Eight million displaced this year in Asia
Updated
Last week, the United Nations pulled its staff out of northern Sri Lanka, after Colombo warned it could no longer guarantee their safety in its escalating war against the Tamil Tiger rebels. In withdrawing, the UN left behind an estimated 200,000 homeless and hungry Sri Lankans.
They're among an estimated eight million people in Asia, displaced this year by conflict and natural disasters like the cyclone in Burma and China's Sichuan earthquake. And they face an uncertain future once the emergency aid and camera crews move on.
Presenter: Linda LoPresti
Speaker: Professor Walter Kalin Representative of the UN Secretary General on Internally Displaced Persons
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KALIN: It's becoming increasingly more difficult to reach the displaced in many parts of your region all over the world, because of lack of security, because of logistical constraints. The second concern is how can we fund the needs to assist these people, numbers are high, they are growing and in the context of the food supply crisis, the fuel crisis, it's becoming more and more difficult.
LOPRESTI: Indeed, and there has been a series of appeals for funds particularly from the UN World Food Program to offset, as you said, the growing cost of oil and food this year. Now given the sheer numbers of displaced people, is there a feeling that the UN's ability to respond to these people is somehow being compromised?
KALIN: Maybe 'compromised' is too strong a word, but it's getting more and more difficult. We're looking at food related unrest in more than 30 countries and some of these unrests have displaced people. We are looking at huge financial needs and the World Food Program, for instance, reports that its requirements have doubled over the year reaching something like $US6 billion. Again looking at the needs of the humanitarian organisations between the beginning of this year and June the increase in what we need, it's $US700 million just for food-related interventions. So these are some indications. At the same time, we do have new conflicts, we do have new occurrences of displacement by natural disasters. So the end is not reaching its limits, but it is becoming more and more difficult.
LOPRESTI; And obviously, short term relief is one thing, but long term relief is quite another. What is the capacity of UN agencies to assist and shelter displaced communities in the long term?
KALIN; In the long term, the challenge is to reach what we call durable solutions, meaning to allow people to return home and to re-establish their lives or to find new lives in other parts of the country. But if you are looking at actual funding mechanisms, we have a huge gap. Well-developed mechanisms for immediate emergency relief, humanitarian assistance. There are mechanisms for development, but I have seen on several occasions, that agencies could not assist people who were returning or re-establishing themselves because the humanitarian donors said well, that's no longer a humanitarian crisis and the development owners said well, it's too early, too volatile, wait till we can fund you. That's a huge funding gap and it's affecting these early recovery efforts.
LOPRESTI: Well, let's look at some of the younger people in the region. The majority of the population in most Asian and Pacific states is aged under 30. What are some of the implications facing younger displaced people that UN agencies have to factor in?
KALIN: They are facing lots of problems, those who have been to schools, very often cannot continue their education. Many of the young men in conflict situations, boys are recruited as child soldiers, and many, many young women, girls, who have to go into prostitution just to survive, to feed their babies.
LOPRESTI: Well, clearly as you say the challenges are enormous. Now the UN General Assembly is meeting in New York. As far as you know, are there any moves likely to address some of the challenges that you have been talking about at the policy level?
KALIN: There are a lot of debate at the policy level on how to improve the humanitarian system of the UN, on how to improve the response to internal displacement. I will present my annual report end of October to the General Assembly, that's always an occasion to discuss these things.
There are also lots of discussions going on regarding how to deal with the consequences of climate change and the movement of people. But those who as a consequence of flow-onset disasters like drought, expansion of deserts are particularly important for Asia; the rising sea levels. We are very much aware about the fact that there will be more armed conflict over resources again triggered by the affects of climate change. And to be very frank, the international community and the UN are not yet fully equipped to deal with this new challenge.
