IOM completes airlift of nearly 12,000 stranded South Sudanese
June 6, 2012 (JUBA/KHARTOUM) – The [International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Wednesday said it has completed the process of airlifting nearly 12,000 South Sudanese from Khartoum to Juba, the South Sudanese capital.
The 24 day process, the IOM said in a statement, reportedly involved 79 flights with the support of both the government of Sudan and its South Sudan counterpart.
Those airlifted had, prior to IOM’s intervention, been stranded and spent month’s at Kosti railway station, which is located about 300km south of Sudan’s capital waiting for transport back to South Sudan. While in Kosti, the White Nile state Governor reportedly ordered them to vacate the town by 5 May, but IOM requested for an extension of the deadline to enable the airlift take place.
The operation, which reportedly involved moving an average of 550 people per day, cost an estimated $5.5 million. It was funded by the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF), the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (UNCERF).
“The success of this one-off operation, despite the challenges of extreme heat, dust storms and technical challenges posed by excess baggage was due to excellent cooperation between IOM staff, (Sudanese) government and aid agency partners, and service providers every step of the way,” said Jill Helke, IOM’s Sudan chief of mission in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.
Sudan’s Civil Aviation general director Mohamed Abdel Aziz disclosed, in statements made on Wednesday in Khartoum, that another operation is under preparation to transport thousands of South Sudanese to Juba.
South Sudanese started to return to the South through the Nile river since before the referendum on the independence in January 2011, but Sudan closed Kosti river port and accused Juba of confiscating 34 barges and using them to transport soldiers and military equipment.
In Kosti, prior to the airlifting process, IOM would register and medically screen passengers before transporting them by bus to Khartoum. However, in order to allow two flight rotations a day, passengers for the first flight of each day reportedly spent the night in Khartoum’s national camping center.
“On arrival in Juba, passengers were met by IOM staff and moved to a transit site established and managed by IOM and UNHCR [United Nations High Commission for Refugees], in coordination with South Sudan’s Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission,” further says the statement.
At least 3,500 South Sudanese, according to IOM, are currently being settled in the transit site, which it says has the capacity to accommodate up to 7,000 people.
In addition to registering new arrivals and sharing information on the most vulnerable with humanitarian partners, IOM is reportedly providing shelter, water and sanitation, lighting and non-food emergency relief items in the transit site.
The organisation is also arranging onward transportation for returning South Sudanese arriving in Juba. To date, it says, three road convoys have been organised in Eastern and Western Equatoria states earmarked to help nearly 1,600 people reach their final destinations.
Meanwhile, IOM staff responsible for registration, drawing up flight manifests and pre-travel medical screening will reportedly leave Kosti railway station shortly, as the site is now being dismantled by White Nile state officials.
South Sudan gained independence in July last year after its population overwhelmingly voted for separation in the self-determination referendum held in January 2011. Between 500,000-700,000 Southerners were still living in Khartoum after the South seceded, but the 8 April 2012 deadline given by the Sudanese government for Southerner’s to leave, forced most of them to return to South Sudan.
(ST)