UN agencies, NGOs discuss fate of 25 refugee children

UN agencies and two NGOs in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, decided in a meeting on Friday that 25 unaccompanied child refugees from war-ravaged Democratic Republic of the Congo would have to be resettled, after they refused relocation to government-designated refugee camp in Kampala, officials told IRIN. "We'll ask them [the children] what they want and then consider a range of solutions, including fostering," an official at the meeting said. The meeting between the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), international charity Save the Children-UK and the Uganda Red Cross Society had been called to determine the fate of the children who are at a temporary transit centre in Kasese District, Western Uganda. The children initially entered Uganda with an earlier influx of Congolese refugees in March. Save the Children said none of their parents or other relatives have been traced. A survey conducted by the charity in early July identified 118 children aged between five and 17 years who were separated from their families. All but the 25 have since been either reunited with relatives or fostered. The children are receiving counselling from Save the Children at their transit centre. The UNHCR was due to move them to the a camp designated for Congolese refugees, named Kyaka II, set up by the Ugandan government in May. But the children have refused the transfer. UNHCR senior protection officer Stephen Gonah said that the children were unhappy about moving. "They said they'd rather go back to Congo to join an army and die in battle [than go to Kyaka II]," he told IRIN. The children's refusal to move had initially sparked a row between Save the Children and UNHCR over whether they should be transferred, with the charity saying the children's wishes should be respected and UNHCR saying this was not possible. "The government says it wants them moved but we tried to put pressure on the UNHCR to resist it," Hussein Murson, Save the Children spokesman, told IRIN, "it [the government] said it couldn't so we have been lobbying the government to change its stance". Murson said the charity had already taken four children to Kyaka II for them to see what they thought of it. When they returned, they and the other children told the organisation they were terrified at the prospect of being relocated to the camp, he said. However, Gonah said the children's fears were unfounded. "Whatever it is that they're afraid of, I think it's a myth," he said. "They have been listening to rumours that there are lions and snakes in the camp. They think they will be mistreated or put in prison. None of this is true." However, he said UNHCR would not force the children into the camps. "Our policy is very clear: we cannot make them go." But Save the Children said the children's concerns were valid. Murson said: "They said they recognised people in the camp who killed their relatives. I don't know whether its true but they should certainly be listened to." The UN agencies and the NGOs agreed that the children's concerns deserved consideration. "Even the government realises that if the children are forced into the camp, they could run away, which would make things a lot worse," Gonah said. The UNICEF child protection officer, Mads Oyen, said that "ultimately, the children have to be convinced that they are safe in Kyaka II. The centre in Kasese is not a durable solution - mostly because of the cost of maintaining it." Despite the initial differences of opinion, the officials said their meeting was fruitful. "In the end, we all agreed that the ideal solution would be to settle these children", one delegate said. "Even Save the Children don't want them at Kasese forever. We're going to talk to these children". Since Kyaka II was established, a few Congolese refugees have been willing to move there. Of the 11,000 identified in Bundibugyo District by a UNHCR survey in June, only 97 said they wanted to go to the camp.