FMR 24 Assisting the return of displaced Dinka Bor 37

leadership and the international SUDAN community. The approach focuses on the aggrieved host communities, the intricacies around the safety of passage, and protection around the IDPs in their host communities, dur- ing migration and in their areas of return. It is vital to:

■ understand and acknowledge the complex political environment in which return will take place ■ analyse key issues affecting sta- bility and conflict and share the analysis with all stakeholders ■ facilitate collaborative efforts around agreed strategies and objectives ■ encourage and enable local institutions to play active roles in mediation and advocacy.

Despite many at the grassroots fear- ing that the conditions for peace are Rebecca Hamilton & Kristin Harris Hamilton & Kristin Rebecca being brokered by elites and that sions and another 32 camps quickly one step back, yet investments the process will be protracted, the retraced their steps back towards made through the JIRRST have been signing of the Comprehensive Peace western Equatoria. The JIRRST was substantial and largely effective. The Agreement brings new hope for a faced yet again with having to con- overall trend is positive, if slow, and peaceful return of the Dinka Bor and tain rapidly deteriorating relation- the approach has managed to raise others displaced in southern Sudan. ships between hosts and displaced. levels of awareness and sensitivity The challenges ahead are monumen- Eight camps have crossed the river and to draw in appropriate actors tal but must be addressed (systemat- to Bor County in Upper Nile and the around a common framework of ically and holistically) to bring about rest are expected to stay until the ap- action. A greater commitment by the the conditions for a lasting peace in proach of the next rainy season. wider aid community is still needed. Sudan.

Conclusion Pact’s experience in conflict reduc- Paul Murphy has worked in Sudan tion leads us to advocate a multi- since 1989 and is the Director for This case – though still a ‘work faceted and multi-actor approach, the NGO Pact (www.pactworld. in progress’ – raises many issues requiring facilitation that encom- org) in Sudan. For elaboration of relating to appropriate practice in passes the involvement of grassroots the approach outlined above, and supporting population movement stakeholders, support for local other information on Pact’s Sudan in unstable situations. Progress has government officials and chiefs, programme, please visit www.pact- been a case of two steps forward, and engagement with the national sudan.org. Epic trek of Mabia IDPs by William Lorenz The intensive support given by the international com- journey from their camp at Mabia, south of the town of Tambura. The munity to assist the spontaneous return of IDPs from the group followed a route along the camp at Mabia highlights the enormity of the task of border with the Central African Republic in a bid to cross the Busseri providing similar humanitarian assistance to the hun- River before the onset of the rainy dreds of thousands also on the move home. season. he International Organization forests and rough terrain of western It was mentally and physically for Migration (IOM) – with Equatoria to their homes in west- draining for the returnees (many Tsupport from the World Food ern Bahr el Ghazal. The initiative to from female-headed households), the Programme, OCHA, UNICEF, World return began with the IDPs and in- SPLM soldiers who provided security Vision, MSF Spain and the Camboni ternational assistance was provided and the IOM team who accompanied missionaries – assisted some 5,000 only after the start of their journey. them. Soon after their departure IDPs from 10 different tribes on a The returnees, who had fled their the group found they had to hack 350-km return route through the homes four years earlier, began their their own road through the forest. 38 Epic trek of Mabia IDPs FMR 24

They had to contend with mines, mosquitoes, guinea worms, tsetse flies, swamps and swollen rivers, negotiate with rebel militias not engaged in the peace process and forage for food when planned food drops were delayed. For much of the route, food, plastic sheeting, mos- quito nets and medical kits could only be delivered by air. Fuel short- ages and mechanical breakdowns meant that only the most vulnerable SUDAN could be transported by truck, forc- ing most to move on foot. Diarrhoea, dysentery, malaria, acute respira- tory infections and injuries took their inevitable toll. Planned medical evacuations could not take place. As the rain came down, trucks became stranded and access to air transport was complicated by the emergency

which followed the death of Dr John Lorenz IOM/William Garang. Despite considerable international and reintegration assistance such as commitment, a journey planned to seeds and agricultural tools. On 7 August the group finally last 30 days had taken three and a arrived at an interim camp in Bile, half months. While 43 had died en William Lorenz led the IOM team near the town of Deim Zubeir, route (before the IOM team arrived, accompanying the IDPs. Email: where they were welcomed by 23 IDPs were crushed to death when [email protected]. See his BBC officials from the Sudan Relief and a truck turned over on a makeshift online diary at: http://news.bbc. Rehabilitation Commission and bridge), 34 children had been born. co.uk/2/hi/africa/4134230.stm and the Government of Sudan garrison The IDPs will stay at Bile for a couple photo gallery at: http://news.bbc. commander. Many returned with of months before finally returning to co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gal- their heads held high, wearing new their former homes across the dis- lery/05/africa_sudan_trek_revis- clothes and shoes they had put tricts of Raga and Wau. During their ited/html/1.stm on after laboriously carrying them stay in Bile, they will receive food wrapped up during their ordeal. This article is written in a personal capacity and does not necessarily reflect the views of IOM. IDPs and urban planning in

Khartoum by Agnès de Geoffroy unequal access to jobs, education Urban planning policies – which have led to demolition and basic services.

of IDP housing in and around Khartoum – highlight the The official IDP camps were estab- need for Sudan to adopt specific IDP legislation and to lished outside urban boundaries but the pace of urban growth is so great find durable solutions for those displaced southerners that the camps are now integrated who do not want to leave Khartoum. into the outskirts of the city. Provid- ing water and electricity is an enor- ragic recent events have drawn An estimated 325,000 IDPs live in mous challenge which the state has attention to the neglected is- four official IDP camps, established not addressed. In squatter areas and Tsue of IDP settlements in the in 1991, with an additional popu- in IDP camps only a handful of resi- Khartoum metropolis, now home to lation of at least 1.5 million IDPs dents have electricity, provided by five million people. In May 2005 Su- scattered in unauthorised squatter privately-owned generators. Water is danese security forces arrived in the settlements. Mobility between settle- generally obtained from wells drilled squatter area of Soba-Aradi, 30km ments, whether as a result of forcible by NGOs and managed by commu- south of Khartoum. Their attempts relocation by the government or vol- nity-based organisations. Water is a to demolish IDPs’ shelters and load untary movement, is high. Most IDPs major household expense, especially people onto trucks led to clashes were primarily displaced by conflict for those living far from wells. which resulted in the deaths of 15 in the south and the Nuba Mountains policemen and an unknown number or by drought in the mid 1980s. They During the 1990s international NGOs of IDPs, including children. are discriminated against and have were active in the camps, providing