Conference Report - Brussels, Belgium, 7-8 October 1993

Conference Report

Brussels, Belgium, 7-8 October 1993

(Published in: AWEPA, Brussels, Belgium, 7-8 October 1993, pp.-39-44)

DEVELOPMENT

AND

DEMOCRATISATION

European - Southern African Partnership

Following the Rome Peace Agreement and according to recent resolutions taken by the United Nations Security Council, Mozambique is to hold its first ever free and just legislative and presidential elections in October 1994. For these to take place, PCN strongly recommends that:

l. A constructive dialogue be established among all the existing political parties, so as to achieve reconciliation, confidence and consensus among the various peoples of Mozambique.

2. All the displaced people, the refugees in neighbouring countries and the exiles, as a result of the two wars, between Frelimo and the former colonial government and later between Frelimo and Renamo, be encouraged and allowed to return home and be assisted to settle, so as to be able to elect and be elected.

3. All the political prisoners, victims of the Frelimo-Portuguese and Frelimo-Renamo wars, including those kept in or confined to concentration camps, be unconditionally set free.

4. The citizens enjoy the freedom of opinion, of speech, and of movement both in the zones controlled by Renamo and by the government.

5. The existing one-party parliament work in parallel with a multiparty forum, that should have the powers to discuss and enact laws pertaining to the future elections and to the constitution of the future ruling frame.

6. The electoral law be approved by consensus of all the parties, with a National Electoral Commission made up of a balanced number of members representing the Frelimo government and the opposition parties.

7. The minimum percentage of votes cast nationwide foreseen in the General Peace Agreement (5-20%) should not be applied because it will exclude a part of the population from being represented in the elected parliament.

8. All the existing armies, be they private or of Frelimo or Renamo, be dismantled and a new National Army, independent from any political party, be instituted.

The birth and consolidation of the new Parties Committed to Democracy, the activities of the United Nations in Mozambique and the elections cannot be successful without the moral, material and financial support of the international community.

PCN appreciates all the help that has been given and asks for more, because Mozambique faces a unique situation:

- The war has brought down the economy of the country to such a low level that people are at their survival status.

- There is a high mortality rate in the country.

- Unemployment and crime (brought about by the war), the return of students and dismissed workers from abroad, are threateningly high.

To redress all these problems, to inculcate reconciliation, confidence and consensus; to reintegrate soldiers and policemen into civilian life and to educate people in order to exercise democracy needs a lot of internal commitment and external help.

Finally, I would like to thank you all for patiently listening to me and state that we dream to have a peaceful process of democratisation and free and just elections, for nobody can overcome the will of a nation demanding peace, justice and progress.

Mrs. LUISE DRUKE UNHCR, Regional Office, Belgium

The UNHCR budget for 1993 is about US$ 1.4 billion with a short fall of about 20%. The Mozambique repatriation, which was launched on 4 May 1993 will require a total of US$ 203.4 million for this three year operation (1993- 1995) to repatriate an estimated number of 1,600,000 Mozambican refugees.

The government of Mozambique has begun to formulate overall rehabilitation plans for the Mozambique Repatriation Operation. The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Assistance Coordination (UNOHAC) of the United Nations Operation in Mozambique (UNOMOZ) was established in December 1992 to coordinate all assistance provided towards the emergency and rehabilitation needs. UNOHAC replaces the United Nations Special Coordinator for Emergency Relief Operations (UNSCERO) established in 1987.

Since the Peace Agreement was signed in October 1992 the number of returnees has steadily increased. As of September 1993 there are more than 350,000 Mozambicans who had returned home, mainly to the provinces of Tete, Manica, Sofala and Zambezia.

A memorandum of understanding between the government of Mozambique and UNHCR was signed on 15 March 1993, laying the basic framework for the repatriation operation involving six countries of asylum (Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe).

In April 1993 UNHCR finalised this three year Plan of Operation for the Repatriation and Reintegration of more than 1.5 million Mozambican refugees. (This includes up to 250,000 unregistered refugees in South Africa).

UNHCR made an appeal for funds for the Operation in May this year and thereafter began increasing quite substantially the staff, financial and material resources needed for the repatriation and reintegration activities in the region.

