ABSTRACT
The African continent has more internally displaced persons (IDPs) than the rest of the world put together and the total is continuing to rise. The magnitude of internal displacement in Africa reflects a worsening of armed conflicts during the 1990s mostly internal in nature that, in 2002, affected more than one quarter of the continent's 53 countries. Small arms and light weapons (SALW) have been traded and sold to African tribes and states since the first days of European exploration and colonialism. The period of decolonization after World War II coincided with the decline of the UK and France as colonial powers, the rise of the Soviet Union and the US as world powers, and the globalization of Marxist doctrine. In this context of global conflict and nation-building, nascent African states served as proxy battlegrounds for the great powers. Internally displaced persons in Africa have often been particularly vulnerable to direct physical attacks or threats, sexual assault and forced labor.
