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UGANDAN REFUGEES in the SUDAN Part I: the Long Journey

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UGANDAN REFUGEES in the SUDAN Part I: the Long Journey 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.
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