More Than 3,000 Refugees Receive ID Cards In South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State A total of about 3,400 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR) and some Sudanese refugees from South Kordofan and Blue Nile states who fled to South Sudan between 2008 and 2010 have received identity cards in Western Equatoria State. 02 August 2015
By Jok P Mayom *WES, 01 Aug 2015 [Gurtong]-*The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and South Sudan’s Commission for Refugee Affairs (CRA) jointly issued and distributed some 3,400 digital identity cards to refugees in Western Equatoria in the month of July 2015. “This includes nationals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic who fled to South Sudan between 2008 and 2010 to escape attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army, but also some Sudanese refugees from South Kordofan and Blue Nile states” said UNHCR Office. Ms. Isabelle Misic, UNHCR Assistant Representative on Protection in South Sudan said “Identity documents are essential for refugees.” “Even in a place like South Sudan where the consequences of being undocumented are less drastic than in other countries, it is crucial that refugees are able to prove not only their identity but also that their presence in the country is lawful.” Said Misic. “Identity cards are the key in the protection of refugees. Foreseen in the 2012 South Sudanese Refugee Act, they enable refugees to freely move within the country and access services and assistance” continued Misic. “The distribution of ID cards followed a two-week biometric verification exercise whereby UNHCR collected up-to-date, complete and reliable data of refugees living in Makpandu and Ezo settlements as well as the rural areas of Maridi, Source Yubu, Tambura, Andari and Naandi” said UNHCR. The Agency further reveals that the result of the exercise shows that the refugee population of Western Equatoria has slightly decreased from 10,707 to 8,921 individuals. “We registered the vast majority of these refugees in 2009. After so many years, it is important that we have updated records on their family composition, births, deaths and marriages and we know the real needs of the sick, elderly and other vulnerable people.” Misic explained. “Biometric technology was used to verify and record bio-data of the refugee population into UNHCR registration database. Refugees were interviewed, photographed and finger-printed before being issued an ID card”, says Misic “The use of biometrics facilitates the confirmation of refugees’ identity even where they lack other documentation and minimizes the instances of fraud” she added. "If they lose their ID card, they can approach us to get a new one in no time”, Misic added. She also explained that since the launch of biometric verification and documentation of refugees in June 2014, nearly 10,000 refugees received a digitized ID card. She said that the exercise will continue in the coming months. The short-term plan is to issue an ID card to all refugees living in camps and urban areas in Central and Western Equatoria. According to the UNHCR Refugees overview, South Sudan, Africa’s youngest country, is currently host to more than 265,000 refugees. Posted in: Home <http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/CategoryView/mid/519/categoryId/1/Home.aspx> -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/southsudankob View this message at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/southsudankob/topic-id/message-id For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout --- 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]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14op%3DoswWB3eEqyczYmKHnTscMuNZvhVTkAH5MY7x0oVYhQ%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
