Return of IDPs to South Continues as Early Rains Arrive
Although IOM operations to help voluntarily return thousands of
internally displaced people (IDPs) to South Sudan are in full
swing, early rains across most of the South are heralding the
imminent arrival of the rainy season which will soon stop all road
returns until late this year.
More than 29,600 IDPs have been helped by IOM to return to South
Kordofan and South Sudan since February with transport assistance,
medical screening, overnight accommodation en route and
escorts.
Five major convoy routes are currently being used to get IDPs
back to home communities from Khartoum, South Darfur and within
South Sudan to South Kordofan, Unity, Northern Bahr el Ghazal,
Western Bahr el Ghazal, Central and Western Equatoria and Warrap
States.
To keep operations running during the rainy season, IOM will
begin to use the White Nile from early May to help return IDPs from
Kosti in White Nile State to Malakal in Upper Nile State by barge.
Air operations between Khartoum and Juba will also begin in
May.
The returns, part of a joint organized return programme
coordinated by the Government of National Unity and the Government
of South Sudan, the United Nations and IOM, aim to assist 198,000
IDPs and 102,000 refugees this year.
In a bid to improve the capacity of receiving communities in
Northern Bahr el Ghazal to absorb the returnees, IOM, in close
collaboration with the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation
Commission (SSRRC), has begun a programme to improve basic
infrastructure and community services.
With access to water one of the most pressing needs in the
state, IOM and NGO partner Africa Waterlines are working to provide
14 boreholes in Aweil East and Aweil North.
With funding from the European Commission’s Humanitarian
Aid (ECHO), IOM and its NGO implementing partner MEDIC are also
constructing a community water system in Rumaker with both
activities expected to improve access to water for up to 25,000
people in the two areas in Northern Bahr el Ghazal.
However, the Organization needs additional funding to expand on
these quick-impact community programmes aimed at enhancing
reintegration chances for both returnees and host communities.
For further information, please contact:
Simona Opitz
IOM Khartoum
Tel:+ 249 912339700
E-mail:
"mailto:sopitz@iom.int">sopitz@iom.int
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