Today IOM began the first of a series of return and reintegration
dialogues for internally displaced people living in Dili's
IOM-managed Comoro Airport IDP camp.

Bringing together elected camp representatives and influential
Catholic Church leaders, IOM’s camp management support team
facilitated a forum that provided IDPs with the opportunity to
openly discuss the conflict and their concerns related to return
home with religious leaders experienced in conflict mediation.

The IOM-sponsored forum at the camp is part of a recently
developed nationwide strategy by the Government of Timor-Leste to
start the process of sustainable return and reintegration for up to
142,000 Timorese who are still displaced – half of them in
camps around the capital.

The strategy, called “Simu Malu” or mutual
acceptance, was presented earlier this week after extensive
Government consultation with IOM and other organizations that have
been assisting IDPs in the provision of food, water and shelter
since the crisis began.

The aim of the programme is to implement a
community-by-community approach that identifies conflict indicators
in each neighborhood and develops a long-term framework to assist
and protect IDPs and communities in the return and reintegration
process.

Many, after living almost three months in IDP camps, are ready
to return home before the wet season begins. However, lingering
fears about the potential for violence when they return still
presents an obstacle. It is these fears that the “Simu
Malu” programme hopes to confront.

“In order to minimize the opportunities for renewed
conflict upon return we need to work together with the people to
uncover the underlying causes of the conflict and to support
communities in developing ways to mediate future disputes,”
says IOM Chief of Mission Luiz Vieira.

This week similar forums took place in the areas of Comoro,
Villa Verde, and Bebonuk, some of the Dili neighborhoods most
affected by the violence.

“Many of us have been traumatized by the conflict and talk
of return can create a lot of anxiety” says Elda Fernandez,
an IDP at the airport camp. “However, the chance to talk
about why we are here gives us hope that we can come to an
understanding with our communities about how to prevent future
conflict when we do decide to return home.”

For more information, please contact:

Angela Sherwood

IOM Dili

Tel.+670 723 1576

Email: "mailto:asherwood@iom.int">asherwood@iom.int