24 oktober
artikel met commentaar van editor
Comments: It is a brilliant piece of work Easy to read and understand
Focused on the point you are discussing Reasonable length Shows you understand
well the issue you are discussing However, avoid acronyms if you cannot qualify
them, i.e. UNHCR, WFP… (of course many people may know them but not all) Keep
it up!
UNHCR determined to support efforts on refugees’ security
……………………………………………………………………………………………… UNHCR has been in the frontline to
repatriate refugees to Burundi. During an interview with Daily Times, UNHCR's
representative in Tanzania, MR CHRYSANTUS ACHE, explains the role of UNHCR and
the challenges it faces in the process of fulfilling its mandate. Correspondent
SELMA STEENHUISEN reports further on this. Excerpts:
……………………………………………………………………………………………… IN Tanzania, UNHCR works in collaboration
with the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF to manage a total number of
378,957 refugees who are currently hosted in the camps in the north-west
regions of Tanzania. Since the 1950s, when political unrest started in Burundi
and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), victims of violence and war have
been fleeing to Tanzania in search of protection. Fleeing to one of the poorest
and most densely populated parts of the country, refugees often experience
insecurity and desolation upon their arrival. UNHCR was founded in 1950 and
mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and
resolve refugee problems worldwide and safeguard the rights and well being of
refugees. This is exactly what UNHCR does in Tanzania. It is involved in 14
different camps and, in co-operation with WFP and UNICEF, UNHCR serves refugees
and enables them to live a normal life as well as repatriate them should the
situation in their country of origin settles again.
The year 2004, was coloured
by two events. One was a positive outcome of the elections in Burundi that
caused a major increase in the number of voluntary repatriates. The number rose
from 2,006 in April this year to 13,746 last August. When asked whether he
could foretell the day all the camps would be closed, Mr Ache replied that since
the region of the Great Lakes has been violent for too long, it was too early
to expect that. “UNHCR is here to stay,” he stressed. “However, it is an
emergency organization, not a development agency like the other UN agencies,”
he said. The second event was less positive. Due to lack of funds, WFP was not
able to provide the refugees with the minimum food provision. Instead of the
2000 kcal a day, people had to survive on as little as 1399 kcal.
Recently,
after a call for donations, the UN agencies have been able to increase this to
86 per cent of the approved ration level. Refugees are not allowed to work or
leave the camp for security reasons, for they fully depend on the support of
the UN agencies for their living. Only few have the chance to work as gardeners
or sungasunga (guard) at the camps and earn a small income from that. Because
of the backwardness of the region, UNHCR goes beyond its mandate and builds
schools and hospitals for both locals and refugees. Mr. Ache's efforts are
geared towards the refugees’ adequate protection. One way of protecting them is
through high security and not allowing different nationalities in the camps.
Another type of protection is to make sure that human rights are respected and
people have a chance to engage in different activities, go to school, and live
a normal family life.
Although the UN has been widely criticized, Mr Ache
asserts there is no justification to stop supporting refugees to live with
dignity. As globalisation takes momentum there is a need for an international
body to control and interact in international affairs, he says. Co-operation
between different agencies offers a possibility of reaching out to vulnerable
groups of our society and relieve their problems. He, therefore, laid more
emphasis on reforms and believed the world summit had given enough content for
dialogue to take the UN into the future.
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