Focus on concerns over closure of gathering areas

The Angolan opposition group UNITA has expressed concern at the government's plan to close gathering areas housing former rebel soldiers and their families by 31 March. Thirty-five gathering areas remain out of 45 which had initially held over 400,000 UNITA fighters and their families. UNITA secretary for foreign affairs, Alcides Sakala, told IRIN on Tuesday that conditions in some areas "are so difficult [yet] at the same time the government is saying they are going to close most of the quartering areas". "The problem is that these people [in the quartering areas] are without a clear idea of what they are going to do in the future. We have been insisting to the government that we discuss these issues, so we can have a framework [for reintegration] because the [social] reinsertion process is a process that will take time. We need to define a framework for these people to get into social reinsertion programmes. I was in Huila province last week, I know the situation is very difficult," Sakala said. "These people [demilitarised UNITA] are saying they are going back to their villages but these villages don't exist, most of them have been destroyed by war. The process of closing [the camps] is taking place at a time when the international community is focusing on the Iraq issue, the Angolan issue has been forgotten. It [camp closures] would be a mistake for this process which began very well," Sakala warned. However, Erick de Mul, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator and the Resident Coordinator of the UN Development Programme said the target date for closure of the gathering areas was "reasonable, as it coincides with the end of the rainy season". It was "far fetched" to expect ideal conditions for the closures. "Conditions in certain places of destination are reasonable, in others they are not so good. In this attempt to move fairly quickly, we are seeing people kind of stranded, in the sense that they may have to stay a little longer than would be normal or expected in the provincial capitals," De Mul said. He explained that when people moved out of the gathering areas they were transported to the provincial capitals where they were based in transit camps. "The idea is they will stay there for one or two days before they move off to their destinations. [But] given all the organisational and logistical problems people are sometimes staying longer than expected ... but conditions in transit centres are minimal, there's minimal shelter and food," De Mul acknowledged. With regards to reports that former UNITA fighters were leaving the camps early as they were dissatisfied with conditions in the gathering areas, De Mul said: "It's an issue that is difficult to judge. There's indeed a movement from camps, soldiers or ex-soldiers and their families have left. The main reason for what we call spontaneous moves, is probably triggered by the fact that people have been there [in camps] for quite a long time. "It's still a minority though, these are not large groups leaving. The bulk of the people are still being transported properly, the movement of the majority is still being done in an organised and planned fashion, but there are some spontaneous [moves from] gathering areas." Conditions in areas of return or resettlement varied greatly, said De Mul. "It's no different for the returning ex-combatants and families than it is for returning IDPs [internally displaced persons]. In some provinces conditions are better, there are more services, but in some places less so. What the government has tried - to a large extent successfully - to do, is to try and ensure that people are not going on the road or on their way without having been taken care of," he said. "Ex-soldiers in gathering areas are being registered, they get registration cards and severance pay, they get on their way with documentation and some money. Once they get to their destination they get the kit, with 90 items to help them set up a normal life again - kitchen utensils, blankets, soaps, the tools to help them to build houses and all that type of thing. That system is working rather well," De Mul noted. However, Sakala said the government could do more to assist former UNITA soldiers and their relatives. "Our main concern is that for government it seems peace was about killing Dr [Jonas] Savimbi and the demilitarisation of UNITA and nothing else. [Reintegration] is a pillar of the peace process, 80,000 [former UNITA soldiers] is a large number of people who will be frustrated [and this could lead] to instability. Not war as such, but instability a little bit throughout the country," Sakala warned. He added that it was avoidable "if there was political will to solve these problems ... but contacts with the government are non-existent today, the climate is very cold". Meanwhile, the closure of the gathering areas would cause a shift in focus in humanitarian operations, De Mul noted. "In the end everybody will be happy once the gathering areas are behind us. Those areas often were in rather remote places far away from airports and main centres. On the other hand the needs won't be dramatically lessened, they [former soldiers and families] will still need assistance for a couple of months depending on conditions in their areas of destination. It also means that this is the beginning of the gradual reduction of the need for assistance to the overall target group," he explained. Humanitarian operations would shift to a mix of emergency assistance and recovery programmes, De Mul added. For a recent IRIN report on transit centres