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Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2000 19:49:55 +0200 
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Subject: ANGOLA: Visit uncovers "problems and prospects" for IDPs/CORRECTI
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ANGOLA: Visit uncovers "problems and prospects" for IDPs/CORRECTION/

ATTN SUBSCRIBERS: Please note the statement by Francis Deng was released by
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

JOHANNESBURG, 9 November (IRIN) - Francis Deng, the Representative of the UN
Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, on Thursday ended a
nine-day mission to Angola to assess and discuss the situation of IDPs with
the government and humanitarian agencies.

"Overall, the Representative found a marked improvement in the situation of
the internally displaced and in terms of the national and international
response to their plight," a statement released in Luanda by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said. "Emphasising the primary
responsibility of the state for meeting the needs of its internally
displaced population, the Representative was encouraged to learn that the
government has taken important steps to improve institutional arrangements
at the national and provincial levels and its coordination with the
international community, in particular United Nations agencies."
  
However, the statement noted: "Such developments notwithstanding, the
Representative's visits to the field revealed that a number of problems
remain. Humanitarian action is constrained by the prevailing climate of
insecurity, characterised by armed attacks on civilians, banditry, and the
extensive presence and continued use of landmines, giving rise to problems
of access, which is generally limited to provincial capitals and certain
towns. There are also severe logistical constraints.

"The Representative was seriously concerned at the lack of effective
protection accorded to the physical security and human rights of the
internally displaced. The Representative was informed of incidents of
harassment, theft of food and non-food items by UNITA and government armed
forces (FAA) and the national police, incidents of rape, forced
conscription, forced relocation and a distinct lack of effective remedies to
address such situations. It was noted that where such concerns are brought
to the attention of the military and provincial authorities little tangible
progress is made," the statement said.  

"It was also noted that on-going guerrilla activity by UNITA forces,
including the kidnapping and trading of children, as well as forced
conscription of children and adults as porters, are causing displacement, as
are the FAA's 'mopping up' operations which are expected to increase in
intensity in the coming months," Deng's mission revealed.

"The Representative noted an urgent and compelling need for a more focused
and active approach to protection, both by the government and the
international community, through building the national and provincial
capacity to prevent and address such problems, and increasing the
international protection presence in the provinces through, for example,
training staff already in the field in raising protection concerns with the
authorities," the statement said. 

Deng's visit discovered that while coordination mechanisms exist at the
national and provincial levels for the welfare of IDPs, a number of problems
exist in their effective implementation. "For instance, in one camp for the
displaced in the province of Moxico, the Representative found that the
health post was not yet functioning because it lacked a door and windows and
was therefore not considered suitably secure to receive supplies of
essential medicines which were otherwise available for delivery," the
statement said. "In the same camp, discrepancies over the distribution of
seeds was another example of the flaws in the implementation process. In a
camp in the province of Bie, the Representative found that the failure of
the local authorities and United Nations agencies to register the internally
displaced in a timely manner had resulted in their going without food
assistance for a number of months."

During his visit to the province of Huambo, the Representative saw both the
problems and prospects facing the internally displaced. In a transit centre
in the town of Caala, the internally displaced were found to be living in
appalling conditions, in a derelict building and in and underneath two train
carriages. 

"The Representative was struck by the overriding sense of despair and
depression amongst the displaced. This stood in stark contrast to the
welcome received by the Representative at a resettlement area at Cantao
Pahula during which the displaced listed their needs for non-food items and
seeds. This in turn stood in contrast to the Representative's visit to the
resettlement area at Lepi, where the displaced were in the process of
completing the construction of dwellings which were decent, where there were
integrated health, water and sanitation services, school and health
facilities and where the displaced went about their business with little or
no concern for the Representative's visit," the statement said. 

The project was funded by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) with food assistance provided by WFP, and was implemented by
a national NGO, Oikos, at relatively modest cost. The Representative
suggested that it be replicated elsewhere with special attention to
security. 

[ENDS]

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