Anniversary of the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problems in Africa

"Beyond the consideration of how to assist the refugees and those displaced, I am also of the view that this symposium should also look into the whole issue of the root causes of the problem. When I say so, I am fully conscious of the fact that we all know what lies at the genesis of the refugee problem. Studies have been done, and there is general consensus of those factors which drive the engine that produces refugees. Yet, this said, I still think that as our societies evolve, new problems emerge and new factors present themselves. It is not only famine, drought, or wars which produce refugees. We have a new and emerging phenomenon, now for the first time in Africa, of those driven out of their countries by economic deprivation and thus the search for new economic opportunities." - Dr. Salim, September 8, 1994