Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-01-16-Speech-2-265"
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"en.20010116.11.2-265"2
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". – I am pleased to inform the honourable Member and this House that the Commission has taken and continues to take appropriate measures in relation to the nutrition and repatriation situation of Burundian refugees in Tanzania.
I visited Tanzania in March 2000 and on that occasion I also went to see camps with refugees from Burundi. The overall number of refugees in Tanzania, including those from Burundi, continues to grow. By the end of 2000 there were approximately 500 000 refugees in camps in Western Tanzania of whom around 360 000 were Burundians, 110 000 Congolese and the remainder Rwandans, Somalis and other nationalities.
Through ECHO the Commission funds more than one third of the total humanitarian aid available to refugees in Tanzania. In the year 2000, ECHO's budget for aid to Tanzanian refugees was EUR 26.85 m. ECHO's level of support is expected to remain substantially the same this year. The key partners in Tanzania are the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the UNHCR, UNICEF and the World Food Programme. The main objectives of the humanitarian aid are multi-sector care of refugees, feeding, education, health care for children and finally, public health, water and sanitation in the camps.
As to the standard of nutrition inside the camps, ECHO contributes one third of the total cost of the World Food Programme in Tanzania, which provides a balanced daily ration of 2166 calories per refugee, well over the minimum recommended by the WHO. The WFP recently alerted the international community to potential problems of supply, which would be due to delays in funding from sources other than the Commission, and daily rations were temporarily reduced to 80%. However, the rations remained adequate in view of the fact that many refugees have access to additional sources of food.
In 1999, FAO joined the international relief operation by introducing a programme to improve nutrition standards among the most vulnerable households. In collaboration with UNHCR, FAO provided 15 000 families in six of the camps with seeds and hand tools in order to plant household and community vegetable gardens. Training was given and FAO estimates that more than 50 000 people have benefited directly from the project. I have seen this programme and it is in fact so well-organised and so neat that the alternative that we can offer the refugees when they return looks much less organised. But, of course, this is what we are going to support.
Concerning the possible repatriation of Burundian refugees in Tanzania following the signing of the peace agreement at the Arusha Summit, the Commission is maintaining a state of readiness for this eventuality. I was myself present at the Burundi donors' conference chaired by Nelson Mandela in Paris in December, which endorsed the peace agreement. The Commission is pursuing a twin-track approach. Firstly, the current level of humanitarian assistance to refugees will be maintained while they remain in Tanzania. Secondly, should the conditions be met for their repatriation – and we are pushing everybody concerned and some who do not think they should be concerned to make this happen – then the funds allocated by ECHO to the Tanzania programme will follow the refugees back home.
An additional sum of EUR 25 million has been allocated by the Development DG under the Lomé Convention's Article 255 to assist UNHCR in a planned and orderly repatriation. At this stage, the preconditions for an orderly and voluntary repatriation unfortunately are not met. This was discussed in ECHO's annual strategic programming meeting with UNHCR in December when it was agreed that repatriation may only take place if all parties are convinced that the security situation inside Burundi is stabilised and sustainable. This is a major operation of ours and we want to follow it through to a successful conclusion."@en1
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