05/12/12 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Congo-Kinshasa: Refugees Return to Northern Congo, but Concerns Remain

The 34-year-old later looks anxiously for a familiar
face among the crowd of people waiting at a transit centre in the town of Dongo to welcome the
latest returnees from across the water. She doesn't recognize anyone.

 

Martine and her two children had fled the other way
across the Oubangui and sought refuge in Republic of the Congo, along
with tens of thousands of other civilians, when inter-ethnic clashes erupted in
DRC's Equateur province in 2009. The violence between the Munzaya and Enyele
tribes centred on traditional fishing and farming rights and forced more than
140,000 people to flee to Republic of Congo and Central African Republic.

 

A further 100,000 people were displaced within
Equateur but most have returned home as conditions improved. UNHCR has been
involved in conflict resolution and reconciliation efforts in Equateur,
including funding a new community radio station in Dongo last year. The refugee
agency also supports efforts to ease the reintegration of returnees.

 

But those in neighbouring countries, like Martine,
have been slower to return. In May this year, UNHCR launched a voluntary
repatriation programme for the tens of thousands still in the Republic of Congo.
By late November, more than 39,000 had returned home and the refugee agency aimed
to bring home another 11,000 by years end followed by 32,000 next year.

 

Martine readily admits that she put off returning for
a long time, "but we were told that everything is going well now."
Her husband decided to remain in the Republic of the Congo because he was worried about
his safety.

 

Still, lots of questions ran through Martine's mind.
"How would I be able to get back alone with my two children to a normal
life? Could I find a plot of land to cultivate? Would I be accepted in this
environment?" She says many other women with children share her worries.

 

They include, 30-year-old Suzanne, who worries about
schooling for her three children and about how her family will cope once their
three months of food rations from the World Food Programme have been exhausted.
The returnees also received non-food items from UNHCR. "We hope that we
will not be abandoned," she says, adding that if she gets back her land:
"I could farm at least and feed my family." The returnees are also
given and seeds and agricultural tools by the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization.

 

In addition to the aid package provided to each
returnee family on arrival here or elsewhere in Equateur province, UNHCR and
other humanitarian organizations have initiated reintegration activities,
especially in the Libenge and Kungu territories where most people are coming
back to.

 

These address some of the concerns voiced by Martine
and Suzanne about shelter and education, but more needs to be done with the
support of the international community.

 

So far, and with a limited budget, UNHCR and its
partners have distributed 700 shelter kits for spontaneous returnees and have
also built primary schools as well as 350 shelters and 12 wells for the most
vulnerable households. Awareness campaigns aimed at ensuring peaceful
co-existence between the various communities have been conducted.

 

Equateur is one of the most remote provinces in the
country, lacking basic socio-economic mechanisms and infrastructure. UNHCR has
appealed for development organizations to help strengthen the reintegration
activities.

 

"We understand the concern of these women and of
all the returnees, but at the same time we have limited resources,"
stressed Geert Van De Castelle, head of the UNHCR office in Dongo, while
calling for more funding help.