An IOM-organized train, which left the Sudanese capital Khartoum18
days ago, arrived in Wau in Western Bahr el Ghazal State in South
Sudan on Sunday (18/3/12) carrying nearly 2,300 returnees.

The train was the first to leave Khartoum since the governments
of Sudan and South Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding in
early February, which outlined a voluntary, safe and dignified
return process for South Sudanese in Sudan wishing to return to
their newly independent homeland.

Earlier in the week, the government of South Sudan announced
that it was committing SSP 50 million (USD 16.6 million) to speed
up the repatriation of South Sudanese stranded in Sudan. This fund
will be managed by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC).
IOM will continue to support the repatriation programme,
transporting returnees by plane, barge, road and train.

The train movement was organized in close cooperation with
Sudan's IDP Centre, the Commission for Voluntary and Humanitarian
Works (CVHW), the RRC, UNHCR and UNICEF, with funding from the UN
Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

The train left Khartoum with 982 returnees, who were later
joined by another 546 in Kosti – the main way station for
South Sudanese returning home. An estimated 700 more people boarded
the train before it crossed the border into South Sudan at
Rumaker.

Returnees were provided with food, water, and medical attention
on the journey. IOM worked with partners in Babanusa to get extra
food for the passengers who joined the train en route.

After the train crossed into South Sudan on Tuesday (13/3/12),
IOM staff distributed tokens to the returnees to allow them to
register on arrival in Wau.

IOM operates a national tracking and monitoring database across
South Sudan's ten states and employs over 500 government
enumerators to register and track returnees and the primary and
secondary displacement of internally displaced people (IDPs). Since
2005 IOM has tracked over 2.5 million returnees to South Sudan.

In 2011, IOM registered over 360,000 returnees. Many face
various reintegration challenges, primarily the slow allocation of
land by the government, which is complicated by the lack of basic
transport, education, and health infrastructure in rural areas.

IOM has been asked to coordinate a Reintegration Theme Group for
South Sudan (RTGSS), composed of UN agencies and other
international agencies, to formulate a strategy to meet this
challenge and bridge the gap between emergency, early recovery and
development interventions.

In Aweil and Wau, IOM also provides medical assistance,
essential relief items, and accommodation in temporary transit
sites, as well as onward transport assistance inside South
Sudan.

On Tuesday, March 13th, the day that the train crossed into
South Sudan, the governments of Sudan and South Sudan concluded a
framework agreement to grant their citizens basic freedoms in both
nations.

The agreement sets out the four freedoms (freedom of movement,
residence, economic activity and property), as a set of general
principles. Both countries agreed to allow citizens of the other to
live, work and own property on either side of the border, and
travel between the two nations.

IOM welcomes the conclusion of the Framework Agreement, and
stands ready to provide whatever support is deemed necessary by
both governments, in close coordination with the African Union
High-Level Implementation Panel. IOM is committed to working with
both governments to ensure that return operations are conducted in
a safe and dignified manner and that the rights of migrants are
upheld on both sides of the border.

For more information please contact:

Samantha Donkin

IOM South Sudan

Tel: +211.9224.06728

E-mail: "mailto:sdonkin@iom.int" target="" title="">sdonkin@iom.int