Peace in Sri Lanka

Durable Solutions Progress Report
A weekly bulletin of the United Nations IDP Working Group
May 13-19

More than 71,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), or roughly 14,200 families, have returned to their homes since the beginning of the year in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts, according to information supplied by government authorities and cross-checked by UNHCR field offices. More than 35,000 returnees in Jaffna District account for nearly half the total (see Figure 1 for district-by-district breakdown). Precise week-by-week figures are not available, but indications are that the magnitude of return has clearly increased since the Feb. 23 cease-fire agreement.

Although UNHCR continues to maintain that conditions in Sri Lanka are not yet conducive to promote or facilitate large-scale, organised IDP return or repatriation of refugees from India, the agency is monitoring closely the situation of spontaneous returns to ensure that they occur voluntarily, with safety and dignity. In terms of assistance, the agency is supplying IDP returnees with needs-based packages of non-food relief items, such as plastic sheeting, cooking utensils, mosquito nets, towels and soap, and plastic jerry-cans, in co-ordination with government authorities and other partners.

Major concerns remain regarding the risk of landmines and unexploded ordinance in both actual and potential areas of return.

Despite UNHCR’s reservations about promotion or facilitation of large-scale, organized repatriation at this stage, the agency has agreed to assist in the return of 16 extremely vulnerable refugees from south Indian camps for pressing humanitarian reasons. A group of three persons is expected to be repatriated before the end of this month, with the others to follow shortly thereafter.

More than 600 of the estimated 66,000 Sri Lankan refugees living in government camps in south India have during the course of the last year requested UNHCR’s assistance to return. Of these, approximately 70 have recently reiterated their requests to UNHCR, and Indian and Sri Lankan authorities have given the agency permission to proceed. UNHCR has begun the process of interviewing these refugees to determine whether their return is voluntary and to begin assessing places to which they propose to return in terms of safety, infrastructure and shelter, opportunities for work and other standard criteria.

Refugees repatriated by UNHCR will have their travel expenses paid for and receive upon return an additional Rs. 5,000 per adult and Rs. 2,500 per minor, as well as non-food relief assistance such as that given to IDPs. Modalities of repatriation, as well as the level of assistance the government can provide, are two of the topics to be discussed at a meeting on voluntary repatriation that UNHCR is scheduling with the relevant government authorities.

More than 50 refugees crossed the Palk Straits in fishing boats from India to Mannar in April, according to information received, and such spontaneous returns appear to be continuing. UNHCR has urged local residents to advise refugee returnees to report to one of its offices upon arrival in Sri Lanka should they need assistance to get home and re-establish residence safely and with dignity.

Recognizing the financial constraints of the government, UNHCR is encouraging national authorities to utilise the existing Unified Assistance Scheme in such a way that all returnees, IDPs and refugees alike, will receive support according to their needs as early as possible after contacting government authorities.

The importance of inter-agency co-ordination and co-operation in support of the Government of Sri Lanka to identify durable solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) figured significantly in the debriefings and subsequent reports of both United Nations missions that visited the country in late April.

The UN Inter-Agency Need Assessment Mission, from April 21 to May 3, and the UN IDP Mission, from April 21 to April 28, were part of the initial stage of a process intended to establish for the UN a more pro-active role in assisting the Government in prioritising needs, co-ordinating efforts, and programming for recovery as the peace process unfolds.

The two-week visit of the inter-agency mission was the initial part of a needs assessment process to be continued by the UN Country Team in Sri Lanka, consisting of Resident Co-ordinator Miguel Bermeo and heads of individual UN agencies. The IDP mission’s findings will be part of this needs-assessment exercise, from which recommendations will be submitted to the government regarding a variety of issues of significance to IDPs and other war-affected persons.

At the suggestion of Mr. Kofi Asomani, UN Special Co-ordinator on Internal Displacement and leader of the IDP Mission, a UN inter-agency working group on IDPs has been formed to provide more timely and detailed information to all stakeholders on spontaneous returnees and their immediate needs. UNHCR is chairing the IDP Working Group, which will also include representatives from UNICEF, UNDP, WFP, FAO, UNFPA and the Office of the Resident Co-ordinator.

At its initial two meetings last week, the IDP working group devised a rapid-assessment survey form to be used in determining the most pressing needs of returning IDPs. Over the coming weeks, UN agencies and their partners will conduct preliminary needs assessments in areas of IDP return, looking at a broad spectrum of issues, including the availability and condition of shelter; access to nutritious food and clean water; availability of medical care, schools and other public support systems. Return areas will also be assessed for the existence of protection concerns, including the presence of landmines or unexploded ordinance, and the human rights situation.

