03/05/2008

The plans to return large numbers of refugees from Uganda and Kenya to Eastern Equatoria State and to move large numbers of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from this state to Jonglei State in early 2008 exemplify the complexity of the returns operations still taking place in southern Sudan. In 2008 it is estimated that almost half a million Sudanese will return to the South. Of those, international agencies are planning to assist the returns of some 164,500. The reintegration of these people must be a policy priority for the Government of Southern Sudan and for the international community.

Generalized insecurity in the state of Eastern Equatoria had deterred Sudanese people from returning home to this area until recently. While fewer than 10,000 people returned in 2007, this year the prospect is very different. Improved security and anticipated greater food production are expected to attract higher numbers of returnees. Current organized movements led by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) are complex undertakings that have already met with serious challenges, including the pressure that spontaneous returns will place upon them. Greater financial resources, clear leadership and enhanced coordination among the agencies must be attained to accompany Sudanese people back home in safety and dignity.

Shortage of Capacity and Resources Hamper Return Operations

UNHCR has started to bring Sudanese living in Kenya and Uganda home to Eastern Equatoria and Jonglei states and is trying to scale up its capacity to accommodate the high numbers of people who have signed up to return: some 48,000 from Uganda and 8,000 from Kenya. The agency, which is planning to transport some 1,000 people per week, is struggling. It cannot put together a sufficient number of trucks, as those available are of poor quality. It is expanding way stations from 400 to 800 person capacity. And it continues to have problems accessing the chosen return routes due to poor road conditions and, in some areas, suspected presence of landmines. Pressure to use nearly all of its limited resources on the operational costs of taking people home has impeded UNHCR from completing agreements with non-governmental implementing partners. It has also limited their ability to identify the existing levels of service provision and to assess the security situation in areas of return.

Improve Coordination

In this eastern portion of south Sudan, UNHCR leads all UN coordination of refugee and IDP returns, and it has to make sure that all responsibilities are covered by involved actors. Yet, despite UNHCR assurances to Refugees International that planning and coordination mechanisms are in place, there remain issues of concern. In the south of Eastern Equatoria State, returning refugees are supposed to settle in locations where thousands of IDPs, originally from Jonglei, have been living for years and have not indicated any desire to move. There seems to be no contingency planning should conflict between groups arise and responsibility to deal with potential tensions has been handed over to local authorities. The process of creating host community reception committees, which welcome returnees and provide them with land upon arrival at areas of destination, has encountered delays. Lack of reception committees; absence of mapping which services are provided in which areas; delays in producing a reintegration strategy; weak engagement in the returns and reintegration process by government officials in the health, education and rural development sectors; and instances of insecurity in rural areas will lead to returnees congesting urban centers. It is not clear how those situations will be dealt with by local authorities, raising questions about the sustainability of all of the return process.

Address Protection and Reintegration Gaps

Shortage of funding is particularly limiting the UNHCR capacity to protect returnees, an area of work which often gets sidelined by more pressing operational priorities. The current levels of personnel -- one protection officer, one field assistant and one support staff for each of the two huge states -- are insufficient to perform returnee monitoring and interventions with local authorities to deal with protection concerns. Reported issues of ethnic discrimination, recurrent acts of gender based violence, including instances of forced marriages and domestic violence, and conflicts arising around competition for scarce resources and services warrant serious commitment from UNHCR. Insufficient funding has resulted in UNHCR reducing its number of NGO implementing partners working on returnee monitoring from five in 2006 to three in 2007 down to zero in 2008. The intention to provide protection training for implementing partners already busy with operational matters associated to the return process is insufficient and dedicated partners need to be identified and supported. Resources are also critical to support the reintegration of returnees in sectors such as water and sanitation, shelter, education and basic livelihood creation.