The Member of Parliament representing the women of Magwi County in the Eastern Equatoria State Legislative Assembly, Angela Achiro Onorio, has said more than 7,000 voluntary returnees in Pajok Payam are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
The returnees are new arrivals since last month to date who came from Palabek refugee camp in neighboring Uganda and consist of mostly women and children.
“We got many issues, one of which is that many people have returned and the figure on the ground is 7,061 people who have voluntarily returned to Pajok. It is a big number and people are coming every day according to the Payam administrator and they require humanitarian services,” Achiro said.
“During the conflict, they lost all their livelihoods and they have no shelter. There are no schools for their children. They need education for the children and this is a critical issue which needs the attention of the government and humanitarian workers to intervene to help these people who are returning from the refugee camps,” she added.
The parliamentarian said she was also concerned about the lack of police in the area to keep law and order.
The Eastern Equatoria State coordinator of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), John Odongi, says he has not received any information about returnees in Magwi County but acknowledged that the majority of returnees are coming voluntarily.
He cited Ikotos County with 356 households comprising 1,260 individuals who arrived this January from the refugee camps.
“No, I received no information from Magwi County because we are receiving information from the RRC county coordinators. We have IDPs coming voluntarily and there are spontaneous returnees from the refugee camps. Even in Torit County, Ikotos County all over the counties of Eastern Equatoria, people are coming on their own,” Odongi said, “We receive the records monthly. For January we have already received so we will wait for the end of February.”
Meanwhile, Charles Okullu, the chairperson of the Civil Society Network for Eastern Equatoria State who also doubles as the Executive Director of Peace Link Foundation (PLF) confirmed the influx of returnees in the area.
Okullu said the relationship between civilians and the military, especially in the Pogee border, is good but fears that soldiers are deserting their barracks due to lack of food.
“The relationship between the civilians and soldiers, especially those in Pogee who are protecting the integrity of the territorial border is good, however, there is a serious issue of the soldiers in Pogee deserting because of lack of food, lack of medication they cannot afford life. Imagine the entire government leaving their soldiers who are supposed to protect the critical border and they are rendered with no food, no logistics for movement,” Okullu said.
In April 2017, hundreds of the locals fled to Uganda after an attack by government forces which killed at least 17 people in the area.
Some were shot as they tried to flee while others had their throats slit before their bodies were strung up from door frames.
The government, at the time, however, denied that they targeted civilians but said they were there to flush out rebels.