Trains Carrying Over 2,000 Returnees Arrive In NBGS
Thousands of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State (NBGS) citizens gathered around Aweil Railway station over the weekend while chanting and ululating to welcome their fellow returnees from Sudan.
By Abraham Agoth
AWEIL, 19th March 2012 Gurtong -
More than two 2000 returnees arrived last Saturday from Khartoum as part of the implementation of transportation process of the South Sudanese who are still stuck in Sudan.
Speaking to Gurtong Ms Angeline, one of the returnees, who complained of the random stopovers on their way to Aweil; “we stopped for almost the whole day in Merrham, a small town bordering Southern Kordofan with Northern Bahr el Ghazal, for unknown reason.â€
“I have really appreciated the doubled efforts by our government in collaboration with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International organization for Migration (IOM) to have worked hand in hand to bring us back home after more than two decades in Khartoum. Here we are in our homeland even though we are worried about our colleagues who are still in Khartoum,†she said.
The trains then left for the final destination in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State after alighting 700 returnees in Aweil.
Trains Carrying Over 2,000 Returnees Arrive In South Sudan
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Re: Trains Carrying Over 2,000 Returnees Arrive In South Sud
South Sudan: IOM Returns 2,300 Locals By Train
20 MARCH 2012
allAfrica.com
Wau — An International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized train, which left the Sudanese capital Khartoum 18 days ago, arrived in Wau in Western Bahr el Ghazal State in South Sudan on Sunday March 18 carrying nearly 2,300 returnees.
The train was the first to leave Khartoum since the governments of Sudan and South Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding in early February, which outlined a voluntary, safe and dignified return process for South Sudanese in Sudan wishing to return to their newly- independent homeland.
Earlier in the week, the government of South Sudan announced that it was committing SSP 50 million (USD 16.6 million) to speed up the repatriation of South Sudanese stranded in Sudan.
This fund will be managed by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC.) IOM will continue to support the repatriation program, transporting returnees by plane, barge, road and train.
The train movement was organized in close cooperation with Sudan's IDP Centre, the Commission for Voluntary and Humanitarian Works (CVHW), the RRC, UNHCR and UNICEF, with funding from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF.)
Returnees were provided with food, water, and medical attention on the journey. IOM worked with partners in Babanusa to get extra food for the passengers who joined the train en route.
After the train crossed into South Sudan on Tuesday March 13, IOM staff distributed tokens to the returnees to allow them to register on arrival in Wau.
IOM operates a national tracking and monitoring database across South Sudan's ten states and employs over 500 government enumerators to register and track returnees and the primary and secondary displacement of internally displaced people (IDPs.) Since 2005 IOM has tracked over 2.5 million returnees to South Sudan.
In 2011, IOM registered over 360,000 returnees. Many face various reintegration challenges, primarily the slow allocation of land by the government, which is complicated by the lack of basic transport, education, and health infrastructure in rural areas.
On Tuesday, March 13th, the day that the train crossed into South Sudan, the governments of Sudan and South Sudan concluded a framework agreement to grant their citizens basic freedoms in both nations.
The agreement sets out the four freedoms (freedom of movement, residence, economic activity and property), as a set of general principles. Both countries agreed to allow citizens of the other to live, work and own property on either side of the border, and travel between the two nations.
20 MARCH 2012
allAfrica.com
Wau — An International Organization for Migration (IOM) organized train, which left the Sudanese capital Khartoum 18 days ago, arrived in Wau in Western Bahr el Ghazal State in South Sudan on Sunday March 18 carrying nearly 2,300 returnees.
The train was the first to leave Khartoum since the governments of Sudan and South Sudan signed a memorandum of understanding in early February, which outlined a voluntary, safe and dignified return process for South Sudanese in Sudan wishing to return to their newly- independent homeland.
Earlier in the week, the government of South Sudan announced that it was committing SSP 50 million (USD 16.6 million) to speed up the repatriation of South Sudanese stranded in Sudan.
This fund will be managed by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC.) IOM will continue to support the repatriation program, transporting returnees by plane, barge, road and train.
The train movement was organized in close cooperation with Sudan's IDP Centre, the Commission for Voluntary and Humanitarian Works (CVHW), the RRC, UNHCR and UNICEF, with funding from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF.)
Returnees were provided with food, water, and medical attention on the journey. IOM worked with partners in Babanusa to get extra food for the passengers who joined the train en route.
After the train crossed into South Sudan on Tuesday March 13, IOM staff distributed tokens to the returnees to allow them to register on arrival in Wau.
IOM operates a national tracking and monitoring database across South Sudan's ten states and employs over 500 government enumerators to register and track returnees and the primary and secondary displacement of internally displaced people (IDPs.) Since 2005 IOM has tracked over 2.5 million returnees to South Sudan.
In 2011, IOM registered over 360,000 returnees. Many face various reintegration challenges, primarily the slow allocation of land by the government, which is complicated by the lack of basic transport, education, and health infrastructure in rural areas.
On Tuesday, March 13th, the day that the train crossed into South Sudan, the governments of Sudan and South Sudan concluded a framework agreement to grant their citizens basic freedoms in both nations.
The agreement sets out the four freedoms (freedom of movement, residence, economic activity and property), as a set of general principles. Both countries agreed to allow citizens of the other to live, work and own property on either side of the border, and travel between the two nations.
