EU funds for resettlement of returnees

The bulk of a recent US $5 million aid package to Angola is expected to go towards supporting government efforts to resettle thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to their areas of origin, the European Commission (EC) said in a statement.

Almost US $4 million of the EU funds would be channelled into programmes aimed at improving health facilities, food security and farming needs, among other priorities in resettlement areas.

"These mass returns are taking place in overwhelming numbers, and against a background of limited absorption capacity, an absence of food security and health services, the presence of landmines and other unexploded ordnance, and badly damaged or destroyed road and bridge infrastructure," the statement said.

Since the April 2002 ceasefire, it is estimated that 70 percent of 1.9 million IDPs who returned to their homes have done so without any assistance. Even minimum conditions for their resettlement are often not in place.

The EU said the remainder of the money would be used to support Angolan refugees and their host communities in neighbouring countries.

The first organised repatriations of some of the 440,000 refugees still in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and Zambia are due to begin in June 2003.

Given the large number of people on the move, the EU also raised concerns about the spread of HIV/AIDS. Aid agencies have noted that many refugees were returning from countries with high rates of infection to areas where HIV/AIDS awareness was "totally non-existent".