[ 2012-05-12 ]

S. Sudanese begin journey home: IOM
KHARTOUM (AFP) - The first group of ethnic South
Sudanese among up to 15,000 camped in crowded
conditions in Sudan began their journey home on
Saturday, the International Organisation for
Migration said.

About 400 people, mostly adults, were travelling
to Khartoum by bus from the way-station of Kosti,
about 300 kilometres (190 miles) south of the
capital, ahead of a major airlift early on Sunday,
IOM Sudan chief Jill Helke said.

"They're moving in a convoy," escorted by local
government agencies, Helke told AFP.

After staying overnight in a Khartoum-area
government-run transit centre, they are to board
three aircraft shortly before sunrise on Sunday,
at 0300 GMT, for the South Sudanese capital Juba.

The IOM estimates that 12,000-15,000 South
Sudanese are in the Kosti way-station. Many have
been living in makeshift shelters or barn-like
buildings, waiting months for their transport
home.

The governor of the area declared the migrants a
security threat and initially gave them a May 5
deadline to leave, sparking concern from the
United Nations and the IOM which has already
helped thousands of South Sudanese to head home.

Sudanese officials extended the deadline to May 20
but then told the IOM to disregard the time limit
after plans for the airlift were devised.

If the deadline is enforced, "this becomes a
deportation and we will not have any part in it,"
Helke said.

The South Sudanese in Kosti are among about
350,000 ethnic Southerners whom the South Sudanese
embassy estimates remain in the north after an
April 8 deadline for them to either formalise
their status or leave Sudan.

Hundreds of thousands of others have already gone
to the South, which separated last July under a
peace deal at the end of a 22-year civil war which
killed two million people and drove many more to
the north.

The aircraft are to return to Khartoum Sunday
afternoon to collect another load of South
Sudanese, a schedule which is to continue daily,
Helke said.

At that rate, the airlift could take about two
weeks, but she said it is not yet clear how many
Kosti residents will join the flights.

"We've been screening about 900 people a day," she
said. "There hasn't been an overwhelming rush."

Some have managed to arrange truck transport to
South Sudan by themselves.

Helke said interest in the IOM flights could pick
up after South Sudanese government vehicles begin
moving the passengers' luggage on Saturday.

Luggage is a big concern for the returnees, who
want to bring as much as possible to the
poverty-stricken South.

The airlift will take place under tight security
because Sudanese authorities are worried that
South Sudanese in Khartoum might also try to join
the flights.

Kosti way-station on the White Nile River was
designed for about 2,000 people but became home to
the biggest single concentration of South Sudanese
awaiting transport. Other groups have been living
in rough conditions in Khartoum.

The IOM said all the Southerners in Kosti were
dependent on assistance from the international
community for food, water, health care and other
essential services and most did not have their own
means to arrange transportation.

Helke said the IOM, which is dependent on donor
funding, has money to pay for about half the
airlift and is urging donors to provide the rest.

The IOM had plans for moving thousands of people
from Kosti by barge but Sudan's military expressed
security concerns.

Since late March Sudan and South Sudan have been
fighting along their border, which the United
Nations called a serious threat to international
peace and security.

A UN Security Council resolution on May 2 ordered
both sides to cease hostilities and to resume by
next Wednesday negotiations on unresolved issues
including the status of each country's nationals
in the other country.

Since last year the IOM has helped return more
than 23,000 Southerners, mostly by river barge.

Source - AFP

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