, 14, 23
Amina (Sudanese refugee), 340
Amir (Afghan returnee), 316
Amira (Afghan social worker), 322, 325
Amnesty International, 111, 129, 148, 259, 260, 270
conference on torture (1973), 269
Amr (Liberian refugee), 6, 17, 19–20, 23, 24, 25, 368
Anastasi, Father, 331
Angel Heights (home for asylum seekers), 179–83
Angela (Liberian refugee), 65
Angola, 43, 352
Angolan refugees, 159
Anja (Afghan widow), 322–25
Annan, Kofi, 186, 351
Ansu (Liberian refugee), 362–67
anti-communist refugees, 126
anti-immigration lobby, 50, 51, 97, 353
Appave, Gervais, 355
Arab world
and the Palestinians, 238, 252, 255
and the Zionists, 221, 229–31
Arafat, Yassir, 233
Arendt, Hannah, 33, 187
Argentina
resettlement and, 334–35
Arizona-Mexico border, 98
Armenian refugees, 32, 275–76
Arop, Elizabeth Zacharia, 339–40
Ashcroft, John, 108
Ashmore Reef, 132
asylum seekers. See refugees and asylum seekers
Augusta, Sister, 124
Australia, 152
Aboriginals, 117, 119–20, 128–29, 141, 148–49
asylum requests in, 46n, 49
child refugees and, 136–41
detention camps in, 119–25 126–35, 136–41, 141–55
hardening of refugee policy in, 118–35
post-WW II refugees and, 36, 126
refugees and asylum seekers, 115–35, 136–55
resettlement and, 11, 15, 333
Australian Department of Immigration, 147
Australian Department of
Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, 124, 133
Australian Federal Court, 140
Australian High Court, 124, 138
Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 140, 148
Australian Labor party, 125, 131
Australian Liberal party, 129
Australian Migration Act, 133
Section 417, 138
Australian One Nation party, 129, 131, 135
Australian Refugee Review Tribunal, 124, 138, 140, 145
Austria, 37, 175, 176
Austro-Hungarian empire, 32
Awol, Anwen, 330–31, 335, 343
Awol, Majok, 330–31, 335, 343
Awol, Mary, 328–32, 335, 336, 343–47, 354
Awol, Maum, 328–32, 335, 340–43, 346
Awol, Nuomshett, 330–31, 335, 343
Awol, Shinfig, 330–31, 335, 343
Azerbaijan refugees, 180–83
Aziz (Afghan refugee), 301, 309–10
Babur, Moghul emperor, 302, 326
Bafalie, Khalidatou, 16
Bafalie, Mohamed, 16
Balad al Sheik (Palestinian village), 220–21, 224, 232, 233, 241
Balfour Declaration (1917), 229
Bali, 122
Balkans, 43
Bamber, Helen, 269–72, 274, 278, 280, 283
Bamiyan valley, Afghanistan, 315–20
Buddhas, destruction of, 313, 315
Barghouti, ‘Alaa, 243
Barghouti, Mounir, 243
Barghouti, Mourid, 31, 256
Baxter, Sir John Philip, 120
Baxter detention camp (Australia), 119–21, 123–25, 149
Beamish Museum, 184
Beazleyjim, 131
Behnam (Mandaean refugee), 154–55
Beirut shelling of 1982, 236
Bellevue/NYU Program for
Survivors of Torture, 110
Belsen concentration camp, 269
Benedict (Liberian refugee), 200–202
Ben-Gurion, David, 230–31
Benin
resetdement and, 334–35
Benson, Ross, 175
Berger, John, 354
Berlin Wall, 43
Berlusconi, Silvio, 73
Bernadotte, Count Folke, 231
Bertrand (friend of Dialo in Newcastle), 156–63, 169
Bettelheim, Bruno, 264, 265
>
Biafra, Republic of, 42n
crisis of 1967, 42
Bility (Liberian refugee), 17, 25, 360
Billich, Deslie, 149
Bishop, Monica, 156, 159–61, 162, 168, 184
“Bitaqit Hawia” (Darwish), 241
black economy, 9
Boabab organization, 163
boat people
Australia and, 129–35
Indochinese, 40
Italy and African, 57–61, 62–72, 76–82
Vietnamese, 50–51, 118
border(s)
controls, rise of, 94
cost of patrolling, 52
ideal of world without, 94–95
permeable, in West Africa, 191, 215
Bosnian refugees, 336, 338
Bossi, Umberto, 74
Bossi-Fini law (Italy, 2003), 74
Bourj el Shemali (Palestinian refugee camp), 245
Boutros-Ghali, Boutros, 44
Bowlby, John, 264, 275
“bracero” guest worker program, 95–96
Brahimi, Lakhdar, 296, 321
Brazil
resetdement and, 334–35
Brennan, Father, 152, 153–54
Brewis, Kielo, 332
Britain. See Great Britain
British High Court, 167
British Home Office, 157, 164, 165, 168, 182, 183, 185, 273, 286
safe countries list, 167
British Human Rights Act, 165, 167
British National Health Sendee, 274
British National party, 172–73, 184
British Press Complaints
Commission, 175
British Refugee Council, 165
British Section, 55, 165
Bulgarian refugees, 32
Burgmann, Rev. E. H., 115
Burj al Barajinah (Palestinian refugee camp), 252
Burkino Faso, 198
resettlement and, 334–35
Burmese refugees, 334, 338
Burnes, Lt. Col. Sir Alexander, 301–2
Burnside, Julian, 149, 151
Burrell, Paul, 340
Burundi
as receiving country, 52
refugees from, 4, 10–11, 352
Bush, George W, 11, 108
Byron, Robert, 297
Cairo, 5, 13
African refugees in, 3–27, 359–67
collapse of ideal of asylum in, 27
Human Cargo Page 41