Despite the recent peace accord, some Sudanese refugees plan on staying in the camp, where their children have access to some education.
Credit: IRIN |
|
"I will be the last man to leave," declared 43-year-old Gideon Kenyi, a Sudanese refugee who has lived in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya for a decade, but is not looking forward to going back home despite the signing of an agreement aimed at ending 21 years of war between the government and rebels.
"If I left now, I would just be taking back tears," said Kenyi, adding that he recently traveled to the Eastern Equatoria region of southern Sudan, where he hails from, and was appalled by the plight of 12 children left behind by his two brothers, who were killed during the war.
"They don't even have clothes to wear. I have to hold on here [in Kenya] and prepare myself to take better care of my family," Kenyi told IRIN in Nairobi on January 10, the day after the signing of a comprehensive peace accord between the government and former rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).
"There is nothing for me in Sudan. I would rather remain here and get some skills or start a business," said Kenyi.
David Ibon, a 48-year-old refugee and a father of four, said he was willing to return to his home in Dibor area of Upper Nile, but had misgivings about the peace accord.
"There is no guarantee that there will be peace because there is no unity among the southerners," said the Presbyterian church minister, who has lived in the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya for 12 years. Ibon traveled from the camp to Nairobi to witness the signing of the peace agreement.
"There are militias fighting the SPLA and there are politicians who are opposed to SPLA policies. If all these problems can be solved then everybody would go back and cultivate [the land] or start business," he added.
Ibon's fears are shared by Kenyi who said that internal rivalries within SPLM/A could spark ethnic strife and deny southerners the stability that they crave. "We do not know how many years Naivasha [peace agreement] will give us. SPLM might start fighting amongst themselves for positions," he said.
"Implementation [of the peace accord] will be the difficult part," said Kenyi, adding that his other concern was that the government might use rivalries among the southerners to derail the implementation process. "You know some southerners could be bought to corrupt the process," he added.
Moses Pal Tor, another refugee, prefers resettlement in Australia to repatriation.
"I prefer Australia because there my children can get an education," said the 35-year-old father of six who added that his application for resettlement in Australia was being processed.
He said he might consider returning if, after the six-year transitional period, southern Sudan votes to secede from the rest of the country. The peace agreement provides for a referendum after six years to give the southerners an opportunity to decide whether to remain united with the north or become a separate entity.
Sudanese refugees in Kakuma closely followed the Sudanese peace talks.
Credit: IRIN |
|
Abel Ashien, 34, arrived in Kenya in December, 2004 from Bahr el-Ghazal to seek eye treatment in Nairobi and is trying to get registered as a refugee.
"This is my only chance to get out of the bush," he told IRIN. "What is there for me in Sudan?. My father and mother were killed during an attack in 1994 and my family was scattered. I do not even know where my wife and daughter are, but I have heard that my aunt is in Australia," he said.
The signing of the peace agreement was widely welcomed by Sudanese refugees in Kenya and the majority are looking forward to going back.
But according to Kenyi, who has served as a community leader in the Kakuma camp, many refugees worry about the lack of social facilities such as schools, hospitals and water sources in their areas of origin in southern Sudan.
"The other problem is security. There are a lot of guns, even children have guns. Who will ensure our security when we return?," said Kenyi.
"People want to be sure that there is some infrastructure and security is in place before they can return under the guidance of UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees]," he added.
Kenyi said some of the refugees may not be willing to go back home because they may have committed crimes and fear retribution. "This group of people would probably go back only when there is a judicial system," he said.
He said among the refugee women, there are those who fled forced marriage after their husbands were killed. This group of women was unsure whether they will be safe in their villages where disputes over the custody of children could erupt.
"They [women] want to go back, but want to know what kind of protection UNHCR will provide. Or will it [UNHCR] say 'it is up to the government' which might decide to rely on tradition [to resolve family disputes] where women have little say," Kenyi said.
Faris Victor, 36, has lived in Kenya as a refugee for 11 years and feels that it was time he went home despite that fact that fighters of the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), have in recent past attacked villages in his Eastern Equitoria region.
"[Joseph] Kony [LRA leader] is the only problem, but we will know how to deal with him," said Victor.
UNHCR has been planning for an initial return of 150,000 Sudanese refugees in the first 18 months following the signing of the peace agreement.
According to the agency, 500,000 people from southern Sudan live as refugees in neighbouring countries with Uganda hosting the largest group of 223,000. Another 88,000 are in Ethiopia, 69,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 65,000 in Kenya, an estimated 36,000 in the Central African Republic and 30,000 in Egypt.
According to UNHCR's spokesman in Nairobi, Emmanuel Nyabera, the agency has opened offices in the southern Sudanese towns of Rumbek, Juba and Yei to begin preparing for the refugee return.
He said UNHCR had, in collaboration with its partners, started rehabilitating community health centres, schools and water and sanitation facilities in areas where refugees are expected to return.
UNHCR estimates that it will need some $60 million for the return and reintegration of refugees to southern Sudan in 2005 alone.
[ENDS]
|