UNHCR re-opens its head office in Torit
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has re-opened its head office in Eastern Equatoria State capital, Torit, after nearly seven years of closure.
Mr Arafat Jamal, the country’s representative of UNHCR, said the main objective of re-opening their head office in Torit is to identify the needs of people who are returning from refugee camps to rebuild their homes in all eight counties of Eastern Equatoria State.
“Our intention with which we open our head office here in Torit is to show we can indeed make this pocket of hope an engine of development, and that is why we are going to work here with the development partners, the government, and the people in order to create a model, and this is our desire,’’ he said.
Arafat noted that UNHCR does not encourage people to return from the refugee camp, but will support those who chose to return voluntarily.
‘‘We are simply following the needs of the returnees themselves. We have certain figures of between 100 and 500 thousand and recognise we don’t have the exact figure when we reach the lower end and the higher end. “
He added: “What we are seeing is that people have returned, and we honour their choice to return. We haven’t encouraged it but recognise it for what it is. It is their investment in the future of South Sudan. We honour their choice and follow them. We see where they are going. We see what they want; what they need, and we structure our programmes accordingly. “
He reiterated that UNHCR will provide safety to the vulnerable upon their initial arrival, remove obstacles both legally and otherwise, and enable them to create opportunities for those who have an interest in doing something for their sustainability.
“In order to develop, we must invest in the institutions of this country. Are you a farmer, do you have this amount of land? Maybe you need the tools maybe you need the right seeds maybe you need a loan. This is the creation of opportunity. This is our overall vision,” he said.
Amb. Mohamed Affey, UNHCR’s Special Envoy to Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), commended South Sudan for returning its integrity with the progress of the parties to the revitalised peace agreement. Affey urged them to do more to implement the agreement as it was designed.
“It is within the territory of South Sudan that we have seen meaningful peace returning back to South Sudan, and it is through you and the people of South Sudan who make that deliberate effort. This in any way have improved the image of your country,” Amb. Affey applauded.
He added that the return of South Sudanese to their homes requires the support of everyone, including the international community to foster development for the citizens. He acknowledged that the voluntary return of people to South Sudan shows that there is hope that encourages them.
“If there was chaos here in Torit and all the towns and areas around, people would not come back. People are coming back because there is hope for peace. As an international community, I think it is time we meaningfully partner with the people of South Sudan,” Amb. Affey stressed.
The Governor of Eastern Equatoria State, Louis Lobong Lojore, noted that what is preventing people from returning is a lack of infrastructures, such as schools, hospitals and slow provision of assistance to the returnees.
Yet to return
Lobong said that a big number of people will return if those facilities and the provision of humanitarian assistance are all put in place. He urged the development partners to aid people returning home to rebuild their lives.
The government on the other hand have discouraged migration from rural areas to urban centres and has urged returnees, in particular, to settle in their places of origin in order to be productive to elevate hunger in the State.
He said the government is capable of providing security to the people who are returning and that services will be taken to where they are.
“We have already created a conducive environment for these people to return but what is missing is the provision of services. So, I, therefore, appeal all our development partners to assist them,” Lobong appealed.
The commissioner for refugee affairs in South Sudan, Gen. Bol John Akot, commended the collaborative work of the government, UNHCR and other development partners.
He stressed that both the government and development must work together to close the missing gap between relief assistance and development effort in the areas of return in order to develop the capacity of the affected population for their self-reliance.
“Indeed, a larger development effort must be geared towards ensuring that those that are returning home will be able to remain in order to avoid letting them take risks of leaving their homes again due to lack of adequate basic services available,” Gen. Bol remarked.
“These efforts must be in a coordinated fashion to support and promote social cohesion, economic growth that shall lay a concrete foundation for longer-term sustainable development in our country” the commissioner added.
