E/CN.4/2006/73/Add.2 page 10 relations with the administrations, the institutions and the associations formed as a result of the diaspora. Participation can take various forms, including the launch of occasional projects based on cooperation with local human resources, audits or distance learning. In this way migrants’ skills and incomes can be set to work for the development of their countries of origin.7 III. THE CRISIS IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE AND THE SITUATION OF BURKINA FASO RETURNEES A. Characteristics of the crisis 36. The conflict in Côte d’Ivoire has had a devastating impact on Burkina Faso. Following the crisis which began there on 19 September 2002, when the attempted coup d’état in Abidjan degenerated into an armed uprising, more than 350,000 Burkina Faso nationals who were living in Côte d’Ivoire returned home in very difficult circumstances. During the crisis Burkina Faso nationals in Côte d’Ivoire suffered grave human rights violations, including attempts on their lives and physical integrity, which is why a large majority decided to return to their country of origin. 37. By returning to Burkina Faso, 49 per cent of them lost both their belongings and their papers. The Special Rapporteur interviewed a student repatriated from Côte d’Ivoire in July 2003 with his young sisters in an IOM convoy. Their father had been killed in the conflict and all their belongings had been burnt.8 38. This large-scale return of Burkina Faso nationals, driven out of their host country by waves of xenophobia in the name of “ivoirité”, led to a humanitarian crisis of major proportions for Burkina Faso, to the detriment of the socio-economic resettlement of returnees. 39. Burkina Faso has taken in not only its own nationals but also people from other countries, such as Gabon, Ghana and Nigeria, trying to escape from the conflict in Côte d’Ivoire. Nationals from Mali and Niger fleeing from Côte d’Ivoire have also transited through Burkina Faso to return to their home countries, thereby placing an extra burden on humanitarian aid organized in Burkina Faso.9 40. In view of the seriousness of the situation, the Government of Burkina Faso set up a crisis unit with the help of international organizations. The Bayiri humanitarian aid operation transported thousands of Burkina Faso nationals back to their country of origin. More nationals were able to return to Burkina Faso by their own means. The Special Rapporteur met the president of an association of returnees, a former business manager in Côte d’Ivoire, who returned from Burkina Faso with his car laden with 15 Burkina Faso nationals who were working in his company. 41. The humanitarian operation provided first aid to the returnees, who were initially received in five reception centres set up in the country, then at transit sites. The Bayiri operation provided food aid and emergency relief (especially the vaccination of children). Many children were in a poor state of health when they returned, as the proportion of those vaccinated was relatively low.