DAKAR, 13 October 2008 (IRIN): The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, has appealed to international donors not to cut back on aid to humanitarian programmes amid a global financial crisis that has shuttered financial institutions in rich countries. At the conclusion of UNHCR’s annual meeting in Geneva from 6-10 October, Guterres said refugees remain the most vulnerable victims of the global economic fallout.
According to the UN 1951 Refugee Convention, a refugee is someone outside his or her country owing to a “well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” IRIN met three refugees last week throughout West Africa; their stories from exile follow.
Lupube Therese, 49, Democratic Republic of Congo, fled to Douala, Cameroon, in 1998 where she lives with five of her eight children and three grandchildren.
A five-year conflict from 1998-2002 in the Democratic Republic of Congo claimed an estimated five million lives. More than one million Congolese are still displaced, including 400,000 refugees.
“When Laurent Désiré Kabila came to power [in 1997], my husband, who worked for [Mobutu Sese Seko’s] old regime, was arrested, tortured and thrown in prison. We sought refuge in Cameroon for fear of reprisals. My husband escaped from prison and joined us.
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