UGANDAN REFUGEES IN THE SUDAN Part I: The Long Journey

by Barbara Harrell - Bond

19821No. 48 Africa [BHB-1-'821

Around 200,000 Ugandans have up since 1979, most having fled sought refuge in the Sudan. from Uganda's infamous elections Many have delayed for months and the withdrawal of theTanzanian along the borders, reluctant to "liberation" army. From June 1982, flee but deriving only marginal about one-third of those registering subsistence. Taking the last for settlement still came from inside drastic step, they arrive in the Uganda; the rest were those who transit centers weak and mal- had attempted to stay near the nourished. Many die awaiting border, hoping the situation would assistance in the planned reset. improve and they could return to tlement areas provided by Sudan their homes. Their delay was cata- and UNHCR. strophic. Thousands died of starva- tion, while trying to eke out a living along the overcrowded border. Hun- dreds more died of the effects of malnutrition, even after they had Thousands of Ugandan refugees entered settlements and were receiv- poured into the Sudan in 1982, most ing food rations. of them to Western Equatoria (the west bank of the Nile). The popula- For some, the situation in Uganda is tion of refugees in the planned set- confusing -there are so many con- tlements provided by the Sudan, tradictory reports. But for lzaruku which are supported by the United Ajaga, the facts were starkly clear Nations High Commissioner for Re- when on September 11 he came to fugees (UNHCR), shot up from 9,000 the UNHCR office in Yei to report in 3 settlements in March 1982 to that his brother and another relative 47,311 in 14 at the end of September. had been killed by President Milton By October 8 there were 8,000 peo- Obote's troops, just eight miles ple in transit centers along the from the Sudan border in Uganda. border, and every day 200 new peo- For the past two years they had ple were registering for settlement. been living near Livolo, farming on These numbers do not include the both sides of the border. They were 65,000 in settlements in Eastern on their way to collect their crops Equatoria nor the thousands of when they met the soldiers from "spontaneously" settled refugees Kampala. Ajaga needed transport to who found a place along the border collect the two widows and five or in towns in southern Sudan. In all, young children for their long journey I estimate at least 200,000 refugees to the settlements. from Uganda in Sudan; UNHCR puts Mr. Adarito Caku, a primary school the figure at 160,000. Zaire also teacher, had an equally grim exper- hosts Ugandan refugees, with some ience to recount when he arrived at 40,000 living in settlements and as Kaya transit center with a group of many or more living along the bor- 50 other refugees - all directly der. There, too, the influx has in- from inside Uganda - on October creased recently. 2. Only a few days earlier he had The numbers of refugees in Sudan, watched the torture and murder of a both those in settlements and those new sub-chief, or jago, of Omogo, managing on their own without Terrego County, with whom he had UNHCR support, have been building shared a prison cell. The victim, Nathan Aliosa, had been beaten daily tance will be able to protect them and finally left to die, his throat cut from the actions of the undisciplined half-way. and vindictive soldiers. The suffer- Despite pronouncements to the con- ing that has for so long been the lot trary, the war in the West Nile area of the innocent civilians of the of Uganda continues. Moreover, lit- West Nile seems likely to contin~e.~ tle of the resistance is made up of former President Idi Amin's suppor- "Are 14-year-oldsheads of families?" ters. Indeed, few of them survive or "In Europe, are 14-year-olds heads are at liberty. One, Colonel Elly of families?" The question is Hassan, is in prison in Juba, the directed accusingly at me from the capital of the southern region of the back of a crowd of Ugandan refu- Sudan. Another, the last who claimed gees who have lived since May 1982 the right to command as an officer in Goli settlement in Western under Amin, was relieved from duty Equatoria. How could I answer this by the lower ranks of anti-Obote boy when the next day, tears start- troops still fighting a guerrilla war ing from his eyes, he asked "What within Uganda. Months ago, Briga- did I ever do to Obote to make him dier Moses Ali, another Amis asso- kill my parents?" His tears are angry ciate who had imposed his leader- as he tells me that although he had ship on the Uganda National Rescue finished building their house, he Front (UNRF), was disclaimed. was just too tired to dig a latrine. side Sudan's border, particularly His family consisted of four tiny The commander who leads the resis- around Kajo-Kaji, have, over the tots, none of them big enough even tance forces around Abongi put it past four months, been repeatedly to help with the cooking. These chil- this way: raided by Obote's men, who have dren had seen their parents shot When Obote came in, we didn't want looted, burned, kidnapped, and mur- down only a few months earlier in- to fight. I advised my boys to sur- dered inside a border that is difficult side Uganda, when government render their weapons. It was a to protect. On September 30, a small troops on one of their daily raids in- defensive action to protect the Ugandan plane flew low over the to the bush near Yumbe had found civilians who were attacked after cluster of tents at the Livolo transit the family's hiding place. Leaving the Tanzanians left. We are not center, circled, and photographed their parents where they died, the fighting [now] for putting any one in- the refugees. On October 7, in children began their long journey to dividual in power. That's not correct. response to news of the rape and the Sudan and to Goli settlement. murder of a young Ugandan woman We want our people to elect the per- An individual's view of a situation son they wish. We just want to make inside the Sudan by yet another Obote troop incursion, two lorries of depends on the vantage point from sure people are free to move in which it has been experienced. I peace. soldiers from Yei were sent to strengthen the border defences.' have just completed six months of His sentiments were echoed by research among the Ugandan refu- Okot James Kazin, a defector from But the "children" still have some gees in the Sudan. The objective of Obote's army, in a statement made ammunition, and heavy fighting con- my study - worked out at a type- on September 10 at Kaya transit tinues in Uganda. Resistance writer thousands of miles away - center. He told me how, on their ar- around Obongi is strong enough to was to determine whether there are rival in the West Nile (after the allow traders on bicycles, carrying strategies that could be applied by departure of the Tanzanians), the fish from the Kochi and Nile rivers, aid agencies from the onset of any soldiers were instructed that "they to sell inside the Sudan. Five miles emergency to encourage self-suf- east of Kaya it is still safe enough should not leave anybody, be it ficiency rather than dependency for women to cross regularly into children or helpless old people, liv- among refugees. I had read the Uganda to collect their cassava. ing." As time went on, some soldiers literature describing the so-called Raiding of civilians goes on by day began to question the necessity for "dependency syndrome" and had throughout the northern part of the killing people for no good reason. talked with aid people who observed, West Nile, but at night government Those who objected were always "The more you give, the more depen- troops are confined to towns like threatened. "That's why I decided to dent people become." Quite by Moyo, where several hundred civil- chance, I found the situation in defect and join with the struggling ians are held virtual prisoners in an forces some time last year and de- Western Equatoria, Sudan, ideal for area about half a kilometer square. my theoretical problem. There were fend the interests of my fellow Many of them sleep in the mission Ugandans." Ugandan refugees who had been liv- and in the cathedral, their suffering ing in planned rural settlements for I met one family of seven on the shared by three Europeans - two as long as two years, there were path near Yundu. They had walked priests and a nun. newly established settlements, and 90 miles to reach the Sudan. When I It is believed that at least 80,000 there was a continuing influx of asked why they had come, an old civilians remain inside the war emergency proportions. Moreover, man replied "The children don't have zones. When the rains stop and the the program officer employed by the any more ammunition." grass is dry enough to burn, the United Nations High Commission Persecution is not confined to Ugan- Sudan expects another wave of refu- for Refugees welcomed the partici- dan soil. The refugees living just in- gees. It is not likely that the resis- patory action research I proposed. During my stay there, I was involved about refugees. The authors appear and educational services. In some in all aspects of an emergency pro- to have no difficulty in describing cases, such as in Thailand, this ap- gram.3 what they saw. Many (whom I ob- proach is necessary because the Sitting down now to write this, served) could write reports after host government is unwilling to memories of this 14-year-old boy visiting a settlement for only half an allow certain people to leave the divert me from my analysis. There is hour; some "experts" never left their holding centers. Alternatively, unem- also Fadamulla Buja, a 22-year-old. vehicles. While I was in northern ployed refugees may be given month- Earlier in 1982, he was a student at Sudan, I was often advised that it ly subsistence allowances, as until Mbala Secondary School, preparing was only necessary to visit one set- recently in Nairobi. for "A" level examinations in June. tlement as "they are all alike." Everyone involved in refugee assis- He went with other history students Perhaps I stayed too long, talked tance is too keenly aware of the pro- on a school-sponsored trip lo Kaba- with too many refugees, saw too blems engendered by relief pro- lega National Park. On the way to much. grams. From the point of view of the Patiko to see Baker's Fort, soldiers donors, they are far too expensive, stopped the bus. Four students, Assisting refugees particularly when refugees remain identified by the soldiers as Kakwa, There are a number of ways in which in a host country for a protracted and thus "Amin's remnants," were the international community seeks period of time. Some Eritreans have ordered off the bus at gunpoint. The to assist refugees, depending on lived in exile in the Sudan for as teachers pleaded that the boys were where they have sought protection, long as 20 years and the problems only students. At the barracks, the the conditions obtaining in the that generated their flight appear to soldiers burned the boy's school country of origin, and, in some be no closer to a solution than when identification cards, challenging cases, the background of refugees they fled. Over the past years more them now to prove they were stu- in terms of education and skills. emphasis has been placed upon dents. One boy was, in Buja's words, Americans are most familiar with what are called "durable solutions." resettlement programs where peo- "stubborn." He told the soldiers In practice this has meant mainly that, "Yes, I am a Kakwa, but I am ple are moved from the country of assisting refugees in rural, agri- first asylum to another where it is also a Ugandan. Where do you want cultural settlements, although in me to go?" He was bundled off and expected they will remain. Ideally, some situations efforts are made to this solution is only applied when never seen again. set up income-generating programs there is little hope of a refugee ever in towns. That night, at midnight, the 3 were being able to return to his own coun- taken from their cells, thrown into a try. In Africa most assistance to In southern Sudan nearly all the Land Rover and driven about 17 refugees is provided in the country assistance channelled through miles down the Kitgum road. There of first asylum, although there are UNHCR is focused upon creating they were pulled out and told to exception^.