International Assistance to Refugees in Africa Can Be Improved

GAO reported on improvements that could be made in international assistance to refugees in Africa.

Based on visits to four countries, GAO stated that efforts to meet refugee needs could be improved by better planning and coordination. GAO found that inequitable amounts and types of assistance have been provided to refugees in Africa, the U.N. programs tend to be open-ended and without plans for phasing out assistance, and continuous high levels of assistance often serve as a deterrent to refugees' voluntary repatriation. At two camps, the amount of assistance provided to refugees has exceeded the living standards of the local population. GAO believes that these problems occurred because comprehensive country-program plans and agreements with governments offering asylum and program guidance were not established nor was donor assistance effectively coordinated. African refugee programs are not sufficiently evaluated because of the Department of State's limited in-country assessment of, and reporting on, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) activities and projects, and the fact that about 95 percent of U.S. contributions to the program were unrestricted and inherently difficult to track. GAO found that, in some countries, governments consider the refugees as guests and limit the extent to which refugees can effectively resettle and integrate into the economy. Less restrictive asylum-country policies are needed for Agency for International Development (AID) refugee assistance to be effective.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Joseph E. Kelley Team: General Accounting Office: International Division Phone: (202) 275-5790