The first IOM convoy carrying 56 internally displaced people
(IDPs) to their former home state of Warrap in South Sudan this
week marks the start of an operation to help those left displaced
in Wau in Western Bahr el Ghazal by the long running civil war in
South Sudan.

About 10,000 IDPs will be helped to return voluntarily to their
former communities in Warrap and Lake States as well as within
Western Bahr el Ghazal. Those to be assisted were identified
after IOM carried out a survey of return intentions late in
2006 in which about 65 per cent of the 31,000 IDPs in the Wau area
expressed an interest in going home.

The convoy, which left Baryar camp in Wau earlier this week,
arrived amid celebrations organized by a reception committee
comprising local government representatives and officials from the
South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC).

The returnees, both Dinka and Jur families, fled the more than
two-decade long civil war with most arriving in camps in Wau in
1998. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 called
for the voluntary return of displaced populations to home areas
while upholding the rights of Sudanese citizens to resettle
throughout Sudan.

Before departure, the returnees received information on the
areas of return and life-saving mine-risk education in addition to
undergoing pre-departure medical screening by IOM. The IDPs were
also provided with a non-food-item kit comprising plastic sheeting,
jerry cans, blankets, sleeping mats, soap and mosquito nets
provided in conjunction with UNICEF as well as a three-month food
ration supplied by the World Food Programme (WFP).

The returns are part of a joint programme of organized returns
of about 83,000 IDPs to South Sudan coordinated by the Government
of National Unity (GoN), the Government of South Sudan (GoSS), the
United Nations (UN) and IOM.

IOM will follow the organized return effort with quick impact
reintegration programming in key return areas. This includes
support for basic services and essential infrastructure such as
water and sanitation, health care and educational facilities.

The Organization has already begun community-based water
projects to support expected high returns to Northern Bahr el
Ghazal State and is currently appealing for USD 26.2 million to
support the return process and community rehabilitation in key
return areas of central and southern Sudan.

For more information please contact:

Birgit Hussfeld

IOM Khartoum

Tel: +249 183 570 801/2/3/4

E-mail: "mailto:bhussfeld@iom.int">bhussfeld@iom.int 

Simona Opitz

IOM Khartoum

Tel: + 249 9 12339700 (mobile) / + 249 183 570 801/2/3/4
(office)

E-mail: "mailto:sopitz@iom.int">sopitz@iom.int

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