Population Displacement OCHA Situation Report No. 16

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Ref: OCHA/GVA - 2006/0160

This report is based on information received from the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), UN Agencies, international NGOs and media sources.

SITUATION

1.During daytime, life in the streets of Dili seems to have returned to normality with shops and markets open and traffic returning. The International Police Forces (IPTL) patrol the streets on a 24/7 basis, backed up by the Joint Task Force (JTF).

2.Over the last four weeks, there has been an upsurge of violence in the streets of Dili, including arson and stone throwing on IDP camps and people in the camps throwing stones back to the assaulters. Groups of youth gangs roam the streets when dark sets in and their moves around the town seem to be organised and coordinated. These groups are not afraid to attack police staff and vehicles. On 1 September, a shooting, subsequent stone throwing, and a gang fight occurred outside Seaport IDP camp resulting in 8 injuries. Due to lack of space in the jails in and around Dili, offenders caught red handed in those attacks were detained for 12 hours and then released. The security situation is extremely volatile, influenced by rumors more than by facts.

3.On 30 August 2006, Major Alfredo Reinaldo and 56 other detainees escaped from Becora Prison, just east of Dili. United Nations Police (UNPOL) and international security forces mounted a wide-spread search effort. Investigations are ongoing.

4.As noted over the previous weeks, a large number of IDPs only spend the night in the camps and run their normal business during the day, with families returning to their homes. It is not known how many IDP families have returned to their former homes, as most families still keep a ‘sit’ in the camps as a safety net in case the situation deteriorates again in their home area. Some had gone back to their areas but returned to camps as they were either threatened or attacked by their former neighbours. After several attacks in and around the camps, more than two thirds of the IDPs sheltered at the Obrigado Barracks camp opposite the UNMIT headquarters in Dili left the camp (2,000-3,000); some went home and some joined other camps in Dili.

5.As a result of the unstable security situation, most of the IDPs do not feel safe enough to return home. IDPs continue to express their disappointment that the main issues behind the April/May crisis have not been resolved: justice, impunity, weapons among the civilian population, unresolved land and property issues; all those issues influence the perception of the East-West divide.

6.The Security Council on 25 August (S/2006/686) approved the mission proposed through the report of the UN Secretary-General, ‘Report on Timor-Leste pursuant to SecurityCouncil (SC) Resolution 1690 (2006)’ to the Security Council (S/2006/628, 8 August 2006). The Security Council decided to establish a follow-on mission -- ‘United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste’ (UNMIT) for an initial period of six months, consisting of an appropriate civilian component, including up to 1,608 police officers and an initial component of up to 34 military liaison and staff officers. The Security Council requested the Secretary-General to review the arrangements to be established between UNMIT and the international security forces and present his views no later than 25 October 2006.

RESPONSE

IDPs / Return and Reintegration

1.The Government has presented the ‘Simu Malu - Mutual Acceptance’ programme (SM) to all stakeholders (Ministries, the diplomatic and the aid communities). The programme aims to facilitate a safe and sustainable return of IDPs to their homes, to establish a peaceful environment in their areas of origin, through dialogue between them and the receiving communities, to ensure the protection of the population and try to end the violence. It is composed of three programmes: Protection, Immediate Support, and Promotion of Dialogue. Various ministries, sub-districts, NGOs, INGOs, UN agencies, church representatives, camp management, IPTL/JTF etc. are to be engaged in the programme. Dialogues in different parts of Dili have been held over the past 4 weeks. The Simu Malu Working Group including a wide range of stakeholders took up its work 2 weeks ago and implementation plans are being drafted in the different Sectoral Working Groups.

Protection

2.Focal points for child protection have now been established in 51 camps in Dili. The Child Protection Working Group drafted messages that are circulated in IDP camps. The international NGO, Plan International, together with national NGOs organized play-based activities in Metinaro camp and theatre workshops. Child rights banners are developed and Plan International and Health International show movies as part of the health promotion campaign.

3.UNFPA provided GBV training to staff of CARE International Timor-Leste, and to Site Liaison Support (SLS)(1) The Site Liaison Support facilitates the humanitarian and security assistance between the camp manager and the Government/UN/INGOs. Camp Managers and GBV Focal Points of 15 priority IDP camps. It is expected that this training will be extended to other camps very shortly.

