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Dispatches No. 251
Up | January 19, 2009
REFUGEE NEWS BRIEFINGS
UPDATES ON JRS PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
REFUGEE NEWS BRIEFINGS
ETHIOPIA: REFUGEE INFLUX EXPECTED AS ARMY WITHDRAWS FROM SOMALIA
On 15 January, Ethiopian troops supporting the Somali government withdrew completely from the capital Mogadishu, leaving a power vacuum that is expected to lead to further bloodshed.
Analysts fear the withdrawal of approximately 3,000 Ethiopian soldiers will cause more violence in Somalia, which has been mired in civil conflict for the last 18 years. JRS teams are preparing for significant numbers of new arrivals into the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Regional and international efforts to put an end to the situation have repeatedly failed. Of late, the Ethiopian government cited the failure of the international community and Somali leaders, crippled by internal divisions, to provide the necessary support. The withdrawal leaves 3,500 African Union peacekeepers in the city in desperate need of reinforcements.
Ethiopia and Kenya host more than 330,000 Somali refugees, with thousands more arriving each month. Many of those unable to flee Somali have lost their lives, while others have been separated from their families. In the last 12 months alone, 10,000 civilians have been killed, around one million displaced and more than three million are in need of emergency assistance. Two additional camps in eastern Ethiopia, Teferiber/Aw-Barre and Sheder, have been set up to cater for the additional arrivals.
In early December, according to reports by the Daily Monitor, Al Shabaab took control of Gurael, 370km north of the capital, killing 13 people and wounding dozens of others. In early January, fighting between militant groups, Al-Shabab and Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a displaced almost 80,000 people in the towns of Dusamareb and Guri-Eil, north of the Somali capital.
The latest conflict broke out when the Union of Islamic Courts tried to oust the Transitional Federal Government in June 2006. Ethiopia intervened in support of the Somali transitional government. Even though the Union of Islamic Courts was defeated, the conflict escalated. In 2008, Al Shabaab militant group attacked transitional government forces and its Ethiopian allies. The Al Shabaab group is reported to have captured a substantial number of towns in southern Somalia and is currently moving rapidly towards the capital Mogadishu.
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BURUNDI: PEACE PROCESS IS MAKING FURTHER PROGRESS
On 9 January, the last active armed rebel group in Burundi, the FNL-Palipehutu, agreed to remove Palipehutu (referring to the ethnic composition of the party) from its name. They will seek accreditation as a political party, the FNL, Forces for National Liberation.
The FNL had long refused to rename the movement. This latest move is a major element of the agreement signed between the government and the FNL on 4 December, intended to implement a 2006 peace accord.
The FNL leader, Agathon Rwasa, claimed this is a significant step demonstrating the movement has ended the war and stands for peace. He called on the government to demonstrate its goodwill. Between the 3 and 5 December, the government released 80 of 247 political prisoners in accordance with the December agreement. However, the FNL pointed out that the international mediator had established the number of political prisoners at 442.
As agreed, the government also proposed 33 governmental posts to senior FNL members. An offer the FNL refused, describing it as "crumbs". In addition, the FNL had agreed to disarm and send its combatants to assembly areas by the 31 December. They have yet to do so.
The December agreement was reached under considerable international and regional pressure. The mediators, led by South Africa, had given the government and the rebels until the end of 2008 to reach agreement or risk losing regional support. The political and military integration of the FNL, which sporadically launched attacks, is considered by some analysts to be the last barrier to lasting stability in the small central African nation of Burundi. More than a decade of civil war resulted in the death of 300,000 people and led to the displacement of many more.
Since 2002, more than 470,000 Burundians have returned home, over 90,000 alone in 2008. Since April 2007, JRS has provided technical and financial support to Burundian returnees in three eastern provinces, helping them to establish food security projects.
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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC): CEASEFIRE NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE
On 15 January, during the third round of direct talks in Kenya, between the government and the rebel National Congress in Defence of the people (CNDP) approved a document setting out the ground rules for 'substantive discussions'. However, the negotiations under the aegis of the UN and the African Union, have not yet led to the signing of a ceasefire agreement. Talks have been adjourned until 25 January.
The rebel movement had long demanded direct talks as a precondition to an end to violence in the eastern province of North Kivu which has displaced an estimated one million people. The latest round of violence erupted at the end of August, ending hopes for a successful implementation of a ceasefire agreement signed in January 2008.