^ self-sufficient agricultural set- walk in a straight line away from the tlements. There are, at this time, no soldiers, who were brandishing Many refugees in the world are programs or budgets for refugees guns. Buja advised his friends to assisted only through relief pro- who live outside the planned set- make a dash for it since they were grams. That is, they are centrally tlements. Relief assistance is pro- going to be shot in cold blood. He located and maintained through the vided on the arrival of the refugees never saw his friends again, although provision of food, clothing, medical, at the settlement, but the expecta- he heard gunshots behind him for the time it took him to run two miles. He continued to run for what he guessed was ten miles, then col- lapsed. The next morning he found some cassava, ate it raw,, and began his walk to the Sudan. Now Fadamulla Buja lives in Limbe set- tlement with no hope of ever com- pleting his education. I am surrounded by such images. They are not only in my mind but in the dozens of exercise books in which refugees have written ac- counts of their experiences, the tape recordings of their voices, the photographs - not to mention the case-histories in my notebooks. It is not easy to reduce all these to a systematic account. The picture they reveal is constantly moving, contradictory, dynamic. I am also conscious that many trees have been sacrificed already to supply the paper for the masses of reports On the long road to the transit center from inside Uganda. tion is that the refugee will be self- The Context for Assistance Programs that are observable and whose out- sustaining within a prescribed Understanding the broad context comes are to a great extent predic- period of time. within which an assistance program table. Most programs that make self-suffi- is implemented is absolutely vital to The UNHCR program in southern ciency their objective limit the defini- its success. And this "context" is Sudan aims to give uniform assis- tion of the term to food production. considerably more complicated tance to all refugees. It would be But the notion of self-sufficiency has than the histories of personal suffer- unreasonable to expect that emer- much broader implications. In this ings. Many, if not most, of the gency assistance could be tailored series of Reports on Ugandan re- failures of programs can be traced to suit individual or even small fugees in the Sudan, I will be explor- directly to the lack of understanding group differences, yet the dif- ing this question of definitian and and information about their environ- ferences in skills, education, place the many obstacles that prevent re- ment, yet every refugee emergency of origin, political persuasion, fugee communities from achieving it. is also unique in some measure. religion, and time of leaving Uganda Moreover, the very fact of an all have direct consequences for the The program developed in the emergency means the demands program's progress toward creating planned settlements of Western placed upon personnel prevent self-sufficient agricultural com- Equatoria acknowledged the broad- them from acquiring the necessary munities. er implications of self-sufficiency. A information and background. This is highly innovative program, it en- Another important part of the con- only one of the many contradictions text in which an assistance program couraged maximum participation by implicit in refugee as~istance.~ the refugees in the administration is implemented are the conditions in of their settlements and at every One of the more alarming aspects of the host country and the history of stage of decision-making. It aimed this failure to have an ongoing relations between its population to help individuals gain a sense of source of information is the ap- with its immediate neighbors. In identification with a place and a parent inability of the responsible Africa, where national boundaries community of people, and to relate organizations to anticipate influxes imposed during the colonial period positively to the local population. of refugees. Procurement of food largely ignore linguistic or ethnic Refugees were encouraged to take and other relief supplies is always a patterns, local people see such poli- responsibility for developing an long process, due to the limitations tical demarcations only as occa- equitable and democratic communi- placed on UNHCR and other agen- sional impediments to free travel. ty. But this idealistic approach was cies by the donor^.^ Repeatedly, the Ethnic groups, even families, span confounded by the quality of social international community finds itself these borders and at times it is near- relations and individual behavior confronted by the painful and ly impossible to ascertain who is a within the settlements - the humiliating situation of being refugee. In Sudan, this problem is neglect of responsibility by profes- unable to provide even basic food especially acute because of the sionals, general distrust, blatant needs to a new influx of refugees. aftermath of its long civil war in the dishonesty, desertion of close fami- While it may not be possible to an- south, which ended in 1972. Uganda ly members (even children), reli- ticipate an emergency before its had hosted hundreds of thousands gious and ethnic antagonisms, outset, refugee influxes once under of Sudanese refugees during this arguments, and even occasional way tend to occur in response to war, not all of whom returned after violence. In order to make sense of natural or human-inspired events 1972. Many Ugandans chose to iden- this situation, it is necessary to ex- plore the events which led to the ex- odus and the experiences these people had undergone before their arrival in the settlements.

"Why did you wait so long to come?" was the first question one asked on seeing the appalling state of health of refugees registering for settle- ment from June to early September. Contrary to the opinion of some, these refugees had not simply rushed for handouts. The decision to leave Uganda had been delayed for as long as possible, and then most who crossed into Sudan attempted to care for themselves along the bor- ders. The decision to register at a UNHCR transit center for settle- ment had been taken as a last resort for survival: the social relations and behavior observed in the settle- ments can only by understood within that context. Near the end of the long journey to the settlement. tify with these "returnees" when they entered Sudan after 1979. Refugees are not granted asylum in a political, economic or social vacuum. The conditions obtaining in a host country immediately impinge upon an individual the moment he puts his foot across an international boundary. Not every country that hosts refugees is party to interna- tional agreements concerning their protection. In Thailand, which has not signed such agreements, the in- ternational community has faced numerous problems in responding to the refugee influx from Kampuchea and Laos, and such crises put UNHCR, with its first responsibility to protect refugees, in a difficult role vis-a-vis the host government. In Africa, Sudan has the longest history of granting asylum to refu- gees from its neighbor states. It is a signatory to international conven- tions and protocols, both those of the United Nations and of the Or- ganization of African Unity (OAU). While this places Sudan among those countries where international assistance programs have the legal standing they require to carry out their functions, it does not begin to solve the problems on the ground. Considerable lip service is paid to the "natural" hospitality of Africans toward their brothers when they ar- rive in a country as refugees. Some African professionals involved in refugee assistance argue that the belief that refugees are welcomed by their kith and kin has been the justification for the failure of the in- ternational community to respond adequately, evidenced by the great disparities in assistance given to African refugees compared with other^.^ While most would probably agree that social relations in Africa People dread moving to a settlement. Hoping to return to Uganda, they are humane compared to those in waited on the border until they nearly starved to death. Many were too Western society, many factors in- debilitated to be saved even after food was made available. fluence the way people receive a stranger. Today in Africa, neither low, it follows that the program and OAU declarations state that the ethnic ties nor shared language are should raise the level of the entire granting of asylum and assisting a guarantee that a refugee crossing community. This has produced refugees should not be interpreted a border will be sure of sustenance ongoing debate concerning whether as an unfriendly act, the reality is or safety. A multitude of factors in- programs should be confined to much more complicated. The war fluence his reception. This is cer- supplying emergency relief or take a has an immediate and profound im- tainly the case in southern Sudan. more developmental approach. pact upon relations between the host government and that of the The extreme poverty of southern The continuing war inside Uganda is country of origin and on those be- Sudan, with its lack of infrastruc- also part the 'Ontext tween refugees And civilians, local ture, is a significant aspect of the in which assistance is provided. aid context. Assistance programs Sudan hosts refugees from three authorities, central government of- ficials, and aid agency personnel. are intended to bring refugees up to countries which are still fiahtina the standard of the local population, civil wars (Ethiopia, Chad anduuga; Refugees are never a homogeneous but if this standard is unacceptably da). While the rhetoric of both UN population, neither in terms of in- dividual differences of background 25, 1971), and it continued to Yet even this first wave of refugees nor in terms of their motivation for deteriorate. Although the Western were not all "Amin's remnants," a seeking asylum. The continuing war media gave the impression that label still applied indiscriminately in Uganda profoundly conditions in- Uganda under Amin was total anar- to all Ugandans living in southern dividual behavior. Each new influx chy, other evidence shows that life Sudan. Many simply saw the writing of refugees differs from the one continued quite normally for the ma- on the wall, realizing that the situa- preceding it. Some refugees remain jority. The killings that occurred tion would now develop into a bloody sympathetic to the aims of the then were much more limited and tribal1('and religious war, and decid- fighters in the bush, others are total- "selective" than what has happened ed to move their families out of the ly apolitical and indifferent - or have in Uganda since 1979, when the Tan- country before conditions totally lost confidence in those who are zanian Liberation Army helped deteriorated. Others, despite their ostensibly fighting for their cause. depose Amin. Many townspeople, personal repudiation of Amin, were Whatever posture an individual has including professionals, whose lives too closely identified with his assumed, the war is the continual were endangered retreated to rural regime to risk remaining in Uganda. point of reference, determining deci- villages and began farming. Given For example, Lieutenant Colonel sions about moving out of Uganda, the agricultural potential of the Christopher Mawadri had been re- accepting settlement and assis- country and the remarkable will- cruited and trained during British tance, and deeply affecting relation- ingness of all classes of Ugandans rule. He helped plan the liberation ships in the settlements. to work with their hands, people war from inside Uganda, leading his Assistance programs are planned, were largely able to feed them- men in support of the Tanzanian financed, and usually implemented selves. The