For my internship/job, I've been doing a lot of research on refugees and IDPs, particularly in Uganda. While I used to be pretty pro-UN, I confess that my research has made me question my loyalty to that organization, particularly the UNHCR. I realize that the UNHCR is doing the best it can do in very bad situations, and with very few resources, and lots of limitations. However, a lot of what I have read leads me to believe that the UNHCR is capable of doing a much better job than it has. For instance, refugee camps are frequently attacked by rebel or government forces. One attack could be a fluke. Two is probably bad. But three? Some of these camps have been attacked three or four times in a year. Why are they still there? For an example, try Googling Acholi-Pii camp. It should have been obvious a long time before that camp was finally evacuated that it wasn't safe. Another problem is what appears to be a limitation to people's right of movement. Refugees and IDPs have to obtain permission to leave their camp. While Uganda may wish to keep all the refugees in a few settled locations so they are easy to identify, this is a blatant violation of basic human rights.

These sorts of problems were seen in Srebrenica years ago. Why hasn't the UN learned from those mistakes?