E/1983/47 page 20
Second extract from UNHCR Report to Ecosoc. 1983
Rel. Ej 1983/47.
Programmes for legal assist
assistance, education, counselling, and aid to special groups were added to the amount directly spent on the promotion of durable solutions, the UNHCR General Programmes resources attributable to these purposes would increase to some 29%.
79.
Repatriation: Voluntary repatriation remains the preferable durable solution. Repatriation efforts for groups and for individuals were continued during 1982. Activities undertaken and expenses incurred in connexion with such repatriation are charged to the UNHCR General Programmes. Limited rehabilitation projects are sometimes undertaken for returnees once they have returned to their countries of origin. These fall under Special Programmes.
80.
At the beginning of 1982, some 150,000 Chadians had repatriated from nearby countries. Of these, some 66,000 returned with UNHCR assistance while another 84,000 repatriated independently. At the request of the United Nations Secretary-General, another 50,000 displaced Chadians in N'Djamena were included in the UNHCR programme of limited assistance for rehabilitation of returnees. As a result, over 200,000 persons received aid from UNHCR.
81.
This rehabilitation programme, due to end in March 1982, was extended to June 1982 in order to fully accomplish its objectives and to ensure the distribution of late supplies. By July, following political changes in Chad, over 5,000 additional refugees had repatriated from Cameroon, from Nigeria, and from the Central African Republic. In late 1982, some 13,000 new returnees were benefiting under an expanded UNHCR assistance programme. Some $ 5.07 million were obligated in 1982 for these rehabilitation activities in Chad.
82.
During 1982, the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic held bilateral talks with the Phnom Penh authorities regarding the possibility of repatriation of Kampuchean refugees. In November 1982 the return of these refugees was authorized and subsequently a Lao-Kampuchean joint committee was set up to work out the practical modalities of such a movement. A total of 2,524 persons have been registered for repatriation to Stung Treng and Rattanakiri provinces by the Lao authorities.
83.
During 1982, the Lao Government reconfirmed its policy of allowing virtually all Lao to return to the Lao People's Democratic Republic. During the year, 1,069 persons returned from Thailand, bringing to 1,802 the total number of repatriates under UNHCR auspices since the programme began in September 1980. Other refugees repatriated spontaneously. UNHCR continued its programme of assistance to repatriates through the provision of resettlement kits and rice rations. The planning of small-scale integrated self-sufficiency projects was also continued. Repatriation is now diversified to several ethnic groups (Lao, Hmong, Yao, etc.) and to several provinces.
94.
A general amnesty for Bolivian exiles was decreed by the Bolivian government in May 1982. Developments thereafter encouraged the return to Bolivia of several hundred refugees, both from Europe and other Latin American countries. In response to a request from the Bolivian Government, the High Commissioner circulated an appeal to a number of agencies for financial support to be channelled through the "Secretario de Estudios Sociales de la Conferencia Episcopal Boliviana".