Feature - Refugees in Kenya sidelined by peace process

As the Sudanese peace process has reached what many are calling the make-or-break stage, many southerners who fled the country's civil war are wondering how it is going to affect them. In Kenya's northwestern Kakuma refugee camp, there is much talk about whether there will be a peace deal hammered out between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), and whether the refugees will be able to return home as a result. For the 65,000 southerners who live in Kakuma, some of whom fled to Kenya 20 years ago, this is of pivotal importance. But the details of what sort of peace might emerge, what rights they will have if they do return, and what kind of negotiations are taking place between the government and the rebel group remain extremely sketchy. As with most peace negotiations, the people whose lives are most affected by them feel they are largely being kept in the dark. Philip Ayuel, a Sudanese man, tells IRIN, "generally people know that peace is being discussed in Nairobi, and everybody is looking for an outcome, but we don't know what is being negotiated". While there are some televisions in the camp, watching them costs money, making it way beyond the reach of most people. In the absence of any newspapers, this leaves radio and word of mouth as the only sources of outside information. "I hear from the BBC. I understand a bit, but not a lot," says Tia Alumda Tia. He says he's concerned about what his leaders are negotiating, but can't access any information about it. "I'm worried. I hear from the radio but we want to witness the things ourselves." Santino Monybot, a 'chairman' of the Sudanese community, says the SPLM/A, which is negotiating on behalf of the refugees, should keep its supporters informed of developments. "We know nothing about it, we just hear from the radio," he says. "We want people to come from the SPLM in Nairobi to tell us." After over twenty years of waiting to go home to Sudan, Monybot feels the refugees have a right to be involved. "We have so many intellectuals here who could take part," he says. "We want participation and information, because peace is for all of us." For most of the Sudanese women in Kakuma camp, the peace process is even more distant and obscure than for the men. Deborah Elijah Agok says the majority know nothing about it at all. "No one brings us news here, and we're very far away," she says. If she has a spare moment she listens to the radio, but with seven children to look after, food to cook, and water to fetch from 6 a.m. until dark, she has no time. Apart from that, many of the women haven't been to school and don't understand the terminology used, she says. "We know nothing about the peace," agrees Rebecca Achol. "We don't have a radio, we are poor, we know nothing." Mary Bosco, who speaks good English and would like to know more, says "I have no radio. I never hear news, only rumours". Only the men have the chance to keep themselves informed of current affairs, she says. "We have a lot of housework to do. Men, they just sit around talking about politics. Very few men do any work according to our culture." She would like to purchase a radio for herself, to know what's going on in the world, but she doesn't have the 2,500 ksh (over US $30) to buy one. "I would like to know because we need to go back to our country. We have been in exile long enough," she says. While most of the refugees agree that they would like to be better informed, they say they would go home if a national peace deal was signed. Monybut told IRIN he would tell people to go home "immediately" because Sudan needed reconstruction and development. "The majority will be happy to go," he said. Peter Ayiik says he doesn't have any idea what the SPLM is negotiating, but says "we have to accept it if they sign it". He would go home very soon, he says, because in Kenya he is lacking many things. "I am idle, I have no work, I can do nothing." But others are more circumspect. Elijah Marey says he would only go home if there was "real" peace. "We would analyse which kind of peace there was," he says. "Words would not be enough." James Young says people would not be prepared to go immediately, and that the peace talks may well yield nothing anyway. "It's not the first time they're having talks. We don't see any results. They had no success in the past, so I'm not hoping for peace." "They might say there is peace and later it will collapse," he adds. Deborah Alijah Agok agrees. She says many of the women, in particular, will have nothing to go back to anyway - no home, no husbands, no relatives and no means of survival. "I don't want to go back to Sudan," she says. "I saw my relatives killed in front of me. I would prefer to live in Kenya on the border so I can run away again."