NEWS RELEASES
AXWORTHY AND UN REPRESENTATIVE DENG DISCUSS PLIGHT OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE
November 3, 1999 (5:00 p.m. EST) No. 239
AXWORTHY AND UN REPRESENTATIVE DENG DISCUSS
PLIGHT OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy will meet with the Special Representative of
the UN Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, Francis Deng, Thursday
in Ottawa, to discuss the plight of people who are made "refugees" in their own
homelands.
"Mr. Deng is an important advocate for an especially vulnerable population, raising
awareness of the condition and predicament of internally displaced persons
worldwide," Mr. Axworthy said. "Many of the victims of conflicts, famines, and other
disasters are uprooted from their homes but remain confined within the borders of
their own countries. Unlike refugees, the internally displaced have no established
system of legal and physical protection. The international community needs to
increase its capacity to help them."
Mr. Deng will meet with the Minister following separate round tables with Canadian
government officials and non-governmental organizations interested in issues
affecting internally displaced persons. Minister Axworthy said that Canada is
interested in strongly supporting the Special Representative's work. "The challenges
facing the internally displaced are central to our efforts to advance the protection of
civilians in armed conflict and to enhance human security," Mr. Axworthy said.
The Minister will seek Mr. Deng's assessment of the situation currently faced by
displaced persons in Sudan, where a long-standing conflict has forced more than
4 million people from their homes.
Mr. Deng is a former Sudanese ambassador to Canada and was a diplomat for his
country until 1983. He is a doctoral graduate of Yale Law School and has had a
distinguished academic career in such major organizations as the Woodrow Wilson
International Centre and the Brookings Institution. He has written or edited over 20
books in the fields of law, conflict resolution, human rights, anthropology, folklore,
history and politics, as well as two novels. He was named the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Internally Displaced Persons in 1992.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Debora Brown
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
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