03/30/2004

This 75-year old man, Honolet, with wife and daughter, complained to RI that his luggage was stolen. There was no one in the center to address his problem. Although he was heading home to Bueru commune, he did not expect to be met by his family in his village, which he fled from a decade ago. UNHCR is unprepared to handle the influx of returnees in Ruyigi Province. UNHCR offices had been closed in the area since 2001, but re-opened in January 2004 to process the returnees. One of the major issues RI discovered in the transit center was the lack of protection for vulnerable people --- women, children and the elderly.