International Aid

Until the early 20th century, refugees, who depended for survival on aid from private groups, lacked both legal rights and protection. Since the end of World War I, international organizations have been created to protect and assist refugees. Currently, legal protection and material assistance are provided to refugees by the United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, established in 1951 to resettle the refugees remaining after World War II. The international government refugee agencies work closely with national and international agencies such as the International Rescue Committee, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies, and the U.S. Committee on Refugees. Two United Nations (UN) documents, the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, specify the rights and duties of refugees, including the rights to work, education, and access to courts of law. Because the causes of political and economic upheaval remain in operation in the developing nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the large-scale movement of refugees is bound to continue and even to intensify as the world's population continues to increase.

Republic [rI'pAblIk] is a form of government in which the citizens elect representatives to manage the government. Republic, form of state based on the concept that sovereignty resides in the people, who delegate the power to rule to elected representatives and officials. In the theoretical republican state, republic and democracy may be identical. However, historical republics have never conformed to a theoretical model, and the term republic is freely used by dictatorships, one-party states, and democracies alike.