Rights In Exile ― Janus-faced Humanitarianism

International and humanitarian organizations that are in charge of looking after refugees are responsible for extensive and avoidable violations of the rights of those dependent upon them, argue Verdirame (law, U. of Cambridge) and Harrell-Bond, founding director of the Refugee Studies Centre (U. of Oxford). In a sociolegal analysis of compliance with international human rights and refugee law in Kenya and Uganda, they measure the extent to which the rights of refugees were violated and how such violations were perpetrated by a range of actors but chiefly governments and aid organizations. They say their findings are pertinent to other host states, especially in the non-industrialized world. Annotation c2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Guglielmo Verdirame is a Lecturer in Law at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Corpus Christi College. He is also the author of a forthcoming book on the accountability of the United Nations.