![[Uganda] A Sudanese woman who escaped atrocities committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in southern Sudan arrives with her children at Imvepi refugee camp in Arua, northern Uganda, April 2005. Refugees, especially young children, face extraordina](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20067208.jpg.webp?itok=EfjQV85I "Sudanese refugees waiting to be repatriated")
Aldo Omwony, 30, returned to his home in Sudan a year ago after almost a decade in a refugee camp in neighbouring Uganda but he is not yet convinced it is safe enough for his family to join him.
He recalled the days when a war between the former rebel group, the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), intensified and many people fled his village of Payam in Magwi district of the Equatorial province.
"In 1995-96, after heavy fighting characterised by aerial bombings, we had to take refuge in Uganda and I only returned last year, but left my family in Uganda as I was not sure about security here," the father of four told IRIN in Pajok, about 80 kilometres inside Sudan.
Since his return, the community has been under threat from the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which used the area as a base.
"If the war between the government in Khartoum and SPLA was dangerous, then the insurgency by the LRA was something else. The LRA killed indiscriminately and we have been living in fear until recently when the LRA and the Ugandan government started to talk peace in Juba," he added.
Villagers in Pajok said that since the talks between the Ugandan government and LRA, mediated by the autonomous government of southern Sudan in Juba, began more than two months ago, things have been quiet, with the exception of a few incidents such as one two days earlier when suspected LRA rebels raided the village to steal some goats.
“We used that gun to scare them off," said a police officer, pointing at a heavy machinegun in the police compound at Pajok. He was addressing journalists and diplomats from Uganda en route to Owiny Ki-Bul to meet the assembled rebels.
"This area has suffered from the war between the SPLA and the government. The SPLA wanted to take over the place and in 1995-96, the Sudanese government carried out an aerial bombing and many people were killed. The in-fighting among the SPLA groups of Nuer and Dinka also caused us problems," Omwony said. "If the peace talks go through, I will bring my children back home from Uganda."
Omwony was not the only sceptic; most people have maintained ties with both Sudan and Uganda. Ronald Ogelo, 42, manager of a Norwegian NGO centre in Pajok, spoke for many when he said: "My wife and five children are at Kyangwali refugee settlement in Uganda. My purpose is to bring them back. I think of my family, but we have been suffering from the LRA. They could attack and loot.
"Mid-July, they looted our home here. We have been living in fear because you could be attacked any time. Different armies have been attacking people here and at times you could not know who was attacking you, the Sudan government, and divisions within the SPLA or the LRA. One group could come and ask for food and another group could also follow and the government would use the Antonov planes to bomb us daily," he added.
He said people in the area were beginning to set up homes but they were not certain of the move: "There are no roads, no health services and we are unsure of the security and we hope the people talking peace in Juba could talk as brothers and end the war."
Up to 4,500 refugees have returned home from Uganda while another 6,000 are expected to do so by the end of the year, spontaneously or through the repatriation programme run by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). There are 173,000 remaining Sudanese refugees in Uganda, according to Roberta Rosso, the UNHCR spokeswoman in Kampala.
Ruins of war
A visit to the region shows how the war has taken a toll on this part of Sudan. All services, including roads, are in ruins. A bus drive from Ngomoromo on the Ugandan border to Pajok that would normally have taken just over an hour lasted eight, with the bus getting stuck several times, requiring assistance from Ugandan army escorts in armoured vehicles.
The residents, many of whom ran to the road to see the first bus in the area in years, say no services are available in the region, with the exception of some relief agencies that are active but cannot meet the demand.
"The main problem people face is hunger. The main cause is the LRA. They have been grabbing people's food for a long time. In June they came and looted and even killed one of my uncles. There are scanty health services here and if the illnesses are serious, they have to go on foot to Uganda," said Franko Okello, another returnee. He was ready to forgive them for the sake of peace, however.
"The school system is absent and there is one primary school in Pajok sub-county. We have a problem of communication, roads are bad. This is the first bus I have seen here since 1986. I spent 20 years in Uganda as a refugee," he says.
Okello said he and the other villagers had just returned from Owiny Ki-Bul where they had volunteered to work on the airstrip and were excited at having the opportunity to talk to the LRA rebels in a friendly manner for the first time.
"We have interacted with them. They have been friendly, coming out and chatting with the people. I shook their hands. They come out and mix with the people buying food and other things. They have told us not to fear and forget the past. They have said sorry," Okello said.
Natalia Ojwang, however, said: "The LRA is more terrible because they killed more people than any other group. The SPLA had respected human beings. The LRA would kill anyone they came across. People are suffering here and in case of any illnesses, they go for herbs,"
Poor Medical Facilities
Paul Ogwetta Anan is a nurse at a health unit in Pajok, comprising grass-thatched houses, which handles 50 patients a day, mostly with malaria.
"We have many problems because there are no drugs. We mostly tell people to use preventative measures, even those already sick. Most people are malnourished because there is no food and most of them are children,” Anan explained.