UNHCR Activities - Mozambique

Upon arrival in Mozambique, returnees are provided with food rations for about one year, during which time they are expected to have reached self-sufficiency in their own food production. At present, the distribution of food reaches only a limited number of returnees (some 40%) and this may even be lower in some of the border areas. Full coverage, however, will be accomplished, it is hoped, by the end of this year through increasing the number of distribution points, pre-positioning food in returnee areas before the rainy season starts, as well as strengthening the logistical capacity of implementing partners in this sector.

Returnees are receiving agricultural and other tools to rebuild their homes and prepare the land for cultivation. Seeds are also being made available by UNHCR and other organisations for this year's agricultural season, which starts in October. All the seed and tool kits are to be given in the context of a nation-wide distribution programme developed by UNOHAC for all needy groups, whether internally displaced or returnees from outside the country. In total, before mid-October, UNHCR will provide some 84,000 seeds and tool kits. In addition UNHCR is also providing plastic sheeting, jerrycans for water and family tents.

UNHCR is undertaking a reintegration programme focusing on the rehabilitation of basic services (water, access roads, health and education) in major areas of return. At present, more than 40 subagreements have already been signed with implementing partners, and this number is expected to increase as new activities commence in the later part of this year.

Zimbabwe

The Tripartite Agreement between the governments of Zimbabwe and Mozambique as well as UNHCR was signed on 22 March 1993, for the repatriation of the 140,000 Mozambican refugees in five camps in Zimbabwe.

In September, Gesellschaft fьr Technische Zusammennarbeit (GTZ) was formally selected by the government and UNHCR to become the logistics operational partner to manage the transportation of the refugees from the camps in Zimbabwe to final destinations in Mozambique. Prior to this arrangement, six 'pilot' repatriation movements have been organised and directly implemented by UNHCR, between June and the first week in September this year.

UNHCR, in cooperation with the government of Zimbabwe and GTZ, will increase the movement of refugees to Mozambique from one convoy of 500 a week, to three convoys a week (again of 500 each). The target figure for organized repatriation from Zimbabwe for 1993 remains 10,000 persons. However, a number of spontaneous returnees largely from amongst unregistered Mozambicans outside the camps continue to return home. The number of unregistered Mozambicans in Zimbabwe is estimated at 100,000 persons.

Besides transport assistance, returnees are receiving items intended to ease problems that could arise during the movement phase or upon arrival at their final destination in Mozambique. These include bags to pack their personal belongings, jerrycans to carry water during the journey, plastic sheeting for roofing, for those who return during the rainy season, and two weeks of food rations. Health checks are also carried out on each returnee.

UNHCR has developed a mine-awareness training programme in all the camps and at the same time is developing specific programmes for vulnerable groups.

Zambia

The Tripartite Agreement was signed on 15 July 1993. At the first meeting of the Tripartite Commission, it was noted that several refugee farmers in Ukwimi had accumulated a considerable amount of property and cash. Refugees will be allowed to repatriate US$ 250 in cash and US$ 3,750 in travellers cheques as well as all their personal belongings without any duty or taxes.

Of the 25,200 refugees residing in Ukwimi settlement (in the Eastern Province of Zambia), it is anticipated that 98% will return mainly to Maravia in Tete Province in Mozambique.

It was agreed that the bulk of the repatriation would start in May 1994, because conditions in Maravia were still not conducive to the proper reintegration of the returnees. However, because some of the refugees wish to return as soon as possible, the first scheduled movement has been brought forward to October 1993. A joint UNHCR/government mission from Zambia visited Tete in August with their counterparts in Mozambique. The first group of refugees to be repatriated will go to Chifunde and Chiuta districts in Tete. Repatriation to most areas in Maravia can only start next year.

Swaziland

The Tripartite Agreement was signed on 20 August 1993.

A total of 24,000 Mozambican refugees residing in Malindza (17,000) and Ndzevane (7,000) are expected to benefit from the repatriation operation. Nearly al the refugees are of rural background and originate from the border areas in the provinces of Maputo and Gaza in Mozambique. According to government estimates, some 40,000 additional Mozambicans are spontaneously settled in Swaziland. The majority of this group are expected to return on their own.

The government and UNHCR have appointed the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to arrange transport for the refugees from the camps in Swaziland to Mozambique. The first repatriation movement is scheduled to take place on 14 October this year.

South Africa

The finalisation of the Basic Agreement between the government of South Africa and UNHCR on 6 September 1993, is a very positive development and has created the necessary conditions for providing repatriation assistance to those Mozambicans deemed to be of concern to UNHCR.

