Burundi Situation Report: 13 - 19 Aug 2007

ACTIVITIES AND UPDATES

Update on repatriation: refugees

UNHCR registered 2,251 Burundian refugees who mostly arrived from Tanzania through the entry points of Mabanda/Makamba province (743), Gisuru/Ruyigi province (678), and Kobero/Muyinga province (829). One Burundian arrived from South Africa. Since 15 August, Burundian returnees have been receiving a six months food ration; two months packages are distributed upon departure from Tanzanian refugee camps and the remainder is received in Burundi. Since January 2007, a total of 13,085 returnees have been recorded. So far, some 352,084 Burundians have returned to their home country under the UNHCR facilitated repatriation process which began in April 2002.

UNHCR transferred 853 Congolese refugees from Bujumbura to the Musasa/Ngozi province transit centre bringing the total number of persons in this centre to 4,326. It is worth noting that UNHCR only transfers those who have received a temporary permit to stay in the country from Burundian immigration services (PAF). When they arrive in the Musasa camp, they are further screened to detect any fraudulent cases. UNHCR states that plans are underway to set up a new camp for Congolese refugees in Makamba province. From January till date, 6,375 DRC refugees have been transferred to the Gasorwe refugee camp and Musasa transit center.

Assistance to Burundians expelled from Tanzania

Over the reporting period, the Government project for the reintegration of war-affected persons (PARESI) registered 527 persons (214 families) who arrived from Tanzania through the entry point of Kobero/Muyinga province (414 persons/162 families) and through Mishiha/Cankuzo province (113 persons/52 families). Since January 2007 until date, PARESI has recorded 6,577 expelled persons (3,267 families).

Protection: ongoing support to unaccompanied children in Ruyigi and Muyinga

Over the reporting week, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) identified the families of two children (a returnee and an expelled child). Protection monitoring was carried out for 29 unaccompanied minors and two of these children received healthcare services. In order to enhance community reintegration for returnee children, IRC provided humanitarian assistance to unaccompanied children consisting of; aluminium sheets, nails, poles, doors, windows, bricks and also assisted in the construction of walls. In Ruyigi, food aid was delivered to a temporary foster family and four children received school material.

Sexual Gender-based violence

Within the framework of activities aimed at sensitizing youth on sexual gender-based violence, a delegation of IRC Kibondo/Tanzania carried out a cross-border visit to Makamba. The delegation included six refugees from refugee camps in Nduta, Kanembwa and Kasulu/Tanzania.

In an effort to support victims of sexual gender-based violence through income generating activities, IRC provided food aid and non food items to 21 women's associations involved in farming in Ruyigi.

Update on food aid

In close collaboration with its implementing partners mostly through the food for work programme, WFP distributed 795 metric tons of food aid to 48,084 beneficiaries nationwide.

Update on Food security

From the 13-15 August, the FAO/Emergency Rehabilitation and Coordination Unit (ERCU) participated in an international conference on the cassava disease in Africa. The conference was jointly organized by the Catholic University of Bukavu/DRCongo and the Catholic University of Louvain/Belgium. The main recommendations included the setting up of a regional framework for consultation and information exchange with regards to the cassava disease, a monitoring scheme for leafy plants in the Great Lakes Region, the reinforcement of research partnership with universities, and an improvement in the capacity of epidemiologic surveillance. With financial support from the European Union through its humanitarian office ECHO, a similar regional workshop has been scheduled for October 2007 in Bujumbura/Burundi. It will be attended by experts from Uganda, Rwanda, DRCongo and Burundi.

Security: access

So far, the withdrawal of Palipehutu-FNL delegates from the Joint Mechanism for the Verification and Monitoring of the ceasefire agreement signed in September 2006 with the Government of Burundi has not had any humanitarian consequences of concern.

According to an OCHA report, populations in the provinces of Bujumbura Rural, Bubanza and Cibitoke who had began to panic were reassured by the FNL Movement that although they had temporarily withdrawn from negotiations, they had no intentions of engaging in hostilities with the national army. The suspense is now based on knowing how long this impasse will last.

OCHA received information from administrative and military authorities confirming that until now there has not been any clash between the military and FNL combatants although there is an atmosphere of suspicion between both groups in some regions. However, differences seem to exist between FNL rebels in favor of resuming hostilities and those who prefer the return of negotiations. Exchange of fire between these two factions could be heard close to the capital (particularly in Buterere).

Although a few cases of ambush on roads have been reported, humanitarian organizations continue undertaking their missions and have not highlighted any abnormalities with regards to access. However, they have all noticed a redeployment of the national defense force (FDN) along main highways.

Recommendations from OCHA

- Even though civil and military authorities continue to reassure us that access to the fields is not being hindered, we still think that the security situation in the region should be closely monitored.

- Organizations which carry out missions to these provinces would have to follow security measures very strictly while waiting for the situation to normalize. Recent armed robberies committed on civilian vehicles traveling on these routes which were considered to be safe for over many months now warrants great caution.

- It is important to reinforce the monitoring of any cases of violations against civilians. 'Monitoring' teams (including OHCHR / BINUB) should seriously consider regular field missions to the provinces of Bujumbura Rural and Bubanza.

For more information: E-mail: ocha-burundi@un.org, Tel: +257 22 205000 Ext. 5542

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.