Assisting Refugees

The refugee crisis in Zaire and Rwandahas once again focused world attention on displaced people. Affecting more than 5 million people,the crisis has forced refugee-aid groups, governments and others to reassess the way aid to refugees is now rendered. For the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian relief organizations,the situation raises fundamental questions about aiding refugees: Can efforts to help actually make matters worse? And how can tragedies like the one in Central Africa be prevented or at least mitigated in the future? For the United States and other developed nations, the crisis has reopened the debate over whether using soldiers to assist humanitarian relief efforts is appropriate, and whether dramatic media coverage of crises can lead to bad policy decisions.