According to some initial surveys, there could be up to 250,000 Mozambicans of concern to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. UNHCR will now undertake in-depth surveys of all groups of Mozambicans living in South Africa, not only to identify those that may qualify for protection and assistance, but also to collect essential information regarding places of origin and intended destinations of those who wish to return home. Organised repatriation will start in the first quarter of 1994.

Tanzania

A Tripartite Agreement and a Tripartite Commission are expected to be signed before the end of this year, for the repatriation of up to 20,000 Mozambican refugees, settled in the southern Ruvuma province of Tanzania. There are also more than 50,000 Mozambicans who have spontaneously settled along the border of the two countries.

Preparatory activities in Tanzania for voluntary repatriation have been started and essencial equipment and other items such as vehicles, communication equipment and voluntary repatriation forms have all been procured and pre-positioned. In Mozambique preparation will include the establishement of UNHCR presence in Niassa and Cabo Delgado provinces. According to the plan, organised repatriation will start after the harvest in 1994.

Malawi

At the time of the signing of the Peace Accord between the government of Mozambique and RENAMO in October, the number of registered refugees in camps and settlements in Malawi assisted by UNHCR was well over 1 million. In the course of 1993 an estimated 250,000 Mozambicans returned, in a spontaneous manner, mostly to border districts and areas in Tete province. However, many in this group continue to depend on food and other assistance being distributed in Malawi. The main challenge for the government of Mozambique, UNHCR and other agencies working in these areas is to stabilise this returnee population by ensuring that there is adequate distribution of food in Mozambique and that the most essential basic services such as water, health and education are available as soon as possible.

The refugee population, especially in the Dedza and Ntcheu border areas of Malawi, has been reduced quite considerably because of spontaneous departures.

A mine-awareness "train the trainers" course was started for specially selected refugees in the camps in Malawi. Those having completed the programme successfully, will train several hundred Mine Awareness Instructors who in turn will impart their newly acquired knowledge to the refugee camp and settlement populations as a whole. This programme is being implemented on behalf of UNHCR by the International Rescue Committee and the Norwegian People=s Aid Organisation.

During the next few months several surveys are scheduled to identify the number and specific needs of vulnerable refugee groups in Malawi in order to establish any special activities that may be required in Mozambique for their proper reintegration.

Administration and Programme Funding

UNHCR has strengthened its presence in Mozambique and the surrounding countries of asylum quite considerably. In Mozambique the number of international posts has been increased from 11 to 40 and local posts from 24 to 76. Beside the two sub-officers in Tete and Chimoio, field offices have been or are being opened, equipped and staffed in major returnee districts such as Angonia, Moatize, Changara, Maravia, Macanga, Mutarara, Milange, Mandimba, Manica, Barue and Mossurize. A field office has been established in Maputo to cover the southern provinces of Gaza and Maputo and another office is being established in Beira. An office is also likely to be established soon in Cape del Gado province for the repatriation of refugees from Tanzania.

In the countries of asylum, staffing of the branch and field offices for the operation is well advanced, with the exception of South Africa where a staffing review is presently being undertaken now that the basic agreement with the government of South Africa has been signed.

All offices at the branch and field office level throughout the region are in the process of being connected to each other by telex and voice radio network, so that is should be possible, for example, for a field officer in Mutarara in Mozambique to directly speak to his or her colleague in the branch office in Mbabane in Swaziland.

Response to the High Commissioner=s appeal in May 1993 for some US$ 55 million to fund the repatriation operation=s activities for 1993 has reached US$ 31 million by mid-September. The estimated needs for 1993 have been revised downwards to US$ 45 million, due to the fact that the bulk of the operational activities for the repatriation programme were either only undertaken or started in the second quarter of this year. UNHCR has obligated US$ 29.1 million against the funds so far received.

UNHCR is encouraged by the positive developments towards democratisation in Mozambique and hopes that with the voluntary repatriation of Mozambican refugees, it can further help promote this process hand in hand with the government of Mozambique, the international and local partners.

This implies an enormous responsibility in these times of complex emergency situation, new refugee crises and prospects for solutions of old ones. Coordination between all the international organisations, at the UN level, ICRC, NGOs, etc. is a crucial tool to meet the challenges ahead. But without a concerted effort between asylum, producing and donor countries, very little can be achieved.

