Despite peace deal, south Sudanese still seek refuge

By C. Bryson Hull

KAKUMA, Kenya, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Fear of the unknown and lack of food is driving some southern Sudanese to take refuge in Kenya, a striking reversal of expectations since last month’s signing of a peace deal to end 21 years of war in their home.

Sudanese refugee Mohammed Ahmed Osman, talks to a journalist about his long journey from Darfur region of Sudan to Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya, February 22, 2005. (Reuters).

Refugees who arrived at northwestern Kenya’s Kakuma camp in the last two weeks say they worry about how the peace deal will take shape, and whether there will be forced conscription into a new army to be made up of government and former rebel fighters.

Some fear it may send them to fight in Sudan’s western Darfur region, where 70,000 have died and 1.6 million have been displaced by a separate conflict.

Since Sudan’s government and the former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement signed a peace agreement in January to end Africa’s longest-running civil war, refugee workers have been planning to send southern Sudanese back home – not receive them in Kenya.

But in subsequent weeks, 847 southern Sudanese have come to Kakuma, home to 86,000 refugees — 60 percent of them from nearby Sudan, according to the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR. Compared to similar periods, refugee workers say the number is high.

“If the army comes, you may be taken to Darfur. People do not trust the peace process because there is still war in another part of Sudan,” refugee Dennis Marial told Reuters.

“I cannot trust it yet.”

Separated from his parents for the last decade by war, Marial, 18, led his seven brothers and four sisters to Kakuma two weeks ago. Drought and lack of food also triggered war among pastoralist tribes over grazing land, which put Marial on edge.

Educational opportunities in the camp, steady meals and the presence of infrastructure lacking back home are among other strong attractions to Kakuma.

“I came for me and my children, for learning,” said Jacob Madit, 19, and father of two small children. Marial, for his part, wants to study international relations at university.

The UNHCR says its surveys of incoming refugees show food is the top concern, followed by a need for education and worry about the peace process.

“Their attitude is sort of a reality check. They are all waiting to see how it all shapes up,” George Okoth-Obbo, UNHCR’s country representative in Kenya, told Reuters.

The UNHCR has no plans to begin repatriation anytime soon, while aid agencies rebuild roads and schools and clear the thousands of landmines in the area. They worry that those who go back too quickly will find themselves without the safety nets provided by the camps, and will rush back again.

However, food may become scarce at Kakuma, where the World Food Programme was forced to cut rations in November. WFP says food will run out in May if it does not get further donations.

About 400,000 of as many as 1.5 million expected Sudanese returnees have gone back on their own from nearby countries in recent months, according to the UNHCR. Some refugees say that may be driven by a rush to stake out land lost during the war.