The commissioner of Central Equatoria State’s Yei River County, accompanied by officials from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Commission for Refugees Affairs (CRA), conducted an inspection visit to Alero Returnees Reception Center last Thursday to engage with the local community leaders regarding the planned relocation of Sudanese refugees to the center.
Speaking to the media during the visit, Commissioner Emmanuel Taban Seme, said the purpose of their visit to Alero was to assess the center for the relocation of some of the refugees fleeing conflict in Sudan and that the community leaders welcomed the idea.
“We are on a field visit with our partners, UNHCR and Commission for Refugees Affairs, to the former refugee transit center in Alero and the purpose of the visit is to activate the center so that we relocate some of our refugees from Sudan here,” he said. “It was a successful visit and the community has accepted the idea of the relocation of the refugees from Sudan to the center. The center has very good facilities that might need minor rehabilitation but it can help accommodate the refugees.”
For his part, Julius Taban Phillip, Assistant Commissioner for Refugees Affairs, confirmed that the community leaders and the youth agreed to receive the Sudanese refugees in Alero.
“We have come to Alero to assess and share with the chiefs, the local leaders of this community, asking them about our request to relocate some refugees to their area,” he stated. “The community leaders and youth are willing and ready to receive the refugees.”
Meanwhile, Alero Boma Sub chief Naphtalai Juma said they are willing to receive the Sudanese refugees in order to foster development, stating that refugee camps in Uganda were well developed because of refugees.
“As a community, we have accepted that the refugees should be brought here. There were refugees here in Alero before and they left many houses. We want the UN to construct for us schools, hospitals, and roads that link us to the refugee center,” he said. “We do not have much to say but if someone is coming to your place they are bringing development like the camps in Uganda which are well developed, so, if the refugees come here, they are bringing development to the country.”
Rev. Simon Lasuba, a resident of the Alero area, emphasized the need to create a peaceful environment for the refugees and the host community.
“We are the hosts, the owners of this place, we are not sharing their (refugees) things but they will share our things when they come. They need to give us honor and respect,” he explained. “In the past, our elders told me a lot about things that did not go very well. It is not that we do not want the refugees here, we want them to come and give us respect and for us to work together as a peaceful community.”
The Alero Refugee Settlement and Reception Center, located about seven miles from Yei Town, was established in 1985 and hosted refugees from the region.
Officials plan to relocate over 30 Sudanese refugee households, comprising 93 individuals to the center.