IOM Begins Airlift of Stranded South Sudanese from Kosti
IOM has begun an airlift of some 12,000 stranded South Sudanese
from Kosti, 300 km south of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, to Juba
in South Sudan.
On Monday, 14th May, the first two IOM-chartered flights arrived
in Juba from Khartoum carrying a total of 326 people. A third
flight left Khartoum on schedule at 9.15 am local time this morning
and a fourth is expected to leave later today.
Yesterday’s returnees, who included vulnerable people,
including the old, the sick and families with small children, were
received at Juba airport by South Sudanese officials before being
transferred in IOM buses to a transit complex run by the UNHCR on
the outskirts of Juba.
The flights are the first in an IOM airbridge between the two
capitals designed to move South Sudanese stranded in Kosti to South
Sudan, following the country’s independence last
year.
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Safe Return: South Sudanese Arrive from Khartoum
Many have spent months living in difficult conditions in the
way-station waiting for transport and are desperate to leave,
according to IOM Sudan Chief of Mission Jill Helke.
“This huge operation will assist thousands of people who
have already been waiting too long for help to move to South Sudan
to restart their lives. These are people for whom the recent
deterioration in the political situation has created a real
crisis,” she said.
“Air operations are inherently complicated and we have had
a number of setbacks and delays, but we hope that this smooth start
has reassured everyone concerned. Our aim is to assist both
governments and to help the most vulnerable to travel to their
homes and villages safely and in dignity,” she
added.
Each trip starts from Kosti, where IOM prepares manifests and
provides pre-departure health checks. The returnees then travel to
an IOM transit centre in Khartoum on IOM-chartered buses. IOM
staff, including medical escorts, accompany each flight to take
care of the most vulnerable on board.
Passengers are allowed to carry a maximum of 20 kg of
luggage. The Government of South Sudan is providing transport
for the rest of their luggage, which will be moved by truck from
Kosti to Renk in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state. From Renk it
will be transported by Nile barges to Juba.
Many returnees have large quantities of luggage, which
represents a major logistical challenge. It includes many of the
items that they will need to rebuild their lives in South Sudan,
such as building materials, household items and
motorbikes.
Once the returnees arrive in Juba, they are registered by IOM
staff. Those whose final destination is not Juba are then taken to
the UNHCR transit centre, where they are given food and
accommodation.
The transit centre can currently only shelter 1,000 people at
any one time. IOM is therefore urgently working with the government
to find space to construct an additional transit centre to
accommodate the expected 12,000 from Kosti and other new
arrivals.
Most of yesterday’s returnees told IOM that Juba was their
final destination. But the shortage of available houses and plots
of land for building in Juba often leads to many returnees staying
at the transit centre for a considerable length of
time.
Meanwhile, an IOM-sponsored river Nile barge carrying
1,700 returnees who departed from the town of Renk in Upper Nile
state two weeks ago, is due to arrive in Juba shortly.
Renk currently hosts some 17,000 returnees in three congested
camps.
To date, IOM has assisted in the voluntary movement of more than
53,000 South Sudanese by train, barge and flights since 2011.
IOM’s voluntary return assistance is carried out with funding
from the Common Humanitarian Fund, financed principally by European
donors, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and the
European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection
Office (ECHO).
IOM has USD 2.3 million to pay for the aircraft, buses and staff
required to move people from Kosti to Juba. It believes that it
will need USD 5.5 million to complete the operation and is
appealing to international donors for the additional USD 3.2
million.
For more information please contact:
Jill Helke
IOM Khartoum
Tel: +249 183 570 801/3
Email:
"mailto:jhelke@iom.int">jhelke@iom.int
and
Vincent Houver
IOM Juba
Tel: +211 922 406 615, +211 912 693 746
Email:
"mailto:vhouver@iom.int">vhouver@iom.int