UN official described progress in the negotiations as slow but steady. The talks had already been suspended several times after the rebels failed to respect their unilaterally declared ceasefire. There have been no major outbreaks of fighting between government and CNDP forces since the rebel-declared ceasefire last October. Nevertheless, clashes between CNDP and presumed pro-governmental militias continue.
JRS staff working in the Goma area reported their education, sanitation and humanitarian assistance projects were slowly restarting. Many local schools have reopened. Former JRS Goma staff member and Spanish Jesuit, Juanjo Aguado, told Dispatches JRS intends to make up for lost time. The team will increase its support to teachers to provide supplementary classes for the students. Fr Aguado, who finished in early January, expressed his desire that all projects reopen in the near future.
Meanwhile, the CNDP finds itself in the middle of a leadership crisis. On 5 January, the chief of staff of the rebel movement, Bosco Ntaganda, announced that the CNDP rebel leader Laurent Nkunda had been discharged. The Nkunda camp was quick to reject Bosco's. According to UN peacekeepers, the apparent split within the movement has not yet broken out into open fighting.
In addition, on 22 December, the UN Security Council extended, as expected, the mandate for UN peacekeepers in the Congo until 31 December 2009. The Council broadened the mandate authorising peacekeepers to use their monitoring and inspection capacities to halt illicit trade in natural resources. Numerous reports have demonstrated that all the main parties in the conflict in eastern DRC, including the Congolese army, are financed through the extraction and sale of the region's mineral wealth.
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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC): HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS KILLED AND TENS OF THOUSANDS DISPLACED IN THE NORTHEAST
On 16 January, humanitarian agencies working in the northeastern district of Haut-Uele accused the Ugandan rebel movement, the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), of a series of attacks on local villages since 24 December which have led to the deaths of several hundred civilians and displaced tens of thousands more. A LRA spokesman denied responsibility and blamed the attacks on the Ugandan army.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) estimated the total number of internally displaced at 115,000 and the death toll at 567 people since September when the first rebel attacks on civilians were registered. Caritas, a Catholic NGO, estimates that 400 civilians have been killed since Christmas Eve. Aid workers pointed out that the military presence and poor roads have made some areas inaccessible to aid deliveries, leaving thousands of displaced persons in deplorable conditions.
In mid-December, Uganda, Sudan and the DRC launched a series of air raids on LRA bases in northeastern Congo after their leader, Joseph Kony, failed once again to sign a final peace accord with the Ugandan government. On 12 January, Kony pleaded for the cessation of hostilities. The UN special envoy, Joachim Chissano, backed the military operation, saying it would force the rebel leader to sign the peace deal. However, UN peacekeepers in the country stressed that they only provided logistical support and that they neither took part in the planning nor the implementation of the operations.
The rebels are notorious for their brutality and the kidnapping of children. Mr Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He says that the ICC has to drop the arrest warrant before he can sign a peace deal which would end 20 years of civil war in Uganda.
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NEPAL: REFUGEE LEADERS ASK NEPAL TO HELP SOLVE BHUTANESE REFUGEE CRISIS
On 17 December, Bhutanese refugee leaders welcomed assurances made by the Nepali government to form a taskforce to resolve the Bhutanese refugee crisis.
The president of the Bhutan People's Party (BPP), Bala Ram Poudel, stated that the international community and the Nepalese government should take initiatives to resolve the Bhutanese refugee crisis in Nepal. He urged the Nepalese government to implement the commitment made in its annual programmes and policies regarding the resolution of the refugee crisis.
Approximately 103,000 refugees live in seven different camps in Jhapa and Morang districts managed by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) with some having been in exile for as long as 18 years. JRS Nepal manages a number of education, teacher training, counselling and guidance, disability, youth, pre-school and vocational training programmes, benefiting more than 50,000 refugees.
Around 8,000 have been resettled in third countries after seven different western countries, including the US, agreed to accept around 60,000 refugees. Of them, 7,500 have been resettled in 33 different states of USA, 365 in Australia, 134 in New Zealand and others in Canada, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. The refugees have been divided into two categories — favouring resettlement and willing to be repatriated. Some 16,000-18,000 of them are expected to leave Nepal in 2009.
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SRI LANKA: APPEAL FOR ACCESS TO 300,000 TRAPPED BY WAR
The Bishop of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka, Thomas Savundaranayagam, once again appealed to the government in Colombo and the leaders of the Tamil insurgent group, the LTTE, for an immediate ceasefire to allow aid through to 300,000 people caught in the middle of their war.
