South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Wednesday called on those still living inside the internally displaced person camps and refugees to return home or resettle in Juba.
Kiir made this call during a meeting with the representatives of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and refugees in Juba.
“For those who will opt to return to their habitual areas of residence, the government will provide security and would work jointly with partners to organize logistics around what is needed to resettle successfully in those areas,” Kiir said.
Kiir said there is relative peace for displaced persons and refugees in neighboring countries to return to their homes or resettle in Juba.
“For those who cannot go back to their areas of residence, we have spoken to authorities in states where IDPs camps are located to set aside land to resettle them. I must add that this land, when designated, must be allocated to IDPs only,” he said.
He called on international partners to support the government in the reintegration and resettlement of returnees.
“We know that about 2.3 million of our people still live in refugee camps in neighboring countries. With peace implementation moving towards the final phase where elections will end the transitional period, repatriating our people from the camps in neighboring countries should top our agenda,” President Kiir said.
Emmanuel Adil Anthony, Governor of Central Equatoria promised to allocate land for the resettlement of IDPs and refugees.
“As the state government of Central Equatoria, we will allocate lands for the resettlement of IDPs and refugees,” said Adil.
According to UN agencies, close to a million people are living in IDP and UN camps in the country and about 2.3 million are living as refugees in neighboring countries.
They were displaced when violence ravaged the country following the outbreak of conflict in December 2013 and 2016.