Activities and Updates
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BURUNDI WEEKLY HUMANITARIAN NEWS 01 – 14 September 2008 UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES Office for the Coordination of Bureau de la Coordination Humanitarian Affairs in Burundi des Affaires Humanitaires au Burundi http://ochaonline.un.org/Burundi http://ochaonline.un.org/Burundi Activities and Updates Repatriation of Burundian refugees Together with the government, UNICEF, HCR, the During the reporting period, 4,131 returnees ar- NGO working in refugee camps and donors, WFP rived in Burundi, including 5 who arrived from participated in the joint assessment mission of the South Africa. 351 entered through Ruyigi on two recommendations implementation of the previous convoys, and 3,775 through Makamba (2,044 for- joint assessment mission (of 2005) and to formu- mer 1972 refugees from Tanzania’s Old Settle- late recommendations for 2009 and 2010. ments, and 1,731 from Mtabila camp). Four re- The mission is also going to estimate the current turnees arrived spontaneously from the Old Set- situation and the perspectives 'gender' in touch tlements. with the various supplied types of assistances to Since the beginning of this year, a total of 73,664 the refugees, notably the access in and the man- Burundian refugees have returned: 435 in Janu- agement of the food aid, the food security of the ary, 1,991 in February, 8,377 in March, 6,675 in refugees, the nutritional situation, the social and April, 5,272 in May, 19,635 in June, 17,508 in July, sanitary conditions of various vulnerable groups, 9,640 in August and 6,045 so far in September. etc. This figure includes the return of 17,392 refugees Protection and community reintegration from 1972, including 32 from villages in Kigoma region. of returnees The Legal Aid Clinic Project of the African Centre Assistance to Burundians expelled from for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (AC- Tanzania CORD) successfully mediated 6 disputes in the The Government project for the reintegration of communes of Nyabitsinda, Rumonge, Nyanza-Lac, war-affected persons (PARESI) registered 428 Giharo (in provinces of Ruyigi, Bururi, Makamba Burundians (115 families) expelled from Tanzania and Rutana respectively). Out of 6 disputes, 5 who arrived through the entry points of were related to land and 1 related to family law. In Gisuru/Ruyigi Province 68 persons (25 families), addition, ACCORD conducted 1 conflict manage- Mishiha/Cankuzo Province 51 persons (22 fami- ment training in the commune of Mabanda lies), Mabanda/Makamba Province 285 persons (Makamba province) for 25 members of host com- (60 families) and Kobero/Muyinga Province 24 mittees in charge of welcoming returnees. Finally, persons (8 families) . 8 people received legal advice from ACCORD and were after referred to either Avocats sans Fron- Since January 2008, PARESI registered 5,418 tières (ASF) or to relevant judiciary institutions. Burundians (2,324 families) expelled from Tanza- These initiatives assisted towards the reintegration nia. of returnees into communities, the promotion of Update on food aid distribution reconciliation and the protection of returnees. WFP distributed 971 MT of food aid to 73,811 beneficiaries through its various partner’s pro- Upgrading of school infrastructures ‐ grammes. The big part of 654 MT food aid, going Contribution to durable solutions for re‐ to 50,258 beneficiaries, was distributed to families turnees having known bad harvests in the region of the The Norwegian Refugee Council successfully east depressions, notably Rutana and Ruyigi prov- achieved the construction and the equipment of 66 inces. classrooms with latrine blocks in 20 schools in the communes of Nyabiraba, Kabezi, Muhuta in Bu- 1 jumbura Rural province (4); of Mpanda, Gihanga vya prison on 26 August was in fact an assassina- Musigati in Bubanza province (3); of Kayogoro, tion. Moreover, Police authorities displayed a reluc- Nyanza-lac, Makamba in Makamba province (3); tance to ascertain responsibilities by transferring of Giharo in Rutana province (2); of Nyabitsinda in the detainee’s guard on the night of the incident to Ruyigi province (2); and of Muyinga and Giteranyi another location. in Muyinga province (6). In Bubanza the Public prosecutor told HR&JOs These school buildings and furniture funded by the that out of the 82 alleged cases of human rights Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will enable violations/abuses presented to him at the begin- 2,500 children to access school or to benefit from ning of the month, only 15 were actually ad- improved learning conditions; and will contribute to