IDPs from Abyei Want to Return For Referendum
Hundreds of Abyei residents who fled to Northern Bahr el Ghazal state when Sudan Armed Forces invaded the area in 2011 want to return home for the proposed referendum on the final status of Abyei in October. 21 February 2013 More than 270 internally displaced persons have been living in Akong village in Malualbaai payam of Aweil East County. [Abraham Agoth] By Abraham Agoth MALUAL, 21 February 2013 [Gurtong] - More than 270 internally displaced persons have been living in Akong village in Malualbaai payam of Aweil East County. Last week both international and local NGOs visited the IDPs to brief them on the situation back home. One of the IDPs, Akuindiik Kueth, says after listening to the NGO representatives she is convinced that the time has come to return home. She has asked aid workers and government officials to provide her with transportation so that she goes back home. “We don’t have any problem we can move back if we get means of transport to Abyei. Now in this village we are suffering. During rainy season like last year rains dropped on us seriously and we were in grass thatched shanty tukuls called Rakubas and those ones are not covered with plastic sheeting. This has affected us with our children. We were misinformed that we would be given plastic sheets to cover ourselves with but never happened,” Kueth said. Garang Mawein, an IDP said that is hard to feed their families as it becomes hard to find jobs in Northern Bahr el Ghazal. “Here in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state there are many problematic conditions such ones include lack of enough food. We have cultivated here the last two years and the crops didn’t yield well. But in Abyei you can plant crops on a small piece of land and it can be too productive so that is why we want to move back home. We are ready to move back home when there is full assurance of security ahead of our movement,” he said. Once they are back home, they hope the humanitarian agencies will provide them with food, water and shelter, as well as school for their children. Akong Boma Deputy Administrator, Mayen Kur acknowledges that life has not been easy for the IDPs. He says the government will ensure that the IDPs return to a better life than what they have had at the camp. “We the administrators of this boma can go with them so that we see how they are settled back there. Here they are facing many problems like lack of a health centre here is a big issue. Issues like lack of shelter are another problem and also there is no food for them now. Many rely on wild leaves,” Kur says. At least 45,000 IDPs have returned to Abyei over the last month and a half according to aid agencies. More than 110 thousand people fled their homes when SAF troops invaded Abyei two months before South Sudan declared its independence in 2011. Posted in: Home, Humanitarian -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
