Since conflict in South Sudan flared four weeks ago, there has been a sharp increase in the number of people fleeing to Uganda. During the month of July, close to 60,000 South Sudanese crossed into the neighbouring country. Last week, an average of more than 4,000 a day fled to Uganda. An additional 8,000 South Sudanese are seeking refuge in Sudan and Kenya.
Trying its best
“The Government of Uganda is trying its best to respond to the influx but it is really a strain,” says the Settlement Commandant for Rhino camp settlement, under the Office of the Prime Minister, Arbitrage Basikania.
“We are receiving an average of about 350 persons per day at this reception centre. The water and sanitation facilities are inadequate and roads to the settlement area are in very bad condition, making access difficult. The only primary school that previously served a huge refugee population is in bad shape and needs to be rehabilitated before it can be used for the current refugee response,” he says.
The Settlement Commander is happy that agencies like the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) have remained committed to the refugee response and hopes that they will continue to work together to address the current influx of refugees in the country.
We are receiving an average of about 350 persons per day.Arbitrage Basikania, Settlement Commandant for Rhino camp
The Norwegian Refugee Council
At the Rhino settlement, aid workers from NRC are working around the clock to register and provide aid to the new refugees.
“Children and women constitute nearly 90 percent of the new arrivals. They have suffered in many aspects, including walking a long distance to the border,” says Hosana Adisu, NRC Area Manager in Uganda.
“We are providing shelter and water and sanitation facilities and providing kits with non-food items comprising sanitary kits and water jerry cans. We are also expanding our services to include new arrivals of children to our education programs and to construct mere classrooms,” says Adisu.
Hosted for decades
When fighting in Juba broke out in July 2016, affected South Sudanese fled in all directions, but mostly to Uganda, where they had been hosted for decades.
When the referendum process declared South Sudan an independent state in 2011, the world welcomed South Sudan’s independence with great optimism for a people that had suffered years of war and terror in their struggle for liberation.
The optimism was rattled after only two years, when in December 2013 fighting broke out in South Sudan, displacing thousands of people into neighbouring countries. It has never really been the same again for South Sudan. With a political environment characterized by mistrust and peace deals that were never honoured, the thin fabric that had held the country together after independence, eventually gave in.
A repeating story
The current crisis in South Sudan is now a repeating story for a significant number of refugees in Uganda. Taban is living the refugee experience twice. Born in 1982, Taban first moved to Uganda as a refugee in 1997 where he spent 9 years of his life.
“I feel really bad about returning to Uganda for a second time, it is a bad cycle,” says Taban.
When he returned to his country of origin in 2006, five years after South Sudan’s independence, he was certain that he would never again be displaced from his country. The war had led to the death of many of his relatives and friends and he strongly believed that South Sudan as a nation would do everything possible to safeguard its newly acquired peace and status as an independent country. Sadly, this conviction did not hold and Taban sought refuge in Uganda in July 2016 for a second time, this time as an adult.
I feel really bad about returning to Uganda for a second time, it is a bad cycle.Taban, refugee
Heavy burden on the neighbour
Indeed, Taban was able to secure a job with a supplies company in Yei, South Sudan, and life was promising.
“Even if I did not complete my formal education, I was sure that I had skills that I could utilize to fend for myself. Above all, I was hopeful for my younger siblings and for my children, that they would secure an education in their own country without disruption.”
Taban has another concern. He says that Uganda has always welcomed them during times of conflict and treated them well. However, he is not sure for how long this hospitality can continue and insists that South Sudan must find a solution to its problems so that the burden of displacement on neighbouring countries can reduce.
“When we first sought refuge in Uganda in 1997, we were not as many as we are now. I have more members of my family with me this time round. However, I am saddened that my wife and 7 months old baby are stuck in Yei. I think the soldiers have blocked the road from Yei to Koboko. People are finding it difficult to move. The stress about their safety is weighing down heavily on me,” says Taban.
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