Sanctuary in the city? Urban displacement and vulnerability in Yei, South Sudan Ellen Martin and Nina Sluga HPG Working Paper December 2011 Overseas Development Institute 111 Westminster Bridge Road London SE1 7JD United Kingdom Tel: +44(0) 20 7922 0300 Fax: +44(0) 20 7922 0399 Website: www.odi.org.uk/hpg Email: [email protected] hpg Humanitarian Policy Group 134355_Sanctuary in the City - YEI Cover 1_OUTER 134355_Sanctuary intheCity-YEICover1_INNER About the authors Ellen Martin is a Research Officer in the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG). Nina Sluga was Country Analyst (CAR, Chad, Congo, Sudan and South Sudan) for the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) at the time of writing of this report. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the staff of NRC in Juba and Yei for their logistical support during the planning of this study, and staff in the GIZ office in Yei for sharing their baseline studies. The authors would also like to express their gratitude to the many people who contributed in numerous ways to the study, including research support and the provision of documents and materials and reviewing drafts. Particular thanks to Simon Russell (UNHRC), Charles Mballa (UNHCR), Gregory Norton (IDMC), Nina Birkeland (IDMC), Marzia Montemurro (IDMC) and Sara Pantuliano (HPG). Wendy Fenton (HPN) provided extremely valuable input into the initial draft. Thanks too to Matthew Foley for his expert editing of the report. Finally, we are especially grateful to the many people in Yei who generously gave their time to take part in this study. This study was carried out in collaboration with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). It was funded primarily by DANIDA through HPG’s Integrated Programme (IP). A full list of IP funders is available at http://www.odi.org. uk/hpg/integratedprogramme. ODI gratefully acknowledges this financial support. Humanitarian Policy Group Overseas Development Institute 111 Westminster Bridge Road London SE1 7JD United Kingdom Tel: +44(0) 20 7922 0300 Fax: +44(0) 20 7922 0399 Website: www.odi.org.uk/hpg Email: [email protected] ISBN: 978-1-907288-53-1 © Overseas Development Institute, 2011 Readers are encouraged to quote or reproduce materials from this publication but, as copyright holders, ODI requests due acknowledgement and a copy of the publication. This and other HPG Reports are available from www.odi.org.uk/hpg. Contents Chapter 1 Introducton 1 1.1 The study and methodology 1 1.2 Terminology 2 Chapter 2 Internal dsplacement and urbansaton 3 2.1 Patterns of displacement 3 2.2 Patterns of return and settlement 3 2.3 Population growth and urban expansion 4 Chapter 3 Legal and polcy frameworks 7 3.1 Citizenship and IDPs 7 3.2 IDP rights and government responsibilities 7 3.3 Legal frameworks governing refugees 9 Chapter 4 Protecton and access to justce 11 4.1 Protection threats 11 4.2 National protection actors 12 Chapter 5 The economy and lvelhoods 15 5.1 The economy 15 5.2 Livelihoods 16 5.3 Livelihood support 16 Chapter 6 Basc servces and urban nfrastructure 19 6.1 Education 19 6.2 Water, sanitation and waste management 20 6.3 Health 21 6.4 Housing 21 Chapter 7 Governance 23 7.1 Formal governance 23 7.2 Informal governance 24 Chapter 8 Land and the envronment 27 8.1 Land laws and policies 27 8.2 Land ownership and urban planning in Yei town 27 8.3 Conflicting land ownership claims and restitution 28 8.4 The environment 29 Chapter 9 Internatonal assstance 31 9.1 International assistance during the war 31 9.2 International assistance during the CPA interim period 31 9.3 International assistance strategies in 2011 and beyond 32 9.4 Integration and durable solutions 34 Chapter 10 Conclusons and recommendatons 37 10.1 Recommendations 37 References 41 HPG Working HPG Working Paper Map of Ye Source: Source: GFA/Gitec (financed by GIZ). town, South Sudan New Site Kanjore Extension Lomuku 1 extension Lomuku 2 Extension Kanjono Hai Thatcher Lomuku 2 Lomuku 1 Luzira HPG Mahad Hai Mission Hai Dar Salaam wo Kinji Primary TTC Hai Gabat R School Hai Police Hai Sobe k I n Hai G Hai Hai Simba P Guava a Nyakama Hai P ERAP Jigomoni e Leben R CTC Bari Ngo Area Hai Tarawa Atlabara 1 Lopijolopiri Lutaya Atlabara 2 Waluturu 2 Hai Sopiri Waluturu Hai Dam 2 Dam 1 Hai City River Lupapa Lake Sanctuary in the city? Yei case study HPG woRkInG PaPeR Chapter 1 Introducton In recent decades, many cities and towns around the world populations and other urban poor, including protection, have seen dramatic population growth, with significant inflows housing, land and urban development policies. from rural areas. A prominent feature of this global trend of • Discuss the specific protection threats affecting displaced urbanisation is forced displacement triggered by armed conflict, populations in Yei and how they compare