A hospitable response to displacement: Humanitarian assistance in Guinea-Bissau

Fighting in Guinea-Bissau broke out on 7 June 1998, causing immediate displacement of hundreds of thousands of persons. During successive rounds of fighting over the course of eleven months, an unusual pattern of displacement ensued. The relatively small size of the country and the successive violations of truce agreements caused population to move back and forth in waves between rounds of fighting. Those not affected directly by the fighting showed an impressive demonstration of solidarity in providing food and shelter to the displaced.
Bissau emptied of its residents, an estimated 350,000 people were on the move and the city became a virtual ghost town. Houses stood empty, there were no cars in the streets, and street market activity ceased. Some families did not flee far, just beyond the perimeter of the fighting, to return to damaged and looted houses. Others left for the countryside, finding shelter with rural inhabitants: family members, friends, and even strangers. Traditional hospitality dictated that no refugee was turned away, and all was shared. Guinea-Bissau enjoys an extremely close-knit society with long traditions of sharing food, shelter, and labor. This built-in safety net figured prominently in caring for the war refugees. There were no displaced persons camps, but this created another vulnerable group - the host population.

The first cease-fire was signed on 26 July, following which some 200,000 inhabitants warily returned. When the truce was broken in October, a new wave of IDPs fled to areas near Bissau, and civilian casualties were few. Dueling radio stations - government and junta - added confusion to the situation. During the fighting, it was difficult to know where to find safe haven, contradictory messages urged residents to flee, others assured the fighting would be over soon and to stay put.

Towards the end of the year, displaced persons began to trickle back to Bissau. When fighting broke out in Bissau again at the end of January 1999, people were suddenly trapped. Those that could get out fled, but the unexpected fighting caught many off-guard. The front lines were the perimeter of Bissau, as the government was isolated in army barracks downtown and junta forces were bunkered at the airport and held the rest of the country. The population was forced again to flee under intense shelling. Displaced persons were even more apprehensive this time, and did not begin to return until troops sent to support the government side from Senegal and the Republic of Guinea (Conakry) withdrew in March.

Bissau

Even before the war, Bissau had a sluggish, dilapidated feel. Years of government misrule and corruption resulted in decaying Portuguese architecture, pitted roads, and poor social services. When shots exploded in downtown Bissau on 7 June, national radio urged people to stay put, claiming the war would be quickly resolved.

Filomena and her family heard this and decided to remain in their home in bairro Alto Bandim. Filomena, a dignified schoolteacher in her early 40s, has five children and lives with her brother and sister and their children in a relatively well-built house, made of cement and covered with metal sheeting. The typical house in Bissau is made of adobe and covered with a thatched grass roof.

Filomena's mother was sick, making it difficult for them to move, and there was no transport available. When the shelling began, her cousins joined them in the house, which meant there were nineteen in the house. Another brother, visiting from Portugal, found himself stuck in Bissau when the war broke out. On 15 June, a mortar shell exploded through the house, surprising them as they sat on the terrace. Two children were killed upon impact, several others wounded by shell fragments.

Wearing a loose dress made of dyed African cloth, her hair tied back in braids, Filomena recalls the day nervously, as if remembering the details might cause pain. "People began running in all directions. They were falling into ditches, many wounded on the side of the road - people were all trying to save themselves." In the ensuing chaos, they fled to the hospital in Cumura, ten kilometers to the west of Bissau. But when the bombing spread to Cumura, even the doctors left.

As the shelling continued, Filomena fled with her family to Prabis, about 30 kilometers away. Guineans fled in a large exodus, large bundles piled on their heads, carrying children, straw mats, cooking utensils. There were fifty people staying in the house where she sought shelter. A family she did not know took her and her relatives under their roof. Conditions were difficult, people looked for drinking water in rice fields, and there was never enough food.

Following the first negotiated cease-fire on 26 July, Filomena returned to the remains of her house, barren of the families possessions. All the clothes had been looted, and the house had also burned when the shell exploded. With her house destroyed, she sought refuge with another family. When the fighting resumed in October, she would seek shelter in a ditch, sleeping in the house only during the night, when the shelling fell off. Food supplies became scarce. People bought food by whatever means possible, the informal economy flourished. "We would make sweet ice and peddle it on the street", Filomena explained.

When the uneasy truce broke out into unexpected fighting on 6 and 7 May 1999, many people from the neighborhood sought shelter at a school run by Italian priests. "I thank god that my family was not among them, but all our neighbors lost family members in that tragic incident", Filomena recounts. Thousands of people had crammed into the courtyard believing it was safe, sleeping in the open. Two shells landed in the early morning hours, killing over fifty persons instantly and wounding many others. The entire neighborhood was in grief.

Filomena did not know the causes of the war, she is just happy that it is over. She felt things were not well before the war, people were out of work, underpaid, unable to buy food or medicines. She hopes that stability will return and the situation will get better. Filomena affirmed her intention to vote in the upcoming Presidential and general elections, scheduled for 28 November. "Everyone has the right to vote", she asserted, as if reminding the listener of a duty.

