Archbishop of Canterbury visits S. Sudan refugees in Uganda
August 2, 2017 (MOYO) – The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has visited South Sudanese refugee camps in the Ugandan districts of Moyo and Adjumani.
The Archbishop, according to Rev. Hosea Odongo, came from South Sudan where he had gone to inaugurate the new Anglican Church province, comprising of five dioceses.
Odongo said Justin will visit refugees from South Sudan living in Bela Meling in Moyo district and Mireyi in Adjumani, in northern Uganda.
“After visiting those two camps, the Archbishop will return to meet President [Yoweri] Museveni before he departs in the evening,” he said.
Minister Ecweru, who received the visiting Archbishop at Moyo airfield, later took the cleric around the two refugee camps.
“We got a communication from the church that the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury expressed interest to visit the two camps in Ajumani and Moyo and it is the reason I travelled early,” said Ecweru.
The cleric’s visit comes barely a month since Uganda hosted the world refugee conference attended by high profile leaders from across the world, including United Nations secretary general António Guterres.
Uganda is one of the leading refugee-hosting nations in the world.
An estimated 1.8 million people, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), have fled South Sudan since fighting broke out in December 2013, sparking what has become the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis. Officials from the agency say $674 million is needed to pay for the basic needs of the refugees this year, but so far only 21% of those funds have been secured.
(ST)