At the end of World War II, an international "refugee regime" was established to protect people who had been forced from their native countries by persecution. The United Nations formed a Refugee Convention and named a High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This international system did not, however, extend to persons who were displaced and persecuted within their own countries. In line with traditional notions of sovereignty, the international community was unprepared to act when governments uprooted their own populations and subjected them to systematic human rights abuse, starvation, and murder. In 1988, for example, international organizations and NGOs stood by while a quarter of a million people died for lack of food and emergency supplies in Sudan. Only those able to cross the border could expect international protection and assistance. Earlier this year in Kosovo, the international community lavishly helped those who crossed the border, but failed to protect those trapped inside.