Repatriations below target, UN agency says

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, has said it repatriated less than half the number of refugees it expected to return to Burundi last year, mainly due to political developments in the country. In a report released on Wednesday, UNHCR said it had planned to repatriate some 150,000 refugees but only facilitated the return of 66,424 out of the 68,108 Burundians who came home in 2005. "The below expectation result is due to political, security, and socioeconomic conditions in which the operation was held," the agency said. From January to June 2005 only 15,428 refugees were repatriated. UNHCR attributed this to the political situation, which was marked by quarrels among Burundi's parties over the constitution and misunderstandings over the transitional period. When the political situation improved, "with the successful democratic elections" that culminated in the August presidential poll, the returnees increased; reaching 44,385 from July to October 2005, with a 16,000 peak in August alone. However, another drop occurred from November to December, with only 6,611 returnees in the two months. This, UNHCR said, was mainly due to the activities of the rebel Forces nationales de liberation (FNL). Poor socioeconomic conditions, particularly food shortages in some regions, also contributed to the decline. The majority of the returnees, UNHCR said, were from Tanzania, which still hosts 400,000 Burundian refugees. Most of those still in Tanzania fled Burundi in 1993 and 1996, but there are also others who fled in 1972. Some 4,306 were repatriated from neighbouring Rwanda since June 2005. With an agreement between the Burundi government and the FNL expected to be concluded this year, UNHCR expects more refugees to return, "especially starting July at the end of the school year in refugee camps". This year, the agency plans to repatriate at least 100,000 refugees, but said persistent food shortages could pose a handicap. This could especially occur in Burundi's northern and eastern provinces where the shortages have, in recent months, prompted local residents to flee to neighbouring Tanzania and Rwanda.