In a 12 January statement to the prime minister of Sri Lanka and embassies, the Bishop of Jaffna, Thomas Savundaranayagam, reminded them that the civilian population do not have anywhere to go. Accompanied by priests, they gather in the churches and temples, traditional places of refuge in time of danger in our country. He pleaded with the government to desist from firing mortar shells at places of worship and stop aerial bombings of civilian-populated areas.
Speaking to Vatican radio on 14 January, JRS International Director, Peter Balleis SJ, described the situation in the northeast of the island nation as a second Gaza. Fr Balleis urged the government and insurgents to immediately call a ceasefire and start negotiations to reach a political solution, create safe zones for civilians, ensure the delivery of sufficient food and medicine to Vavuniya and allow international monitors to assess the needs of the people trapped in the conflict areas.
"Around 300,000 people, that is two thirds of the civilian population have been forced out of their homes and are living in camps in areas controlled by the LTTE. They are trapped in the northeastern district of Vavuniya, not more than 50 square kilometres, the size of Gaza", Fr Balleis said.
"It is the last stronghold of the LTTE which imposes a strict pass system, preventing people from moving to safer places. They are crowded together in temporary shelters, surrounded by mud, with no promise of regular access to food or adequate sanitation," Fr Balleis added.
JRS together with Caritas and the International Red Cross are among the very few aid groups operative on the ground in the area where the war is waging.
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UPDATES ON JRS PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
UGANDA: ADJUMANI PROJECT CLOSES AFTER 16 YEARS
On 14 December, JRS Eastern Africa closed the Adjumani project after assisting Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda for 16 years.
At the closing celebrations, JRS Eastern Africa regional director and former Adjumani project director, Fr Frido Pflueger, thanked the local community for the way they welcomed Sudanese refugees.
"You have given one of the best examples of how refugees can be received," he said, pointing out that this rarely happens in other countries.
Refugees and others assisted by JRS also expressed their gratitude.
"We are left strong as JRS leaves. JRS has empowered us economically, intellectually and spiritually", Longa Kassim, representative of the refugee community and head teacher at one of the schools said.
"The peace education provided by JRS has brought harmony to our camps. We assure you that our sons and daughters supported by JRS will be the future leaders of tomorrow", he added.
District and government representatives also underlined the benefit of the programmes, acknowledging that without JRS, the district would not be where it is today. For a long time, the JRS Alere Secondary School was the best in the district. Over the years, JRS has provided education to around 30,000 students per year in over 30 nursery, 40 primary and five secondary schools, as well as tertiary and peace education programmes and an affirmative action programme for girls education.
After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005 repatriation began slowly in 2006 and finally in 2007 and 2008 huge numbers of refugees returned home, leaving most of the 50-odd settlements. While in 2006 there were still 90,000 refugees in Adjumani and nearby Moyo, their number has now reduced to 20,000, most of whom will return home this month.
As JRS leaves, almost all the schools have been handed over to the district authorities. The government has taken over responsibility for the continuation of all education services and 70 refugee teachers have been employed. Pastoral services have been integrated into the work of the local church of Arua Diocese and catechists have acquired adequate knowledge and skills to fulfil their duties in over 40 chapels.
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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: FIRST TEACHER TRAINING SESSION SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED
"We cannot grow without education. The progress of a society depends upon the quality of the men and women in it. In this sense, teacher training is essential for the development of our schools", declared the chief education inspector of the northeastern province of Hautte-Kotto, Mr Manassé Tekpa, during a JRS-sponsored teacher training session on 20 December.
From 15 until 30 December, JRS sponsored training workshops for 237 teachers from 84 schools in the cities of Markounda and Bria. The programme was facilitated by state education inspectors and other school officials, while JRS supervised the meetings and provided material support, such as food and transport.
In line with national standards, participants received training on pedagogic methods and subjects on the curriculum. Participants must complete five sessions to become state-recognised teachers. In cooperation with the education ministry, local communities and teachers, JRS also hopes to help improve the quality of workshops.
JRS plans to supervise more such workshops throughout the year and will adjust its activities to meet the needs of the beneficiaries and respond to the feedback provided by teachers. Overall, participants responded positively to the programme and the role played by JRS.
