Time to return?

Over two years of fighting between government forces and rebels loyal to Riek Machar has displaced over 2.4 million people, tens of thousands are feared dead according to humanitarian organisations.

In accordance with a peace agreement signed in August 2015, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir appointed a new cabinet on Thursday, April 28, paving way for the Transitional Government of National Unity.

Many hope the new transitional government will bring peace, allowing millions of displaced people to finally return home.

“I am ready to go home. I have my bag on my back,” says Deborah Achol, a mother of four and one of the returnees stranded in Juba, who lived in a Ugandan refugee settlement for more than two years. She is trying to re-connect with her husband. “We need to live together as a family,” she says. “We were separated by war.”

Those who escaped violence took refuge in neighbouring countries like Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, while others sought protection in UN managed IDP camps within South Sudan. Tired of camp life, the time seems ripe for return.

The government says it would not allow displaced people to return until the transitional government is formed. “There is no repatriation of refugees now,” Michael Makuei Lueth, the government Spokesperson told thousands of stranded returnees in Juba before Kiir announced his new cabinet.

Riek was inaugurated as First Vice President by President Kiir. During the inauguration, Kiir said “our people are tired of war and want peace”. However, many returnees say peace is only a reality when they return to their ancestral home.

Fifty-year-old Deng Miyar Dau, who as well returned from a Ugandan camp and now serves as an acting camp manager for the stranded returnees in Juba, says the government’s intervention on their movements is a violation of their human rights.

“This is the abuse of individual rights because we are willing to return to our home areas without government facilitation. We don’t need government facilitation because it’s self repatriation,” he says.

“We were excited about the successful return to South Sudan. As I am speaking to you, we spend more than 21 days in this harsh weather without proper attention from the aid agencies or government,” Dau says.

“We have not enough food, water and shelter. Children, women and elderly people are exposed to the rain because the government has blocked this crowd from returning to their home,” adds Deng.

Peter Kuol Deng, another returnee says their livelihood is at risk. “We are living in the open football ground here near the airport. This is not a good place to live with children and elderly people – noises of the airplanes and exposure to the bad weather can even causes numerous diseases.”

During his inauguration speech, First Vice President Riek Machar echoed Makuei‘s message to the returnees and IDPs. He urged them to stay in the UN camps until all necessary arrangements for the repatriation are in place.

The former Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Awut Deng Achuil explained that the war has severely crippled the country’s economy and food security, allowing returnees to proceed amidst this situation would endanger their livelihood.

As a result, for hundreds of thousands of displaced South Sudanese it is not yet time to return.