Bad governance, poverty fuelling displacement - UNHCR official

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Nairobi, Kenya - Apart from conflict, other key factors fuelling displace ment of people in the world are poverty, bad governance and scarce resources, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, said here Friday.

Guterres, in Kenya on a tour that has seen him meet refugees and Kenyan Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), says the UN refugee agency, formed in 1951, has see n changes in factors contributing to displacement of persons.

The agency was with the specific mandate of protecting and finding solutions for Europeans uprooted in the aftermath of the Second World War.

That was then, but in a message to the world as the globe marked the World Refugee Day, Guterres said new challenges such as the recent fuel and food shortages, have had an immediate and dramatic effect on the poor and dispossessed.

"Conflict today may be motivated by politics, but looking deeper, it can also be about climate change leading to competition for scarce resources," he said.

He said extreme price increases had generated instability and conflict in many places, with the very real potential of triggering more displacements.

"These new challenges make it all the more important that we find ways to address the increasingly complex root causes of displacement," he said.

At the UN refugee agency, the focus is on protecting the rights and well-being of refugees.

"This includes ensuring that those fleeing violence and persecution are given access to safety and life-saving assistance, as well as long-term support during exile and eventual durable solutions for them to be able to rebuild their lives," he said.

But the UN refugee chief was rather disturbed to note that the agency's work was becoming increasingly difficult in many parts of the world.

He said "In some countries, efforts to control illegal migration are failing to make a proper distinction between those who choose to move and those who are forced to flee because of persecution and violence.

"And too often, refugees are turned away at the borders of countries where they had hoped to find safety and asylum."

He noted that asylum and immigration issues were not always addressed in a rational, equitable or effective manner.

"And people in wealthy countries should be aware that most of the world's refugees are found in the developing world, and some of the largest migratory movement stake place within the South," he said.

Many developing countries, more so in Africa which is home to many refugees, have shown enormous generosity in accepting refugees and deserve much more support a nd solidarity.

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