Refugees International

Refugees International is an NGO headed by Larry Thompson. The organization provides advocacy, assessment, and preventive and supportive actions in three phases of population disruption and deplacement:

1. Danger and Flight (Early warning; Protection; Assistance)
2. Temporary Asylum (Protection; Adequate funding; Economic assistance for surrounding areas; Environmental protection)
3. Return (Demobilization, disarmament, and demining; Humanitarian aid; Voluntary, safe and sustainable repatriation; Reconstruction; Economic development assistance; Reconciliation)

The organization claims a proud record of success in catalyzing lifesaving action by the US and UN. In the 1990s they helped galvanize the international response to humanitarian crisis in Kurdish Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. Most recently, it was first on the ground to discover a massive aid shortage for displaced Eritreans, to document the plight of refugees in Guinea and displaced persons in Afghanistan, and to advise top policy makers on actions needed to save lives in war-torn Congo.

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External link

Refugees International home page

Mission Statement

Refugees International generates lifesaving humanitarian assistance and protection for displaced people around the world and works to end the conditions that create displacement.

Advocacy

The characteristics of our effective and efficient organization are independence, flexibility, and the cutting-edge quality of our advocacy. We take an uncompromising rights-based approach to advocacy on behalf of refugees and displaced persons.

RI acts first and foremost as a witness to the suffering of the displaced. Our advocates spend weeks in the field interviewing and meeting with war-affected populations, non-governmental organizations and aid agencies. RI conducted missions in over 30 countries last year, including regions of the world where we have never previously worked. In the past year, RI visited Afghanistan, the Great Lakes region of Africa, West Africa, Southern Africa, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Angola, Guatemala, Colombia, the Balkans, Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Uganda, the Thai-Burmese border, and the Caucasus, just to name a few.

RI advocates assess humanitarian problems, identify the most urgent needs and move quickly to develop immediate solutions to those needs. Our contribution to the humanitarian field lies in our unique combination of advocacy and action, both with hands-on expertise in crisis situations and with policymakers in Washington, New York, Geneva and other centers.

Leverage

We can describe the impact of our work with a single word-leverage. RI's advocacy generates increases in resources and policy changes by governments and UN agencies that improve conditions for refugees and displaced people. RI does not accept any government or UN funding. Rather, RI leverages donations from individuals, foundations and corporations into hundreds of thousands of dollars of lifesaving assistance and protection. This, along with our early warning/early action mandate, allows RI to be a powerful, respected and unfettered voice.