RETURNEES ARRIVING IN HUGE NUMBERS TO WESTERN

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000639

SIPDIS

AIDAC
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AF/EA, DCHA
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS
USMISSION UN ROME
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
NAIROBI FOR SFO
NSC FOR JMELINE, TSHORTLEY
USUN FOR TMALY
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI KAWC SU
SUBJECT: RETURNEES ARRIVING IN HUGE NUMBERS TO WESTERN
BAHR EL GHAZAL, NORTHERN BAHR EL GHAZAL, AND UNITY STATES

REF: a) Khartoum 0620, b) Khartoum 0637

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Summary and Comment
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1. The USAID/Khartoum Senior Humanitarian Advisor and
Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Specialist visited
Unity State from February 19 to 23 to review the IDP
returns situation and examine sources of fragility. As
reported reftels, the USAID Khartoum IDP Specialist also
traveled with a USAID Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and
Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/DCHA) team to Western and
Northern Bahr el Ghazal States for the same purpose from
February 23 to 28.


2. All states visited have established and maintained a
Sustainable Returns Taskforce, which includes
stakeholders involved with IDP and returns issues.
However, the monitoring and tracking systems were not
functional due the failure of the Sudan Relief and
Rehabilitation Commission (SRRC) to release the funds for
field implementation of the project.


3. Spontaneous returns continue, especially to Unity and
Northern Bahr el Ghazal States, despite the critical lack
of basic services and poor roads. Many returnees have
chosen to stay somewhere close to home if home is not
ready, creating new large villages or swelling towns that
could be sanitation and public health hazards during the
rainy season. End summary and comment.

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Background
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4. From February 19 to 23, a USAID/DCHA mission from
Khartoum visited Unity State to investigate reports of an
influx of returnees to the area and to examine sources of
fragility in the state. The visit was part of a series
of USAID/DCHA assessments to determine how USAID/DCHA
programs might provide a stabilizing environment in
support of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). A
USAID/DCHA team from the southern sector also visited
Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Western Bahr el Ghazal States
from February 23 to 28. This cable complements the
fragility analyses, focusing specifically on IDP
movements and intentions.

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IDP/Returns Tracking and Monitoring Issues
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5. Unity State has long been the battlefield for

militias, the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA),
and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The state's vast
oil reserves have been a major contributing factor to
continuous war and instability. Following the signing of
the CPA, significant changes have begun with the
disarmament and merging of militia groups, arrival of
returnees, and increased freedom of movement.


6. In the Unity State, the influx of returnees is quite
visible. According to the U.N. Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),40,000
returnees arrived between May 2005 and January 2006.
Roads from Khartoum through Southern Kordofan are
passable during the dry season, especially to the
northern parts of the state. Abyomnom (Mayom County) and
Pariang (Pariang County) are the two primary receiving
points for returnees. Most of the returnees intend to
continue to other parts of the state, but the poor road
conditions and the presence of landmines complicate the
journey. Heavy forest now covers some roads that have
hardly seen traffic during the past 20 years.


7. The SRRC, OCHA, and the international non-
governmental organization (NGO) CARE have established and
operated a monitoring and tracking system for registering
returnees in the state. In addition, a Sustainable
Returns Team has also been functional with assistance
from OCHA. However, the tracking system no longer

functions because the enumerators and field protection
monitors have not received payment for eight months and
have stopped working. OCHA has been responsible for
paying the enumerators. U.N. World Food Program (WFP)
distribution figures indicate that the IDP population for
Bentiu and Rubkona is approximately 95,000.


8. The International Organization for Migration (IOM)
plans to establish a way station in the vicinity of
Bentiu town, although most humanitarian agencies on the
ground preferred the way station to be placed farther
north in Kharasana. State officials sought to avoid this
site, claiming it to be a contested area (along with the
Heglig oilfield) that lies within Southern Kordofan
borders, according to current U.N. maps.


