UNHCR gives special assistance to vulnerable returnees

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has donated some US $130,000 as extra assistance to vulnerable returnees settled in six of Rwanda's provinces, UNHCR said on Friday. The special assistance included corrugated iron sheets to shelter 336 families, and money for a health insurance policy, popularly known as "Mutuelle", that will benefit 6,950 families, UNHCR said. Part of the money would also go towards renovating two schools in two of the provinces, and to buy hoes as well as national identification cards for returnees in all six. The provinces are Butare, Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Kibungo, Kigali-rural and Kibuye, which have been most of whom fled Rwanda at the height of 1994 Rwandan genocide. The head of Rwanda's refugee commission, Sheikh Abdulkarim Harerimana, said the donation would help impoverished returnees to start normalising their living conditions. On arriving at a transit camp, returnees are normally given a standard repatriation package by UNHCR consisting of a three-month food ration and basic non-food items such as jerry cans, kitchen sets, blankets, soap and plastic sheeting. An enhanced repatriation package which included seeds and hoes was given to returnees from Tanzania in January, according to UNHCR-Kigali.