"The workshop was extremely positive. It will help me to improve the quality of teaching in the village. I hope these sessions continue and that JRS is involved in helping organise them", said one parent-teacher.
The war between government and rebel forces has devastated the education sector, with only 32 percent of pupils completing primary education in 2005 and 50 percent of children currently attending primary school. The rate is significantly lower in war zones where school systems have basically collapsed. Due to chaos in the north, most students have fled and teachers have abandoned their posts. Consequently, many communities rely on volunteer parent teachers.
"Many of these volunteers are poorly educated and more teachers are needed. JRS is here to help educate and support those who want to improve the quality of education services provided to their children", JRS project officer Mr Jerome Gnammankou Kouassi told Dispatches.
In one of the world's poorest nations, the northern districts are plagued by insecurity as rebels and bandits have been fighting government troops since President Francois Bozizé seized power in 2003 and was subsequently elected in 2005. Although the conflict subsided after a peace accord was signed in April 2007, much remains to be done. After peace talks last month, President Bozizé pledged to form a new unity government.
In addition to teacher training workshops, JRS is currently involved in the reconstruction of schools. Last October, it established a national office in the capital, Bangui, from where it coordinates education and pastoral projects in the north of the country.
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EUROPE: JRS LAUNCHES NEW RESEARCH PROJECT
In early January, JRS Europe launched its latest research project on the conditions of detention for asylum seekers in extremely vulnerable circumstances, known as the Detention of Vulnerable Asylum Seekers or the DEVAS project.
The project is partly funded by the European Commission and will be implemented in 23 EU states by partners throughout the continent, particularly national JRS offices. The project will run for an 18-month period and seeks to identify detention conditions and practices towards vulnerable asylum seekers. The research will also examine how asylum seekers in particularly vulnerable circumstances cope with their detention.
The project will be led by a steering committee whose task will be to guide the research. Each project partner will write a national report, which will be published as part of a final regional report. The report and its accompanying advocacy strategy will be provided to EU policy makers and other interested parties at a conference next year in Brussels.
Three questionnaires will be used to interview the distinct groups: detainees, NGO staff and staff in the closed centres. Research will also be carried out to establish the existing legislation on detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants in each country.
Increasingly, asylum seekers arriving in Europe are detained in closed centres. The detention of vulnerable asylum seekers is a concern as these individuals require a higher degree of protection due to circumstances which put them at an increased risk of abuse and neglect. While all asylum seekers require the full protection of the law, vulnerable individuals require a higher standard of protection.
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USA: KINO BORDER INITIATIVE TO LAUNCH BI-NATIONAL MINISTRY
On 18 January 2009, the Kino Border Initiative (KBI) will be inaugurated on the US-Mexico border to serve the communities of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora in Mexico, and the people who pass through this historic corridor of trade and culture.
"What we'll be trying to do is to help people find a safe place to talk about the issues of migration … We'll be going into parishes, talking at and after masses with groups of adults and groups of students, trying to see how our faith, our sense of being brothers and sisters in the Lord can somehow influence who we are as men and women who live on one or the other side of the border," JRS USA Director, Ken Gavin SJ, said on 13 January.
The new ministry is being launched as a bi-national partnership of Jesuit and Catholic organisations and laypersons on both sides of the border. JRS USA will cooperate with the Jesuit Migration Service in Mexico. KBI will offer education services and social assistance, as well as undertaking research and advocacy.
In Nogales, Arizona, KBI will also cooperate with local priests on both sides of the border to make parish-based presentations and offer workshops on migration policy and Catholic social teaching. It will welcome delegations of students and visiting scholars from high schools, universities, and parishes seeking opportunities to engage with the complex realities of the US-Mexico border and immigration policies.
In Nogales, Sonora, the KBI will be responsible for staffing the Aid Centre for Deported Migrants (CAMDEP), a diocesan-sponsored care centre where migrants deported from the US can receive a meal and guidance, and the Nazareth House for Deported Women, a short-term shelter for unaccompanied women who are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. The Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist will administer these facilities located near the port of Mariposa.
According to John P McGarry SJ, Provincial of California Jesuit Province, KBI is the culmination of three years of dialogue and discernment to see how best provincial resources can be used to serve and foster solidarity with those most directly affected by immigration and enforcement policies along the border.
To view a video and a slide show about the KBI produced by JRS USA, visit: www.jrsusa.org/kino
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