UNHCR MOBILIZES RESOURCES TO DEAL WITH MASSIVE RETURN OF REFUGEES
Press Release
REF/1156
UNHCR MOBILIZES RESOURCES TO DEAL WITH MASSIVE RETURN OF REFUGEES
19961118 GENEVA, 16 November (UNHCR) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) mobilized on Saturday all available staff and resources to meet the needs of Rwandese refugees returning to Rwanda in the largest and swiftest homeward movement of refugees in memory."I am elated with the news of this repatriation. It is difficult to express what I feel seeing all these refugees heading home", High Commissioner Sadako Ogata said in a statement issued in Geneva. "We have been planning and waiting for this to happen for two years. Now that they are coming in such numbers we are putting additional resources on the ground. We are determined to help them resume their normal lives."
By nightfall on Saturday, some 200,000 Rwandese refugees had returned to Rwanda since they began flooding into the Rwandan border town of Gisenyi at mid-morning Friday from the Mugunga and Lac Vert camps about 25 kilometres west of Goma. Field officers said the rate of arrivals Saturday was 12,000 per hour.
Another 300,000 refugees are reported to be on the road, all heading towards Rwanda.
The Goma region hosted more than 715,000 of the 1.2 million refugees in eastern Zaire before fighting broke out in the area two weeks ago. Another 500,000 refugees are scattered in the Bukavu and Uvira regions. The UNHCR is attempting to gain access to them.
Because of the massive number of arrivals in Gisenyi, the authorities have abandoned screening at the border, saying this will be conducted at the communes.
Emergency aid is provided to the arrivals, but the UNHCR's regular repatriation package consisting of a two-month supply of food from the World Food Program, blankets, kitchen sets and plastic sheeting will now be distributed at the returnees' communes. Buses and trucks have been moving returnees to their final destinations. However, most of the arrivals come from Gisenyi and Ruhengeri and are returning on foot. Four-way stations were established Saturday along the return routes, providing food, water and emergency medical care.
President Pasteur Bizimungu of Rwanda called the High Commissioner Friday night to thank the UNHCR for its efforts in encouraging and helping the refugees to return. He reiterated the full cooperation of the Rwandese Government in the speedy processing of the returnees. Mrs. Ogata told President Bizimungu the UNHCR would do everything possible to support the repatriation and reintegration of the refugees.
The UNHCR has tried to achieve large-scale repatriation on a voluntary basis since shortly after the exodus into eastern Zaire in July 1994. The UNHCR and its partners in the non-governmental community have available stocks in Rwanda for 450,000 people and is moving more urgently needed supplies from Uganda.
The High Commissioner formed emergency repatriation operation teams composed of 23 veteran field and protection officers to reinforce its staff in Rwanda. She said the big challenge ahead to the UNHCR and the international community is the reintegration of the refugees. That will involve community development, initial rehabilitation, the security of returnees and recovery of their property. Human rights monitors will work closely with repatriation teams.
Mrs. Ogata welcomed the Security Council resolution authorizing the deployment of a multinational force to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and the return of refugees. She said there are still hundreds of thousands of refugees that must be reached in eastern Zaire. There also are about 600,000 Rwandese refugees in the United Republic of Tanzania.
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