An IOM operation to provide return assistance along the River Nile
to an initial group of 2,400 internally displaced persons (IDPs)
from camps in Khartoum started this week with a group of 451 IDPs
boarding an IOM-chartered barge in Kosti for a two-week journey to
their homes in South Sudan’s Lakes and Jonglei States.

This operation, undertaken jointly with the Government of
National Unity, the Government of South Sudan, and UN partners is
the first barge operation ever organized to return IDPs from North
to South Sudan. The barge departure was witnessed by Brunson
McKinley, IOM Director General and by senior government and UN
officials.

The barge is scheduled to make a first stop in Shambe in Lakes
State to disembark 255 IDPs persons before sailing further south
towards Bor, in Jonglei State.

The group was medically screened and vaccinated prior to
departure in one of the three centres established by IOM in
Khartoum. The IDPs were then transported by road to a way station
in Kosti, which is jointly run by IOM, the Fellowship for African
Relief (FAR) and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency
(ADRA).

Upon arrival in the ports of Shambe and Bor, the IDPs will be
taken by truck to selected drop off points, where they will be
welcomed by community members and representatives of local
authorities. Each family will receive a 3-month food ration from
World Food Programme (WFP) in addition to the non-food items (NFIs)
such as plastic sheets, sleeping mats, blankets, mosquito nets,
jerry cans and soaps donated by the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Joint Logistics Centre.

This first IDP group is accompanied by more than 30 IOM support
staff, including medical staff and six cooks who will prepare two
hot meals a day for the returnees.

Due to the onset of heavy rains, returns by land have come to a
halt and are not scheduled to resume until October.

"Travel by river remains a workable option for those wish to
return home to South Sudan during the rainy season," says Mario
Tavolaj, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Khartoum. "Over the next
seven weeks, IOM intends to complete six barge rotations between
Kosti and key towns along the River Nile in South Sudan."

Air operations from Khartoum to the South to transport another
1,500 vulnerable displaced are scheduled to start on 10 July
2007.

 

Since February, IOM and its partners have assisted more than 42,000
IDPs to return home in South Sudan, South Kordofan State and Blue
Nile State.

For more information, please contact:

Mona Abbas

IOM Khartoum

Tel. +249 183 570 801

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