The Long Road Home
The annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, released Tuesday, indicates that refugees and internally displaced persons, or IDPs, returned home at a more infrequent rate than in past years, with refugee repatriation (604,000) falling 17 percent and IDP return (1.4 million) down 34 percent. The continued lack of security in Sudan was one of the primary causes of this trend. Enough's focus countries were near the top of the list of the world's largest IDP populations; Sudan's topped 2 million in the Darfur region alone.
Renewed violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia recently forced many people from their homes, increasing the total number of IDPs in those countries to 1.5 million and 1.3 million, respectively. Chad played host to one of the largest refugee populations - 330,500, mostly Darfuris. Kenya was not far behind with 320,600 refugees. Somalia (561,000), Sudan (419,000), and Congo (368,000) were among the major refugee-producing countries in the world.
Click here to read the full report and here to watch UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres at a press conference on the report discussing the challenges of providing for 280,000 Somali refugees in Kenyan camps.
Read Enough's latest strategy paper on Sudan, Sudan's Election Paradox.
[Photo: IRIN]
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NBA Star Tracy McGrady Funds
Enough's 1st Sister School in Chad
In honor of World Refugee Day, June 20, basketball star Tracy McGrady has made a donation to the Darfur Dream Team's Sister Schools Program to support a Darfuri refugee camp school for one year. McGrady's donation will support the Ocampo School in Djabal camp in southeastern Chad, one of 12 refugee camp schools that Enough's Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program aims to support in the 2009-2010 school year, at a cost of $57,000 per school. In addition to McGrady's donation, more than 30 American schools recently joined together to raise funds for a second school. The Sister Schools Program's web site includes an itemized registry listing needed resources and supplies, from textbooks and teacher training, to sports equipment and buildings.
Visit www.darfurdreamteam.org on June 20 to watch a live video feed from Chad, featuring interviews with residents of the Djabal refugee camp. Click here to watch footage from the same camp produced recently by the NGO i-ACT.
[Photo of Enough Advisor Omer Ismail and Tracy McGrady at the Djabal camp last year. ]
Anti-LRA Conference and Advocacy Events Next Week
 Next Monday and Tuesday, Enough is partnering with the NGOs Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda for "How It Ends," which includes two days of Capitol Hill advocacy, a conference, a rock concert and a screening of The Rescue, a film about rescuing child soldiers from the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group led by the notorious Joseph Kony. Tuesday afternoon, June 23, events will include comments from Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), Enough Co-founder John Prendergast, Ugandan activist Betty Bigombe, and actress Kristen Bell.
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Special Envoy Gration Briefs Press on Sudan
 U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Scott Gration, who recently returned from an international trip aimed at promoting renewed support for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, held a State Department press conference yesterday to address his efforts to re-engage the key actors needed to undertake a comprehensive peace process for Sudan. Listen to audio of the briefing here, and read the response from Save Darfur, Enough, and the Genocide Intervention Network. Grations's comments that we are seeing "remnants of genocide" in Darfur have sparked considerable controversy.
[Photo: Department of Defense]
Activities, Actions, Advocacy
- The Darfur Fast for Life fasting chain, begun by Mia Farrow, has attracted more than 500 fasters from 34 countries. Prominent Americans joining this week include Ruth Messinger, President of the American Jewish World Service; Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; physician/philanthropist Richard Rockefeller; songwriter and record producer James Michael; and actress Maria Bello. Click here to watch members of the Enough team describe their fasts.
- A book worth reading, says President Barack Obama: What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng, about the long journey of a "lost boy," a refugee from Sudan's civil war. Author Dave Eggers found out from Politico that the president had liked the book and was recommending it to his aides.
- Follow us on Twitter! Keep up to date by following 'Enoughproject.'
Upcoming Events
- June 20, 2009
World Refugee Day
- June 22-23, 2009
How It Ends, Washington, D.C.
- June 23, 2009
Comprehensive Peace Agreement conference, Washington, D.C.
- July 2, 2009
Third Annual Ante Up for Africa Poker Tournament, Las Vegas, NV
(Click here for details on the Enough Project's events page.)
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Watch research associate David Sullivan's interview with CNBC's Erin Burnett on Congo's trade in conflict minerals.
Watch President Barack Obama discuss the future of Zimbabwe with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last week.
Watch campaign manager Candice Knezevic discuss Enough's Come Clean 4 Congo video contest with YouTube, which is accepting submissions until July 1. Check out Enough's YouTube channel here.
The 5 Best Stories You Might Have Missed This Week, by blogger Laura Heaton
Check out Laura's list of important-but-overlooked stories from the Economist, der Spiegel, the Small Arms Survey, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Doctors Without Borders.
Photo Collection Shows Human Side of Zimbabwe's Struggles by policy assistant Rebecca Brocato
Many elderly Zimbabweans watched hyperinflation decimate their savings, and now, without an ability to work, they are forced to live out their days in abject poverty.
Quotes of the Week
"There's a chance to stop the violence [in Darfur]. Crimes have to be stopped."
- ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, discussing with Reuters his request to add genocide charges to the case against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
"Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were among the leaders in the Senate calling for action on Darfur, yet since they have assumed executive power they have done very little about it. The reason is the same one that has always led American presidents to veer away from taking firm action on genocide - there is no neat, easy solution, major national interests are not at stake, and in the absence of an ideal policy it is always easier on any given day to defer a decision."
- New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, in a New York Review of Books review of four books on Darfur.
Enough in the News
"The World's New Threat: Conflict Fatigue," a guest column in Foreign Policy by Colin Thomas-Jensen and Rebecca Feeley.
"Congo Tin Exports Rebound Despite U.N., Campaigners" Reuters article quoting John Prendergast.
"Sudan's 'Coordinated' Genocide in Darfur is Over, U.S. Envoy Says" Washington Post article quoting John Norris.
"Will Bashir's Visit Hamper Zimbabwe's Pleas for Aid?" Christian Science Monitor article quoting John Prendergast.
"AMD, Congo, and the Perils of Code Names" CNET article quoting David Sullivan.
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Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, Enough focuses on the crises in Sudan, Chad, eastern Congo, northern Uganda, Somalia and Zimbabwe. Enough's strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a "3P" crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. Enough works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. To learn more about Enough and what you can do to help, go to www.enoughproject.org.
© Copyright 2009 Center for American Progress, All Rights Reserved.
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