It is unlikely that international borders will be redrawn because both nation-states and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) are extremely defensive concerning each country's sovereignty2. In any case, it can be questioned whether a new map of Africa would resolve its most acute problems. The study of borderlands and how they are related to refugee movements will provide more insight into conflicts and refugee crises and ways of reacting to them. This is not to deny that international borders are important for the legal international protection of refugees, but relief assistance in borderlands can and should be reconsidered. In this paper, I shall make recommendations for an aid policy focusing on a broader, more integrative approach, giving less importance to international borders. In the first section of this paper, I will elaborate on the concept of borderlands and the relation of that concept to forced migration. The characteristics of the Uganda-Sudan borderland, showing similarities between southern Sudan and northern Uganda, will be analysed in the following section. The history of refugee movements across the border will be described in the third section. The relief efforts on behalf of Sudanese refugees in Uganda will be reviewed in the fourth section, by looking at the current aid policy. In the fifth section, I will make concluding remarks and policy recommendations for aid efforts in refugee-hosting areas.

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refugee policy strategy aid policy border region