wfn.org | African churches respond to refugees

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Nov. 11, 1998	Contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York     {663}

NEW YORK (UMNS) - In the African country of Togo, there are no
immigration laws to prevent others from moving there.

But people classified as refugees receive no help from the government,
according to Nelson Kwasivi Kumodzi, refugee secretary of the
Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Togo. That responsibility falls to
the churches. 

"We have to find funds to look after them, to meet every need they
have," he explained.

Kumodzi was part of a Nov. 10 briefing, sponsored by the Church World
Service Immigration and Refugee Program, which examined the church's
role in refugee work in Togo, Kenya and South Africa. The United
Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is a partner in the Church World
Service program.

Ghanaians and Liberians are the largest groups of refugees in Togo,
followed by those from the former Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi. The
churches provide for basic needs and occasionally offer scholarships to
refugee students.

Sometimes, Kumodzi admitted, their efforts have been a little too
successful. A two-year food development program among the Ghanaians who
had fled ethnic conflict has worked so well that the refugees do not
wish to return to their homeland, even though the fighting has stopped.

In Kenya, the number of refugees has dwindled significantly in recent
years, according to David Kganga Kamau, refugee desk coordinator for the
National Council of Churches of Kenya.

Between 1991 and 1993, refugees from neighboring countries streamed into
Kenya, including nearly 1,000 daily from Somalia in 1992. In 1994, there
were 350,000 refugees in Kenya.

But as the situation in their home countries has stabilized, refugees
have left. "As of now, the refugee situation has improved so much,"
Kamau said, noting a drop to 180,000 in May.

Since 1983, the National Council of Churches of Kenya has assisted
refugees with daily basic needs through monetary allowances. With the
United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, it also has assisted with
children's education, and council partners have helped with the
resettlement of about 190,000 refugees.

Currently, the council is "very much involved in trying to bring about
peace and reconciliation" to stem the tide of those internally displaced
by ethnic rivalries, Kamau said.

A challenge for the South African Council of Churches is to combat the
rising problem of xenophobia, according to the Rev. White Rakuba, the
council's refugee desk coordinator.

"Many people used to accept foreigners with open hands," he said, but he
added that the influx of immigrants seeking economic betterment after
1994 - and thus providing cheaper labor - has soured the attitude of
many South Africans.

Rakuba said immigration legislation that was passed Nov. 6 in South
Africa "protects the rights of refugees as much as possible," but
prohibits entry simply for job opportunities.

Although refugees from Mozambique came as early as 1983, "up to 1994, it
was very difficult for refugees from other countries to enter South
Africa," he explained. Since then, a new flow of refugees has come from
Somalia, Angola, Rwanda and even parts of West Africa.

"We say our basic ministry is pastoral counseling," Rakuba noted. The
council also has "lifesaving" programs for refugees, providing food,
shelter and clothing. Some educational assistance also is provided for
children.

However, like other agencies, he said, "we cannot continue to give
people relief nonstop."