Researchers have attempted to link foreign aid to conflict with some suggesting that aid exacerbates existing ethnic cleavages while others say it presents an opportunity to payoff rebels who start civil war. Yet others argue that aid decreases the risk of civil war by promoting economic growth and strengthening state capabilities. This study delves into the confusion over foreign aid and its effects on armed conflict. It argues that aid shocks or sudden decreases in aid revenues, may shift the domestic balance of power and potentially induce violence because potential rebels gain bargaining strength with the government.

The Lindela Detention Centre in South Africa is a holding facility for the temporary detention of 'illegal foreigners' while they await deportation. This report from The Forced Migration Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand argues that despite the authority's efforts to improve operations at the facility, there continue to be systematic violations of the law at Lindela. The paper uncovers several lapses in correct procedures for detention in the center.

Kenya is forcing Somalis fleeing conflict back across the border in violation of international law, the United Nations' refugee agency said on Wednesday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said some of the 8,300 Somalis stranded at a border post in north eastern Kenya had already begun crossing the frontier into no-man's land. It said most were women, children and elderly people.

How do you prepare a tent to stand up to a hurricane? That is the question faced by hundreds of thousands of Haitian earthquake survivors living in fragile outdoor camps who are bracing for a hurricane forecast to hit the poor, stricken Caribbean country over the weekend. 'This camp won't stand up to a big wind,' said Jean Sincio, a coordinator for a camp of flimsy tents built in the grounds of a school. It is one of hundreds of tent and tarpaulin settlements in the wrecked capital Port-au-Prince housing more than 1.3 million people left homeless by the 12 January quake.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has sentenced a Rwandan businessman to 30 years in jail for his part in the bulldozing of a church which killed around 2,000 ethnic Tutsis during the 1994 genocide. The tribunal, backed by the United Nations, found Gaspard Kanyarukiga guilty of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity.

While it should never be the case that a high percentage of the Haitian population remains living in refugee camps ten months after the earthquake, camp residents have managed to create in a few of those camps a small-scale model of the type of future society that many would like to see. Their camps have achieved democratic participation by community members, autonomy from foreign authority, a focus on meeting the needs of all, dignified living conditions, respect for rights, creativity, and a commitment to gender equity.

Angola's 'very violent' expulsion of about 200 Democratic Republic of Congo nationals from its territory this month is a sign of the increasing 'bad blood' between the neighbours that analysts believe revolves around border demarcations and conflicting claims to resources, particularly oil. In 2009, 18,000 DRC nationals were expelled from Angola and 39,000 Angolan nationals from the DRC.

The Mozambican Labour Ministry has withdrawn the work permits of three Chinese citizens. A Labour Ministry press release, issued last Thursday, said that the three men all belonged to the Chinese building company Nantong Constructions, and had been working in Sanga district, in the northern province of Niassa. All three were accused of brutal assaults against Mozambican workers.

By 2050 the risk of becoming climate refugees as a result of rising sea level, water scarcity, and extreme weather events will cast its shadow over no fewer than 200 million people, writes Valerio Calzolaio, journalist, ecologist, ex-member of Italian parliament, and author of 'Eco-refugees: Forced Migrations Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow'. In this analysis, the author writes that today those made refugees by 'political' causes - violence or persecution by institutions or communities - are granted 'refugee' status and assistance by a UN commission. And yet climate refugees are victims of human action, too, so shouldn't they be given this same status?

Fahamu’s Refugee Programme is pleased to announce the [1.1 MB pdf], a monthly publication that aims to provide a forum for providers of refugee legal aid. With a focus on the global South, it aims to serve the needs of legal aid providers as well as raise awareness of refugee concerns among the wider readership of Pambazuka News.

UK-based War on Want has launched an emergency fundraising appeal for South African shackdwellers’ movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo. Following attacks on the Kennedy Road settlement just over a year ago, the demands placed on the movement by people losing their homes and being dragged through the courts are beyond what the movement’s member subscriptions can cover.

Western policies are contributing to a sense among some Yemenis and Somalis of being 'under attack' and are drawing them towards radicalisation and militancy, says a new briefing paper from Chatham House. This threat of radicalisation, says the paper, extends throughout the far-flung diasporas of Somalia and Yemen, defying efforts at containment within the two countries and requiring new thinking about stemming the appeal of radicalism at source.

Guinean authorities should investigate, discipline, and prosecute any members of the security forces responsible for the 23 October 2010 attack on Dr. Mamadou Aliou Barry, a prominent human rights defender, Human Rights Watch has said. Barry was one of scores apparently severely beaten that day by security forces, amid heightened ethnic and political tensions following the postponement of run-off presidential elections. Barry, president of the National Observatory for Democracy and Human Rights (ONDH), an independent national institution, has frequently and publicly denounced acts of criminality and excessive use of force by members of the security services. He was assaulted while trying to stop members of the security forces from attacking a group of youths in the Hamdalaye neighborhood.

There have been great women in history, but Yaaa Asantewaa was one of a kind, Cameron Duodu reminds us of the story of the ‘mere woman’ who ‘fought against the cannon’ during the British colonisation of Ghana.

At least 20,000 Somalis displaced by fighting from the border town of Bulo Hawo are facing an uncertain future in camps in the Kenyan town of Mandera, locals told IRIN on 27 October. 'The entire town [Bulo Hawo] has almost been emptied by the fighting; most have fled to the interior, but at least 3,500 families [21,000 people] have crossed into Kenya,' said Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf, an elder.

A large shipment of weapons has been seized by Nigeria's State Security Service at the port in Lagos city. The secret police say they intercepted 13 containers, some of which had rocket launchers and grenades and other explosives hidden under tiles. Experts identified the artillery rockets as Norinco rockets - a type used by the Taliban in Afghanistan - suitable for high-intensity warfare.

The Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) is a non governmental organisation set up in 1998 in response to the increasing complex and deteriorating refugee situation in Kenya. RCK has a regular newsletter which can be read by visiting their website.

This conference will explore themes surrounding judicial roles and responses to war crimes and also responses to such initiatives from victims/victors, interested agencies and commentators, including the UN, NATO and various local, regional and international NGOs.

Modern war is often not about soldier against soldier, but a struggle to 'break the will of civilians — women, girls, men and boys' by whatever means possible - including rape - the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) State of the World Population 2010 report published on 20 October states. The term gender-based violence is often used to refer to violence against women, but, as the UN Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings state, 'it is important to note... men and boys may also be victims of gender-based violence, especially sexual violence'.

After spending ten days in detention the two prominent Women’s Human Rights Defenders were granted bail on Wednesday 20 October 2010 after a hearing in a crowded courtroom at the Banjul Magistrates Court. The bail was over US$50,000 each, and a surety with a landed property. Dr. Isatou Touray, the Executive Director and Amie Bojang-Sissoho, Programme Coordinator for the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices (GAMCOTRAP) were arrested on 11 October 2010 by Gambian security personnel.