with the threats violence and political instability and slow- and sudden-onset facing other groups of urban poor. disasters – or a combination of these factors. Many of those • Assess the specific vulnerabilities of displaced people in forcibly displaced have moved to urban areas in search of the town, particularly in relation to access to basic services, greater security, including a degree of anonymity, better access urban infrastructure and livelihood opportunities, and how to basic services and greater economic opportunities. Today, they compare with the vulnerabilities of other groups of approximately half of the world’s estimated 10.5 million refugees urban poor. and at least four million internally displaced people (IDPs) are • Identify how international aid actors can best engage with thought to live in urban areas (UNHCR, 2009; Fielden, 2008). the urban poor and displaced populations living in Yei. While a number of studies in recent years have sought to A team of three international and three local researchers analyse urban livelihoods and governance, little is known carried out field research during a three-week period between about how displaced people negotiate their way in the September and October 2010. This was complemented by urban environment, their relationships with host communities follow up interviews in March 2011 to enable the study to and governance institutions and their specific vulnerabilities take into account the immediate post-referendum period. As as compared with other urban poor. Likewise, the role of with the other case studies in this series, this study is based humanitarian and development actors in supporting these on a qualitative research methodology. Data came from both populations, and the strategies and approaches best suited primary and secondary sources. to address the assistance and protection needs of urban IDPs, are poorly understood. The study locations were identified by conducting a profiling of the town. This included a review of existing data and consultations This study of displacement and urbanisation in Yei in South with community representatives and national and international Sudan is part of ongoing work on urban displacement conducted aid agency representatives with extensive knowledge of the area. between 2010 and 2012 by the Humanitarian Policy Group Seven locations were selected, with an emphasis on obtaining a at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), in cooperation representative sample: Atlabara, Hai Gabat, Hai Tarawa, Lomuku with the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and Extension 1, Lupapa, Lutaya and Mahad. the International Committee of the Red Cross. The project, which is primarily supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Focus group participants were identified with the assistance of Denmark, will explore the phenomenon of displacement in of community representatives, including area chiefs and the urban environment and the implications and challenges headmen, community elders and representatives of displaced it poses for humanitarian action. Through field research in communities. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were carried eight urban centres in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, out separately with men, women and youth. The study team the project considers the reality of life for displaced people, collected detailed information regarding the displacement investigates the policy and operational challenges that confront history of the participants, including their areas of origin, national and international stakeholders when responding to the duration of displacement, where they lived during that time needs of urban IDPs and refugees and offers recommendations (whether a camp, with relatives or host communities), their for strengthening support to these groups. ethnic group, their reasons for living in Yei, their arrival date, their relationship with the town and whether they intended 1.1 The study and methodology to stay or leave, and if so where they intended to go. This study was undertaken in partnership with the Internal A total of 160 individuals participated in the study. Twenty-one Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and with the support focus group discussions were conducted and 40 interviews were of the Norwegian Refugee Council offices in Juba and Yei. The carried out with representatives of local community organisations study aims to: and NGOs, government officials, judicial authorities, church institutions, international aid representatives (including NGOs, • Deepen understanding of the drivers and history of UN and donors) and private sector actors, including traders displacement in Yei. and business owners. The study was supplemented by key • Review policies and legal frameworks for