administrative structure forces. After Amin's supporters by international agencies and per- began dissolving as Amin replaced were defeated, he advised his sonnel. The role and involvement of trained civil servants with soldiers. troops to surrender their weapons the host country, as well as the Although there were those who and he left the country for Sudan. nature of relations between agency sought asylum under Amin's rule, Others who had already suffered and government personnel, vary the number of refugees was small during Obote's first period in office enormously. Part of the context in when compared to the situation to- opted for exile. Among these are which assistance programs are im- day. (Between 1972 and 1978, only many Buganda, including a close plemented includes the nature of 2,000 refugees from Uganda were relative of the Kabaka who had been these relationships and the many hosted in southern Sudan.) Ethnic ousted by Obote. "actors" which are involved. As one and religious rivalries increased Others were ex-soldiers from the Sudanese official put it: under Amin, but his time in office Sudanese civil war, many of whom did not mark their beginnings. All Host countries are alarmingly had joined the Ugandan Army under the problems Uganda inherited from Amin, like the estimated 4,200 dependent upon aid agencies. Yet the past (including the colonial past) there is rarely an opportunity for in- Anyanya fighters. indeed, Amin became exaggerated over the last used a number of the Sudanese (and digenous professionals to question decade. their approach or contribute to the Zairois), usually Kakwa-speakers general theoretical debate concern- Idi Amin belonged to the Kakwa- and Muslims, in his "reign of ing their role in refugee assistance. speaking community which stretch- terror." Lacking any personal links It would sometimes appear that es across the borders of Uganda, with local people that might have host governments, like refugees, are Zai're, and southern Sudan. Because served to restrain excessive vio- expected to receive assistance, he was also from the Muslim minori- lence, they were ideally suited to without question in either the ty in Uganda, most of whom live in protect Amin's position. As one suitability of the gift or the com- the West Nile region, he was iden- Ugandan explained, petence of the giver.R tified with that area. The first Amin recruited people who had refugees who fled in 1979 included Regardless of how well-planned and nothing by way of military training many Kakwa-speakers and Muslims, and he uplifted them from virtually idealistic an assistance program as well as supporters of the Amin might be, in the end it is always im- nobody to very high ranks in the ar- government who would have faced my, specifically to keep a watch on plemented by people, who bring to execution had they remained. They the situation their own background, his staff college-trained officers also included a group of mainly whom he feared would overthrow experience (or lack of it), values, Muslim tradesmen, the "Nubians," motivations, and expectations. him. Like Brigadier Taban Lopayi [a who illustrate the complexities of Sudanese], a former houseboy. defining the refugee. The Nubians Some of these people couldn't even have ancestral roots in the Sudan, hold a map the right way up. But The First Influx of Refugees into but fled their homeland in 1840 to they were a watch on these officers the Sudan settle in Uganda. While many of the whom he feared. It is not possible to date the begin- Nubians were able even as refugees ning of the social chaos indepen- to continue earning their living Among these foreigners Amin lifted dent Uganda has endured. Killings through trading, some of them ac- to high positions was the head of and detentions went on under "Obote cepted settlement. Not given to "State Research," a group that car- I," as people often refer to Milton agriculture, as a group they managed ried out some of the most brutal kill- Obote's first prime ministership to exaggerate their numbers suffi- ings. He later became Chief of Staff. (1962-1971). The economy was ciently to use the relief food provid- Another was made governor of Gulu, already in serious trouble when Idi ed to the settlements to re-establish Northern Province. Described as a Amin came to power (coup, January their trading activities. "real terror who killed many," he was nicknamed "drinker of blood." clared themselves to be Sudanese. were aware of this beforehand and Another was made the head of the Easily 60percent of the educated lot had fled. In the course of moving to military police. Yet another Su- have declared themselves as "return- Koboko via a small county on the danese was Permanent Secretary of ees," and they are picking up jobs in West Nile called Maracha, they left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Sudanese government. They are no hut, granary, chicken hut, un- before he became governor of well paid and they are fairly comfort- burned. All food crops from the Mbarara, Western Uganda. able. Doctors are mainly in Kenya. fields were either slashed or up- rooted. Such people returned home to Za'ire But the majority of other medical and Sudan in 1979. Many of them personnel fortunately got picked by Once the occupying army was in are now employed in Juba; one is UNHCR or SCCor GMT[Sudan Coun- control, people began to move back even working with a United National cil of Churches and German Medical to their homesteads. While condi- organization. Some at least con- Team - two organizations that tions could hardly be described as tinue to have links with the small employ refugees to work in the set- peaceful, the people had hopes they section of those fighting in the bush tlements]. would soon be left to resume their who have loyalties to Amin. They I asked about agriculturalists: lives without harrassment. Ariartre hope that a victory by the resistance Simon, another refugee and head of against the Uganda National Libera- As soon as I got work with GMT, I a settlement school, described local tion Army (UNLA) will allow them to pulled in as many of the members attitudes toward the Tanzanians: return to high positions in Uganda. who were on my staff [in Moyo Dis- trict] as possible. But other fields - . . . the Tanzanian Army, who were If there were a possible justification said to have come to liberate Ugan- for the continued bloodshed in north- teachers in post primary,school - the majority are declared returnees. dans, made life hard for the citizens. west Uganda, it would be the threat They looted us proper. They snatched posed by such people, but most of . . and are teaching in government schools somewhere. our watches, radios, television sets, them left Uganda in 1979. Yet, the bicycles, clothes, motorcars, lor- effectiveness of the resistance to He went on to give other examples, ries, machinery in factories . . . We UNLA has been seriously undermined like the former magistrate teaching did not care . . . after all, they would by the difficulties of distancing its in Juba: leave the country in three years' organization from those who still There are a number of people like time. Good enough they didn't kill. bear the taint of Amin. that. This is because on an indi- However, the war of attrition against Other Ugandan refugees entering vidual basis - if you had an the people of the area with which Sudan declared themselves to be honorable job so to say - if you Amin was identified had already "returnees" in order to get jobs. A had to compete with a Sudanese begun. Again, in Simon's words: former agricultural officer from you stood no chance of being em- Moyo, a graduate from Makerere ployed, as a refugee. The Sudanese While the Tanzanians were busy University, is now in charge of the begin with nationality certification, looting, the Luo group was busy kill- agricultural program in the settle- not qualifications - assessments ing those tribes who had worked ments in Western Equatoria, em- of age - and then qualifications toward the downfall of Dr. Obote's ployed by the aid agency contracted may come as a last thing and it may government. These immoral ac- by UNHCR to do this work. We dis- not be taken seriously. . . . In- tivities became encouraged when a cussed this problem in terms of its dividuals had to find a way to sup- military spokesman ordered the impact upon the settlements where port their families by getting em- disarmament of what they called there is a serious lack of trained per- ployed. To avoid the competition, "ldi Amin's soldiers" in July 1979. sonnel. As he explained, they declared themselves as return- Many returned their guns to the new ees. As there are Kakwa in Uganda government and went to fill in sur- I am a big embarrassment to some render forms. They expected to be of my friends mein Yei. They say to and in Sudan, or Madi in Sudan, so they said they were Sudanese. You returned to the army because they me, "My friend, why do you openly cannot prove the validity of anybody were trained for Uganda's national become a refugee? Why do you tell being Sudanese or Ugandan. They army. What happened in those days everybody?" I say, "but I am." What's are having to do this to survive. was very sad. Many soldiers who wrong with that? Does it change me? went to fill the surrender forms at The knowledge in me has no refugee The Situation in Uganda after 1979 their various army headquarters in status. A refugee is somebody who Although it is alleged that no shots their respective districts never has changed his home area because were fired in resistance to the Tan- returned to their homes. A good he has been chased by some situa- zanian Army in towns such as Moyo many never reached the prison tion. That is exactly what I am. or Arua, and that people welcomed yards. Their whereabouts are not He explained how many of these the liberation army, it is clear that known up to now. people had been his colleagues in any semblance of a "normal" socie- The failure to integrate soldiers who Uganda and they feared to asso- ty had been severly disturbed by the had served under Amin into the new ciate with him because it could put march northward. John Jack Avudria, government's military service, as their jobs in jeopardy. "If anyone a refugee living in a settlement, Zimbabwe has attempted following bothered to check their knowledge described the situation he observed: independence, has subsequently of Arabic, they would discover they The liberators moved north to been an important factor. As one were definitely not Sudanese." Koboko. Here they found nearly no Ugandan put it: I asked how many such profes- living soul, for this was the place for All soldiers became "AminJs sionally qualified people had de- more destruction. But the people soldiers." This is ironic. It is the irony of soldiers being owned by resistance near Kampala] had farms. Markets functioned only in people. The soldiers couldn't be threatened to UPC officials that he the morning hours: Amin's - after all, they had served would go into bush [i.e., to fight] . . . in the afternoon one would only the British Obote. because elections were not held on meet soldiers in the streets. During purely democratic principles. By Although there is evidence that a this time, the safest person was a this time, the army lost their role. concubine, the only neightbor [i.e., a good proportion of the men in cni- They took advantage of the situa- form surrendered their weapons and friend] of the Acholi or Langi. The tion to kill members of the opposi- death toll went very high so that received surrender certificates, it tion parties to weaken them. must have been a galling experience everyone nearly forgot Amin's law- for them to be told to "go and dig" After the elections, violence lessness. Death statistics reminded (that is, farm). However, many did escalated throughout Uganda, but one of Obote's statement that Arua just that. Nevertheless, according to especially in the northwestern or West Nile shall not be spared, but Avudria: region. Ariatre Simon describes the must be turned into a modern na- attack on Augurua market, just one tional park. l3 The former