South Sudan - IOM began an airlift on Monday (22/4) to help over 700 vulnerable South Sudanese returnees currently waiting for transport in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State to return to their places of origin.

The returnees are part of a group of 1,303 transported by the Africa Inland Church from the Sudanese capital Khartoum to Malakal, South Sudan, at the end of March.

They were among an estimated 40,000 South Sudanese living in makeshift shelters in Khartoum. Conditions in these open areas remain precarious, with limited access to food, water, healthcare and sanitation.

Some of the returnees who arrived in Malakal decided to stay. But the majority decided to settle in their places of origin in the Bahr el Ghazal region, Lakes State or Unity State.

The airlift will ease congestion at the Malakal transit site, which has exceeded its limited capacity. Two flights per day will depart from Malakal during the course of the week, taking passengers to three reception sites in Western Bahr el Ghazal, Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Lakes states. Each flight will carry 75-80 passengers.

IOM will provide medical screening prior to departure and the flights will be accompanied by personnel from the South Sudan Ministry of Health.

The returnees’ luggage is currently being moved by truck to the reception sites, and its delivery is expected to coincide with the arrival of the flights.

Every flight will be met by IOM staff in Wau, Aweil and Rumbek, where the returnees will be offered temporary accommodation in transit centers, as well as health and social services, in cooperation with humanitarian partners.

IOM will also provide destitute returnees with essential non-food relief items at the reception sites and onward road transportation to their final destinations.

The remaining 600 returnees from the Africa Inland Church group in Malakal will be offered road and river transport to other nearby destinations.

IOM South Sudan’s emergency return assistance, which is funded by the USA and the South Sudan Common Humanitarian Fund, helps stranded and vulnerable returnees to reach their homes in safety and with dignity.

IOM expects to provide transport to some 6,000 stranded returnees in 2013. Most of it will be provided in Renk, where some 20,000 returnees remain stranded in increasingly bad conditions.

For further information, please contact

Joanna Dabao
IOM Juba
Tel. + 211 922 123 204
Email: jdabao@iom.int