Mariana Abalo, a 45-year-old widow and cook at the Norwegian NGO centre, said: "I have never left this place but my life has been difficult all these years of war. Our property has been looted by ‘Ototong’ [a term for the LRA that means people who cut others]. My relatives were killed by the LRA. Different armies have been fighting here and I have been moving from one place to another to escape death."
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He recalled the days when a war between the former rebel group, the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), intensified and many people fled his village of Payam in Magwi district of the Equatorial province.
"In 1995-96, after heavy fighting characterised by aerial bombings, we had to take refuge in Uganda and I only returned last year, but left my family in Uganda as I was not sure about security here," the father of four told IRIN in Pajok, about 80 kilometres inside Sudan.
Since his return, the community has been under threat from the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which used the area as a base.
"If the war between the government in Khartoum and SPLA was dangerous, then the insurgency by the LRA was something else. The LRA killed indiscriminately and we have been living in fear until recently when the LRA and the Ugandan government started to talk peace in Juba," he added.
Villagers in Pajok said that since the talks between the Ugandan government and LRA, mediated by the autonomous government of southern Sudan in Juba, began more than two months ago, things have been quiet, with the exception of a few incidents such as one two days earlier when suspected LRA rebels raided the village to steal some goats.
“We used that gun to scare them off," said a police officer, pointing at a heavy machinegun in the police compound at Pajok. He was addressing journalists and diplomats from Uganda en route to Owiny Ki-Bul to meet the assembled rebels.
"This area has suffered from the war between the SPLA and the government. The SPLA wanted to take over the place and in 1995-96, the Sudanese government carried out an aerial bombing and many people were killed. The in-fighting among the SPLA groups of Nuer and Dinka also caused us problems," Omwony said. "If the peace talks go through, I will bring my children back home from Uganda."
Omwony was not the only sceptic; most people have maintained ties with both Sudan and Uganda. Ronald Ogelo, 42, manager of a Norwegian NGO centre in Pajok, spoke for many when he said: "My wife and five children are at Kyangwali refugee settlement in Uganda. My purpose is to bring them back. I think of my family, but we have been suffering from the LRA. They could attack and loot.
"Mid-July, they looted our home here. We have been living in fear because you could be attacked any time. Different armies have been attacking people here and at times you could not know who was attacking you, the Sudan government, and divisions within the SPLA or the LRA. One group could come and ask for food and another group could also follow and the government would use the Antonov planes to bomb us daily," he added.
He said people in the area were beginning to set up homes but they were not certain of the move: "There are no roads, no health services and we are unsure of the security and we hope the people talking peace in Juba could talk as brothers and end the war."
Up to 4,500 refugees have returned home from Uganda while another 6,000 are expected to do so by the end of the year, spontaneously or through the repatriation programme run by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). There are 173,000 remaining Sudanese refugees in Uganda, according to Roberta Rosso, the UNHCR spokeswoman in Kampala.
Ruins of war
A visit to the region shows how the war has taken a toll on this part of Sudan. All services, including roads, are in ruins. A bus drive from Ngomoromo on the Ugandan border to Pajok that would normally have taken just over an hour lasted eight, with the bus getting stuck several times, requiring assistance from Ugandan army escorts in armoured vehicles.
The residents, many of whom ran to the road to see the first bus in the area in years, say no services are available in the region, with the exception of some relief agencies that are active but cannot meet the demand.
"The main problem people face is hunger. The main cause is the LRA. They have been grabbing people's food for a long time. In June they came and looted and even killed one of my uncles. There are scanty health services here and if the illnesses are serious, they have to go on foot to Uganda," said Franko Okello, another returnee. He was ready to forgive them for the sake of peace, however.
"The school system is absent and there is one primary school in Pajok sub-county. We have a problem of communication, roads are bad. This is the first bus I have seen here since 1986. I spent 20 years in Uganda as a refugee," he says.
Okello said he and the other villagers had just returned from Owiny Ki-Bul where they had volunteered to work on the airstrip and were excited at having the opportunity to talk to the LRA rebels in a friendly manner for the first time.
"We have interacted with them. They have been friendly, coming out and chatting with the people. I shook their hands. They come out and mix with the people buying food and other things. They have told us not to fear and forget the past. They have said sorry," Okello said.
Natalia Ojwang, however, said: "The LRA is more terrible because they killed more people than any other group. The SPLA had respected human beings. The LRA would kill anyone they came across. People are suffering here and in case of any illnesses, they go for herbs,"
Poor Medical Facilities
Paul Ogwetta Anan is a nurse at a health unit in Pajok, comprising grass-thatched houses, which handles 50 patients a day, mostly with malaria.
"We have many problems because there are no drugs. We mostly tell people to use preventative measures, even those already sick. Most people are malnourished because there is no food and most of them are children,” Anan explained.
Mariana Abalo, a 45-year-old widow and cook at the Norwegian NGO centre, said: "I have never left this place but my life has been difficult all these years of war. Our property has been looted by ‘Ototong’ [a term for the LRA that means people who cut others]. My relatives were killed by the LRA. Different armies have been fighting here and I have been moving from one place to another to escape death."
[See related stories]
vm/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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