soldiers were searched of many such incidents which promp- for, and once spotted, they were har- It took only a few incidents in an ted the emergence of resistance area to produce general panic rassed, despite holding a surrender throughout the area: form. Their lives were not secure, so among the civilian population. Near many fled to the Sudan or Zaiie. This small market is located by the Gulu, for example, a soldier shot in- Thanks go to these sister countries bank of the river Anyau in Terrego to a crowd of people disembarking for giving those brothers human County, 18 miles from Arua town. I from the ferry. A woman died and asylum. Many civilians were mis- was an eye-witness of these hap- many more were wounded. In Moyo, taken to be soldiers and these either penings. At about 5:00 P.M., East a man who had retired from the ar- faced death or endless imprison- African Standard Time,12 when the my in 1975 and had been employed ment in Luzira. We must lament for market was at its highest capacity since that time as a driver of a those other brothers who fled to with about 2,000 people in the schoolbus, was taken off the bus at Kenya and were returned by the Ken- market square, it was surrounded by a roadblock and shot in front of all yan government to Uganda. Some of . . . Obote's wicked soldiers. All of a the children. these faced death, others were sudden, there was a flow of bullets All vestiges of order began breaking miserably tortured and their over the crowd from the western down. As people started spending whereabouts remains unknown. side of the market. These soldiers more time hiding in the bush, agri- were led by UPC youth. What a The tense situation was worsened culture was neglected. With proper- tragedy! Women threw a way babies ty unguarded, civilians joined the by the conduct of the elections, they nourished, fishmongers, black- which were postponed from Septem- soldiers in looting. Another refugee, smiths, beer-sellers and many other James Appe, describes the situation. ber 1980 to December. Despite the categories of sellers and buyers Commonwealth team's official ap- sped for their lives. Money, goods, The state of confusion proved to be proval of the elections as reason- bicycles, and the abandoned babies, beneficial to many people in many ably free and fair, it is well known were left to their misery. Alas! The ways. Ben, for example, had that Dr. Obote's party - the Uganda river had flooded - those who took gathered around himself a group of People's Congress (UPC) - manipu- the river direction jumped into the youths. They made it a point to eat lated the outcome of the elections river no matter whether they knew at least three chickens every day in before, during, and after the vote." how to swim or not. Very few of the dead of night. The poor birds Avudria described what happened in them were saved. A horrible sight it were abandoned, and the boys went and gathered these and ate them. Moyo District: was, hundreds floating drowned. A week before December 10, 1980, . . . One brother. . . was shot dead on . . . Little children were now being the Head of State, Mr. Paul Muwan- the spot with more than one hun- turned into gangs of dangerous peo- ga, gave an announcement that all dred on the ground. Those corpses ple. Some went and ambushed their aspiring candidates from all over remained there, unburied, for own brothers en route and looted and the country had to go to fill some weeks. . . raped them. Human conscience was again being destroyed in them. forms in Parliament [in Kampala]. As the Tanzanian Army withdrew in This plan was catastrophic for other late 1980 early 1981, they were Amid the chaos, people were rapidly parties, especially the Democratic replaced by the UNLA, comprised abandoning other social values, as Party [DP], The DP party candidates mainly of men of those ethnic evident in another incident James were ambushed and detained until groups which had suffered most Appe relates. Hiding in the bush the day for this exercise expired. . . under Amin. These soldiers were ap- with his family, he walked "just a In Moyo District the DP candidates parently determined to avenge their few smokes away" to visit his friend were arrested and detained at Moyo people's sufferings and it is said Ben, who had just erected a rough Police Station. Similarly, in West that they warned the population of shelter for himself and his mother. Nile, the candidates were arrested their intentions by inscribing on When he arrived, Ben was eating a and detained in Mondo barracks. walls and trees such slogans as piece of pumpkin that his mother This operation was carried out "The Lugbara killed our people, now had rescued from their homestead everywhere in the up-country dis- it must be our turn to kill them." some distance away. They talked tricts. This dirty activity teased [i.e., Civilians took to sleeping away from about where next they would hide. provoked] many party leaders. Mr. Y. their homesteads and returning dur- At this stage, Ben's mother entered Museveni [today a leader of armed ing the morning hours to tend their the small cleared place where we sat. She greeted me, but her voice fighting, throughout most of 1981 Uganda, but with heavy losses. This sounded distant. She quickly the region was more or less under internal fighting weakened the an- covered up the cooked pumpkin in local control. A skeletal civilian ad- tigovernment forces, however, and the cooking pot, grunted and sat ministrative structure began func- allowed UNLA gradually to take con- down, looking away from us. I knew tioning and some assistance was trol. In Arua, some degree of nor- her thoughts and I was angry. I looked coming from outside the country. mality had returned by July 1982 and at Ben. He looked down, and I knew While indiscipline characterized the some refugees were returning to the he was angry or ashamed at his conduct of almost all who carried a district from Za'ire. OXFAM helped mother's action. . . . Here was gun, the antigovernment fighters reopen schools, the Maracha hospi- Ben's mother, a woman who could were, on the whole, better trained tal, and provided agricultural im- call, and who indeed did call me her than Obote's troops, most of them plements to residents of the area. "son" on many occasions, suddenly being career soldiers whose recruit- Elly Hassan settled down as a transformed into something quite ment pre-dated Amin's rise to refugee near the border town of different. Ben's mother was kind power, and they were skilled guer- Kaya in the Sudan. There he concen- and loving. She had always asked rilla fighters. People who had been trated on his coffee-smuggling ac- me to stay for every meal I found her displaced by the trouble following tivities with the complicity of locals preparing. But now she had to cover the withdrawal of the Tanzanian on both sides of the Za'ire-Sudan up the cooked pumpkin, for the troops gradually began returning to border. As previously noted, how- same person she had so adored. I their homes. ever, he was arrested by Sudanese did not blame her. The forces of authorities in September 1982, nature and activities of men could Most of the antigovernment fighting was organized under the Uganda,Na- ostensibly on the grounds that arms thus change chairity into hatred and were found in his compound. love into war. Human conscience is tional Rescue Front (UNRF). Moses destroyed in them. The fibers of Ali, a Minister of Finance under Among the exiled UNRF fighters, society are broken and men were set Amin, was temporarily designated as some favored formation of a govern- aloof - only their individuals re- leader. He had funds in Europe ment in exile which would include main to and for them. Ben's mother which, as one refugee put it, he had civilians; others wanted it to consist had previously had commitment to a been able to "divert" and, being only of military leaders. Since larger community and lived and Muslim, had connections in Libya. Moses Ali was able to supply arms shared things with them. Now, when He had also satisfied those fighting and amunition, UNRF was loath to her life was threatened, she had as in the bush that he had no desire to oust him, although his officers in her community only herself and bring back an Amin government. the bush were reportedly corrupt. As one man who had commanded anti- Ben, her son. Next, when we have to The initial success against Obote's run and hide, when gunshots scatter forces encouraged some of Amin's UNLA fighters near Obongi explained us, she will only have herself to officers who were living (comfort- at an interview in Nairobi, any of- think about - not even Ben. How ably) in Za'ire and the Sudan to ficer who had money or cigarettes could we then talk or even dream of return to Uganda. One was Colonel could bribe the men of another of- national unity when there is not Elly Hassan, who had been living in ficer to turn against him. even family unity among us? Has Za'ire and arrived on the scene after The soldiers of UNLA had problems charity ever started abroad, not at the taking of Arua. Announcing that of a similar nature. First, it was home? he had direct contact with Amin, nearly impossible for the govern- who would supply arms, he demand- ment in Kampala to supply the Resistance to Obote and the UNLA ed recognition as the highest rank- troops in northwest Uganda, and the The UNLA soldiers were not the only ing officer. He called his movement guerrillas were frequently success- source of misery for the civilians dur- the Ugandan Army (UA) and desig- ful attacking convoys carrying food ing this tense period. There were nated Koboko as the central com- and arms. Standing by the UNHCR still armed soldiers who had refused mand headquarters. His real in- reception office at the Kaya border, to surrender and took instead to loot- terest, however, soon became ap- one could watch UNLA soldiers dig- ing and killing. One refugee - ex-Air parent. He and his men comman- ging cassava and there were inci- Force - told me that although he deered transport to haul television dents when these men sold their had surrendered and begun farming, sets and other valuables out of the arms to Sudanese in exchange for he had been forced to take up arms country, even neglecting to secure food. A number of UNLA men defect- again to protect civilians from these the heavy arms and ammunition ed to UNRF. Second, ethnic and marauders. which had been captured at the religious tensions sometimes led to Early 1981 saw the spontaneous Arua barracks. Introducing further violence in the barracks and a discipline.15 emergence of fighting all over the division into the loosely organized general lack of area. Peasants joined ex-soldiers at- antigovernment forces, he announced In September, the UNRF held a tempting to protect people and pro- that Koboko would belong only to meeting inside Uganda in an at- perty from the undisciplined guns of Kakwa-speakers. Instead of fight- tempt to improve their fighting the UNLA and others. Initially im- ing, he and about 60 of his men force. Officers who were "causing pressive successes were scored smuggled coffee out of Uganda to confusion" were discredited and against the government troops in Za'ire and the Sudan, becoming Moses Ali's leadership was repu- many parts of the West Nile - even notorious for their atrocities against diated. Efforts were made to con- Arua and the military barracks near- the civilian population. tact Major C. Mondo, another officer by were taken. Although there was Eventually UNRF coalesced and with a long career in the military no overall organization to this managed to push the UA out of who had earned the respect of the troops. It was hoped that Mondo, a Christian, would agree to take com- mand of UNRF forces. In November, at another meeting in Chei, Arua District, UNRF approved a civilian political wing. These efforts to change the character of the UNRF organization were futile, however, given the lack of new supplies of ammunition. In December when the Obote government made its big push northward toward the Sudan border, it met little resistance and thousands more refugees fled into the Sudan.

