RRTF: Report April 1997
Report
“Reconstruction and Return Task Force”
April 1997
5. Recommendations
- Persons originating from areas where they would no longer be in the majority upon return should not be repatriated except on a case-by-case basis where security conditions allow. There should be no re-location of persons to or within their own ethnic majority areas against their will.
- All host countries are strongly advised to extend repatriation incentive packages similar to the Norwegian and Swiss schemes. Under these schemes, refugees are provided with start-up support, and the receiving community is given assistance towards reconstruction and social infrastructure costs. Similar incentives to individual repatriates are also offered by Austria, Denmark and Sweden.
- Those host countries which are Member States of the Social Development Fund of the Council of Europe are requested to consider the urgent provision of guarantees in order to secure loans from the Fund together with other financing institutions. The RRTF also recommends to create opportunities and incentive mechanisms to encourage private sector developers to invest in housing, targeted towards returnees who have the desire and ability to pay. Increased private investment in the housing sector, with the appropriate political and war risk guarantees, would ease the burden on public sector and donor financing of housing.
- Governments and other donors are encouraged to focus reconstruction efforts in the five prioritised cluster areas which are expected to receive the greatest number of refugees.
- The allocation of resources for economic reconstruction projects should also target municipalities receptive to minority returns. Resources should be allocated in response to initiatives such as “Open Cities”.
- The RRTF recommends that all concerned institutions actively collaborate with the Repatriation Information Centre, both in using and providing information on return and reconstruction.