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Millions of Africans, uprooted by war,
are in
sight of returning to their homes |
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For the first
time in years there is some chance of
repatriating up to 2 million refugees, and
millions more internally displaced people
throughout Africa. |
Citing improved prospects for millions of
long-time refugees to return home, the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, opened
the conference on repatriation and reintegration
in Africa with a call for international support
and solidarity in breaking the continent’s cycle
of violence, poverty and despair. "The
resolution of these conflicts could, over the
next few years, lead to the voluntary
repatriation
of up to 2 million refugees from
several African countries and the return of
several million more displaced persons," he
said.
Some 60 government delegations, including more
than
a dozen ministers from African countries,
and several
senior relief and development
officials, attended the
United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) sponsored 'Dialogue on Voluntary
Repatriation and Sustainable Reintegration in
Africa'. The UNHCR urged
donor governments to work with African states to
build on homegrown peace initiatives that
promise to end some of Africa’s longest running
wars. For the UNHCR the close cooperation of
African states and relief and development
institutions is crucial to ensure that the
return of refugees and displaced persons is
successful and sustainable. It has frequently
expressed concern over the lack of continued
international attention to post-conflict
societies once refugees have returned to their
devastated homelands. Sustained support will
mean refugees can go home and
stay home. Aid
agencies and governments must help
break cycles
of dependency through targeted development programmes that help communities absorb
returning refugees.
Speaking to the media the Africa Bureau Director
for UNHCR, David Lambo, highlighted that for the
first time in many years, millions of refugees
may have the chance to return to their
countries. There they will join millions more of
their countrymen internally displaced by war who
are also starting to go back to their
communities. "One of the major problems is to
break the cycle of repatriation and then of
despair," said Lambo, describing situations
where refugees finally make the step to return
to their countries but then lack the economic
and social support necessary to become
self-sufficient.
An encouraging sign is that UNHCR has received
the first contributions for what could be its
biggest repatriation operation in the near
future – Sudan. The United States has donated
$2.7 million while Canada contributed $380 000
in response to the agency's November 2003 appeal
for
$8.8 million to fund preparatory activities
for the return
of Sudanese refugees.
More than 8 million refugees went back to
African countries in the 10 years up to 2001,
with more than half returning to Rwanda and
Mozambique. While the pace has slowed, the more
than 800 000 refugees who recently repatriated
to Sierra Leone, Angola, Burundi, Rwanda and
Eritrea show
that refugees are willing to go
back despite the enormous challenges in their
homelands.
The UNHCR highlighted that programmes to enhance
self-reliance, improve education, health and
other basic services are vital, as are
initiatives to promote gender equality and
counter the discrimination that has fed some
of
Africa’s recent conflicts. The High Commissioner
also stressed the responsibilities of African
leaders. "Primary responsibility rests with the
governments of the affected countries to ensure
that the political, security, legal, social and
economic conditions continue to develop in the
right direction," Lubbers said. He further
proposed that delegates consider establishing a
high-level, informal working group made up of
delegates from a number of African states, other
interested governments, UN agencies, the African
Union and NGOs to follow up the recommendations
of the meeting. The working group could help
support countries
in Africa with the management
of the repatriation and reintegration process,
with a particular focus on rehabilitation and
reconstruction aspects.
Currently countries are in various stages of the
process; some are already receiving returning
refugees, some are well into the planning
stages, and some are still awaiting further
political developments or the consolidation of
peace efforts on the ground before moving toward organised, voluntary repatriation.
UNHCR will work with
governments and other partners on the
composition and role of the high-level working
group. The bottom line is that there is now an
excellent window of opportunity across a wide
swathe of Africa to find durable solutions for
millions of people in some of the world’s most
protracted refugee situations. The High Commissioner, Ruud Lubbers wants to seize this opportunity by
forming what he calls a 'group of friends' to
focus on these positive prospects for as long as
it takes to ensure that refugees and displaced
people can go home and stay home. He pointed out
that despite joint inter-agency appeals and
joint briefings by the World Food Programme
(WFP) and UNHCR to alert donors to impending
breaks in food pipelines, some operations,
particularly in Africa, have remained poorly
funded. The success of repatriation ultimately
depends on the resources that are made
available. Lubbers appealed to donors for more
resources to ensure that WFP and UNHCR are able
to effectively discharge their respective
mandates. |
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Refugees returning home. Umich
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UNHCR refugees statistics 2002. Mapped by SAHIMS.
Click on map for full view |
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Key Indicators |
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Main refugee populations:
Angola 12,250, Botswana 2,805, Burundi 40,533,
Cameroon 58,288, Central African Rep. 50,725,
Congo 109,201, Dem. Rep. of the Congo 332,978,
Ethiopia 132,940, Gabon 13,473, Guinea 182,163,
Kenya 233,671, Malawi 2,166, Mozambique 207,
Namibia 21,651, Nigeria 7,355, Rwanda 30,863,
Somalia 199, South Africa 23,344, Sudan 328,176,
Swaziland 653, Tanzania 687, 000, Uganda
217,302,
Zambia 246,765, Zimbabwe 9,432 |
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UN tackles Africa’s refugee issue |
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Dialogue on Voluntary
Repatriation and Sustainable Reintegration in
Africa |
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Food crisis |
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Wider cooperation in
resettling refugees |
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Dialogue on Africa
Repatriation and Reintegration: Country
briefings |
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Millions of refugees could
go home soon |
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US contributes additional
$58 million for refugees |
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Documents |
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UNHCR Southern Africa
Appeal 2004 |
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Voluntary Repatriation in
Africa: Levels and Trends 1993-2002 |
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March 2004, Voluntary
Repatriation in southern Africa |
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Africa at a Crossroads |
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Dialogue on voluntary
repatriation and sustainable reintegration in
Africa No 1 |
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Dialogue on voluntary
repatriation and sustainable reintegration in
Africa No 2 |
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Outline of main actual and
potential voluntary repatriation operations in
Africa for 2004 |
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August 2003, Report on the
Nutrition Situation of refugees and displaced
populations |
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