UN official says preparations underway for returnees

UN acting Emergency Relief Coordinator Carolyn McAskie has said the Burundi peace process has changed for the better and she believes there are now positive signs. McAskie, who is currently in the region, told IRIN on Friday the UN and NGOs should prepare for a possible return of refugees “which might be a massive number of people in a very short time”. “The UN has to be prepared for a transitional phase from conflict to peace. As we shift from conflict to peace the UN and the international humanitarian community is preparing for how it can support the population. We have to include the possibility of the worst-case scenario if more than 1.5 million are on the move, returning to Burundi, in just a few weeks,” she said. “There is the question of equal treatment of returnees, IDPs [internally displaced people] and those who have stayed and stuck it out,” McAskie added. She also noted that another major problem would be the land issue. “This will not just be an issue for immediate returnees, but there are 200,000 refugees in Tanzania who left Burundi in 1972. Some of the land is gone, some is occupied by friends and family.” She said it was necessary to establish a commission to handle disputes, and develop large tracts of unoccupied land for those who do not have access to their own. “These sorts of plans are in the pipeline,” she said.