Sudanese return home
Mar 06, 2008
A TOTAL of 406 Sudanese refugees have returned home.<br>The convoy of seven buses and 10 cargo trucks was flagged off on Wednesday from Madi-Okollo settlement in Arua district by the head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), Antonio Guterres.
By Frank Mugabi
A TOTAL of 406 Sudanese refugees have returned home.
The convoy of seven buses and 10 cargo trucks was flagged off on Wednesday from Madi-Okollo settlement in Arua district by the head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), Antonio Guterres.
The refugees headed to Magwi county in the Eastern Equatoria State of South Sudan.
They were expected to spend at least four days on the way after taking a longer route through Gulu and Nimule due to inefficiencies in the ferry operations between Adjumani and Moyo.
“It is time for the Sudanese to go back home and participate in the reconstruction of their country after the long civil war,†said Guterres.
“When a child is born, there is pain. Likewise when a country is born the pain is much but this kind of pain is wonderful.â€
The war between the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) began in 1983 and ended in 2005 after the signing of a peace agreement.
Guterres noted that South Sudan had significant exercises to undertake like the census, elections and the referendum, which depended on numbers to succeed.
“In many countries, refugees are not allowed to farm and they live in very small camps but Uganda is generous to allow you stay in settlements with lots of space and land for agriculture,†he said.
In May 2006, the agency and the governments of Uganda and South Sudan began a voluntary repatriation programme that has seen nearly 35,000 of the 156,000 Sudanese return home. Many of them had lived in settlements in northern Uganda for the last 20 years.
The head of the agency’s sub-office in Arua, Barry Abdoulaye, said they had been moving about 450 refugees weekly due to logistical constraints but the number would be increased to about 900 by mid this month.
The relief and disaster preparedness minister, Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere and the Luxembourg minister for humanitarian affairs, Jean-Louis Schiltz, witnessed the Wednesday repatriation exercise.
A TOTAL of 406 Sudanese refugees have returned home.
The convoy of seven buses and 10 cargo trucks was flagged off on Wednesday from Madi-Okollo settlement in Arua district by the head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), Antonio Guterres.
The refugees headed to Magwi county in the Eastern Equatoria State of South Sudan.
They were expected to spend at least four days on the way after taking a longer route through Gulu and Nimule due to inefficiencies in the ferry operations between Adjumani and Moyo.
“It is time for the Sudanese to go back home and participate in the reconstruction of their country after the long civil war,†said Guterres.
“When a child is born, there is pain. Likewise when a country is born the pain is much but this kind of pain is wonderful.â€
The war between the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) began in 1983 and ended in 2005 after the signing of a peace agreement.
Guterres noted that South Sudan had significant exercises to undertake like the census, elections and the referendum, which depended on numbers to succeed.
“In many countries, refugees are not allowed to farm and they live in very small camps but Uganda is generous to allow you stay in settlements with lots of space and land for agriculture,†he said.
In May 2006, the agency and the governments of Uganda and South Sudan began a voluntary repatriation programme that has seen nearly 35,000 of the 156,000 Sudanese return home. Many of them had lived in settlements in northern Uganda for the last 20 years.
The head of the agency’s sub-office in Arua, Barry Abdoulaye, said they had been moving about 450 refugees weekly due to logistical constraints but the number would be increased to about 900 by mid this month.
The relief and disaster preparedness minister, Prof. Tarsis Kabwegyere and the Luxembourg minister for humanitarian affairs, Jean-Louis Schiltz, witnessed the Wednesday repatriation exercise.