UN chief visit: Yumbe leaders put OPM on the spot

Jun 25, 2017

Local leaders want an explanation as to why Yumbe was scrapped off the list.

(Picture credit: Antonio Guterres/Twitter)

REFUGEE CRISIS


Yumbe district local leaders are up in arms with the Office of the Prime Minister for scrapping Bidibidi refugee settlement area off the list of refugee centers visited by UN secretary-general António Guterres.

Bidi Bidi, located in Yumbe district, is the world's largest refugee camp.

Guterres, who was in the country to attend the 'Refugee Solidarity' summit on Thursday, visited Imvempi refugee camp in Arua district, among other settlements.

But Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, which hosts as many as 270,000 refugees, the largest on the globe, was left out.

According to Yumbe district woman MP Zaituni Driwaru, Yumbe had been listed as one of the refugee-hosting communities the UN chief would visit but was later scrapped off the list for unknown reasons.

"I have tried to contact the minister for Northern Uganda, among other ministers, in the Office of the Prime Minister to explain to us why the UN secretary-general has not visited Bidibidi, but I have not got any response," she said.

"When I contacted the Bidi Bidi refugee camp commandment, he said he was equally surprised why the camp was left out," Driwaru told New Vision.

'We have missed out'

The lawmaker added that Guterres not visiting Bidi Bidi camp made the people of Yumbe district, who have surrendered their land to refugees, miss the opportunities that should have come with his visit to the area.

"Maybe the secretary-general would have felt sympathy for the people of Yumbe and the refugees and offer assistance in addressing some of the challenges such as water, food shortage, which are affecting these people. We have missed out a lot."

On Friday, Uganda in conjunction with the United Nations hosted the Refugee Solidarity summit in Kampala to raise funds for the 1.2 million refugees in the country, most of whom are from South Sudan.

The world's youngest country has been battered by a conflict that has dragged on since December 2013, and as a result, led to the flight of hundrends of thousands of nationals.

During the summit, billions of money were collected and pledged in support of the refugees in Uganda.

Bidi Bidi was closed to new arrivals in December to prevent overcrowding. Since then, new settlements have opened roughly every two months.

Time factor

When contacted, Hillary Onek, the minister for relief, disaster preparedness and refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister, attributed the oversight to lack of time on the side of the UN secretary general to visit all the refugee settlements in the country.

"Bidi Bidi refugee settlement is one of our priority settlements, however just like other many settlements, the UN secretary general could not visit it because of time," said Onek.

"He had only one day to visit the settlements, he could not visit all the settlements."

The minister however assured the leaders of Yumbe district among other refugee host communities, whose settlements were not visited by the UN chief that the government had compiled a joint report about all the refugee settlement areas in the country, highlighting their challenges, and handed it over to the UN refugee agency, for consideration by UN.

 

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