Newsletter october ENG 2009.pdf

Return & reintegration N u m b e r 0 7 - o c t o b e r 2 0 0 9

Table of Contents:

General Statistics

Visit to our partner Caritas Mon-golia

Voluntary return to Peru: Ana’s story

Cameroun: the necessity of a well prepared return

Caritas International voluntary return

Liefdadigheidstraat 43

1210 Brussel

Anne Dussart: +32 2 2293604

Annelieke Carlier: +32 2 2293586

Thomas Jézéquel: +32 2 2111052

Sofie De Mot: +32 2 2111059

Rut Van Caudenberg : +32 2 2293602

[email protected]

www.caritas-int.be/reintegration/

Following the tendency of the year 2008 with more returnees than fore-seen, during the first half of the year 2009 161 persons returned, despite of the clear tightening of the criteria for the Ukraine, Brazil en Mongolia, coun-tries in which abuses had been noted.

The first semester of 2009 shows a “Top

5” with few surprises, confirming the im-

portance of returns to Nepal where an

evaluation mission was held in March. A

student, supported by Caritas Interna-

tional, wrote a thesis after having evalu-

ated during three weeks the situation of

the persons who returned to Nepal

through the programme of Caritas in

2007 and 2008.

If the REAB C’s are in majority, this is

mainly due to the development of our

activities in Latin America. 16 persons

returned to countries such as Bolivia,

Ecuador (recommencement of CIRE’s

activities), Chile, Peru, Paraguay and

Nicaragua. The nationals of these coun-

tries usually don’t ask for asylum. They

mainly come to Belgium for economical

reasons.

Out of a total of 112 dossiers, there are 110

persons we met directly. The other dossiers

were advised over the telephone or through

the intermediary of the return counsellors.

Consequences of regularisation

Not surprisingly the rumours and afterwards

the announcement of regularization under

conditions, let to a clear decrease of volun-

tary return applications, as well as to a wave

of cancellations of ongoing dossiers. An un-

derstandable situation, since the migrants

wish to inform themselves on all possibilities

of regularization. With the registration for

applications closing the 15th of December,

we are expecting a recommencement from

that moment onwards.

General Statistics

2009 January February March April May June Total

Dossiers 24 15 14 18 23 28 122

Persons 34 22 15 23 31 31 161

Country Départs

Mongolia 23

Brazil 22

Nepal 14

Ukraine 13

Bosnia 12

Reab A B C

Dossiers 5 54 63

Persons 5 69 87

STATISTICS FIRST SEMESTER 2009

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From the 19th to the 25th of August, Annelieke Carlier and Thomas Jézéquel from Caritas International’s « Vo-luntary return and reintegration » unit made an evalua-tion visit to their partner in Mongolia.

Mongolians represent an important part of the voluntary re-turn cases that Caritas assists throughout the world, with over 70 people having received help since March 2007. The Mongolian community in Belgium is principally concentrated in the city of Antwerp.

In Mongolia, Caritas International works in close cooperation with Caritas Mongolia, which is managed by father Pierrot Kasemuana, a missionary originally from South-Kivu in the Congo. He can count on a professional English-speaking local team. Caritas Mongolia focuses mainly on emergency aid (natural disasters) and agricultural projects but has, since our first visit in December 2007, accepted to become a structural partner of Caritas Belgium in offering reintegration assistance to migrants as well.

Our latest visit allowed us to witness the seriousness and professionalism of Caritas Mongolia’s team which some-times has to operate under difficult circumstances. Many migrants cooperate without problems; however, Caritas Mongolia also has to deal with aggressive people who de-mand to unblock the funds “without asking any questions”. This led us to carry out a stricter selection of dossiers that can be considered for reintegration assistance from Bel-gium.

Nonetheless, the returnees benefiting from the project are helped efficiently. We witnessed the conditions of great pre-cariousness in which they would live if they would not re-ceive any return assistance. The Mongolian society is pene-trated with corruption and the high unemployment rate is in part explained by the fact that a candidate for a job is sup-posed to “remunerate” the person who helped him/her find a job (friend or simple acquaintance). This general practice of bribery discriminates to a great extend those persons who do not benefit from a social network which allows them to integrate themselves easily into the local economy.

Our beneficiaries’ biggest problem is access to housing and to health care. We met a number of persons that were living together with several families in a small apartment or in sim-ple barracks in the immense slums of Ulaan Baator (mainly composed of wooden houses and traditional tents, the “ger”). Caritas Mongolia does a close follow-up of the dossiers and tries to remedy these precarious situations with the budget granted by FEDASIL via Caritas Belgium.

