133. In the Bas-Fleuve sub-region the rural settlement programme implemented by the "Association internationale pour le développement rural" (AIDR) progressed satisfactorily. The number of refugees in the two settlements at Kinbicnga and Lundu Matende increased from some 3,000 at the end of 1977 to some 15,700 at the end of August 1973.. In July 1973 a third settlement was strtod at lifuiki, and by February 1979 was accommodating some 6,200 refugees. The three settlements, which at the end of February 1979 accomodated some 24,700 refugees, are reckoned to have sufficient arable land to support up to 3,300 refugee families (some 40,000 persons), although unfortunately, as a result of the drought in 1978, the first harvest in Kimbianga and Lundu Matende was an almost total failure. However, reports of the January 1979 harvest in these two settlements describe the yield as good.
134. Assistance to refugees from Burundi in Kivu province centred on the continuing development of Mutambala settlement. A census at the end of 1978 put the population of the settlement villages in the region of 1,700. Elsewhere in the province some 9,000 refugees from Burundi had become all but self-sufficient in agriculture or fisheries.
135. Some 300 individual refugees, mainly in urban areas, were provided with types of assistance ranging from one-time measures and supplementary aid to assistance with local settlement, resettlement or voluntary repatriation.
136. Total UNHCR expenditures in Zaire in 1973, other than in connexion with the repatriation operation described below, amounted to over $7,563,000, of which over $5,614,000 were incurred under the General Programmes and over $1,949,000 under Special Programmes. These amounts included expenditures on education for the academic year 1978/79 in amounts of $49,300 from General Programmes and $137,400 from the Refugee Education Account.
137. The repatriation operation for which UNHCR's assistance was sought resulted from the Presidential announcement, towards the end of June 1978, of an amnesty in respect of all Zairians who had sought refuge outside the country. UNHCR launched an appeal with a target of $11,375,000 and some 13,500 metric tons of food (valued at $7,715,000) for a one-year programme to assist the voluntary repatriation and reintegration of an estimated 110,000 people in the Shaba province, and the almesty law was extended to 30 June 1979 to allow repatriation to be as complete as possible. In fact, the transportation of refugees to Zaire was considered as largely complete by the end of February 1979, by which time sono 150,000 people had returned. The large majority of these people came from Angola, but others arrived from Burundi, Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia.
138. The organization of this operation, in which neighbouring countries co-operated, involved the opening of a UNIICR sub-office in Lubumbashi and the establishment of reception and transit centres. The "Eglise du Christ au Zaïre" became the operational partner, and the Government set up local and regional reception committees comprising its own representatives and representatives of the "Oeuvre Mama Mobutu", the churches and UNIICR. The Swiss Government provided volunteers equipped with radio equipment to assist with communications in the field and between Geneva and the field. Agencies and bodies working under the co-ordination of the High Commissioner included UNICEF and WFP of the United Nations syston, and "Médecins sans frontières", "Hôpital sans frontières", World Vision International, Caritas, and the ICRC.
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