Mr. JEAN CLAUDE ESMIEU, European Commission

The European Community really began its help to Mozambique in 1984. Since then the EC has spent more than 900 million ECU for ten years. The signature of the General Peace Agreement has opened for us the possibility to improve our help to the reconstruction process beginning in that time, either in rehabilitation or in democratisation.

And since that Rome Conference, on the 16th of December 1992, the EC has been the only donor able to put on the table 77 million ECU, to finance immediately part of the cost of demobilisation, part of the cost of elections, and naturally part of re-installation of returnees and refugees.

The Community continued to be ready to reinforce in due time its help for the elections. And the EC continues to urge all the parties to break all the bottlenecks to allow the elections in next October l 994.

The EC is doing a lot in terms of reconstruction. The EC has been the first, early in January this year, to demine. It was an experiment, our first project. But now we enlarge and now other donors are doing demining.

There are lot of projects, presented mainly by NGOs, to help reintegration of returnees. We have been preparing for two years a post-war conference, which was planned by the government at that time before the peace, to present to the donors after elections a technical description of the needs for reconstruction. We think that the technical dossiers will be completed in the next few months.

In terms of democracy we are financing since January the team of technical assistance which helps the government to prepare the draft electoral law. Naturally all our actions in the democratic process are under the umbrella of UNOMOZ. We are doing projects on civic education, one of them with AWEPA. Civic education on training the future trainers for the women in the rural sector, for example, and for the administrators of districts.

We are also sympathetic to a project of a traditional theatre troupe, which is making in all the districts presentations to help the population to understand what is the process of democracy, what is democracy. And we have another project for training journalists, on the independence of journalists. We have also some little project in theory of democracy, for example we are the first donor who have put in its agreement about the use of the counterpart funds.

We have also in place instruction, for example, to build the court of auditors, to have the transparency of the public accounts. And we are interested in the instructionary project of training civil servants at the district level. For that project we have to await the definitive position of the Mozambique government. Mozambique will manage its administration at the level of the districts. So, the EC since the beginning of the cease-tire, has supported the peace process. And we have continued to do so.

From the Discussion

Question: Is the Mozambican government expecting pressure from the international community on Renamo, and if so, in which way do you see that pressure?

Min. Hunguana:

I am part of an agreement that I want to see implemented. What we need, is to have the agreement implemented. So the international community in my view is supposed to exert pressures where it is needed, to force the implementation of the agreement. Being part of the agreement, belonging to the government, when I see that the agreement is not being implemented because difficulties are being created by the other part, I would like to see you exerting pressure on that side. But if the wrongdoer is my government, and it must be your judgement. I must be pressurised on the implementation of the agreement.

There are many ways. You have many ways. For instance the UN Security Council passed a resolution, stressing the need for the immediate assembly of soldiers. But who is refusing to implement the assembly of soldiers? In this case it is not the government. It is the other part. So this is one way of exerting influence and pressure where it is needed.

Question: I have visited the refugee camps of Mozambicans in Malawi, and one is very shocked by the situation of so many people. What priority does the Mozambican government give to putting in place systems which will assist the voluntary repatriation of the refugees?

Min. Hunguana

In the government we have people dealing directly with these questions. The repatriation of Mozambicans from neighbouring countries is a high priority, because these people need to come back home, once we have peace, to rebuild their lives in their own country, to participate in the political process to decide on their destinies. So this is a question of a high priority. Unfortunaly, we don=t have the political conditions suitable for their returning home. Many people are still afraid, they don=t think that peace has come definitely to stay. So they are waiting to see. But there are many other people who are coming voluntarily, not on government schemes. They just cross the borders and come back home. These people express that there is a great will from the refugees to come back home. And if they don't come massively it is because there are still some problems in the peace process. These are logistical problems. We are trying to solve these problems because we don't have enough means as a government. We are trying to solve these problems through cooperation with the UNHCR, and with the will of these people to come back home, once we have peace in the country, definite peace.

Question: I understand that there has been a slow down in the repatriation of Malawi-based Mozambican refugees and that UNHCR is finding it very difficult to pinpoint the reasons for this slow down.

Ms Druke:

We always feel it is very important to ensure that the return is voluntary, first of all, and that the conditions have to be right. There is no sense in transporting massive numbers back to a country of origin if tomorrow the conditions are not livable. Therefore about 350,000 have come back, and basically spontaneously. Once you put them on lists, then people get the sense, the time of asylum is over. Let them be able to come back in the home country, in the home areas to their own people, in the camps, in the areas where they are, in the asylum camps. It is a process which takes some time and we have the obligation to give people the dignity to build up hope and together gather the energy and creativity to make something out of this new life after what they have gone through. I think this is the human part of it.

