After 16 months of programming to meet the immediate needs of
thousands of Timorese displaced by the communal violence of spring
2006, IOM and its partners are backing government efforts to
develop strategies for sustainable return and reintegration that
reflect the country's evolving political and security environment.

"We are still addressing the immediate and medium-term
humanitarian needs of the displaced in existing camps and areas of
new displacement. But at the same time, we are increasingly focused
on facilitating contact between individual groups of internally
displaced persons (IDPs) and their communities of origin to build
the conditions needed for them to be able to go home permanently,"
says IOM Chief of Mission Luiz Vieira.

The over 30,000 Timorese still displaced in IDP camps around
Dili face a variety of challenges, including poor sanitation,
inadequate shelter, unresolved conflicts with their communities of
origin, and sometimes strained relations among themselves and
communities in neighbouring IDP sites.

But sporadic political unrest throughout the country, which
recently resulted in the burning of over 250 homes in rural
Viqueque and Baucau, shows that many communities still need to
address old conflicts before the remaining IDPs feel safe enough to
leave the camps and return to their homes.

IOM, which manages 25 IDP sites, is helping the government to
gather information on the communities of origin of individual IDP
families and asking them what they would need in order to
return.

On the community side, IOM is working with village councils and
other aid agencies to identify conflict factors that are preventing
return, and to facilitate and follow-up on dialogue initiatives,
including "go and see" and "come and talk" visits designed to bring
together IDPs and their former neighbours.

Where the conflict is more deeply rooted between IDPs and their
communities of origin, or when a lack of housing is the reason they
cannot go home, IOM is helping people to access information and
apply for available longer-term shelter and assistance packages.
Some groups are already relocating to newly constructed
transitional housing.

"There is still a lot of work ahead to come up with durable
solutions for everyone, but visible progress is being made. Our
success will depend on close monitoring and follow up of all return
and reintegration initiatives to ensure that they really address
the deep-rooted issues behind community-specific displacement,"
says Vieira.

IOM's Support to IDPs programme is funded by Australia's
International Refugee Fund (IRF) and the European Commission
Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO).

For more information, please contact:

Angela Sherwood

IOM Dili

Tel.+670 723 1576

E-mail: "mailto:asherwood@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">asherwood@iom.int