Repatriated refugees barely coping

The people of Angola, the government and the international community must pull together to ensure that returning refugees are able to reintegrate and have a sustainable future in their country, a top United Nations (UN) official has said.

Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said 410,000 Angolans had returned home in the last four years, but 190,000 still live outside the country.

Although many were evidently happy to come home after spending up to two decades in exile, Guterres told IRIN the returnees faced huge challenges in Angola. The situation was particularly tough in the peripheral provinces that most were returning to - Zaire and Uige in the north, Moxico in the east and Cuando Cubando in the south.

"These provinces still have a lot of landmines, the infrastructure has been massively destroyed by the war and is recovering at a very slow place; the basic social services are very limited, and their capacity to participate in the national economic activities of the country is also very limited," he commented.

"Let's be honest. The scale of the problem and the difficulties involved are huge, and so massive investment from the Angolans themselves and the government, and relevant support of the international community, will be essential for the sustainability of these returning refugees," he added.

Angola's civil war spanned almost three decades, ending in 2002. Over a million people were killed in the conflict and millions more were either displaced internally or sought refuge in other countries, such as neighbouring Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Guterres, who was in Angola to mark the end of the voluntary repatriation programme, said many people had become integrated in the countries they had fled to during the war and would therefore decide not to come home.

"Many were children born in last twenty years and don't speak Portuguese, and became fully integrated in their host countries. Of course, [they have] the right of return ... and we will be able to help any families or people who want to come back in the future. [But] return is strictly voluntary, we don't force people back," he said.

Since the end of the war, the economy has experienced a dramatic upswing, mainly driven by oil production and high crude prices - Angola is the second largest producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank predict that the country's gross domestic product will swell by more than 30 percent this year.

However, social services have yet to reach most Angolans: one in four children do not reach their fifth birthday, and more than half the population of over 13 million live on less than US$2 a day.

Critics say the government needs to spend more on rebuilding the health and education sectors, and allegations of corruption on a grand scale have been levelled against the country's leaders. Angola is perceived by global corruption watchdog Transparency International as the 151st most corrupt country on a list of 158.

The government has approved an initiative for the sustainable reintegration of returning refugees. "They receive some basic support in relation to livelihood and farming capacity for the immediate months [after their return], but a massive effort will be necessary to make it sustainable," Guterres said.

Asked if people might go back to their countries of exile because conditions in Angola were too harsh, Guterres said, "We hope that will not happen here. It's extremely important to fully mobilise the government and the relevant international community."

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