IOM has released the first report of its Community-based Return
Monitoring Project.  The project aims to measure the effect on
communities of recent large-scale return and reintegration of
internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The report is based on a survey of more than five hundred chefe
aldeia (village chiefs), women, returning IDPs and other community
members across 144 communities in Dili. It focuses primarily on the
effects on communities of population movements, stability,
perceptions of access to services and livelihoods and ongoing
assistance provided.

According to the government, of the over 100,000 people believed
to have been displaced as a result of the 2006 civil and political
unrest, 7,700 families (nearly 40,000 people) have so far benefited
from return and reintegration assistance under the National
Recovery Strategy.

Over the past six months, a majority of these families - many of
whom lived in camps for more than two years - have returned to
their villages of origin or resettled in other Dili
neighbourhoods.  As a result, some villages have had to absorb
more than a hundred families.

In order to help the government to better understand the return
dynamics, IOM monitoring teams met with various groups in these
communities to collect information about the perceived impact of
returns.

The results showed that, while many communities did not raise
specific concerns, some communities reported perceived challenges
in absorbing IDPs. These tended to be related to unresolved
conflicts between community members and returned IDPs or to
tensions arising over land and access to basic resources.

The IOM Monitoring Project is one element of a multi-faceted
effort by the government and partners to better understand the
nature of tensions and conflicts that may negatively impact the
sustainability of the return of the displaced to their
communities.

"This project is aimed at providing the government, relevant
local actors and international and non-governmental organizations
with information that can be used to inform programmes that aim to
strengthen the sustainability of ongoing return and reintegration
initiatives," says IOM Chief of Mission Luiz Vieira.

"More time and effort will be needed to address the deep-rooted
community conflicts that led to the crisis, but this initiative
aims to identify some of the more immediate issues and concerns
that may negatively affect the sustainability of return. We hope it
will identify areas that would benefit from further trust-building
activities," he adds.

In the second phase of monitoring, which began in mid-September,
IOM has partnered with four NGOs - CARE, Catholic Relief Services
(CRS), Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and BELUN - to cover all 222
conflict-affected aldeias in Dili District.

Monthly monitoring is complemented by referrals of individual
cases of concern. These cases, which are often related to occupied
houses or protection issues, are directly referred to agencies
capable of immediate response and follow-up.

IOM also continues to play a key role in helping displaced
families to prepare for their return and reintegration and
conducting case-by-case monitoring in communities.

The IOM Return and Reintegration Unit, in cooperation with
government and other partners, helps IDPs to make informed
decisions about their return options, facilitates dialogue or
mediation with the return community when needed, accompanies them
to their destination on the day of the movement and visits the
returnees after their return or resettlement.

Information gathered by IOM during this process is provided to
relevant actors including the UN Police, the Ombudsman for Human
Rights, the UNMIT Human Rights and Transitional Justice Section,
the Ministry of Social Solidarity’s (MSS) UNDP-supported
Dialogue Teams and NGOs supporting community-based peace-building
initiatives. IOM also provides technical advisory and
administrative support to MSS in the implementation of the National
Recovery Strategy.

More information on IOM’s activities in support of return
and reintegration of displaced people in Timor-Leste is available
from:

Angela Sherwood

E-mail: "mailto:asherwood@iom.int">asherwood@iom.int

Tel 723.1576

or

Valentina Bacchin

E-mail: "mailto:vbacchin@iom.int">vbacchin@iom.int

Tel. 723.1578. 

For media enquiries, please contact:

Brad Mellicker

IOM Dili

Tel: + 670 735 1998

E-mail: "mailto:bmellicker@iom.int">bmellicker@iom.int