dressed. Impunity was also one of the main topics the durable reintegration or resettlement of recent brought forward during the numerous sensitisation returnees. sessions on sexual violence against women held by the HR&JD during the week. Four hundred and Intensive French and Kirundi Courses seven persons participated in such activities organ- for 875 children of returnees from Tan‐ ised in Karusi, Ruyigi, Cankuzo, Kayanza, Muyinga zania and Kirundo provinces. As highlighted in the latest report of the Independ- ent Expert on the human rights situation in Bu- rundi, the right to freedom of expression was at stake this week. Burundian media widely covered the arrest of Net Press’s editor, Jean Claude Ka- vumbagu after he had broadcasted the alleged cost of the President's August trip to the Beijing Olympics. Pending the outcome of this procedure, Mr Kavumbagu was transferred to Mpimba central prison on accusation of publishing stories of a "de- famatory" and "injurious" nature. It should be re- On Friday September 5, a total of 875 children of called that, over the past weeks, several NGO primary and secondary school age repatriated members were summoned by the public prosecu- from Tanzania completed a 7-week intensive lan- tor in Bujumbura on similar grounds, without being guage programme in the Provinces of Makamba arrested. and Rumonge. These children are returnees from The HR&JD continued its awareness raising activi- the 1972 Old Settlements who until June this year ties this week. Three sensitisation sessions were had largely been taught in English and Kiswahili in held on Transitional Justice for 155 participants, Tanzania. The conversion programme in Kirundi, including 40 women, in Kayanza, Ngozi and French and Life-skill education which was organ- Kirundo provinces. Security, political will, true rec- ized by the Ministry of Education, and supported onciliation, and the relations between Truth and by UNICEF and WFP, took place in the Lycee Reconciliation Commission and the Special Cham- Makamba and Lycee Rumonge during the summer ber were the main issues discussed. Meanwhile, break. The children will now be integrated into Bu- another conference on how to refer a criminal case rundi primary and secondary schools from 15 Sep- to the International Criminal Court (ICC) was or- tember, 2008. It is estimated up to 13,000 school- ganised for representatives of media, civil society age children from the Old Settlements will return to and trade unions. Burundi before the end of the year and most of them will be re-settled in Makamba and Rumonge Vulnerable supports for the starting up provinces. of the agricultural season 2009A The first agricultural season usually starts with Human rights violations rainfalls of mid-September. Between September 8th Impunity continues to prevail in Burundi as numer- and 13th, the food security sector actors finalised ous human rights violations remain unpunished. In their plan to provide the most vulnerable house- addition authorities fail to take adequate measures holds with agricultural basic inputs so that they can to prevent their occurrence. After thorough investi- set up the season 2009A. gation, the HR&JD came to the conclusion that the alleged suicide of a detainee reported in Muram- 2 254,850 households will assisted by various insti- tutions as FAO, CRS, GTZ, HCB and FHI. The FAO will supply 176,450 households (69 % of as- sisted households) with agricultural inputs (10 kg of bean seeds, 4 kg corn seed, 10 g of marsh seeds and a hoe. Of these households assisted by the FAO, 152,450 will receive the assistance by direct distributions while 24.000 will be assisted through seeds fairs. The targeting of the benefici- aries was completed; the distribution and the or- ganization of fairs will start on September 22nd and will end in mid-October to conform to the agricul- tural calendar. Besides the assistance granted in the beginning of the season, the FAO/ERCU will supply, in November, 2009, sorghum seeds to 20.000 households of Bubanza, Cankuzo, Cibi- toke, Kirundo, Makamba, Muyinga, Rutana and Ruyigi provinces, which have been the most af- fected by water deficit during the last two seasons (2008A and 2008B). Through its programme of reproduction quality seeds dissemination of healthy farm inputs, the FAO/ERCU will distribute agricultural inputs to farmers organized in associa- tions of quality seeds producer. These associa- tions will receive seed rice for 29,600 households, potato cuttings for 2,580 households, healthy cas- sava cuttings for 64,095 households, fruit seeds for 39,460 households, groundnut seeds for 3,500 households and sorghum seeds for 11,250 house- holds. 3 .