12 January 2014 - There was nothing for South Sudanese people to celebrate on 9 January this year, a South Sudanese refugee now living at a camp in Uganda’s Arua District said recently.

“Maybe people are celebrating in other states,” said Thomas Kueith, who hails from Jonglei State and is now living with his family of eleven under the open skies in Arua’s Rhino Camp. “We fled from conflict in (the Jonglei capital) Bor. What is there to celebrate about the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)?”

South Sudanese people have commemorated 9 January every year since 2005, when the CPA was signed in Naivasha, Kenya, between the Sudanese Government and the then rebel movement of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), marking the end of a two- decade war.

The landmark date took on more meaning in 2011 as millions of South Sudanese queued up to vote with shouts of jubilation for separation from Sudan in a referendum that resulted in independence of the world’s youngest nation.

In Rhino Camp, three years later, there was a different sombre mood, as South Sudanese from a range of tribes queued up to register as refugees after fleeing from violence that broke out in several parts of their country on 15 December 2013.

“We did not even celebrate Christmas, but we prayed,” said Mr. Kueith, a first-time refugee. “I prayed that my family would be safe and on 26 December, we started our journey to Uganda. It’s not easy, but we are safe here.”

Mr. Kueith and his family form part of over 6,000 refugees currently living in camps in Arua and Koboko in Uganda. Another estimated 20,000 refugees are in camps in Adjumani district.

Many of them, unlike Mr. Kueith, were returning to camps they had thought would never be home again, after independence.

“Uganda has been hosting South Sudanese refugees for a long time,” said Mr. John Alinaitwe, Senior Settlement Officer with Uganda’s Department of Refugees in the district. “At one time, we had four settlements, but after the CPA and independence, many of them returned to their homes and we closed three camps.”

The department, working closely with UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), began receiving refugees from Jonglei State from March to July in 2013 following conflict with rebels reportedly associated with David Yau Yau.

“Those were only about 2,000 here and 2,000 in Adjumani,” said Salome Ayikoru, UNHCR Desk Officer for Arua. “Now we have had an average of 2,500 refugees arriving daily, although the number arriving seems to be coming down.”

Despite fewer arrivals, the numbers are already so large that the government is planning to open another closed camp.

“We have always supported the South Sudanese people and we have to be prepared to receive them even now,” said Mr. Alinaitwe. “There are many challenges, but our borders will remain open to all those seeking safety.”