Demining starts ready for return of south Sudan refugees
KHARTOUM, Sept 7 (AFP) — Work has begun on demining one of southern Sudan’s few highways in readiness for the expected return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people once a full peace deal is reached between the government and southern rebels, Khartoum media said Tuesday.
The work covers hundreds of kilometres (miles) of road between the El Buheyrat (Lakes) state capital of Rumbek and the Kenyan border town of Lokichokio, the pro-government Sudanese Media Centre reported.
It is being carried out by South African firm Mechem under the joint supervision of the United Nations and the Sudanese National Demining Programme, the news agency said.
NDP deputy director Jamal Jumaah said Mechem had been awarded the contract because it had the high technology equipment and armoured vehicles to carry out the job.
He said refugees were already heading home in large numbers even before the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement between Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates three and a half million people have been displaced by the 21-year-old conflict in southern Sudan — Africa’s longest-running.
Of those, 500,000 have sought refuge in neighbouring countries — including 223,000 in Uganda, 88,000 in Ethiopia, 69,000 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and 60,000 in Kenya, according to UNHCR figures released earlier this year.
In June, the agency’s assistant high commissioner, Kamel Morjane, appealed for 90 million dollars from UN member states to fund a two-year repatriation programme that aims to help some 500,000 people return to their homes.
In the first 18 months of peace, the agency has said it hopes to assist 150,000 refugees and 80,000 internally displaced.
It sent a team into Rumbek earlier this year to prepare for a return by its staff to the region for the first time in 15 years.
The large number of mines and other unexploded ordnance left over from the conflict has been identified as one of the most serious problems.
A ceasefire between the government and the SPLA, first signed in October 2002, was renewed for another three months from September 1, although accusations of violations persist.
A framework peace deal has been followed by agreements on most of the main stumbling blocks but a comprehensive accord still remains elusive after the two sides missed a US-backed deadline of the end of last year.