Abyei Chiefs Concerned Over IDPs Situations in Twic County Welcoming of Abyei IDPs has been the greatest sign of hospitality by the communities living in Twic County. Many Abyei chiefs expressed positive reception by their neighbours and said that the IDPs would decide whether to remain or proceed to other Southern territories.28 June 2011 IDPs from Abyei travel south toward Turalei [©viceland.com]By Deng Simon Deng TURALEI, 28thJune, 2011 [Gurtong] - Welcoming of Abyei IDPs has been the greatest sign of hospitality by the communities living in Twic County. Many Abyei chiefs expressed positive reception by their neighbours and said that the IDPs would decide whether to remain or proceed to other Southern territories.
Chief Chol Bilbek, Nyol Pagoot, and Alor Kuol Makuac spoke to Gurtong about the settling situation in Twic. Kuol Alor Makuac said that he appreciated Twic community for their friendly reception during the first days of their arrival to the area. He said that the community accommodated them at their compounds, shops and others under trees to make sure everybody was in the right place as NGOs struggled to provide basic needs. “It is upon our people to see wherever they will stay in South Sudan. The choice is ours. Big numbers of our people have returned to the South side of Abyei in a place called Aneet. Most of us are farmers who have gardens on the safe side of the river,” said Kuol. The chief elaborated that the only problem was that the community in Twic could not offer everything for them, especially full accommodation due to food shortages. There were challenges during distribution of foodstuffs to the IDPs since there are no identification system for distinguishing real IDPs and the local residents. However, he added that this had been solved during the first days of arrival to the county headquarter, Turalei. The chief called on the host community to solve any conflict that may arise peacefully in order to make life bearable for the displaced persons. Chief Nyol Pagoot thanked the Governor of Warrap State, Madam Nyadeng Malek Dielic for giving them enough vehicles to transport vulnerable groups into Twic County, Wau and Warrap at large. In the same speech, he assured Twic of full cooperation and unity to ensure peaceful coexistence. Nyol said that, “We are still thinking on where our children will attend schools. Until now, we haven’t decided yet if they should go back to their former schools in Aneet.” “Some of our people fear the situation back at home especially living near the fighting zones, so they will decide where they want to return,” said Chol. Some of the IDPs want to go back because the planting season had begun. Posted in: Home, Humanitarian -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
