Administration unprepared for mass return

NAIROBI, Oct 06, 2003 (IRIN) — Sudan is unprepared for the expected return of half a million refugees and one million displaced people once a comprehensive peace deal has been signed, according to a new report.

“The challenges of mass return are overwhelming and local administrations appear still unprepared,” says the report from the Norwegian think-tank, Global IDP Project.

The immediate return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees has been named as a top priority for the interim period after the signing of a peace deal by the government and rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM).

Currently between 3.7 and 4.2 million people are estimated to be displaced in Sudan, including two million in Khartoum State and 1.4 million in SPLM/A territories. Most of the IDPs are scattered outside camps (which host about 700,000 people) and are often marginsalised within host populations, leading to higher malnutrition and mortality rates than among the host population.

A recent NGO survey revealed that two thirds of IDPs interviewed in Khartoum, greater Kordofan, greater Bahr el Ghazal and greater Darfur wished to return to their areas of origin, said the report, entitled ‘Sudan: IDPs on the edge of Peace?’.

In addition to a massive demand for basic services, a functioning judicial system would be needed to settle the complicated land disputes arising from the returnees, it added.

In SPLM-controlled areas, the UN estimates that only 17 judges are operating.

The educational system also had to be developed to accommodate the returnees, as well as income-generating projects and infrastructure in rural areas to attract returnees from urban settings, the report said.

Displaced people in Sudan have regularly been exposed to human rights violations, including helicopter gunship attacks, abductions, rape, destruction of relief sites and the burning of villages, it said.