South Sudanese & voluntary return

The government of Sudan and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) agreed on Sunday to establish an air bridge to transport to the South around 12,000 South Sudanese citizens stranded at Kosti port in the coming days.

Minister of Social Welfare Amira Al-Fadil said the move comes as part of an agreement between the Sudanese government and  IOM. She added that they would seek to provide all the necessary services for the returnees and remove all the barriers that hamper the transportation process.

The IOM received pledges from the Sudanese government to facilitate the aerial evacuation process as South Sudan also promised to furnish travel documents and make necessary arrangements to transport extra baggage on non-regular flights.

The move is very important, and since all parties expressed flexibility on the humanitarian aspects, we believe that efforts should be continued in order to resolve this urgent issue. And as all the returnees are dependent on assistance for food, water, health care and other essential services, we think it is the responsibility of the international community since the governments of the two countries do not have the logistical capacity to conduct this program for this huge number of returnees.

The two Governments also should work in cooperation with all other parties that work on the voluntary return in order to facilitate and assist in this program as the humanitarian conditions of the returnees are unbearable so as to help them return to their home country and to remove the obstacles obstructing their return, taking into account that the season of autumn is approaching which means that even if these returnees were evacuated to the South, they will still need humanitarian assistance.

Therefore we call on the international community and the concerned bodies to facilitate voluntary repatriation of returnees to safer areas in their country.

In order to achieve sustainable voluntary repatriation and reintegration, the safe areas should be created to host the returnees in their country so as to provide them with social amenities such as water, health services and schools to enable them to start their life in their new environment.

Lasting peace, stability and sustainable economic development will not be secured overnight as the two states of Sudan emerge from more than half a century of war.