E/CN.4/2006/73/Add.2 page 11 42. One of the positive aspects of the management of the humanitarian crisis recognized by the Special Rapporteur has been the decision by the Government of Burkina Faso not to set up camps for returnees. In fact such camps would probably have caused the returning population to be even more marginalized. The policy followed was to resettle returnees in their home villages wherever possible. Migrants of the third or more generation having no more direct roots in Burkina Faso mostly stayed near frontier regions, such as Gaoua, which has taken in most of the returnees from Côte d’Ivoire.10 43. Despite the fact that the decision taken by the Government of Burkina Faso (not to set up camps for returnees and to give preference instead to resettling them in the communities) is to be welcomed, several authorities have drawn attention to the ineffectiveness of the policy from the point of view of obtaining funding from the international community for socio-economic resettlement programmes. After initial humanitarian relief has run out, the difficulties faced by returnees in the host communities is less apparent than it would have been if they had been kept in camps. B. Current situation of returnees and impact of the crisis 44. The mass return of Burkina Faso migrants from Côte d’Ivoire to Burkina Faso has had and still has extremely negative consequences for the country. The effects have been felt on several levels: by the returnees themselves, by the country’s economy and by the communities taking in returnees. In terms of human rights, the impact of the crisis has meant that migrants have been deprived of certain basic rights, especially socio-economic rights related to food, employment, health, housing and education. 45. The returnees currently make up a very diversified group of migrants. Their situation differs according to their activity and their social background. For example, their needs differ according to whether they are in farming or in business. Two groups, however, have been particularly affected by the impact of the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire: women returnees and children. 1. Impact of the crisis on Burkina Faso’s economy 46. Before the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, the funds sent back by Burkina Faso migrants to their country of origin accounted for some 35 per cent of the country’s balance of payments. After the crisis, the figure had fallen to no more than 6 per cent. This shift has had very harmful structural effects on the country’s economy. 47. Repatriated migrant funds provide a significant source of revenues, not only for the families they left back home, but also for the country itself (macroeconomically speaking they constitute a significant source of foreign currency). For instance, the “Italian villages” in the province of Boulgou were entirely built with the income of Burkina Faso emigrants living in Italy. 48. The fact that Western Union agencies operate even in the smallest villages of Burkina Faso shows how important foreign transfers are as a source of income for Burkina Faso. It also illustrates the dominant role played by international banking services, thanks to the reliability and rapidity of their operations.