IDPs: We missed voting but we are happy to be home
62 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) returned to Yei in Central Equatoria State yesterday, 14 January 2011. They are the second group of IDPs so far received by the authorities since the start of a voluntary repatriation exercise. The repatriation is supported by the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) among others.
Moving in a convoy of hired 24-seater buses and trucks loaded with their belongings, some IDPs were welcomed with hugs, kisses and tears of joy from relatives and friends who waited for most of the day after receiving the information of their arrival.
\"We were denied freedom, oppressed and marginalised in the North.”
A representative of the returnees, Francis Asu Zacharia, thanked the authorities for a warm reception after spending weeks traveling by road and on barges from Khartoum to their home areas. In an interview, Zacharia said they had wished to cast their vote for separation but missed the chance. We are happy to be home. We were denied freedom, oppressed and marginalised in the North”, he added.
The first group of 19 returnees narrowly missed being registered after arriving in Yei shortly after the official 5:00 PM deadline on the last day of voter registration that ended on 7 December 2010.
Another returnee, Roselin Justine said the group moving with children, and breastfeeding mothers had to spend 14 days in transit with acute shortage of food and other necessities.
Samuel Munga, an Administrative Officer with Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) in Central Equatoria, said the delay for returnees to reach home was caused by long verification procedures and a difficult coordination process between all concerned agencies. Munga disclosed that transport also contributed to delays as the same vehicles had to ferry returnees to different locations in Western, Central and Eastern Equatoria States.
Among other challenges, the SSRRC official said the lack of clean water and sanitary facilities at Juba Port were affecting the high numbers of returnees and exposing them to a high risk of contracting diseases. He was however happy to note that a meeting was held between UNHCR, UNOCHA, WFP and UNICEF to agree on how to address the inadequate facilities at Juba Port.
While receiving the returnees at Jigomoni Primary School, Yei County Commissioner David Lokonga Moses said the authorities would support them in tracing their kinsmen, reintegration into the community and assured them of security. Lokonga briefed them as well on infrastructural developments in the area, the referendum process and the anticipated secession of the region.
Those returning to places outside Yei town would be helped to reach their families.
The Commissioner said those returning to places outside Yei town would be helped to reach their families and that local radio stations will convey information about their arrival to relatives.
Meanwhile, a team of Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission officials is scheduled to visit IDP hosting areas for a re-integration assessment exercise to establish the number of returnees in each location.
