Some of the many thousands of South Sudanese camping near the
border between North and South Sudan for several months will
finally be able to continue their journey home from Sunday 14th
August 2011.

IOM is organizing transportation for up to 4,000 returnees out
of more than 6,000 who have been stuck in transit, waiting for help
to take them home to the South.  An ageing road network and
seasonal flooding mean that many parts of Upper Nile region, where
the majority of returnees are heading to, become inaccessible
except by boats or barges.

A first group of around 2,000 returnees will leave Renk way
station in Upper Nile State at the weekend in a convoy of four
barges carrying both people and luggage. The barges will travel
upstream the River Nile to Malakal to the South. The journey is
expected to take one week.

The barges will be stopping at Kaka and Melut to allow
returnees, whose final destinations are near to those towns, to
disembark.

All returnees being assisted by IOM have been immunized against
communicable diseases such as typhoid and measles. They have also
been given information about personal hygiene in order to prevent
the spread of infections such as diarrhea and cholera. Three IOM
teams will provide a medical escort for the convoy.

Prior to their departure, IOM carried out the registration,
verification and medical screening of the returnees to assess
whether they were fit to travel. IOM and its partners have also
distributed basic non-food items including mosquito nets, blankets
and plastic sheeting.

For those still stranded in Renk, IOM is providing emergency
medical assistance and is operating a mobile clinic at the Mina
camp. It averages 70 consultations per day.

About 2.5 million South Sudanese have returned to the South
since 2005, nearly 330,000 of them since October 2010.

IOM has tracked over 14,000 returnees arriving in Renk since 28
June 2011 and up until now, has assisted several hundreds to reach
their final destinations in the South.

The vast majority of South Sudanese returns are organized by the
government in Khartoum with funding from the government of the
South.

For more information, please contact:

Gerard Waite

IOM Juba

Tel: +249922406615

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