Civilian Movements Throughout 1981 there had been no peace for the civilians. The fortune of opposing armies changed from day to day, and civilians moved in response. While some moved into UNHCR settlements, most waited on the border or hid in the bush in Uganda, attempting to keep within Fish being transported by bicycle from the river Kochi inside Uganda. The reach of food supplies. By the begin- young man is holding the tax receipt that guaranteed his safety through ning of 1982, thousands of refugee guerrilla-held territory families had established com- pounds along the entire length of UNLA uniforms and this commander the border. Because there were few released, usually a relative had to pay several head of cattle; in the Sudanese living there, they were reported that after a long battle in able to get permission from local absence of such resources some March 1982 they found - to their horror - that they had killed their chiefs to cultivate the land. Staying captured civilians were killed. One own people. on the border not only allowed the young woman returning to Uganda refugees to maintain their indepen- from the Za'ire border escaped death Dr. Umar, the only medical doctor dence, they were also able to keep only because a guerrilla commander working inside the guerrilla- in touch with events inside Uganda. decided to take her as his mistress. controlled area, wrote a report on A former headmistress of a secon- Many of the anti-Obote fighters kept conditions inside Uganda. His their families in the relative safety dary school and a highly intelligent report is a graphic description of the of this area and there was a rotation and principled woman, she agreed inordinate sufferings of the people system which allowed them to in order to save her life. She made who remained inside. After enumer- spend some time in the Sudan help- her long journey to the settlement ating the population still trapped ing with the farming. Farming was pregnant. there and describing the appalling extensive on both sides of the Elly Hassan's men sat up road- health conditions, he notes, border at those points where the blocks and looted civilians who resistance was still in control. tried to pass into Zai're. They even Death is so common it is no longer a bereavement. Life has lost its mean- The lack of cohesion and order circulated in the town of Kaya, col- lecting taxes from refugees in ing. The dead are not even given among anti-Obote forces, together their due respect. Many are un- with the general chaos and frequent Sudan territory! Such lack of dis- cipline among the guerrillas led buried, especially those who perish guerrilla attacks on civilians, from the barrel[of a gun]. Those who gradually led to a loss of confidence more people to opt for the settle- ments. get buried are wrapped in banana in the UNRF. Mounting shortages of leaves, for burial cloth has become food affected soldiers from both Within Uganda the main victims of a treasure hard to come by. sides, as well as the civilians who violence were also civilians. The kept risking their lives by returning commander of an anti-Obote force Although many thousands to Uganda for food. Civilians were in the Abongi region says he lost on- registered for UNHCR settlement required to pay a modest "tax" to ly three men during 1982 but the during the March and April "emer- guerrilla leaders or the local ad- loss of civilian lives was staggering. gency," others who moved out of ministrators whom they had ap- UNLA soldiers, unable to confront Uganda after January remained in pointed. In return, a permit was the guerrillas in the bush, challenged the already overcrowded border issued which guaranteed safe move- every civilian who moved outside area. There was space for houses, ment in and out of Uganda. Civilians the homestead or village. Those but it was impossible for the new ar- apprehended by anti-Obote fighters, captured were forced to reveal the rivals to obtain cultivable land. They if without such a permit, were whereabouts of others. At one point, survived by selling their posses- suspected of being UNLA colla- many of these captured civilians - sions, particularly any cattle they borators. While they could be including women - were dressed in had escaped with, and by working for others - both Sudanese and and were almost carried away by the could not risk to go back to collect Ugandan - for abysmally low fast-flowing water. It was only good the food items they left behind." But wages. Many starved to death. luck that two other men plus me still he found people refusing to Why did they not move to the set- were at hand to rescue them. Now come to the settlements. The mili- tary situation in mid-July was also a tlements? Rumors spread quickly the greatest risk here lies when rain factor, as the report continued: "The among a refugee population, and falls heavily on the upper areas of refugees feel protected within those some of these seem to have been the river, especially in the period areas for there is a moderately deliberately planted by the guerrilla from late July to November. Hence it strong guerrilla seal from the UNLA fighters who depended upon the civil- will be difficult too, for those infiltration." But this "seal" was only ians for their food supplies. Many refugees to move. effective at certain points along the refugees believed that to register in In July he estimated that only a third a transit center was to be subjected of the self-settled refugees along border. He concluded his report with an appeal to UNHCR to send some- to forcible repatriation on UNHCR the border had been there since one to convince the suffering lorries. (Indeed, much earlier, some 1980-81; the remainder are "all the civilians that life would be more Ugandan refugees forcibly repatri- newly fled June 1982 arrivals." tolerable in the settlements. ated from Kenya were executed on The old settlers have opened areas Despite the great suffering Ugan- their return.) There were rumors that for cultivation. They mostly grow people starved to death in the set- food crops such as cassava, maize, dans endured on the border as the tlements and that there were wild sorghum, millet, peas, beans, ground- area became overcrowded and food animals and epidemics.16 They nuts, etc. and are nearly ready to ran short, I was told it was not UNHCR policy to encoupage faster feared the loss of their property to harvest. Some of the refugees who movement to the settlements, and local Sudanese en route, and they live across the river Kaya [inside there is indeed some justification had heard they would be forced to Uganda] at Ajio have already done pay poll tax. Many stayed on the the harvesting. . . . They sleep in for this policy. First, the means of assistance were already in short border simply because they still poorly constructed shelters and lie held the vain hope that things would on skins to sleep on bare ground or supply. Second, experience else- where had demonstrated that when return to normal in Uganda, others on locally made beds. There are aid is available it sometimes has the because they had relatives fighting many cases of poor health. Malnu- effect of attracting people who in the bush. trition, where most children appear might otherwise have remained In May, the UNHCR assistance pro- in withering condition or have fold- within their own country. In other gram found itself desperately short ed skin with thin legs, [was common]. situations, such as in Eritrea and of supplies and totally unprepared He went on to describe the many Tigray, the opposing forces have for the growing numer of refugees.17 cases of illness he saw and noted persuaded some voluntary agencies Constant monitoring of the military that starvation was "rising high, to supply assistance to the civilians activities inside Uganda and check- especially amongst the newly fled inside the country in order to pre- ing on conditions along the border refugees. This is so because some vent the exodus of refugees. could have provided the information came from distances so great they needed to anticipate and prepare for the crisis but lack of staff in the field prevented this activity.lH I made many trips to the border to interview self-settled civilians, many of them the families of resistance fighters.lg I found that refugees were the best people to collect this infor- mation and requested some to write reports. Some were ex-fighters who had abandoned the struggle but kept in close touch with events in- side Uganda. Traders too moved in and out, mostly selling fish. One young man, who travelled along the border and inside Uganda in July, reported on conditions as follows:

The Kaya river divides Keria and Ajio, the place where a few refugees have taken up refuge. And they go back across the river to bring foodstuffs to eat and at times bring them to Kala [a refugee settlement] market. I witnessed two incidents where a woman with a baby on her Just five miles from Kaya where Obote's troops are in control, women can back and another small girl who cross back and forth across the border for food because guerrillas occupy tried to cross, of course, on foot, the area. body having four departments, all under a national council for aid for refugees. All ministries whose work was affected by refugees would be represented on it and the council would have a degree of freedom which would allow it to negotiate directly on various matters. For ex- ample, in times of financial restric- tions, it would be able to appeal directly to international donors for support. The COR remains under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but in 1982 a beginning was made toward strength- ening it through the passing of The Refugee Fund Bill (1980). The Min- ister for Internal Affairs, not the Commission for Refugees, is execu- tive of the Fund. This legislation re- quires, among other things, the pooling of all funds, both those ob- tained internationally and from the This man waited too long to make the long journey to the settlement. His local budget for refugees. This will child died of malnutrition the niaht the lorry brought his family to Yei. Only a allow the COR to recruit its own few months later his wife died as well. staff without reference to other ministries. It also allows the COR to negotiate directly with government From the beginning, the COR rela- The Bureaucratic Context departments over certain matters - tionship with the Ministry of the In- An important part of refugee such as with regional offices over assistance is the bureaucratic terior was ad hoe, with no institu- land allocation for refugee settle- tionalized guidelines or separate structure through which it is ments, and with the Treasury over organized. This series of Reports budget. As its offices expanded exchange rates allowed on funds can touch on only some aspects of throughout eastern Sudan, recruit- given for refugee assistance, and the many problems that ultimately ment was most usually done through duty on the import of relief items.21 affect refugees. Many are character- secondment of local government istic of all bureaucracies, but they staff. There were many gaps in its The financial burden of caring for are intensified in the Sudan be- authority. For example, the Foreign refugees is enormous and countries cause of the country's extreme Office would, at times, negotiate that host them are forced to appeal poverty and its dependence upon directly with embassies, the OAU, for outside assistance. It should be outside aid.20 the Permanent Mission in Geneva, noted, however, that the greatest or the Executive Council of UNHCR. financial burden is carried by the The Commissioner of Refugees host government. For example, the (COR) office was established in This uncertain status affected the COR's ability to carry out its man- UNHCR budget for refugees in the 1967 as part of the central govern- Sudan supports only a fraction of ment in Khartoum under the authori- date or to enforce Sudanese law the actual numbers in the country. ty of the Ministry of the Interior. concerning refugee rights, to say nothing of weakening its position In 1979, the UNHCR program served Over the years, in response to dif- 60,000 out of a total of 441,000 ferent influxes of refugees in dif- vis-a-vis the international aid com- munity. refugees. Most refugees manage to ferent parts of the country, the COR live independently of assistance pro- set up provincial offices which were In 1979, when Nimeiry made his first grams, although this hardly means directly responsible to the central moves toward the devolution of that they are self-supporting, or con- office. The central office, on the power to the regions, he reorganized tribute to the economy. On the con- other hand, was to channel informa- the ministries. The Ministry of the trary, these self-settled refugees are tion regarding the rules of granting Interior was dissolved and some of an enormous burden for the fragile asylum to other relevant ministries its different functions were attached economy of the Sudan, affecting the and departments, such as the secur- to regional governments. In the pro- price of commodities and rents, and cess, the COR remained in limbo for ity and the police forces. Second, it straining social services to the had the mandate to plan for refugee six months, after which it was at- breaking point, not to mention the tached