One of the persons we visited was able to reopen a small business in the outskirts of the capital. This shop is running fairly well, despite the meagre means: poverty generally obliges the grocer to let numerous families buy on credit, hop-ing to be reimbursed at some point, which causes problems in renewing her stocks.

A young couple, with a child that was born in Belgium, al-lowed us to have a better understanding of the improbable mechanisms leading exile candidates all the way to Antwerp. From the purchase of a Visa (800 euros), forged thanks to the collaboration of local European consulates (specifically Czechs and Germans), to passing through Russia in the hands of different Mongolian traffickers who take turns throughout the entire route. The destination is often the Czech Republic, where the Mongolians are employed in black in factories and on the countryside. The important and invisible Mongolian community formed in Belgium attracts those who are disappointed by the “Czech” dream. In Antwerp, certain people are in the hands of “gangs” who force them to shoplift and to pickpocket. Others have more luck: several persons testified about having worked as a housekeeper for rich fami-lies in Antwerp. The salary seems to be around 800 euros a month and the working conditions appear to be correct.

Our service is more than satisfied with the mission and with the information and the lessons learned. A better knowledge of the real living conditions in Ulaan Baator allows us to adapt our programme and the advice we give to migrants in Bel-gium. The structural cooperation with Caritas Mongolia will continue in 2010 and they will be present at our traditional international partner week in Brussels.

Annelieke Carlier and Thomas Jézéquel

Visit to our partner Caritas Mongolia

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In March 2009 thirty nine year old Ana decided to ex-change her life in Belgium, without the right papers and in great insecurity, once again for a life in Lima, the ca-pital of her country of origin Peru. She had been living in Belgium for 5 years already, and had recently given birth to a son. As she did not have any source of in-come and furthermore did not have anyone to rely on here, returning seemed to be her best option. She tur-ned to Caritas’s Social Service to ask for help for the arrangements for her voluntary return. Because of Ana’s difficult situation: single mother, no source of income and with a baby, Caritas’s Social Service refer-red her to the Voluntary Return and Reintegration Unit so she could count on reintegration assistance after her return to Peru.

Before Ana returned, she talked with the Voluntary Return

and Reintegration unit about her options and her plans. As a

single mother she was entitled to an extra budget for

‘vulnerable groups’ which allowed her to have a total sum of

2100 euros for her reintegration. As for her living arrange-

ments, she could move in with her mother. Her brother was

living there too with his two children. So at least she did not

have to put money aside for housing. Ana’s main concern

was to be able to start an income generating activity once

she would be back in Peru, which would allow her to support

herself and her son.

Once she was back in Lima, where her mother and the rest

of her family were waiting for her, she contacted Caritas Pe-

ru. After a few meetings between Ana and the local contact

person within Caritas Peru, it was decided to invest the mo-

ney in a little sewing workshop which she could run from her

house. The idea was to make and repair clothes for the peo-

ple in the neighbourhood. Caritas Peru brought the Voluntary

Return unit in Brussels up to date about this plan and infor-

med the unit that they considered it to be a very good invest-

ment since sewing workshops are very popular in Peru and

there were not that many of them yet in Ana’s neighbour-

hood.

So there would definitely be a market for it and it could pro-

vide Ana with a source of income. The reintegration budget

was used to buy two sewing machines and the necessary

sewing equipment. Before actually getting started with the

workshop, Ana wanted to update her knowledge on sewing

and confection so she enrolled in a sewing course. Ana’s son

also gained from the reintegration assistance: various neces-

sary vaccinations were paid with the money and in addition a

supply of infant milk for six months was purchased to ensure

the baby received sufficient and healthy nourishment. Fur-

thermore Caritas Peru facilitated the access to free health

insurance to which the baby was entitled.

Ana is the second case that received reintegration assistance

in Peru through Caritas International Belgium. In the mean-

time a third person has left for Lima and has been able to

purchase, with the reintegration budget, the necessary equip-

ment for her dentist practice which at the moment of this wri-

ting is about to be opened.

The story of Ana, a single woman, with an irregular status in

Belgium, who can not longer accept the difficult and insecure

situation in our country as a liveable option and thus decides

to return to her home country where she still has a tight fami-

ly network, fits well into the general picture of the majority of

Latin American voluntary returnees. Because of the network

and support of the family, the reintegration assistance and

the efforts of the local partners, which enables the returnees

to get back on track with their lives, reintegration in these

situations often turns out to be successful.

