IOM has assisted a group of 1,255 internally displaced persons
(IDPs) return to and resettle in their former areas of residence in
Western Cote d'Ivoire.

The group, the largest to date to benefit from the current
return and reintegration programme, left the IOM-run Centre for
Assistance to Temporary Displaced Persons (CATD) in Guiglo last
week for villages in the canton of Goum-Blao.  

The returnees, mostly West African migrant workers who had fled
ethnic strife in 2002 and 2003, were met upon arrival by local
partners and traditional elders who took an active part in
promoting grassroots reconciliation between host communities and
displaced migrant workers.  

Returning famines and vulnerable families in the host community
received food and non food items such as tarpaulins, blankets and
kitchen kits, which had been pre-positioned ahead of time by IOM.
Additional food assistance, seeds and tools will be distributed by
WFP and FAO. 

IOM's programme, which has to date helped more than 3,000
displaced persons, is based on comprehensive efforts to promote
reconciliation between communities of displaced West African
migrant workers and host communities.

As part of on-going reconciliation efforts, IOM teams regularly
travel to remote villages in Western Cote d'Ivoire to promote
reconciliation at a local level. Meetings, carried out in
coordination with local authorities, humanitarian agencies and
partner NGOs, bring together members of displaced communities and
village elders to discuss issues surrounding the return to the land
for displaced migrant workers. The gatherings are usually followed
by ceremonies of reconciliation in villages, where local
communities have expressed concerns regarding the return of the
displaced.    

"IOM plans to base community monitors in each of the main five
return areas to supervise the reintegration of the formerly
displaced and to work with peace committees to help defuse
potential disagreements that might arise," says Jacques Seurt,
IOM's Chief of Mission in Cote d'Ivoire. "The expertise they have
gathered as part of the on-going reconciliation process will
contribute to making those returns sustainable."

IOM activities are funded by the European Commission
Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), the UN's Central Emergency
Response Fund (CERF) and by Norway. IOM needs an additional USD 2
million to expand its peace consolidation, return and community
rehabilitation programmes for 2007/2008.

For more information, please contact:

Jacques Seurt

IOM Cote d'Ivoire

Tel +225 07 46 85 78

E-mail: "mailto:jseurt@iom.int">jseurt@iom.int