to the Council of Ministers. assistance and to coordinate the ac- effects of these pressures on rela- tivities of international agencies. A further reorganization re-esta- tions between refugees and the host blished the Ministry of Internal Af- Most important, it was the imple- population. menting body for all assistance fairs and, in 1980, the COR was channelled into the country either again made a part of it. Simul- Although the COR office is formally directly through unilateral aid ear- taneously, there was discussion of responsible for the implementation marked for refugees or UNHCR- a proposal that COR should be of all assistance programs, this is financed programs. established as a semi-autonomous complicated in practice by the presence of international assis- as the COR office was only too well Another dimension of the bureau- tance agencies. While it may be aware, some places lacked any medi- cratic context is particular to cir- argued that the Sudan lacks the cal facilities whatsoever. Such ex- cumstances in southern Sudan. The trained manpower to carry out a pro- amples of duplication and lack of 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, which gram for refugees, even if the funds coordination abound. There are saw an end to the Sudanese civil were made directly available to the even examples of voluntary agen- war, included the granting of semi- COR, one of the prices of receiving cies which have no official agree- autonomy to the southern region. outside aid is the presence of aid ments with the Sudan government. Until 1979, refugee assistance pro- personnel to represent the interests The COR is often viewed by volun- grams were directed from the COR of the donors. Agencies involve tary agencies as simply an obstacle office in Khartoum. When the influx themselves in refugee assistance to get round or to manipulate in from Uganda began, the regional for a variety of motives and their order that they may get on with the government insisted that it be given ideas of appropriate assistance do work they have elected to fund in authority for dealing with the not always correspond with those of the country. refugees. A Project Management of- the COR. In terms of the formal fice was eventually established in bureaucratic structure of the COR, Relationships between agencies are Juba, with authority over planning UNHCR is simply a donor and its of- similarly marred by competition. and implementation, but respon- fices in Khartoum are there to One agency was contracted by sibility for coordination between monitor the expenditure of pro- UNHCR to build schools and clinics central government ministries and grams initiated by the COR and ap- in settlements in a certain area. international agencies was given to proved by UNHCR. The COR is for- Another agency, contracted to staff the COR in Khartoum. While the mally responsible for all the plan- all the clinics, immediately began southern regional government was ning: voluntary agencies (volags) are building another clinic started in the granted the right to appoint the Pro- the implementing "partners." (There same place. It then contacted ject Manager, the appointment had are some 20 such voluntary imple- UNHCR in Chartoum - not the COR to be approved by the Ministry of In- menting agencies in the Sudan.) If - to complain about the way the ternal Affairs, although the ap- this kind of structure were followed first agency was "duplicating" its pointee was then directly responsi- by cooperation, coordination, and work. The first agency decided to ble to regional ministries. Thus, pro- consultation among all parties in- bow out of the conflict, since this posals for aid and plans for assis- volved, refugee assistance might was only one manoeuvre by the latter tance programs were to be processed proceed effectively. Unfortunately, to push it out of the work entirely. through the COR office at the the relations between the COR and Over the years, relationships be- center, but the administration and the international organizations tween agency personnel and the implementation was to be done at reflect all the evils of the dependent COR have become increasingly the regional level. This meant that, relationships that exist in poor strained, with many COR officials unlike the project management in countries forced to rely on outside expressing bitter resentment of, as eastern Sudan -which is directly charity. they put it, the agencies' usurpation responsible to the COR office in For a very long time, the COR office of Sudanese sovereignty. From time Khartoum - in the south, another in Khartoum was manned by only to time, with staff changes on both bureaucratic level was established. three people, with little supporting sides, there have been attempts to The roles and relationships of the secretarial or clerical staff. As a resolve misunderstandings. How- COR in Khartoum with Juba are fur- result, most planning was done by ever, even the best-intentioned in- ther complicated by the sheer dis- outsiders with COR gradually reduced dividuals cannot resolve the con- tance of the southern region from to, some say, a "rubber-stamp." tradictions implicit in relationships Khartoum, the lack of communica- Although volags are required to sign between indigenous professionals tion and transportation facilities an agreement with the COR upon and foreign agency personnel. Chief between them, as well as by the pro- entering the country, after a time, among the problems is salary: in- blems of the constitutional status of some of them were able to expand digenous professions are usually as the south. their programs, often through funds qualified educationally as the made available through UNHCR, foreign personnel and in most cases In 1980, serious conflicts arose with little or no reference back to have considerably more experience, which affected relationships be- the COR. As a result, there are many yet foreign agency personnel earn tween the COR and the office in examples of wasteful duplication in wages based upon European or Juba as well as between it and inter- some areas of refugee assistance. American standards and further national agencies involved in refu- For example, an indigenous organ- "topped up" as a result of their work- gee assistance. An incident occur- ization which received funds from ing in what are deemed hardship red which required the dismissal of abroad had a small program for the zones. Even if Sudanese working in the Project Manager. The Deputy handicapped in one settlement. It refugee assistance enjoy better Commissioner for Refugees in Khar- decided to expand into medical working conditions or higher toum was sent to Juba as Acting work and received funds from salaries then they would have in the Project Manager until the regional UNHCR to build a clinic where there ministries from which they were government had put forward a can- was already a Sudanese dressing seconded, they are keenly aware didate to replace him. Then the station. The latter was inadequately that these improvements are a selection process was delayed supplied and staffed, but it would measure of their dependence on the because of events totally unrelated surely have been better to improve it international donors who support to refugees. Elections which were rather than duplicate it. Moreover, the COR budget. scheduled first for 1981 were rescheduled for 1982. When a can- didate for Project Manager was finally approved, he was unable to take up the appointment because of ill-health. In the meantime, the delay as well as the specific events that had led to the dismissal of the first Project Manager had an adverse effect upon the relationship of the office in Juba with the voluntary agencies there. In the south there are only three volun- tary organizations contractually in- volved in refugee work, all active in the Sudan since the close of the civil war. They came to help with reconstruction of the region and then got involved in different aspects of development work. They were asked to extend their services to refugee assistance, some of the funds coming from UNHCR. With the ever-increasing influx of refugees from Uganda, UNHCR ex- panded its offices in Juba and Sudan government officials looking through binoculars at Moyo, a Ugandan assumed responsibility for im- town where several hundred civilians are held virtual prisoners in a small plementing the entire program, even area. Near this point only a few days earlier, Obote's troops had looted and food distribution, in partnership injured several refugees who were living here on the Sudan border. with the volags. Although the two Sudanese assistant Project Mana- distance of 97 miles. The soldiers cles, sewing machines, and roofing gers continued working as counter- are ill-equipped and lack adequate materials which they had brought parts to UNHCR staff, the overall in- means of transport and communica- with them from Uganda. Food prices volvement of the Juba regional of- tion. This means the border is dropped considerably because of in- fice was dramatically reduced. permeable not only for refugee creased production. crossings but for military activity as As UNLA pressed the fight to the The Borders well. The repeated incursions by the Sudan, Uganda, and Zai're are no borders, the local government's first UNLA noted earlier put the Khar- reaction was to ask UNHCR to strangers to the problems of refu- toum government in a very delicate speed up the movement of refugees gees. All three countries have pro- situation vis-a-vis the Ugandan duced and hosted refugees for their registering at transit centers near government, with which it is official- the border. Then, in September 1982, neighbors. While granting asylum ly on friendly terms. has been deemed a humanitarian local authorities notified the self- and not an unfriendly political act, From the point of view of some settled refugees that they must quit the presence of refugee populations refugees, that the Sudan govern- the entire area. Many locals inter- from a country embroiled in civil war ment did not take steps to defend preted the order to mean that the has serious political implications the border (and the lives of the Ugandans, even those who had for relations between neighboring refugees who were living along it) been there for some time, must states. Moreover, as the previous was evidence of complicity with abandon their crops and personal section indicated, the internal Kampala. (There is no evidence to property as well. It is too easy to politics of the host country are suggest this is true.) In fact, many blame the Sudanese officials who another variable affecting the treat- Ugandans as well as Sudanese de- are respcmsible for the security of ment of refugees. Struggles for rived advantages from maintaining the area. The problems reflect the power among regionally based stable borders. Some guerrilla poverty of the region and the ex- elites continue and refugee issues fighters kept their families in the treme fragility of institutions to easily become their battleground relative safety of the border area, cope in refugee-affected areas. too. Thus insecurity of refugees is just inside Sudan, and those who Some two-thirds of the refugees increased as central government were sympathetic to their cause were registering at transit centers for set- policy shifts from time to time in a source of food and other support. tlement from September to Novem- response to internal and to interna- Local Sudanese too had interests in ber were thus people who had opted tional pressure. encouraging refugees to remain on to remain on the border. Unlike the The border between Uganda and the the border. They had brought rela- new arrivals from inside Uganda, Sudan is ill-defined and ill- tive prosperity to an area which, un- they were not suffering extreme protected. Fewer than 200 military til then, had been largely unpopu- levels of malnutrition and illness. personnel are assigned to the lated. The refugees farmed, paid This change in the composition of Sudan border posts between the local taxes, and sold, usually at a the new influx had important conse- Nile River and the Zai're border, a reduced price, items such as bicy- quences for the assistance pro- local production is hindered by the particular ecology of at least Western Equat~ria.