We are lacking operational and logistical support, being grateful to the contributions we have received so far. And in contact again with the EEC for additional support and specifically for lorries and cars. It was a much smaller operation, when about 36,000 Namibians came out of Zambia and Angola and some of other countries. But here they are talking about 1.6 million. We have a responsibility to do it right. And that needs time.

Question: What will be the future of those returnees? They will be for the future the weakest sector in society. Both socially and economically. So it will be for you as a government of Mozambique, whoever will be taking part in it, a major challenge how to deal with this part of society. How do you view development and democratisation when you think about the returnees in Mozambique, especially about access to markets, access to public services, and most important in terms of local and regional democracy.

Min. Hunguana:

I don't think that somebody somewhere can give you a definite answer. What I can say is that this is a challenge. A challenge to the government of Mozambique. It is a challenge to the Mozambican society, to everybody in Mozambique, and to the international community and its capacity to help us face this challenge. Let these people come back home, to their country, because they have been forced out of the country by the war. We want peace and we want all our relatives back home, whatever the conditions are there. If we don't have the means it does not mean necessarily that these people must stay away, waiting to have everything prepared, to have a complete programme, that they are sure that everything will go on a very swift way. The solution of this problem does not rely only on a programme, defined by the government. And the government will never be able to define a programme with a complete solution to that problem. What the government must do now is to have the will to face this challenge, to prepare within the conditions we have now to face the problem, and to call for the help of the international community to help to face this challenge.

Mr. Simango:

According to the programme of my political party, it is first of all important that the refugees and other sectors inside Mozambique that do not have access to the market, must not be given fish to eat. But we must teach them how to fish. That must be our responsibility, first of all inside Mozambique. We need external help. But how should this help be given? So please teach us how to fish, and not just to eat the fish. Because once we know how to fish, we won't ask fish from you. That is the first point.

Then the second point: in Mozambique we do not have a traditional free market. So when these refugees and others are returning to Mozambique, they get inside enough food from what is called the free market. But how will this free market work? And we believe that the free market must be open to small business people. And some of these returnees, let them be introduced in running their small business.

Question: The minister has told us about the determination of his government to have these people back. But what about other groups. What is Renamo's attitude towards the return of refugees?

Min. Hunguana:

I can't answer on behalf of Renamo. But what we really agreed in Rome, in the Peace Agreement, is that the refugees must come back home. And that we should guarantee freedom of movement, for everybody but specially these people, coming back. So they should not face a situation they are facing now, that Renamo claims that there are two administrations, two territories. And they are apart, under their control, where they don't allow freedom of movement. But the refugees coming back from the neighbouring countries, they move freely in all the areas under the responsibility of the government. And we are trying to get a situation where the barriers to the freedom of movement are removed by Renamo. We are trying to bring Renamo to the implementation of the agreement they accepted in Rome. This is not an easy process. I would say that it is a difficult process of implementation, of the Agreement itself.

Ms. Druke:

We need to recognise that the Mozambicans who are now living outside have a right to return, that the conditions have to be brought about, even if right now they might not be desirable. But it is a piece of the whole package deal. And we have a responsibility in whatever small or bigger way, to help in the process. And if it means to bring Renamo to the negotiation table and ultimately also those, or at least part of those who are returning, because we should not underestimate people who have been in exile. They have been able to stay connected with their home country. And that they can themselves also play a role in bringing about those changes which will ultimately lead to their being able to return home and move freely and live in dignity and security.

Question: Are there still political prisoners in Mozambique and if so, how many are there, and what are their chances of being released?

Min. Hunguana:

I think that it (will be better to address this question to my friend of the PCN, Simango. He spoke about the political prisoners. From the point of view of the government there are no political prisoners in our country. If we had political prisoners, we were supposed to have freedom in abiding by the Peace Agreement. When a country has political prisoners, you usually know names. For instance Malawi, we know Chihana, even if you don't belong to the region, you heard about that in the press, from Amnesty International. When you have political prisoners in South Africa, you know some names, not only Mandela. So, from the point of view of the government, there are no political prisoners in Mozambique.