![[Sudan] A band of school-children welcome the first convoy of Sudanese refugees at Kaya, on the border between Sudan and Uganda, 20 June 2006. The returnees are taking part in a voluntary repatriation from Rhino camp in Arua, northern Uganda, to Yei in so](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20067207.jpg.webp?itok=jguPEw2Q "School children welcome the first Sudanese returnees at Kaya, on the Uganda-Sudan border, in June. The refugees were repatriated from Rhino camp in Arua to Yei, by UNHCR.")
The chairman of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) executive committee, Ichiro Fujisaki, is in Kampala to assess the Sudanese refugee repatriation programme and take stock of conditions for people displaced by the war in Uganda.
Fujisaki, also Japan's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, will meet government officials before traveling to Gulu and Lira in the north over the weekend.
"He is going to visit northern Uganda where UNHCR is starting new programmes, alongside other UN agencies and NGOs, to assist up to 1.5 million displaced Ugandans. He will also visit Kiryandongo refugee settlement and the focus will be on repatriation," said Roberta Russo, UNHCR spokeswoman in Kampala.
Up to 4,560 Sudanese refugees have returned home from settlements in Uganda while Kiryandongo hosts up to 15,024, mainly Sudanese, refugees.
"Our focus is on helping as many people return home as possible. Then we will see how we can transform the IDP camps into viable communities," said Cynthia Burns, UNHCR Representative in Uganda.
Fujisaki will visit Pabbo camp for displaced people that hosts up to 53,612, while in Lira he will meet representatives of displaced women and returnees in Akangi Parish.
An estimated 800,000 displaced Ugandans are expected to return to their villages after a ceasefire was agreed between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) last month.
Some displaced people have already moved back to their villages, but many remain cautious, preferring to spend days tilling their land but returning to the camps at night.
The refugee agency said there were some IDPs who had opted to spend a few days a week in the IDP camps and the rest in their home areas, arranging for a permanent return to villages many of them left nearly two decades ago.
It added that a joint community mobilisation plan by UNHCR and the UN World Food Programme intended to use community manpower to improve road access, through Food-for-Work and Tools-for-Work programmes.
To improve security, the refugee agency is also distributing transport and communication facilities to newly deployed police.
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Fujisaki, also Japan's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, will meet government officials before traveling to Gulu and Lira in the north over the weekend.
"He is going to visit northern Uganda where UNHCR is starting new programmes, alongside other UN agencies and NGOs, to assist up to 1.5 million displaced Ugandans. He will also visit Kiryandongo refugee settlement and the focus will be on repatriation," said Roberta Russo, UNHCR spokeswoman in Kampala.
Up to 4,560 Sudanese refugees have returned home from settlements in Uganda while Kiryandongo hosts up to 15,024, mainly Sudanese, refugees.
"Our focus is on helping as many people return home as possible. Then we will see how we can transform the IDP camps into viable communities," said Cynthia Burns, UNHCR Representative in Uganda.
Fujisaki will visit Pabbo camp for displaced people that hosts up to 53,612, while in Lira he will meet representatives of displaced women and returnees in Akangi Parish.
An estimated 800,000 displaced Ugandans are expected to return to their villages after a ceasefire was agreed between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) last month.
Some displaced people have already moved back to their villages, but many remain cautious, preferring to spend days tilling their land but returning to the camps at night.
The refugee agency said there were some IDPs who had opted to spend a few days a week in the IDP camps and the rest in their home areas, arranging for a permanent return to villages many of them left nearly two decades ago.
It added that a joint community mobilisation plan by UNHCR and the UN World Food Programme intended to use community manpower to improve road access, through Food-for-Work and Tools-for-Work programmes.
To improve security, the refugee agency is also distributing transport and communication facilities to newly deployed police.
vm/mw
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