~~ Such modern infrastructural development as there was disap- peared during the protracted civil war and little has been replaced or repaired. Most imported items come by road, directly from Kenya or through Uganda, via Nimule. The air service between Khartoum and Juba, the capital of the southern region, is irregular, and transport by river across the Sudd is limited. There are several small charter flights connect- ingthe south of Sudan with Nairobi, but few connect it with Khartoum. Fuel is rarely available in sufficient quantity for even official use, and for the private consumer there is on- ly the black market. A five-gallon jer- rycan of diesel fuel costs fS50.00 (ESI = US$.76). The fuel comes by road from Mombasa. Foreign ex- change problems, particularly since Refugees who settled near the border have brought considerable prosperity the Augsut 1 disturbances, have to an area which formerly was sparsely populated. caused Kenya to reduce its imports and reduce its refinery capacity. As I gram. The alarming condition of the very far away) in the offices of the left Sudan in October 1982 it was refugees who had been arriving in central government. It is an area rumored that Kenya would no longer the settlements throughout the ripe for manipulation and corrup- allow the export of fuel. preceding months had prompted an tion. Even if local officials on one The poverty of the south which, it increase in the numbers of medical side of a border wish to impose could be argued, is not much greater workers from abroad. Normal delays customs or immigration procedures, than that of any part of the Sudan, in making such arrangements meant at points like "Mile 38" the mid- not only complicates the delivery of that they had arrived too late to have dleman merely has to cross a road assistance to refugees on the part much effect upon the condition of to conduct his business in Za'ire! of the international organizations these people and some felt they had Since control of this international but makes the tasks of the local of- responded to a false alarm. In one trade is not seen as benefitting local ficials nearly impossible. Although case, an agency had begun arrange- people, there is little incentive to UNHCR's chief mandate is the pro- ments to withdraw its emergency regulate it. Officials responsible for tection of refugees, in the end it can medical team. Fortunately, however, collecting duties may even recog- only monitor. It must depend on the this arrangement was also delayed nize the advantages locally of the capacity of local officials to deal as the predicted escalation in free movement of goods. One refu- with security matters. Their ability numbers from inside Uganda began gee claimed that the medicines for to do so is, in turn, rendered nearly again in December. sale in Kaya, the border town just in- impossible by lack of resources. An The inherited boundaries that divide side the Sudan, came from the example from one settlement illu- ethnically related communities also hospitals in Uganda which had been strates the problems. A Sudanese intersect historical trading routes looted by the UNLA. Some of the policeman ran amok in a settlement. which have continued more or less movement of goods included arms He shot and killed a Sudanese, uninterrupted, but this movement of and ammunition. There were even wounding others. He then terrorized goods is now defined as "smuggl- reports that the UNLA was selling the settlement by throwing a hand ing," Differences in the value of the arms to the Sudanese. grenade into the house of a refugee, three currencies, (Sudanese, Zairoise who barely escaped with her life. and Ugandan), availability of goods, The Infrastructure Finally, he set on fire several and internal pricing policies deter- The extreme poverty of southern houses - including his own - before mined the direction of the flow of Sudan has a considerable influence walking down the road to Kajo-Kaji gold, coffee, ivory, skins, and other on the way refugees are received by to turn himself in at the police sta- commodities, including manufac- the local population and the quality tion. When the message reached the tured items. This trade (or traffic - (and quantity) of assistance. The District Headquarters in Yei, the depending on one's point of view) is area provides ample argument for a Chief of Police was forced to go to affected by the interests of the mid- regional developmental approach to the UNHCR office to ask for trans- dlemen who control it and the local refugee assistance. It is landlocked, port so as to investigate the pro- officials who are responsible for en- and suffers from shortages of every- blem; his own office had neither fuel forcing the laws which originate (so thing not locally produced. Even nor a vehicle. In another case, a Sudanese was hand out blankets to the locals, but Everyone who conducts research found robbed and murdered near a supplies were so short none could relies on the knowledge and coop- refugee settlement. The local peo- be diverted. There was a continuing eration of others. I thank the many ple panicked, certain that the cu!prit debate between agencies concern- who assisted me in so many ways, was a Ugandan. They armed them- ing the relative standards of health and so generously. These include selves with bows and arrows and of refugees and local people. Clinics agency personnel in Geneva, Khar- laid ambushes in the tall grass on (and schools) established in or near toum, Juba, and Yei, but especially the road leading to the settlement. settlements were required to serve Sjoerd van Schooneveld and Ber- Refugees were unable to move, even local people as well as refugees. hane Waldemichael. My deepest to their own farms. Only a local of- However, the already established in- sense of obligation and gratitude is ficial with recognized authority and stitutions, such as hospitals and to the Sudanese officials who of- appropriate linguistic skills could schools, which were often over- fered hospitality in their country and handle this delicate situation. burdened by refugees, were hardly provided information unselfishly. Again, without the loan of a vehicle assisted and tensions between the Sudanese assume the largest res- to make necessary trips to the area, Sudanese and refugees were exacer- ponsiblity for hosting refugees, and they would not have been able to bated as a result. often receive the least thanks for it. The people I want to mention par- maintain the security or protect the Although this Report has high- ticularly are lrnest Jugbara, the Ac- refugees. lighted some aspects of the poli- ting Project Manager for the south- All government offices suffer from tical, economic, and social context ern region; Nehemiah lyenga, the such problems. The Inspector of affecting refugee assistance in Project Manager for Western Equa- Health for the district was unable to southern Sudan, those familiar with toria; and all the local officials in answer an emergency call in August this or similar situations will ap- Yei, Kaya and Kajo-Kaji. to stem an epidemic of a fatal type preciate that the problems have of dysentery. When UNHCR began necessarily been oversimplified. It My greatest intellectual debt is to to coordinate its work in the set- would be impossible to portray in a Mr. Ahmed Karadawi, Assistant tlements with the local education written account the day-to-day dif- Commissioner for Refugees. My office, it was again necessary to ficulties confronting refugees, first conversation with him opened provide the transportation for the of- government officials, and agency my eyes to a wide number of impor- ficials to move from settlement to personnel. Programs and budgets tant theoretical issues, and he has settlement to vet the qualifications are always impersonal, but workers continued to share his insights of the refugee teachers. This in the field must deal with people unselfishly. I am especially ap- dependence of officials on the and respond to situations as in- preciative of his assistance in relative affluence of the interna- dividuals. Part Two in this series will writing Part II: The Bureaucratic tional agencies in the region (and it describe the program of refugee Context of Refugee Assistance. was indeed relative), hardly served assistance in Western Equatoria as I first began to learn about the pro- to improve relationships between it attempted to implement all the blems of refugees in Sudan from Dr. their respective personnel. new fashions in refugee policy, in- Abd Al-Rahman Ahmed Al-Bashir, cluding participation, self- the former Commissioner for Providing assistance to refugees sufficiency, and integration. also affected their relationships Refugees, as he was writing his with the local people. I have already thesis in Oxford. He encouraged me noted that UNHCR's objective is to to go to the Sudan and introduced bring the standard of the refugees me to his colleagues working up to that of the local population, throughout the country. My know- but if that standard is unacceptably Acknowledgement ledge of the background to the pro- blems comes from their theses and low, to raise it as well. The arrival of I am indebted to all the refugees lorries laden down with supplies for other writings. I thank them. who provided information. The con- refugees served to remind Sudanese ditions under which we worked were My first visits to refugee set- locals of their own extreme poverty. confused and confusing, so I sought tlements were in the company of the Refugees often reported that local confirmation of their reports from present Commissioner, His Excel- people would say angrily that when unrelated sources. For example, lency Abdel el Magid Beshir (and they had been in Uganda as refu- one refugee slipped out of the Karen Abu Zayd). I learned a great gees they had received no assis- Sudan, through Za'ire, to Arua and deal from this first experience. I tance from UNHCR nor anyone else. returned. He was interviewed and an thank His Excellency for allowing In southern Sudan it was often the account of his experience was me to work under the authority of case that even supplying such com- recorded by another refugee. The his office and for protecting, not on- modities as blankets caused pro- accuracy of his observations on ly refugees, but also me during my blems, as the local people in some conditions in Arua was confirmed work. His long experience as an am- places had none. They used fires in by reports made by OXFAM officials bassador for the Sudan government, their houses to keep warm at night, who visited Arua at about the same together with his very remarkable a recourse unavailable to the time. personal skills, helped him keep in refugees who were, initially, living in balance a situation which could tents. In one settlement, refugees easily get out of control. often implored UNHCR officials to NOTES

1. Sudan, officially on good terms with 3. The Sudanese authorities, by One very serious consequence of this Uganda, is understandably reluctant to facilitating my access to the set- lack of in-depth studies is the absence come into direct conflict with Obote's tlements and allowing me to conduct my of data upon which to plan assistance troops. In Yei local officials frequently research, provided me with an oppor- programs. As it is, most decisions are reported incursions by UNLA forces. In tunity available to few independent based upon individual impressions and August 1982, Uganda radio denied the researchers, for which I am extremely serious disputes erupt if "impressions" reports and accused the Sudan govern- grateful. Ordinarily, research concerning diverge. Sometimes surveys are con- ment of using UNHCR funds to rehabil- refugees -whatever its focus - is con- ducted in an attempt to gain more itate its own poor, alleging also that the ducted by agency consultants who re- reliable information but most con- thousands who were waiting in transit main in an area for only a matter of sultants admit that these are "quick and centers during August were Sudanese - weeks at the most. There are many rea- dirty." In fairness, often this cannot be not Ugandan refugees. sons for this failure to support intensive avoided; still the danger arises when 2. Information from Sudanese sources research, for an emergency places an there is (as is often the case) interest in indicates that 14,000 new refugees enormous strain on an already overworked portraying the situation as either better entered the country in December and field staff. It is also alleged that some or worse than it is. after January 4 the rate of entry increased situations are politically sensitive, The most-feared independent observers dramatically. One report claimed 10,000 although this argument is often exag- are journalists, and there are concerted new Ugandan refugees entered Sudan gerated for complicated internal reasons. efforts in many quarters to keep them following Obote's "Christmas exercise," There are as yet no schools other than out, or at least limit their access. From described as "particularly brutal." experience to prepare the field staff for the agencies' point of view, there are Although some had predicted that such the enormously complex and difficult good reasons: it is generally agreed that an influx could be expected, the interna- work of managing an emergency. Often one of the most damaging effects of tional aid community found itself un- the field workers themselves are the dramatic reports of human suffering in prepared. There are shortages of food, least experienced. Agencies base their the international press is the over- medicines, tents, and blankets. Al- fund-raising appeals on reports of their response that sometimes occurs. Con- though the World Food Programme re- successes; these reports are not written trary to popular opinion, some voluntary cently signed an agreement to supply by outsiders. Critical observations made agencies have difficulty in finding food for 36,000 new refugees, the weekly internally are kept as classified informa- places to work and spend their money in ration recorded in one settlement was tion. Not only do independent resear- the way they would like. An emergency one kilogram of unground dura and half chers have difficulty in obtaining such attracts relief workers and most a cup of fish powder. While children information, host governments are "development-oriented" agencies agree under 5 need a very minimum of 1,000 usually