Ana is doing well at the moment. She is still very busy with

the training but hopes to be able to make and sell some chil-

dren’s clothing when the holidays arrive. Her son is also

doing fine. Caritas Peru stays in regular contact with them to

check on how Ana and her son are doing and to do a follow-

up on the development of the sewing workshops.

Rut Van Caudenberg

Voluntary return to Peru: Ana’s story

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A comparison between the situation of Mr FELIX M’BATIT (accommodated in a LOI -Local Reception Initiative- in Kasterlee) and Mr. BRADLEY LYONGA (10 months in a centre of the Red Cross in Eeklo and two months in a LOI in Zottegem) can be enlightening for understanding the influence the reception in Belgium can have on a potential return.

Mr. M’Batit, who was well integrated in Flanders, learned the

language correctly, established an important social network

and had enough time to think about his return. The 700 euros

financial aid from FEDASIL was merely a supplementary sup-

port in addition to the help he received from his Belgian friends:

nearly 6000 euros in money or in kind: minibus in good condi-

tion, second hand bakery machines (oven, mixer) and financial

aid to buy a group generator. The support of the partner consis-

ted in administrative support for customs clearance of the ma-

terial à Douala (for a total sum of 2700 euros!!), and the elabo-

ration of a business plan as well a regular follow-up despite of

the distance between Bamenda and Yaoundé (about 7 hours

on the road for 350 km)

Mr. Felix M’babit lives in the village of Guzang, at 40 km from

Bamenda (English-speaking part of Cameroun) at the end of an

unpaved road that is inaccessible when there is heavy rainfall.

Power interruptions are very common. The impossibility of fin-

ding an affordable store room in Bamenda made him install his

bakery project in his village of origin. Mr. M’babit was trained as

baker in Belgium by a pensioner form the village of Kasterlee

who took him under his wing during his stay in Belgium. The

bread, baked thanks to the imported material from Belgium but

also thanks to the

spectacular traditional

brick oven, is of a su-

perior quality. Thanks

to a network of motor-

bike-deliverers, the

bread is sold in all the

surrounding villages

and in schools in the

neighbourhood.

The limited accessibility and the power interruptions are, howe-

ver, real obstacles for the viability of his project. The revenues

would be considerably larger in Bamenda, where he hopes to

invest, as soon as he can, in a sales depot where he would be

able to sell his production. To be able to do this he needs a

group generator in order to be protected against the power

interruptions and to be assured of a continuous production. Mr.

M’batit plays with the “Belgian bread” aspect to draw custo-

mers. The quality of his product assures him of a clientele to

whom he, however, needs to guarantee to be able to sell bread

at all time.

Our partner M. Biack, who was rather sceptical at first about

the viability of the project, states to be impressed by the work

done so far and by the energy and motivation of the project

developer. Upon his return in Yaoundé, he plans on trying to

give him access to credit offered by organisations such as

PAJER-U and PIASI, governmental agencies that support

independent entrepreneurs in urban and rural environments.

Mr. Bradley Lyonga lives close to Buea, at the foot of Mount

Cameroun, in the province of English-speaking south-western

Cameroun. As a leader of a student strike in Cameroun who

was violently oppressed by the police, he sought asylum in

Belgium. Since he had been beaten, he is suffering from back

problems which have improved thanks to the care he was

given in Belgium, but have not ceased completely. His de-

mand for asylum being rejected, he was very quickly put out

of his LOI in Zottegem, and precipitously took the decision to

return. After two difficult weeks, without any social assistance,

marked with fear of being arrested again by the police, the

assistance of 1400 euros (vulnerable case) allowed him to

open a little store that provides him with an income. He rents

the store room as well as a little room. For several months he

paid for care which he can no longer afford. Since he is ban-

ned for life from all universities in Cameroun, he cannot res-

tart his political science studies and obtain a diploma.

In spite of all these difficulties, his little store that he opened 9

months ago, seems to be doing well. For difficult tasks, Mr.

Lyonga employs a young man who assists him a few hours a

week. He puts some money aside and hopes to rent a second

store room at the side of the national road so as to reach a

bigger clientele. Here as well, M. Biack will try to let him bene-

fit from possible support for entrepreneurs the government

agencies offer.

In the first case, the reception within a personalized structure

in contact with the population allowed the migrant to build a

network crucial for his reintegration. In the second case, the

brusque and sudden return, prepared in difficult circumstan-

ces of stress and agony, could have been quite bad. Caritas

wishes to insist on the necessity of giving those people who

have accepted the principle of voluntary return, the possibility

of staying in a reception network for a reasonable period of

time, so that their reintegration can be prepared in an efficient

way.

Thomas Jézéquel

Cameroon: the necessity of a well prepared return