More than 2,000 South Sudanese returnees in Raja County of Western Bahr el Ghazal State are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
The returnees who were forced out of their homes during the 2016 conflict and sought refuge in the Nimir, Buram, and Fordos areas of South Darfur, voluntarily returned to Raja County.
Some of the returnees told Radio Tamazuj that they appealed to a visiting United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) delegation last Thursday to provide them with essential needs and support them restart their lives.
“We are here suffering, we don’t have water at all, we don’t have a hospital and we have women delivering without midwives and we don’t have school for our children,” said Haja Paratak, one of the returnees.
Another returnee who preferred anonymity said they have not received any food aid since they voluntarily returned last year.
“Since last year up to now, we have not received any help from the World Food. We depend on collecting firewood and this is our homeland,” he said.
Addressing the returnees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representative to South Sudan, Arafat Jamal, urged all humanitarian actors to quickly respond to the needs of the returnees.
“We are looking as UNHCR at the conditions of people who are returning from Sudan, their numbers and what type of support do they need. What is impressing me most is that all of those who have returned said that they are happy to come back to South Sudan to help in building the future of South Sudan,” Jamal said. “As UNHCR, am working together with our partners, UNMISS and development actors, NGOs and humanitarian partners, we need to make a response that enables these people to develop their capabilities.”
The head of the UNMISS Field Office in Wau, Sam Muhumure, said UNMISS will continue to partner with the state government to rehabilitate the Wau-Raja road that would facilitate humanitarian access.
“One of the key concerns raised, the rehabilitation of the checkpoints along Wau-Raja road and that is an area that we will touch on together with the government and the humanitarian partners to see how we will keep Wau-Raja road useable and functional for the entire year both the dry and rainy season and from here, we can sit down and plan to engage in action,” said Muhumure.
For his part, Raja County Commissioner Salah Mumigi Mamiri urged the national government and partners to facilitate the return of the refugees to their homes.
“We are calling on the national government and the IOM to complete the transportation of refugees from the centers in Sudan. We have those who are ready to return but they have not been assisted,” Mumigi said.