Bafatá

In rural Guinea-Bissau, the countryside is flat, meandering rivers weave among rice paddies. Majestic mango trees, soaring baobabs, and cashew nut trees bearing red and yellow fruit add shade and color to the land.

Bafatá is a rural town with a population of 60,000 along a river in the major rice-growing area. From June 1998, the population quadrupled, swelling to an estimated 260,000. No one was turned away, each family in Bafatá hosted war refugees, many had ten or more seeking refuge with them.

Although Fenda's family did not have many resources, the refugees arrived with nothing. Having an extra eighteen people in her house, in addition to the nine in her family, created a lot of work. Her family used their savings to help feed everyone and even ran up debts which they cannot pay back. "We did not have a war in Bafatá, but we had an economic war", she commented ruefully.

Fenda is also a local Red Cross volunteer. During the crisis, the national Red Cross society conducted a census of all the displaced persons, helping families locate each other, and assisting in distributing food to the families.

The people of Bafatá, and other regions which accommodated persons displaced by fighting, demonstrated remarkable solidarity in opening their homes and sharing meager resources. During most of the conflict, the border with Senegal was closed, making goods scarce, and pushing up the prices of those that were available. Food reserves were depleted, and water supplies strained.

But displacement created serendipitous benefits. Due to the increased availability of manual labor, the cashew nut harvest for 1998 was above average levels. Displacement temporarily halted the trend towards urbanization which was draining the countryside. People were put back in touch with their rural roots, and some have decided to re-settle in those areas.

Fenda and her family cultivate rice on land owned by an agricultural association. When refugees arrived, they were given land to cultivate, and were allowed to keep the rice they harvested. At the height of the rains in August, there are still displaced working in the fields. Fenda has family who will stay until the end of the harvest, they had returned to Bissau and found their houses destroyed and with few opportunities to earn a living, they returned to Bafatá. Many families in Bafatá are still hosting displaced persons. Fenda has started working again in a local hotel, where she says business has begun again slowly.

Both Filomena and Fenda have high hopes for change following almost one year of conflict. It is a time of anticipation, as citizens will be scrutinizing the new government for signs of change. Even prior to the conflict, Guinea-Bissau was one of the ten poorest countries in the world, according to socio-economic indicators. The conflict interrupted and delayed needed assistance and rehabilitation projects. Root causes of the conflict, political and socio-economic inequalities, still need to be addressed.

The war further exacerbated dire conditions, but the spirit of solidarity prevented a humanitarian crisis. "The largest humanitarian organization in Guinea-Bissau was the peasants themselves", remarked one observer. The people of Guinea-Bissau seek political stability, economic development and social justice. It is a key moment for the participation of the international community, to help sustain the fragile transition to lasting peace.

Humanitarian Response: Shelter

A census of destroyed houses was launched in March with the collaboration of OCHA and the national Red Cross. The survey was updated following the fighting of 6 to 7 May 1999 which led to the ouster of President Vieira. Many of the same areas were damaged, as shelling positions had not changed from previous rounds of fighting. An estimated 4,900 houses were damaged in the conflict.

Under the coordination of the Minister of Public Works, several non-governmental organizations are working on the repair and reconstruction of destroyed houses. Each NGO is working in a different neighborhood to ensure areas in need are covered. Funds for these projects comes from European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO). The World Food Program is supporting several projects with Food-For-Work in payment of labor. Over 2,500 houses have been repaired to date. With the onset of the rainy season, NGOs are concentrating on the distribution of metal sheeting in order to cover roofs.

Humanitarian Response: Food Aid

War had a major impact on all sectors of society. The international airport was closed, access by road from Senegal was difficult. Banks were not operating, shutting down cash flow and goods into the country. People resorted to the informal economy, bartering for goods. Prices rose as goods became more scarce.

WFP, in close collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross and non-governmental organizations, provided food assistance to the estimated 350,000 displaced up to the end of March 1999. However, following renewed fighting, assistance was extended to include the host population in villages and rural areas, taking into account the strain on family resources. This was an unprecedented policy for WFP, in recognition of the impact displaced persons have on the host ocmmunity. Due to the lack of economic activity, general food distribution was extended to over 245,000 beneficiaries in Bissau until May 1999.

Humanitarian Response: Distribution of Agricultural inputs

To help with the 1999 agriculture campaign, the Food and Agriculture Organization assisted the Ministry of Agriculture to distribute seeds to over 36,000 war-affected farm households. Many families were forced to consume their seed stock when the crisis broke out and had additional mouths to feed. WFP distributed food rations in conjunction with the seeds to further ensure the grains would be planted. Seed distribution has now been completed countrywide and copious rains augur well for the upcoming harvest.

Wendy Cue
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Bissau