12/14/2004

These children in Kitgum travel several kilometers every night to seek shelter because of the lack of safety in their camps. They are among the tens of thousands of "night commuters" in northern Uganda who walk to neighboring town centers, often at great risk to their safety, in order to find a safe place to sleep for the night. Some of the shelters have supervisors and are orderly, but others are makeshift and have no adult supervision, no electricity and very few latrines.

Refugees International is calling on district officials and NGOs to implement community safety initiatives, including community policing in the camps. These initiatives could be helpful in making it safer for night commuters to travel into the towns each night.