Aid agencies prepare for large Dinka movement in the south

A group of up to 12,000 people of the Dinka ethnic group and a large number of cattle are approaching the southern Sudanese capital of Juba on the way back to their southeastern homeland in Bor, raising tensions in the area, aid workers said. "The Bor-Dinka have been displaced for the past 16 years in the western part of the country because of the war," Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. Sixty-two Dinka cattle camps had fled the violence in Jonglei State during the 21-year civil war that claimed 2 million lives. "Return movements started over a year ago, and between 25 and 28 cattle camps have already completed their journey back," said Mario Samaja, who is responsible for returns and reintegration at the UN office of the deputy resident and humanitarian coordinator for southern Sudan, on Tuesday. "The [remaining] group has split up in 34 cattle camps and are now moving from Kotobi and Lui in [the state of] Western Equatoria in the direction of Juba," Pagonis added. Last week, UN agencies and NGOs consolidated their planning in order to facilitate the population movement. "The main purpose of the assistance is to reduce the potential for conflict in the area," Samaja observed. During the last wet season that started in June, the herders clashed with host communities in the region, who complained about cattle raiding and cows destroying their crops. Although the armed forces of the southern government brokered a peace deal and the herd stayed put for several months, many Bor-Dinka have resumed their return journey and tensions have mounted. Two cattle camps were attacked in Western Equatoria and lost all their animals. These groups had recently decided to move again - one group to Yei and one towards Yirol - as they feared another attack. An observer in the Mundri region noted that the situation was worrisome. Ethnic Mundari, the traditional enemies of the Bor-Dinka, occupied most of the area around Rukon that the herders were traversing en route to Juba. He feared the Mundari might attack them. The southern Sudan government was planning to provide military escorts to reduce potential tensions between agricultural and pastoral communities, as well as to prevent attacks by the Ugandan rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on the eastern bank of the White Nile River. The southern government, he added, was also collaborating with NGOs to dissipate tensions by talking to local communities and agreeing on transit routes and procedures. Humanitarian agencies were planning to provide food and health assistance for an estimated 3,000 vulnerable members of the group as well as veterinary supervision for tens of thousands of livestock. To allow for a more rapid movement of the whole group, the International Organisation for Migration was planning to organise the transport of pregnant women, elderly and disabled people by barge from Juba to Bor, a journey of one or two days along the White Nile. Assistance would also be delivered to affected host communities in the Mundri area to help them recover and develop livelihoods in the coming weeks. "Four cattle camps have started moving [towards Juba] already," Samaja noted. "The rest will probably follow in about a week." "Once they have arrived in Bor, reintegration of these groups in Bor is absolutely crucial," he noted, adding that several UN agencies and NGOs had started to scale up their activities in this area.