Information shared among agencies at working group meetings will be disseminated to a wider audience through the Durable Solutions Progress Report, which will be published weekly and distributed to government authorities, civil society, donors and the media. The Progress Report is intended to update a broad range of actors on priority needs and major issues as IDPs and refugees attempt to
(re-)integrate into communities and (re-)establish normalcy.

Mr. Asomani emphasised in his post-visit report that the UN system must work with the donor community to ensure that investment in rehabilitation, reintegration and recovery activities are an integral part of the peace-building process. Addressing the needs of refugee and IDP returnees, he stressed, cannot wait until a negotiated settlement is concluded.

With this in mind, the IDP Working Group will continue to brief all stakeholders on issues related to IDP and refugee return in the weeks leading up to the June 5-6 Local Development Forum, at which the UN plan for supporting the management of the spontaneous return of IDPs and refugees for the remainder of 2002 will be presented.

The UN country team is working closely together to develop a national mine-action programme to respond to the most urgent protection concerns with relation to spontaneous IDP and refugee returnees, as well as other war-affected groups. A UN Interagency Mine-Action Working Group (UNIMAWG) has been formed with representatives from UNDP, UNHCR, UNICEF and the UN Resident Coordinator’s office. Three technical advisors have been recruited by UNDP as part of the Preparatory Assistance Project funded by the World Bank and UNDP.

UNHCR’s primary responsibility with relation to mine-action issues within the current context is to identify priority areas of potential IDP and refugee return where de-mining and mine awareness activities are required. UNICEF is the lead UN agency on mine-risk education (MRE) and will work closely in that capacity with UNHCR in areas where large numbers of people have returned, are returning or could potentially return. Recommendations from UNICEF’s recent evaluation of the MRE programme will guide the agency’s response in the coming months. UNDP is responsible for the overall administration of US $1 million donated by the World Bank for UN mine action.

The island-wide registration of IDPs, which is being conducted by the Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees (MRRR) with the support of UNHCR, has shifted south- and eastward, while continuing in some areas of the North. The survey began on April 3 in six districts within the Northern Province; as of Friday, May 17, the actual surveying of IDPs had been completed in Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya South districts, with only the preliminary tabulation of registration forms to be done.

The basic aim of the survey, being carried out by Census Department-trained enumerators wherever IDPs reside, is to provide the Government, UNHCR and other actors with information about the post-displacement history, socio-economic condition, health status and future plans of IDPs as prospects for durable solutions continue to emerge.

UNHCR has assisted the MRRR in devising questionnaires for the registration, as well as publicising and monitoring the survey. Furthermore, UNHCR has kept close contact with Government Agents to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of all completed as well as excess forms, both of which will be sent to Colombo for final analysis of data.

All persons currently living in the country who have been forced or obliged to leave their homes because of armed conflict, situations of generalised violence or violations of human rights since 1983 are eligible to register, as are formerly displaced persons who have returned home after Dec. 31, 2000.

Publicity for the registration has been given through a poster campaign, newspaper advertisements, and radio and television public-service announcements co-ordinated by UNHCR and the MRRR. Most publicity has been in the vernacular languages, however English-language newspaper advertising has begun to target the IDP population in and around Colombo.

The MRRR has instructed IDPs in the South, Central and Eastern parts of the island, where registration is only now beginning in some areas, to contact their Government Agents for details about where and when registration will be held. A preliminary report on the survey is expected in June.

UNHCR continues to stress the primary importance of co-ordinated policy, planning and interventions among all actors working toward durable solutions for IDPs and refugees through the newly created Policy, Planning and Co-ordination Unit (PPCU) within the MRRR. A Geographic Information Systems (GIS) consultant employed by UNHCR began work during the week at the PPCU. Aided by two UNHCR information specialists in Sri Lanka on mission, this consultant has begun co-ordinating GIS-based information gathering and analysis efforts among governmental and non-governmental partners, with data from the IDP registration used to plan protection and assistance efforts for returning IDPs and refugees. Officials from the MRRR, PPCU, Census Department, GTZ and UNHCR met on May 18 to begin exploring ways in which information pertaining to IDPs and refugee returnees can be shared wherever possible to minimise redundancy and maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian actors involved in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.