More Sudanese Refugees in Uganda Returning Home / UN refugee agency opens new passageway to aid Sudanese returns from Uganda
Two stories from over the past few days that are related to Friday's UNHCR items:
The UN refugee agency says [that] more Sudanese refugees in Uganda are voluntarily returning to their homes in South Sudan, following the withdrawal of the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army, from the area. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.
The UN refugee agency says [that] security has gradually returned to many parts of Eastern Equatoria State in Sudan, following the departure of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army around the middle of this year. It says [that] this has boosted the confidence of many Sudanese refugees who want to return home.
UNHCR [spokesman], William Spindler, says [that] his agency will be helping more Sudanese who wish to return home. To facilitate the returns, he says, the UNHCR has opened a new corridor through the town of Nimule, on the southern tip of Sudan's border with Uganda.
"The new route links the refugee settlements in Uganda with Eastern Equatoria State in Sudan. Uganda hosts one of the largest populations of Sudanese refugees. Some 70 percent of the 160-thousand Sudanese refugees living in a string of 11 camps in Uganda originate from Sudan's Central and Eastern Equatoria States," he said. "Nimule is the third repatriation corridor between the two countries."
The Lord's Resistance Army has waged a civil war against the Ugandan government for more than a decade. Since the mid-1990s, it has been active in Eastern Equatoria State, using Sudanese territory as a base.
From there, it mounted attacks into northern Uganda. The rebels terrorized villagers, abducted residents, and regularly ambushed vehicles traveling via Nimule from northern Uganda to Juba in south Sudan.
Spindler says [that] he expects that in the coming months, many Sudanese will return to homes [that] they fled years ago, during the civil war in south Sudan. The civil war ended with a peace agreement in 2005. Spindler says [that] most will probably go back on their own, but some will need help from the UNHCR.
"One of the reasons why we expect the numbers to increase in the next few months is that many people want to go back in time to enroll their children for the next school season, which I think is around October," said Spindler. "So, many of them will want to go back before then, so that the children can start a new academic year in Sudan…We help the most-vulnerable ones. And, we assist some of them with transport, and we also assist some of the ones that return spontaneously. We have a return package which includes basic relief items."
Spindler says [that] the UNHCR also is continuing to organize voluntary repatriations of Sudanese from Kakuma camp in northwestern Kenya. He says [that], so far, more than 25,000 Sudanese refugees have returned home.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stepped up efforts to repatriate Sudanese refugees living in Uganda, with the opening of a major new return corridor in South Sudan.
The new route, which runs through the Sudanese town of Nimule, links the refugee settlements in Uganda with Eastern Equatoria state in South Sudan.
Some 70 per cent of the 160,000 Sudanese refugees living in a string of 11 camps in Uganda are from Sudan’s Central and Eastern Equatoria States.
A first convoy carrying 133 Sudanese refugees from two camps in Uganda’s Hoima district arrived last Wednesday in Nimule.
“People [in the convoy] were very happy to be back,” said Chris Hamm, head of the UNHCR team in the town of Nimule, which is located in Magwi County.
Until recently, UNHCR was not able to operate in Magwi, due to activities by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the area. However, improved security conditions following an LRA withdrawal from the area several months ago have encouraged refugees to return.
“Since March [of] this year, no security incident attributed to LRA or other armed groups has been reported in Nimule or Magwi. Many of the displaced people have started to return to their villages,” Hamm noted. “We feel that the situation is gradually conducive for repatriation.”
The opening of a third return corridor was agreed on at a meeting in Kampala last May between UNHCR and the Governments of Uganda and Sudan, amid improving security on both sides of the border. The other routes from Uganda are Moyo–Kajo Keji and Arua–Yei–Juba.
With the additional return route now open, UNHCR expects growing numbers of Sudanese to opt for return this year.
Some 157,000 Sudanese refugees have so far returned to South Sudan and Blue Nile state since the launch of voluntary repatriation to Sudan, in December 2005.
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