REFUGEES: UNHCR highlights disparity in humanitarian assistance

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, drew the attention of the Security Council this week to disparities in humanitarian assistance on refugee situations, according to a UN news release. Ogata said the refugee situation in Kosovo, although a serious and large refugee emergency, had been the focus of unprecedented political attention and material support by the international community and particularly by the Western countries. It was undeniable, she said, that proximity, strategic interests and intense media focus had played a key role in determining the quality and the level of response. However, she said, that had not been and was still not true in other situations, including in Africa. There are some six million people "of concern" to UNHCR in Africa, Ogata said. She cited recent refugee crises such as Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo as well as older unresolved conflicts in The Sudan, Western Sahara and Angola, the news release said.