not privy to them either. Most aid that the least valuable assistance is too Kcal for survival, they were receiving 533 agency personnel do not have an many expatriate personnel. On the other Kcal. Water shortages became more academic background which would hand, agencies compete over turf and acute as the dry season progressed, but prepare them to do empirical research, manipulate government officials in their the drilling rig flown in during November and even if they do posses these skills, interagency struggles. could not be operated until a local time does not allow them to conduct it. Governments need independent observ- dispute over who is in charge of it was Many are very defensive toward ers as badly as do refugees. Both are settled. academicians. relatively voiceless in the international aid industry. While inordinate attention Foundation-sponsored Conference on tance movement" outside the country. is given to the question of accountability Refugees held in Khartoum, Sudan, in The several anti-Obote groups living in of government spending, with accusa- September 1982. exile include Popular Resistance Army, tions of corruption flying through the 9. The former Vice-president also led by Yoweri Museveni; the U andan corridors of agency offices, agencies brought his wives and 37 children. In Ju- Freedom Fi hters, led by ~usuguLule themselves are singularly unaccount- ly 1982, he came to the UNHCR office to (President ofUganda for the first 68 days able to anyone - be it refugees, the host appeal for assistance because he had after the overthrow of Idi Amin); the government, or even their own consti- already been forced to sell four of his Uganda Freedom Movement, led by An- tuencies. five cars and was, he said, now depen- drew Kayira (a minister under Lule); the 4. One exception is the resettlement pro- dent on farming the land around the Uganda National Rescue Front, led by gram in Sudan for refugees from Ethi- house he was living in near Yei, and Moses Ali (initially appointed as the ac- opia. As a result of the black lobby in the on the transport company he had esta- ting head, later disclaimed); and the US., government officials extended the blished. When advised that UNHCR Ugandan Army, led by Elly Hassan, a refugee quota to include Africans. While could assist him only if he went to live in leader who was blatantly pro-Amin and there are obvious merits to this decision, a settlement, he remarked that all over who is now in prison in Sudan. "Tribal" critics charge that most of those the world he was known as a Vice- antagonisms continue to affect rela- selected for immigration are skilled President - how could he possibly go tions between these groups and workers in settlements. One agency had and live in a settlement? He thought that although a number of initiatives have been taken, there has never been a suc- to replace its medical staff three times either UNHCR or the Sudan government over the period of a year as it lost its per- should pay him at least a half-salary. cessful merger. sonnel to the resettlement program. The situation is further complicated by 10. 1 have always tried to avoid the use Amin. While all the groups fighting in the There is also evidence that information of the term "tribe" and tried to convince West Nile now disclaim him as a leader, concerning the resettlement program UNHCR personnel in the field of the he frequently calls journalists in London reaches deep inside Ethiopia and at- limited value of the term. Some of them (presumably from his hotel in Saudi tracts people who would not otherwise were inventing new "tribes", much in the leave the country to seek asylum. The Arabia) referring to "his boys" fighting in way some "tribes" were originally named the bush. consellor in Port Sudan met some of by Europeans. For example, Lugbara these who had been working in Amara The only "leader" civilians ever mentioned speakers from Aringa County were as being a hope for Uganda was the before they heard of possibility of get- thought to display different charac- ting sent to the U.S. former President Godfrey Binaisa. Many teristics when living in the settlements people told me that he believed in "con- 5. The information I have gathered con- than others of the same ethnic back- stitutional rule" and had not shown favor cerning the situation in southern Sudan ground, and I learned on my arrival that to any one section of the country or any is, in one sense, available too late to be Uganda has a "tribe" called "Aringa." Un- particular "tribe" during his period in of- of direct assistance to the overall pro- fortunately, my efforts were defeated by fice. Now living in Britain, he had no con- gram, although some of it should be of the Ugandan refugees themselves, who tact that I could observe with Ugandans value to the ongoing work there and also describe the world in terms of in exile in the Sudan. On my arrival in elsewhere. "tribal" categories, often with similar in- Juba, one of them asked me if I knew his accuracy. According to most of them, all 6. Each refugee emergency requires that address. Moreover, in November 1982, a government (Obote) soldiers are meeting was held in Washington, D.C., UNHCR make a fresh appeal to its "Acholi," despite the fact that many of donors; then comes the long process of which claimed to represent all opposi- Acholi ethnic origin fight with the an- tion groups, but Godfrey Binaisa - who procurement. In the case of food, as tigovernment forces. Tony Jackson has pointed out in his sees himself as a leader in exile - did not book Against the Grain: The Dilemma of 11. Warfare in many parts of Uganda know of it. Project Food Aid (OXFAM 1982), only 10 prevented voting. More than one UPC My personal repugnance for military percent of all food given to poor coun- candidate publicly acknowledged defeat solutions to such problems as Uganda tries is available for emergencies where when the ballots were counted, only to now faces aside, it is clear that the pre- it means the difference between life and hear over Kampala radio that they had sent situation could be approached death. The World Food Programme is won in their constituency! The Com- most effectively at the diplomatic level. the agency that is responsible for monwealth Team were severely restrict- A United Nations peacekeeping force delivering food to refugees. ed in their movements. See both The would no doubt be required to restrain Times and The Guardian, December 11 another wave of violence. This would re- 7. Although half of the world's 10 million and 12, 1980. See also the Common- quire, however, a radical change in refugees are in Africa, UNHCR allocated wealth Team's own report, para. 103, policy by those governments that supply only 21.9 percent of its 1980 budget for 137-9. One member of the team, who for the present Ugandan government with that continent. At the same time, 55.5 obvious reasons cannot be named, ad- arms, military advisers, and aid. The percent was spent on Asia. Per capita mitted that pressure was placed on responsibility for supporting repressive spending varies similarly: in Pakistan it them by the Thatcher government to regimes such as those led by Amin and was $40-50, while in Somalia, a program okay the elections in return for Obote's Obote in Uganda, or Mobutu in Za'ire - to regarded as "heavily funded," spent (ac- promise to permit the Asians to return to name only three stark examples - should cording to a spokesman from the London- Uganda. be squarely faced by Western govern- based International Disaster Institute) ments. The economic advantages may not more than $4 per refugee. The fund- 12. For symbolic reasons, nearly all momentarily outweigh the costs. It is in- ing for the Sudan's nearly half-million refugees living in the Sudan kept their teresting to note that the same govern- refugee population has never been watches set to East African Standard ments are among the major "donor coun- lavish (the budget for 1982 was just over Time, one hour earlier than Sudan Time. tries" providing assistance to refugees. $23 million), but if comparisons are 13. These words were attributed to 15. A report from Kaya on September 8, made even within this country, there are Obote in a document printed and widely 1982, states: There seems to be much enormous differences between pro- circulated during Amins reign. It was ex- trouble and tension amongst the Ugan- grams for refugees from Ethiopia and tremely provocative propaganda, play- dan Army as they continue to fight those for Ugandans or Chadians. ing on tribal and religious antagonisms. against the guerrillas. Two days ago Some refugees do not get funded at all, One refugee told me the author of his (6-9-82) the Acholis and other tribes or assistance is delayed. For example, book was Felix Onama, a former close clashed amongst themselves in their Algeria hosted Sahrawi refugees from associate of Obote's and, later, his com- barracks [Oraba- within sight of the 1975, but UNHCR allocated assistance petitor and enemy. Onama is said to Kaya transit center]. The result was two (less than $2 million) for the 150,000 have been one of Amin's most important persons of other tribes [the Nyankole] civilians only in 1981. advisers. In an unpublished and anon- were killed, probably because the 8. Karadawi, Ahmed, "Relationship be- ymous account, "The Man Who Elevated Acholis outnumber [them] in the army. Amin," the author describes Onama's That evening, a group of Nyankole tween government and non-govern- shrewd political manipulations. mental organizations in refugee work in reported the incident to the O.C. [Of- the Sudan," unpublished manuscript 14. There appears to be no organized op- ficer in Charge] of Kaya Police and add- based on a paper delivered at the Ford position that could be termed a "resis- ed that it was too much [i.e. too many] of Acholis and that they were going to fight Western Equatoria have not suffered tion, asked us to try and obtain a that night. Each group became well epidemics as such, although the death scholarship for one of them to study aware and was well armed. A lot of guns rate has been high. Last year, however, journalism. He said that since no jour- were shot in the barracks that night but according to a nurse who had worked in nalists were willing to come to report, the end result was not known. the area, some 1,800 children died in a they could then send their reports. Yesterday, some Ugandan refugees, two measles epidemic in the refugee set- 20. For a full discussion of many general women and children and one man, tlements in Eastern Equatoria. problems which obtain as a result of escaped from Uganda - Arua County - 17. While the program suffered short- host country's dependence upon outside and reported the evil atrocities of the ages throughout the emergency, from assistance, see Karadawi, A,, "Con- Ugandan troops still continuing in that late May 1982 until after the first weekof straints on assistance to refugees: some part, capturing and killing civilians, tak- July there were no tents, blankets, observations from the Sudan," un- ing some to their barracks to help them clothing, cooking pots, tools, or milk published manuscript, available from do tedious work such as drawing half a powder for the new arrivals. Other food the COR, Khartoum, Sudan. Also see barrel full of water, heaps of firewood, supplies for all of the settlements were Abd Al-Rahman Ahmed Al-Bashir, "Pro- and cooking for them the whole day, etc. very limited. At no time during my stay in blems of settlement of immigrants and etc. Some are taken and never heard of the southern region of the Sudan did refugees in Sudanese society," un- and some are said to taken to Arua town. refugees in Western Equatoria receive published D.Phil. thesis, University of Raping and killing and burning houses all of the items in the World Food Pro- Oxford (1978) and Karadawi, A. "Political top amongst their activities. I was told gramme's "food basket." refugees: a case study from the Sudan, the guerrillas clashed with them on 18. The entire program in Western 1964-1972," unpublished M.Phil. thesis, 5-9-82 and shot four of them dead, and University of Reading (1977). the rest escaped. It appears the guer- Equatoria was managed by one UNHCR rillas are gaining strength over them. program officer. During the emergency, 21. Sudan has more than one official ex- This took place around Yumbe trading two consultants and one other UNHCR change rate and there have been at- center. The woman who reported the staff member were sent to help, each for tempts to impose duty as well as story of these intimidations escaped only a few weeks. The protection officer defense tax on contributions to from Midigo with four children. The hus- and the education officer came on a mis- refugees. band was said to have been killed. sion lasting but a few days. The UNHCR 22. Materials such as palm leaf, grass, office was strengthened only in August. and bamboo which Ugandans were ac- 16. Refugees frequently report seeing 19. On one trip with the OXFAM field of- customed to use for making mats and wild animals, including lions, leopards, ficer, we interviewed several fighters other household items were either wild buffalo, hyena and deer. near Kaya. One, noting the failure of the unavailable or in very short supply. In 1982, the refugee settlements in international press to report the situa-