84 Hook Reviews 
clarity. Nevertheless, the author has gone to great length to look at the 
situation personally, and involved himself in focus groups, attempting to find 
out what the impact of labour union acts is on plantation workers. At the same 
time, the author has reviewed the outcome of several surveys undertaken in 
the four countries which all come to the same conclusion. 
This publication will be very useful for all those who are conscious of the 
plight of plantation workers. It can be used as a document for formulating 
future strategies in many countries as the outcomes of programmes seem to be 
the same in each case. 
The author has attempted to analyse the situation in an objective manner, 
devoid of emotionalism. The author's recommendations are well worth taking 
note of as they try to lay down possible ways of remedying the situation. 
This publication is well worth reading and I recommend it highly despite 
some of the weaknesses that have been alluded to. 
Reviewed by Peter Kanganiso Runyowa, University of Zimbabwe, Godfrey 
Huggins School of Medicine, Harare. 
Africa's Refugee Crisis: What's To Be Done?: CIMADE, INODEP, MINK, 
Translated by Michael John, Zed Books, London, 1986 (158 pp, $6,95 pbk). 
'Talk about our country. Don't let people forget us'. As Daniel Mayer, 
former President of the International Federation of Human Rights, notes in 
the preface, this book is an attempt to do precisely that. Initially published in 
French in 1984, this book (hereafter, ARC) is the result of two seminars which 
CIMADE, INODEP and MINK (the International N'kruma Movement) 
organised in the winter months of 1981-82, with the assistance of a number of 
Africans living in France, many of whom had the legal status of refugees. 
In some respects ARC is out of date. Since 1982 the number of refugees has 
increased and generally the situation across Africa has worsened. Partly as a 
result of the global economic crisis, economies are stagnating and standards of 
living have fallen. Debt problems constrain most development plans. Many 
African countries require external assistance for essential imports, including 
food for their urban populations. The World Bank and the International 
Monetary Fund are promoting economic adjustment measures, often 
draconian in nature, as a prerequisite for additional assistance. 
The UN Special Session on Africa, called in June 1986 to address some of 
these issues, has come and gone. In spite of the rhetoric the international 
community has shown little commitment to Africa in its efforts to address the 
underlying problems, which are reflected especially in the widespread famine 
and growing numbers of refugees and other displaced people in southern 
Africa. 
Yet ARC is both timely and useful. It is timely because refugee flows in 
Africa show no signs of abating. They embody personal and community