We the participants at the Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 32nd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the 6th Human Rights Book Fair held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Banjul, from October 14th –16th, 2002,
Having examined collectively the problems related to the protection of refugees in Africa,
Noting the resurgence of conflicts that are becoming more and more bloody and causing the displacement of nearly 20 million persons in Africa,
Noting with concern the progressive disengagement of the UNHCR from refugee protection with the closure of several of its offices in Africa, leaving hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers stranded,
Noting with bitterness the persistent insecurity in almost all the refugee camps in Africa, as well as the violence and sexual abuse against refugee women and children in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Kenya,
Recalling the need to pay special attention to the protection of vulnerable groups such as refugee or displaced women and children in Africa,
Noting the absence or weak status of hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers,
Noting with satisfaction:
Recommend:
To the African Commission
To the Member States
Done in Banjul, The Gambia 16 October, 2002