9. In Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Aweil, Northern
Bahr el Ghazal, each state's Sustainable Returns Team is
meeting regularly and sharing information; however, the
monitoring and tracking systems are not functioning also
due to the lack of funding.

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IDP/Returns Situation in Wau and Aweil
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10. Five IDP camps surround Wau. Although the SRRC
estimates the number of IDPs living in and around Wau to
be 52,000 people, U.N. agencies use a figure of 31,000.
The IDPs are mostly Dinka from neighboring Warap and
Lakes States, and some are from the Raja area. IDPs in
the camps mainly depend on selling charcoal and firewood,
cutting grass, and doing casual work in the market to
earn a living. USAID partners CARE and the International
Rescue Committee (IRC) helped establish community centers
and trained IDP women on income-generating activities.


11. IDPs have indicated a willingness to remain in Wau
and Aweil unless services improve in areas to which the
IDPs hope to return. A group of more than 600 returnees
predominantly from the Dinka tribe traveled from Western
Equatoria and arrived in Wau during late January. The
group initially planned to reach Warap State, but has
decided to stay in Wau in an area called Majak. NGOs and
U.N. agencies provided food and other services to the
group, who claimed the poor services and inter-tribal
clashes in Warap have forced them to stay longer in Wau.
(Comment: Some interlocutors suspected that the Dinka
want to build a presence in Wau town to counterbalance
the Fertits and other tribes. End comment.)


12. In a visit to Eastern Bank camp, the main IDP camp
in Wau, the USAID IDP Specialist interviewed some IDP
families who said they would stay in Wau even if the
humanitarian community offered a return package and
transportation. IDPs expressed concern over the floods
and droughts that have affected Lakes and Warap States in
recent years and caused poor harvests. One of IDPs
stated, "People are still coming from Warap. Why do you
want us to go there?" During a recent visit, the SRRC
commissioner tasked the SRRC Wau director with leading
the process to devise a state plan for IDP return and
reintegration. The SRRC office in Wau will soon have
three branch offices in the three Western Bahr el Ghazal
State counties.


13. In Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, conditions are
similar. Since the onset of the dry season in October,
returnees from Darfur and Khartoum have arrived in Aweil.
Based on a February assessment, SRRC estimates that there
are 6,200 vulnerable persons in Aweil, including 2,100
returnees.


14. Aweil has two small IDP camps with an estimated
total population of 4,500. The main camp, Koum, is
located seven kilometers outside Aweil town and includes
a permanent USAID-funded IRC health center, a water
point, and a huge base for brickmaking, an income-
generating activity for IDPs. During discussions with
USAID representatives, IDPs indicated a preference to
remain in the area, which has good farmland. No figures
are available on the number of returnees, despite the

influx from the North and South Darfur. Returnees coming
from South Darfur use Al Deain-Gok-Machar route, and
those coming from Khartoum use Moglad-Warawar route.


15. Although humanitarian capacity is Aweil is weak, it
should improve, as more agencies are planning to move to
town. Local authorities have endorsed IOM plans to
establish a way station at Warawar to assist returnees.
IRC, WFP, OCHA, and the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) are
present in Aweil town. Other humanitarian agencies are
present in areas previously held by the SPLM.

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Recommendations
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16. Enuerators and field monitors need to be paid
regularly to ensure the tracking and monitoring system
does not fall apart. The system is only useful if it is
consistent. This information needs to be fed regularly
into the Sustainable Returns teams and used as a planning
tool for provision of services in areas of return.


17. Provision of basic services in places of arrival for
returnees should be treated as top priority. The
availability of services proved to be a key factor
affecting the decision of returnees to go home or not.
Even those who decided to go home are waiting at another
gathering point that is not their final destination,
until services are available.


18. As reported reftels, a community-based approach must
be adopted in order to focus on the most vulnerable
populations regardless of their status (displaced,
returnee, or resident) to avoid generating unintended
inequities and conflict.

WHITAKER