25 September 2014 - Assisting South Sudanese uprooted by communal violence which started on 15 September at the country’s border with Uganda, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) began distributing relief items this week.

The conflict between communities in Kajo-Keji County and Uganda’s Moyo district left almost 12,000 South Sudanese refugees displaced and forced to return to their country, according to Kajo-Keji County Relief and Rehabilitation Commission Secretary Henry Sokiri,

“I do not have any house in Kajo-Keji,” said Janet Poni, a displaced guardian of five children who had been living in Moyo since 1988.

UNHCR Assistant Safety Advisor in Yei, Joseph Guya, said the agency was carrying out a comprehensive assessment of displaced people’s needs.

“These are people who have been away for years,” he said. “The major challenge is how these families can start a new life.”

Mr. Guya said the displaced people had received items like blankets, cooking utensils, sleeping mats and mosquito nets, clean water and cleaning materials.

A media release from UNHCR also said the agency had been helping with medical referral of sick individuals to the hospital, as well to identify unaccompanied children to facilitate their reunification with family.

The statement noted that UNHCR’s intervention was done in partnership with local authorities, the South Sudan Commission for Refugee Affairs, the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, non-governmental organizations and local communities.

The host community in Kajo-Keji, Chamber of Commerce and local churches had also provided hot meals. The Kuku community in Juba contributed 14,000 South Sudanese pounds and 500 bags of maize flour.

Despite the assistance, other challenges still faced the county, including increased admissions at Kajo-Keji Hospital, which lacked sufficient staff and medical supplies.

“Our beds are too few, bed sheets are torn … and the mattresses are rotten, making it hard to meet the pressing needs,” said hospital administrator Felix Tito. “Even with limited supplies, we are trying hard to … support the growing number of returnees and the displaced people.”

Kajo-Keji County Commissioner Henry Kala Sabuni noted that many people believed the conflict was land-related in areas contested by the two countries, but he said it was also caused by an economic struggle between Uganda’s Madi community in Moyo and South Sudan’s Kuku community who had sought refuge there.

The greatest need in the border area was to find a peaceful resolution, Kajo-Keji County Legislative Council Speaker Patrick Wolyan said.

“We have co-existed for a long time,” he said. “We want to initiate a dialogue that brings together both the Kuku elders and the Madi elders to end the dispute.”

Two delegations led by Uganda’s Second Deputy Prime Minister Moses Ali and Central Equatoria State Minister of Information and Broadcasting Suba Samuel Mannase met in Moyo on 20 September and resolved to immediately deploy a joint border patrol force.