Food Security

4.The sixth cycle of food distribution started on Friday, 1 September 2006. A one-month ration of 8kg of rice per person plus complementary food is provided to 69,600 food recipients in Dili. Total distribution of government rice through IOM up to now is at 2995.058 MT. Since early June 2006, WFP has provided 1,359 MT of assorted food commodities to over 150,000 vulnerable people across Timor-Leste. In the sixth cycle of food distribution, WFP, in partnership with the NGO Forum, is distributing a one-month food ration of mung beans and vegetable oil, to complement the Government’s rice distribution.

5.As part of the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and School Feeding (SF) programs, WFP conducted training workshops and cooking demonstrations for Head Masters and Parent Teacher Associations PTAs) of 39 schools in Bobonaro district during the reporting period. In addition, 11 MT of rice, 156 MT of mung beans, 40 MT of vegetable oil, 13 MT of CSB and 3 MT of sugar were dispatched for SF to Maliana, and Atabae and Balibo sub-districts in Bobonaro district.

6.The Emergency Food Security Assessment has been completed in 12 of 13 districts. The report is expected to be published in two weeks.

Health and Nutrition

7.UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Health (MoH) on the follow-up monitoring around community health centres for malnourished children identified in last month’s screening.

8.The Ministry of Health ran a workshop on in-patient therapeutic feeding for severely malnourished children. UNICEF, Care International and Health Alliance International supported the workshop. UNICEF also supplies the national hospital with therapeutic milk used to treat malnourished children.

9.The Ministry of Health’s measles and Vitamin A supplementation campaign for children is now vaccinating children in districts outside Dili. Vaccination in Los Palos district has finished. More than 25,000 children have been vaccinated so far, more than 7400 given Vitamin A supplementation and almost 22,000 de-wormed. The campaign is supported by UNICEF and other local and international NGOs.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

10.In preparation for the upcoming rainy season, maintenance and improvements to water and sanitation facilities in the IDP camps are being carried out by CARE contractors, Oxfam, Triangle Génération Humanitaire and UNICEF contractors. Three camps will be at serious threat of flooding during the rainy season and solutions have to be found for the IDPs located in those camps.

11.Water trucking continues. An average of 125,000 litres per day is trucked to camps in Dili. A drilling rig will be available this month. Camps are being assessed for suitability of bore-hole drilling.

Camp Management

12.IOM has begun moving some tents 10-15m away from the front gate of the airport to keep IDPs out of reach of stone throwers. The CIMIC Liaison Office has agreed to build a fence around the perimeter of the camp after the tents are moved.

13.471 Internally Displaced Persons of Metiaut camp close to the Prime Minister´s house left the camp on 20 August. UNHCR retrieved the tents that were left behind by the IDPs.

Education

14.The Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) has asked UNICEF to look at providing the psycho-social module from its emergency teacher-training program to all teachers affected by the crisis. UNICEF has prepared a budget for this and is continuing to discuss it with the Ministry.

15.The Minister will attend a launch of the Back-to-school campaign on 4 September. UNICEF has briefed Ministry superintendents on distribution of materials (240,000 students’ backpacks, stationery and 5,600 teachers’ bags).

Communication and Information

16.The UNDP Communication to IDPs project aims to assist the sectoral working groups in disseminating information to the IDPs within Dili and in the districts. It is comprised of 6 information teams which have each been assigned responsibility for a group of camps in Dili and for particular districts throughout Timor-Leste. The teams are building relationships with the Camp Managers, Communication Leaders and the communities within the camps and report back regularly on feedback they are receiving from the IDPs about the messages being disseminated.

17.The Information Centre, which is located in the Ministry of Labour and Community Reinsertion (MTRC) and supported by OCHA, IOM and UNDP, has developed a repository of information for the humanitarian community that includes sitreps, meeting minutes and assessments. Most of the information is collected from the sector working groups and consolidated into different products. Matrices showing the different activities done by different agencies in the districts and camps were sent out to the humanitarian community. This will be updated on a monthly basis and its aim is to give an overall picture of the humanitarian activity currently taking place in Timor Leste.

OCHA is in close contact with the UN Country Team and UNMIT in Dili and will revert with further information as it becomes available. This situation report, together with further information on ongoing emergencies, is also available on the OCHA Internet Website at http://www.reliefweb.int.

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