SITUATION REPORT 29 Oct. – 4 Nov. 2007 UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES Office for the Coordination of Bureau de la Coordination des Humanitarian Affairs in Burundi Affaires Humanitaires au Burundi http://ochaonline.un.org/Burundi http://ochaonline.un.org/Burundi ACTIVITIES AND UPDATES Assistance to Burundians expelled from Tanzania During the week under review, the Government project for the reintegration of war-affected persons (PARESI) registered 58 Burundians expelled from Tanzania who arrived through the entry point of Kobero/Muyinga Province. Since the opening of the Mabanda/Makamba Province transit site in October, 23 persons have been recorded. In 2007, PARESI has recorded 8,665 expelled persons, consisting of 4,229 families. With funding from the European Commission, UNICEF is providing assistance to expelled persons in collaboration with its implementing partners. Assistance was provided through: the management of transit centres (Burundian Red Cross and Solidarités); registration and transportation of expelled persons (PARESI); counseling centres and protection of data collected (Norwegian Refugee Council); the provision of psychological and medical support (Africa Humanitarian Action and HealthNet-TPO), and assistance to unaccompanied expelled children (IRC). Furthermore, UNICEF provided plastic sheetings to the people transferred from the temporary transit site of Kigamba to the new settlement area in Mishiha/Cankuzo Province. Update on repatriation and refugees UNHCR registered 1,634 Burundian refugees who arrived from Tanzania through the entry points of Kobero/Muyinga Province (226), Gisuru/Ruyigi Province (818) and Mabanda/Makamba Province (572). In Bujumbura Mairie, 18 returnees arrived from DR Congo under the UNHCR facilitated repatriation process while 2 spontaneous returnees were registered and assisted in Mabanda. Since January 2007, 33,034 Burundian refugees have been repatriated to their home country from Tanzania including 442 spontaneous returnees. So far, 372,633 Burundians refugees have returned under the UNHCR facilitated repatriation process which began in April 2002. As for refugees in Burundi, UNHCR completed the screening of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Musasa transit center in Ngozi on 31 October. While 5,529 refugees (1,409 families) successfully passed the screening process, 1,736 persons were rejected for either fraud or absence from the camp during the whole exercise. During the reporting period, no new transfers were organised from Bujumbura to Musasa. A transit center for returnees has been opened in Gitega UNHCR has opened a transit center in Gitega Province in order to ease the transfer of Burundian returnees arriving through a border crossing-point which is far from their places of origin. During the reporting week, 284 returnees stayed temporarily at the center; 219 persons entered Burundi through Mabanda/Makamba Province and travelled to the north while the remaining 65 arrived through Gisuru/Ruyigi Province and headed south of the country. The Gitega transit center can currently accommodate at least 200 persons per night. Emergency assistance to semi-permanent schools and emergency rehabilitation UNICEF provided 3,000 aluminum sheets for about 75 classrooms and 50 tons of cement for the emergency rehabilitation or construction of semi-permanent schools being built by communities in the Provinces of Karuzi, Ruyigi, Makamba and Bubanza. For more information: E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +257 22 205000 Ext. 5542 SITUATION REPORT 29 Oct. – 4 Nov. 2007 Update on food aid distribution In collaboration with its implementing partners, WFP distributed 467 MT of food to 47,736 beneficiaries mostly through the School feeding and Food for Work programmes. Protection Supported by UNICEF, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) continues to support unaccompanied expelled children. In this regard, IRC organized monitoring visits to 43 unaccompanied children over the reporting period. Two children received further assistance including a return package while IRC social assistants met with administrative authorities to advocate for the protection of two unaccompanied returnee children in the Muyinga transit center. Food aid comprised of rice, beans and oil were distributed to 32 children including 11 expelled children. Food aid was equally given to 3 temporary foster families, each of whom received 40kgs of rice, 40 kgs of cassava flour, and 2 kgs of oil. Furthermore, 26 identified unaccompanied children received bean and potato seeds for the 2008A agricultural season. They were given 20kgs of each type of seed. Support to the National Land Commission UNHCR has officially handed over five all-terrain vehicles to the National Commission for Land and Property on 02 November. The vehicles were purchased from a contribution from the UN Peacebuilding Funds, which allocated USD 700,000 in 2007 to the Land Commission through UNHCR for the purchase of equipment and capacity-building. Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase With the objective of harmonizing the different humanitarian phases and food security levels, and to establish better planning mechanisms for the provision of response to food security and nutritional crises, a four-day regional workshop was held in Nairobi/Kenya (29 Oct – 1 Nov). Participants shared experiences on their use of the integrated food security and humanitarian phase classification (IPC). This workshop followed a series of workshops on food security analysis based on the integrated food security and humanitarian phase classification in the respective implementing countries in Eastern-Central Africa including Somalia, Burundi, Kenya, Eritrea, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Tanzania. In Burundi, this analysis which was carried out in Gitega from 20-24 August was attended by food security experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, UN agencies, NGOs and national structures. The Nairobi workshop was attended by 6 participants from Burundi from the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, UNICEF, FAO, WFP and Action Contre la Faim (ACF). Lack of rains may affect agricultural season 2008A in the Eastern region of Burundi According to monitoring reports from the Early Warning System/Food Security Surveillance (SAP/SSA) sector, the agricultural situation is cause for concern in the Eastern region in general and the Moso region in particular. Since the beginning of agricultural season 2008A, it has not rained in the Moso region which covers parts of Rutana, Ruyigi, Cankuzo and Makamba Provinces. The risk of consumption of planting seeds is therefore high given an extended lean period. Rutana Commune, still no rain, FAO November 2007 For more information: E-mail: [email protected], Tel: +257 22 205000 Ext. 5542 .