South Sudanese Returnees Earlier Stranded In Malakal Dispatched
The South Sudanese returnees from Khartoum who have been stranded in Malakal have finally been released to their respective states. 25 April 2013 The first batch of 850 South Sudanese returnees from Khartoum arrived at the Malakal Way Station in Upper Nile State in March.[Gurtong | File] By Abraham Agoth AWEIL, 24 April 2013 [Gurtong]-The returnees were disbursed to their respective states with logistical support from United Nations International Office for Migration (UN-IOM). According to the press release made by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) Director Mr. Deng Kuel Kuel says that his commission received 85 returnees during the first batch air-lifted from Malakal to Aweil and still expects more to come. “I received 85 returnees coming from Malakal to Aweil this morning being air-lifted by IOM sub-contracted agent to transport all those returnees who were stranded in Malakal to their respective states. The first plane brought 85 and the second plane today [Wednesday] may bring the same number as well. Northern Bahr el Ghazal state’s returnees stranded in Malakal are said to be 317 according the coordinated reports I have since the beginning of these exercises,” Kuel said. Kuel underscores the preparations his commission in collaboration with UN agencies and other International Non Governmental Organizations (INGOs) have had to ensure their timely reintegration into communities. He also affirmed his readiness for the provision of Food and Non-Food Items (NFI) to give the returnees on temporary basis before being integrated into their counties. “Mobilization of their food and Non-Food Items was done earlier and it is now in place for their use. This mobilization was done by my commission with support from World Food Programme (WFP) where they planned for their household rations that can be used for the period not more than three months. These three month rations are expected to be given to them at their final destination which is their homes in the counties or those who are local residents of Aweil town here,” Kuel adds. On a statistical point of view, Kuel says the total of 286 out of 317 returnees shall be air-lifted from Malakal to Aweil while the remaining 36 returnees shall be coming to Aweil by roads as they carrying heavy luggage from Khartoum. He urges the returnees to bear with situation for the time being and the host community to welcome the returnees and stay peacefully with them. Despite this huge influx of returnees coming to Northern Bahr el Ghazal state since the beginning of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) implementation, there has been huge annual reception of returnees coming back to Aweil which the state government in collaboration with concerned humanitarian agencies been working on to ensure their safety and provision of basic food stuff and other basic needs. According to the director’s reports, there are still 26,000 Northern Bahr el Ghazal state citizens in Khartoum who are willing to come home but lack transportation. He says the government and the concerned humanitarian agencies are mobilizing funds for the transportation of those returnees in the nearest future. Posted in: Home, Governance, 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.
