160 Sudanese refugees start journey home

Almost two dozen trucks left Uganda on Tuesday, carrying scores of Sudanese refugees home from settlements near the border with Sudan as their voluntary repatriation kicked off, said the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). "Today [on Tuesday], we have facilitated the return of 160 refugees from Moyo District to their villages of Kangapo I and II," said Roberta Russo, the Kampala-based spokeswoman for UNHCR. "They were ferried to areas near their villages, and by the end of today, many will be in Kangapo [in southern Sudan]." Prior to embarking on their return, the refugees from Porolinya settlement gathered for a departure ceremony at a way station in Kajo Keji, a Sudanese town near the Uganda border. By mid-morning, they had boarded 22 trucks and crossed the border, bringing with them their livestock and property, including three months of food rations they had received from the UN World Food Programme, Russo said. UNHCR had distributed non-food items to the returnees, including blankets, mattresses, plastic sheeting, mosquito nets, jerricans, kitchen sets, water buckets and soap. Russo said UNHCR would help between 700 and 800 refugees to return home by the end of this week, while at least 10,000 would have returned by the end of the year. The return is set against the backdrop of an influx of new refugees from other parts of Sudan, to Uganda’s Arua District. The latest arrivals are trying to escape ethnic tensions and the threat of attacks by the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has strongholds inside parts of southern Sudan. Cindy Burns, the UNHCR country representative in Uganda, expressed concern over reports of heightened ethnic clashes and insecurity perpetuated by the LRA. "UNHCR is concerned about the level of insecurity and are monitoring what is happening inside Sudan," she said. "There are about 500 new arrivals that we have registered since January this year. They are mainly from parts of Upper Nile [State] and are fleeing disturbances by rebels and tribal clashes," Russo said. Some of the returnees to Kangapo had had misgivings about their security in their homeland, which were allayed after missions had inspected the areas of return. "The main fear of the refugees was landmines, and this 'go-and-see team' has reported that there is no danger of the explosives now," Russo said. "They also inspected the local infrastructure - health centres, boreholes, schools and the market - and are satisfied. They now want to go back." There are about 170,000 registered Sudanese refugees in Uganda living in settlements spread out across the country’s northwest and west. In April, Uganda and the Sudanese government in Khartoum signed a tripartite accord, which provided the formal framework for the refugees to return home after nearly 20 years in exile.