Foreign national asylum seekers relocated to Western Equatoria

3 Sep 2015

Foreign national asylum seekers relocated to Western Equatoria

1 September 2015 - Over 100 foreign national asylum seekers arrived today at Makpandu refugee settlement in Yambio, Western Equatoria State, from a UNMISS protection-of-civilians (PoC) site in Juba.

The voluntary relocation was part of an ongoing programme conducted by the mission, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in coordination with the South Sudan Commission for Refugee Affairs.

“Today we are receiving some refugees who have been relocated from Juba,” said Paulino Zizi, Assistant Commissioner for Refugee Affairs in Western Equatoria State. “There are 102 individuals, which is about 74 households.”

Noting that all necessary preparations had been put in place to receive the new arrivals, Mr. Zizi said the state government had allocated plots on which UNHCR had set up tents for the asylum seekers.

“Some non-food items plus some cash will be given to them before they get integrated within the camp’s communities and start receiving their food rations,” he added.

The relocation of the foreign nationals, mostly hailing from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, began at the end of August with the transfer of 113 foreign nationals to Juba town, a recent UNMISS press statement said.

“With the change in the security situation, there is no need for the foreign nationals to continue to reside in the UNMISS camp. UNMISS has worked with (them), relevant UN agencies and national partners to identify other options for their continued stay in South Sudan,” said the statement.

Arriving in Yambio, one asylum seeker, Adamou Abderallo, said his family’s welfare and especially that of his younger daughter was behind his choice to relocate to Yambio.

“I came here for the sake of my children, especially my young girl child, so that she could get good health care, education. Also, I wish one day we could go out of South Sudan together,” he said.

Mingade Zahra, another asylum seeker, expressed her appreciation for the relocation to the settlement camp.

“We have been in the POC (site) for a quite long time, so when UNHCR offered us this option to be relocated to this site I said yes, I will go, because I am quite sure they can protect us from any harm and help us to live a good life,’” she said.

The head of UNHCR in Western Equatoria State, Bernard Chamous, said this was the first time South Sudan and Western Equatoria State, in particular, were hosting asylum seekers.

“In this state, we mainly have refugees from (the Democratic Republic of) Congo and Central African Republic, but this group (from Juba) has not yet been processed and given the status of refugees,” he said.

He explained that the agency would follow up asylum seekers individually to understand reasons why each one felt unable to return to their home country. If this proved satisfactory, they would obtain refugee status on an individual basis.