The national Minister of Interior Mahamoud Solomon Agook and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) South Sudan Country Representative Arafat Jamal visited Western Equatoria State to assess the situation of refugees at Makpandu refugee camp in Yambio County.
Makpandu refugee camp hosts about 20,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic, Sudan, and others. Makpandu is some 220 kilometres to the east in Yambio county.
Speaking to journalists in Yambio, Minister Solomon said: “We have come to see the refugees who are here, I have visited many refugee camps, but Yambio this my first time to come here to see them and how they coexist with our host communities. And what are the benefits of our local communities from the project of UNHCR because since they are the host communities they need to benefit in terms of education, health, clean drinking water, and so on.”
For his part, UNHCR’s Jamal said as partners they are ready to support refugees across the country.
“We are here with the minister of interior together with the governor visiting Western Equatoria. We would like to simply say that we are deeply grateful to the people and the government of South Sudan and Western Equatoria for always welcoming the refugees,” Jamal said.
“We pledged to continue to support the refugees’ affairs. This is what we are going to witness ourselves today and how we can further strengthen our partnership,” he added.
Meanwhile, some refugees who spoke to Radio Tamazuj expressed their gratitude to the government of South Sudan and particularly Western Equatoria for hosting them.
Mr. Lawrence Mboriundo, a refugee who fled Congo in 2009, said they have been living well with the host community.
“There was a conflict in our homeland caused by Lord Resistance Army (LRA). They destroyed our land and that is why we fled here to South Sudan,” he narrated, “Life is a bit okay because we survive on the small contributions we are getting and protection from the government of this place. If our president says there is peace in our homeland we will return, we are ready to go back home. Without peace, we will stay without any problems.”
Lawrence said he is grateful that he had learned new things in Yambio.
Kafi Tutu Tio, another refugee from Sudan is frustrated by the lack of services and says he is ready to go back home if there is peace.
“The issue is, for us we are Sudanese but everything here is in the local language, and meetings are all in the local language. At least if it could be in Arabic, we could hear. So if there is peace in my homeland I’m ready to go back, I am frustrated I need to go back to my homeland,” he said.