Give IDPs and refugees a chance to return home

EDITORIAL – The Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) meeting of Friday resolved that residences of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) were still being wrongfully occupied by those who seized the property after the owners fled the conflict.

It has been six years since the war ended and more than two years since the revitalized transitional government was formed. But it is very unfortunate that those who occupied the houses of those IDPs remained adamant to vacate those residences despite calls from the national government to do so.

Some of these occupants have demolished the houses they got in the place and built their own to confuse the owners when they return home. Their illegal settlement is a colossal threat to the safe return of IDPs.

According to the CTASMVM report, the quest for the vacation of the IDPs’ buildings remains unresolved with no progress made since 2019. Two years ago, the ceasefire monitoring body confirmed that buildings of over 35 civilians and residences were occupied by both the SSPDF and SPLA-IO forces in different locations across the country.

Some of the places that were still under the control of armed occupants include churches, schools, residences, and healthcare centers.

It is in public knowledge that several statements have been made by leaders at the national level calling on the IDPs and refugees to return home to participate in the development of the country.

However, these people cannot return home when they see or hear that their houses were still being occupied by people who forcefully displaced them and took over their property. It is almost unimaginable to think someone can return home under this circumstance.

Plan for repatriation

Last week, the UNHCR said it was preparing new modalities to address the refugee and IDPs crisis in both Sudan and South Sudan.

According to the organization, these modalities will attract people to go back home with no hope of a return to the settlement camps. The United Nations refugee agency said it was seeking donors to fund the stay of refugees in the camps due to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

This statement from the UNHCR is more of an advisory to the government to start preparing for the peaceful return of its citizens who have been displaced due to the conflict and the priority is to ensure they have access to their indigenous land or homes.

If at all the places have been occupied by outsiders, then they should be evicted. Those occupants should be told to go back to where they had been living before the outbreak of the conflict. Every citizen knows where he or she was living before and forceful occupation of residents of war victims should be discouraged.

We should give them their right to return home to start rebuilding their livelihoods as well as to prepare to participate in the upcoming elections after the end of the transitional period.

The parties to the peace agreement should ensure they implement Chapter 2.1.1, where they agreed to observe sustainable peace, facilitate the operationalization of the transitional security arrangements, the voluntary repatriation, resettlement, rehabilitation, and reintegrating of returnees.