When news spread across Angola last year that war had finally come to an end, Freta Capaita cajoled his four children to return to the village where they were born.

For the past two years, Capaita and his teenage sons had been living in a one-room mud hut at the Lomanda camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) about 10 km outside the central Angolan town of Huambo. But just six days after they set off to the village, his sons returned to Lomanda, disappointed at what they had found.

"The walk to the village is about 45 kilometres away," Capaita, 66, told IRIN, indicating a piece of land behind a nearby mountain barely visible from the camp. "I instructed them to go, just to see what was still left. They were afraid at first but I knew that it would be all right. I am too old to walk so far.

When they returned, Capaita said, "they told me that there was nothing left of the village except for a few families who had not had anything to eat for days," he said.

"I asked my boys if there was at least some water but they said that there was nothing. We were all very disappointed."

Capaita's eldest son works as a labourer on a nearby farm, but the work is underpaid and often erratic. His meagre income supports the family.

"Very often there is not enough to eat but we prefer to stay here at the camp because at least the younger boys can go to the school," said Capaita.

Most of the children at Lomanda attend the nearby NGO-funded school, a luxury compared to conditions at other camps.

Asked if he intended to leave the IDP settlement Capaita said: "If we leave where will we go? Perhaps when my sons get older they can leave but, for now, we will remain in Lomanda."

Like millions of Angolans displaced by years of civil conflict, the prospects of lasting peace ignited the hope of a return to a normal life. But as people make their way home, many are confronted with the stark reality that very little, if anything, remains of villages they once fled to escape the fighting.

In February the United Nations estimated that of the 1.5 million IDPs who have returned to their areas of origin across the country, 70 percent did so without any form of assistance from the government.

In Huambo, Angola's second largest city, the authorities expect that some 260,000 people will resettle or return to their home areas during 2003, although current trends indicate that this number is likely to be significantly higher.

Large return movements to areas of origin began in September last year, including movements to locations that did not meet the pre-conditions established in the UN's "Norms on the Resettlement and Return of Displaced Populations".

The norms, officially adopted by the government in 2002, set out the rights of the displaced, underline the voluntary nature of the resettlement process and provide for the involvement of the displaced in the planning and management of relocation.

Getting children back on their feet at ICRC orthopaedic rehabilitation centre, Bomba Alta, Angola

The norms emphasise that designated resettlement areas must be free of land mines. They also note that state administration must be extended to resettlement or return sites, and health and education personnel supported by the relevant government ministries.

"The development of the norms was a fundamental component of a response to respect the safety and dignity of the displaced," a Huambo-based aid worker told IRIN. "But while, in some areas, has taken steps to comply with the norms, in some areas they [the norms] are completely violated. Those who have chosen to return without the help of agencies, often find themselves without access to medical care, water and food.

The challenges facing post-war Angola are "undeniably significant", the aid worker said, but this did not take from the fact that basic conditions, such as providing water to returnees, were not being complied with.

Erick de Mul, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator and Resident Coordinator of the UN Development Programme said conditions in areas of return or resettlement varied widely.

"In some provinces conditions are better, there are more services, but in some places, less so," he said. "What the government has tried to do - to a large extent, successfully - is to ensure that people are not going on the road or on their way without having been taken care of."

"It's no different for the returning ex-combatants and families than it is for returning IDPs."

When asked, many of the young people at Lomanda IDP camp echoed Capaita's concerns.

"Many of us would like to leave but we are not sure what to expect, so it's better to wait and see," said 29-year-old Domingoes Lundori.