UN celebrates landmark of 300,000th returnee to South Sudan
February 8, 2009 (JUBA) – During a meeting of the Tripartite Commission on repatriation and reintegration of Sudanese refugees from Kenya, UNHCR marked the 300,000th homecoming to South Sudan.
The 300,000th returnee entered Sudan from Uganda through Nimule in Central Equatoria on February 7, stated Kazuhiko Shimizu, an UNHCR official based in Juba.
UNHCR has had a role in helping roughly half of the 300,000 registered refugees who have returned to Southern Sudan and Blue Nile State. In 2008 UNHCR assisted over 60,000 Sudanese refugees to return home. The planning figure for repatriation from all countries of asylum in 2009 has been set at 54,000.
Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the
Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A) on January 9, 2005, marking the end of more than two decades of
civil war, hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees returned home.
The landmark figure was announced during a meeting in Juba of the Tripartite Commission for Sudanese refugees in Kenya, which was established by an agreement signed by Sudan, UNHCR and Kenya in January 2006. This commission is is charged with coordinating and planning the repatriation and reintegration activities and giving guidance on refugee returns.
The meeting was attended by the delegation of the Government of Sudan headed by Mohammed Al-Aghbash, the delegation of the Government of Kenya headed by Peter Kusimba, and the delegation of UNHCR headed by Noriko Yoshida.
Participants issued a joint communiqué lauding the government and people of Kenya for providing asylum to more than 80,000 Sudanese refugees over the past 18 years. An estimated 23,000 Sudanese refugees remain in Kenya, mostly in Kakuma camp.
Reviewing the current situation, the commission agreed to set the target return figure from Kenya for 2009 at 5,000.
The communiqué, while referring positively to a revised education policy in Kakuma camp, also indicated that some refugees have been reluctant to return home because of the lack of education services in South Sudan and rather have sought education or teaching opportunities elsewhere in Kenya.
The commission thus recommended that education services in Southern Sudan continue to be developed as a matter of priority, in order to encourage refugees to return home.
Regarding documentation, the Commission called upon the Government of Sudan to increase efforts to give identity documents to returning refugees.
(ST)
Mr Famous Big_Logic_Boy
UN celebrates landmark of 300,000th returnee to South Sudan
They are back home to plant crops and developed their areas, not mans but their wivies and children because the mans were chasing the arabs. It is like a tractor infront and a car behind. Now it is time for every single creature whether junglese, moron and ugly to be in their own villages to make development and improve the way of their lives. Equatorians wivies are coming, they need a free and fair place for settlement, it is unhealth to share a land with you people just for some reasons*. So you junglese what are you waiting for in Equatorians? when are you going to build for yourselves huts in your villages. pack and leave before the Equatoria Resistance Movement (ERM) will emerge suprisingly to you. Don’t come and hind like ladies, if you were friends with arabs who are enemies to most Southerners, so why do you panic about a small clan of murle and Lou Nuer?
SHAME GO HOME WE NEED A SPACE FOR THE RETURNERS WIVIES AND CHILDREN