FORGE is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that constantly working to help the lives of refugees everywhere.
Our group is changing year to year because we are an offical University of Pittsburgh organization.
Fall of 2006


i. Who is a refugee? A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or is afraid to do so. War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries. There are more than 14 million refugees worldwide. Who is an IDP? An internally displaced person (IDP) is a person who has been forced to flee his or her home for the same reason as a refugee, but remains in his or her own country and has not crossed an international border. Unlike refugees, IDPs are not protected by international law or eligible to receive many types of aid. As the nature of war has changed in the last few decades, with more and more internal conflicts replacing wars among countries, the number of IDPs has increased significantly.
ii. What is the 1951 Refugee Convention? The 1951 Geneva Convention is the main international instrument of refugee law. The Convention clearly spells out who a refugee is and the kind of legal protection, other assistance and social rights he or she should receive from the countries who have signed the document. The Convention also defines a refugee's obligations to host governments and certain categories or people, such as war criminals, who do not qualify for refugee status. The Convention was limited to protecting mainly European refugees in the aftermath of World War II, but another document, the 1967 Protocol, expanded the scope of the Convention as the problem of displacement spread around the world.
iii. What is "refugee warehousing"? The denial of human rights found in the 1951 Convention to live lives as normal as possible while in exile, especially the right to earn a livelihood and freedom of movement. Warehoused refugees are typically, but not always, confined to camps or segregated settlements where they are virtually dependent on humanitarian assistance. Often refugees in a warehoused state are stuck in camps for more than 10 years. But even refugees who are free to move are still warehoused, in effect, if they are not allowed their rights to work, practice professions, run businesses, and own property. It is estimated that at least 9 million of the 14 million refugees in the world are warehoused. For more information, read "Warehousing Refugees: A Denial of Rights, a Waste of Humanity" at http://www.refugees.org/data/wrs/04/pdf/38-56.pdf.
- Warehousing is the major tragedy suffered by refugees around the world a huge reason to raise awareness. Last year a special committee of dedicated FORGE members realized the 2008 Conference on Refugee Warehousing in October. It was incredible! Scholars and activists came from all over the country and from various countries outside the States. It was 3 days long and consisted of various prestigious speakers and workshops. Check out the speakers at the end of this agenda!