South Sudan helps flood victims in Aweil, works to repatriate southerners from the north
September 14, 2010, (MALAKAL) — The Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) on Tuesday said it is giving high priority to the flood swamped state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal and announced donation of 5,000 bags of cereals to its flood affected people.
The move followed donation of 500 tents by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
James Kok Ruea, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, in GoSS on Tuesday told the weekly media in Juba that the GoSS is giving attention to the flood affected areas in the region.
“The government of southern Sudan gives very big attention to flood affected areas in the region and this can be validated by donation of 5000 bags of cereal to the family members of the flood hit state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal,” said Kok.
Explaining that Northern Bahr el Ghazal State puts an estimated cost of creating a water drainage system at 15 million Sudanese Pounds (US $6.3 million). He added that three additional states of Jonglei, Unity and Warrap are also affected. The magnitude and impact on the local people varies from one area to area.
Kok disclosed to the media that the ministry plans to train staff from various departments and institutions in the region in disaster preparedness; management mechanisms; intervention; and mitigation in both natural and human-made catastrophes as some parts of southern Sudan are seasonally susceptible to disaster.
He pointed out that since his appointment, three months ago, his ministry, which oversees the operations of all the humanitarian organizations in the region, has been exploring policies which will aid the operations of the organization in the region.
“We have envisaged a scenario of natural disaster becoming inevitable as some parts [of] southern Sudan are prone to disasters and this could be dealt with by training staff in disaster management and coping mechanisms in the future,” Kok explained.
REPATRIATION OF SOUTHERNERS FROM NORTHERN SUDAN
Kok added that his ministry is also working together with Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) to voluntarily repatriate 1.5 million southern Sudanese Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) still in Northern Sudan.
“Our people who are still in Khartoum and in other northern states need to be repatriated. They badly need it as I always receive letters from their representatives and chiefs asking when they will be repatriated. It is a constitutional obligation that requires full execution,” said Kok.
He said the government of southern Sudan is committed to bringing them to their ancestral homes in the south. “It is their right to be returned,” he said, dismissing allegations that the repatriation is being conducted for referendum.
“Repatriation of IDPs still in the north has nothing with the referendum. It is a resumption of operations that were not completed when it started in 2007. It is a continuous process that will continue even beyond referendum,” he said.
Kok noted that those who might get a chance to be repatriated before the vote would be able to cast their votes while in the north.
Prior to the repatriation of IDPs in the north to the south, an assessment made by former special representative of the United Nations (UN) Secretary General on internal displaced persons and a current special adviser on mass atrocities and genocide to the UN Secretary General, Francis Mading Deng, estimated that over 4.5 millions Southern Sudanese were displaced to different places of which Northern Sudan has the highest percentage.
“Most of these people displaced to northern Sudan have ended up in deplorable settlements where social amenities are insufficient. The majority of these internally displaced persons end up in jails as most of them are caught by the security operatives for brewing alcohol for sale, a practice prohibited in Islamic sharia law.” said Kok.
Kok revealed that the GoSS Council of Ministers has approved 30 million Sudanese pounds of which 4 million will go to repatriation and 26 million would be spent on resettling.
Contributing in the same forum, Reverent William Chan Achuil, a newly appointed chair of the SSRC, stressed that his commission is working hard to ensure the implementation of relief, rehabilitation, reintegration, resettlement and repatriation is done in such a way to avoid the return of the southerners to the north.
Achuil warned that the repatriation process should carried out with care to avoid the return of IDPs to northern Sudan because if they do not find what was promised to them they may not stay.
“We have to ensure that the process is not short of international standards of offering them the social amenities needed to settle,” said Achuil.
(ST)
julius mowanga
South Sudan helps flood victims in Aweil, works to repatriate southerners from the north
The political game of the ruling parties in Sudan has reached its peak.
Just a naive naive comparison between NCP and SPLM exploitation of the plight of our internally displaced personnels to satisfy their inhuman-agenda, i would like to copy a piece of news article published in the website of the Sudanese Ashorooqtv.net
Just to reveal the wickedness of those totalitarian regimes in exploitation of our IDPs in Northern Sudan for their political agenda not else:
“Khartoum state revealed a plan to transform the IDP camps in southern Sudan around Khartoum to residential areas to ensure their equality with the rest of the population, the governor announced that his Government Rahman Greens will work to achieve the required rapprochement between the sons of the homeland.
Green said when meeting with a number of activists from southern Sudan, on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, said all the areas around the capital, Khartoum, will see the establishment of service projects to help the displaced stability and provide the necessary services to ensure the achievement of full citizenship.
For his part, said the National Conference leader Mahdi Mandour The strengthening of social ties between the North and South is one of the guarantees of the Unity.
He added that the Sudanese people will pay those ties forward, and said that talk about the pro-separatist from third parties does not conform to the social components of the Sudanese people.
For his part, said Advisor to the Secretary of peace and unity Mater Jacob Majok that the Sudanese people to miss the opportunity to the enemies of Sudan and to provide a new model to overcome the obstacle of the referendum.
He added that the human and historical links between the North and South are capable of giving priority to the unit”.
Adam
South Sudan helps flood victims in Aweil, works to repatriate southerners from the north
James Kok Ruea, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management is not telling the truth at all. If he states that 1,500 Southerners are in the North and need to be repatriated and the “the majority of these internally displaced persons end up in jails as most of them are caught by the security operatives for brewing alcohol for sale, a practice prohibited in Islamic sharia law”, then let him first release them from prison. People coming from Khartoum are reporting that Southerners are free in Khartoum and you can find them everywhere – in public transportations, in schools, in offices, in companies and all over the North from Halfa to Port Sudan to Elfashir and ElGabalein. They are there in churches, markets, universities and government facilities. Gedarif alone has more than 200,000 Southerners working in all walks of work. Yes, only few are in jail due to crimes that they should also be jailed for if they commit them in the South. I am not a Muslim, but I hate the cheap tactics of the deformed SPLA/M.
Now! Has the GoSS a sincere intention to repatriated Southerners in the North? Can the GoSS do that? A big NO. It is not true that the process is just collecting people and throw them on trucks and just return them to “their ancestral land”, which was stolen by SPLA. Since 2007, many returned to the North because they cannot stay in the South – they have nothing and received nothing. Imagine if a failed government like GoSS cannot provide good rescue to its people and provide food for the victims, how can it provide for the 1,500,000 people who need shelter, employment, schools for the young ones and above all security. The South is so repulsive. Even most of those who are currently in the South are unemployed and living in a miserable conditions – thanks to the corruption of SPLA/M Government and to the foreigners who control all the joints of the lucrative economy of Juba (not the South). Imagine one sack of Dura is traded for a cow?
How can H. E. dare to publically declare that the GoSS “donate 5,000 bags of cereals to its flood affected people”. The GoSS is donating food to its people, while it should serve them food. Yes! “Donation” because the money spend was taken from their personal bank accounts. H. E. forgot that the true owners of wealth are all Southerners. He cannot be clumsy like that. Let the thieves recover the South money from the personal foreign bank accounts of children and wives, repent and get things right.
I call upon all honest and clean journalists to shed more light on the plight of our people – not only those who are affected by the floods and heavy rains, but also those who are deprived the basics of live by the tyrant junta of SPLA/M (not SPLM/A). Just photograph and post to the internet with your comments and facts.
Mr. Minister, we cannot place all the blame on the Muslim North while we’re unable and corrupt.
Long live South Sudan. Down to the corrupt GoSS.
O Ye Southern UNITE to overthrow this junta.
Adam Milawaki, Kansas City