Aringa kingdom, govt hatch plan to ease refugee-host tensions in Yumbe

YUMBE - The Aringa kingdom and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) have agreed on action plans to improve relations between refugees and host communities in Yumbe district-based Bidibidi Refugee Settlement after a high-level meeting at the kingdom palace.

The engagement, which attracted landlords, refugee leaders, the Bidibidi commandant, kingdom ministers and elders, came after refugees in Bidibidi asked for more land for agriculture.

The situation has grown urgent since food rations were cut following a reduction in global humanitarian funding. The engagement focused on how to balance refugee needs with host community interests without sparking conflict.

Resolutions

Lemeriga Fadhil, the Aringa Cultural Institution premier, said the leaders resolved on Joint grassroots outreach as both teams agreed to carry out joint visits to refugee-hosting sub-counties to listen to communities and explain the agreements directly.

“We agreed to hold a landlord-tenant dialogue at the sub-county level with meetings organised to address disputes and communication gaps between landlords and land users,” Lemeriga said last week.

The engagement, which attracted landlords, refugee leaders, the Bidibidi commandant, kingdom ministers and elders, came after refugees in Bidibidi asked for more land for agriculture. (Credit: Hafiz Bakhit)

According to Lemeriga, the locals will also be sensitised on how to tap into ongoing projects and government interventions so that host communities see direct gains.

Other resolutions include fast-tracking land titling as the district land office prioritises titling land for the Aringa people to increase land value and security for both landlords and users.

There will be Joint radio talk shows between Aringa Kingdom and OPM to share updates, address rumours and promote peaceful coexistence.

The Leaders also promised to have quarterly review meetings between the OPM officials and Aringa Kingdom to check the progress of the resolutions.

Kingdom education minister Alokore Hampton Drani called for such encounters to be hastened in the future.

Mr Andiga Salim, the chair of the landlords, said he wanted to take the king to landlords in all the 26 sub-counties so that he gets to directly know their concerns and address them.

Nema Grace, the Refugee Welfare Committee (RWC 3) Chairperson of Zone Two, in Bidibidi Settlement, confirms some tensions between the refugees and the host community over land as host family members conflict over pieces of land given to the refugees.

“When you hire land for cultivation from a landlord, his brothers and sons will also come in, to demand compensation, arguing that it was given without their consent. These are issues we also need to iron out here,” she said.

The kingdom committed to unconditionally allocating more land to refugees for farming and lobbying for more land from landlords and other sources for refugees to be involved in Agriculture.

The kingdom premier also asked OPM to make some considerations for the landlords to appreciate their efforts to give land freely for the settlement of refugees in Yumbe District since 1993.

The camp commandant, Timothy Kitaka, said the OPM doesn't compensate landlords for their offer of land due to budgetary constraints, but rather advised them to write to the Commissioner of Refugees through Aringa Kingdom.

The two parties finally pledged to formalise and submit the expectations of the landlord to the Commissioner for Refugees at the office of the Prime Minister, with support from the District Chairperson, for consideration and action.

Why it matters now

With food rations shrinking after global aid cuts, refugees in Bidibidi are turning to farming to feed their families.

But more farming means more land pressure in host communities.

Leaders say the resolutions aim to prevent conflict and make sure both refugees and hosts benefit from aid and government programmes.

“This is about dialogue, not confrontation,” one elder at the meeting said. “If we sit together, we can share land and opportunities without losing peace."