IOM is scaling up its programme to assist South Sudanese move from
the north, using river barges, trains and planes to reduce the
suffering of thousands of Southern Sudanese who have been stranded
for many months awaiting transport assistance to the South.

On 14 November, a convoy of 12 river barges carrying a total of
more than 3,000 Southern Sudanese left Kosti, a town south of
Khartoum, for Juba, the capital of the Republic of South Sudan.

The returnees are among those who have been stranded at Kosti
for many months in need of transport assistance to take them to
their final destinations in the South. The journey from Kosti to
Juba takes around 14 days.

The transport has been organized by IOM, bringing the number of
people making the 1,436 kilometres river journey to more than
17,000 since the result of the January 2011 referendum on the
independence of South Sudan was announced. Last month, another
IOM-organized convoy left Kosti for Juba with 1,800 returnees.

Meanwhile, two IOM-supported trains from Khartoum arrived in
Aweil, the capital of Northern Bahr El-Ghazal in South Sudan on 11
November, carrying some 2,700 Southern Sudanese. The trains are the
first of a planned series, due to travel from Khartoum to the South
before the end of the year.

The operation aims to enable a total of 12,000 Southern Sudanese
who have been living in open areas in Khartoum for many months to
reach the western parts of South Sudan.

The two convoys, consisting of 20 passenger carriages and 44
luggage wagons, left Khartoum on 28 October with more than 1,400
people on board, but more than 1,300 people joined the train before
it crossed the border.

It is expected that some 32,000 persons will have been assisted
to return to the south from the north by the end of the year,
through a combination of river barges and trains organized by IOM
and funded by both Common Humanitarian Fund and the UN Central
Emergency Revolving Fund (CERF).

As well as the trains and river barges, IOM also provides air
transport assistance to the most vulnerable returnees who cannot
withstand long journeys.

Once the returnees reach the South, IOM and its partners assist
to their final destinations those who cannot afford the onward
trip. They are provided with food, water, medical attention and
shelter at the IOM transit centre in Wau and in Aweil, where an
estimated 10,000 returnees are still being cared for by various
humanitarian organizations, including IOM.

The Government of Sudan had given the Southern Sudanese who
reside in the north a deadline of 9 months from the declaration of
independence in July 2011 to leave the north or legalize their
stay.

For more information please contact:

Jill Helke

IOM Khartoum

Tel: +249570801/4 Ext.227

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

or

Claire Bolt

Tel: +249 922 406 659

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