Uganda welcoming millions of South Sudanese refugees, earning praise of United Nations

Updated November 03, 2017 14:15:57

The African nation of Uganda is receiving praise from the United Nations for welcoming more than 1 million refugees from South Sudan, and the UN is urging other nations to follow Uganda's example and open their doors to those in need.

Every day, hundreds of refugees from South Sudan are pouring across the border into neighbouring Uganda, covered in dust as they step down from the trucks delivering them to Omugo.

The civilians escaping war and hunger in their homeland are seeking safety.

Aid workers with loud hailers direct the refugees to their temporary homes.

"It is a huge number of people and the government has been very welcoming to let people in, they have the right to work, they can move where ever they like," Carly Sheehan of the relief agency CARE said.

"It's definitely a very interesting way to respond to a refugee influx that we have not seen in too many places before."

More than a million South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Uganda.

Last year, more refugees crossed the border here than crossed the Mediterranean by boat to reach Europe.

The United Nations has described Uganda as one of the best places in the world to be a refugee.

Morish Lowuya, one of the new arrivals, worked for a radio station in the South Sudanese town of Yei.

He was forced to flee his home when armed rebels arrived.

"We heard gunshots at our neighbourhood. Then we started running to the bush," Mr Lowuya said.

"So they reached our home. They burnt everything of mine, including my documents.

"Then they killed my sister-in-law and the child of three months. They were all killed.

"They burnt even my grandfather in the house."

Rival rebel groups and government troops continue to engage in a brutal conflict in South Sudan — there is no end in sight to the bloodshed.

As a result, the South Sudanese refugees are expected to be in Uganda for several years.

The Ugandan Government is giving the new arrivals small plots of land so they can farm and feed themselves.

There has been some unrest between locals and refugees, but the Ugandan Government ensures that up to 30 per cent of the international aid goes to local communities to build roads, clinics and improve the water supply.

Sunday Anguyo is a community leader in the district of Ocea, where the local population is 31,000 — but they have welcomed more than 65,000 refugees.

"Of course people are happy. Because the refugee brought here is also helping the community within this area," Mr Anguyo said.

"They improve the water facilities and give us some access roads.

"The community is also enjoying it. And taking the safe water and the treated water in their community … because of the refugees coming here.

"No fighting here. People are just in peace."

But Uganda is warning it cannot continue to carry the refugee burden on its own.

Ms Sheehan says the international community needs to provide support.

"Absolutely, this response is hugely underfunded," she said.

"The UN has an appeal and has only received about 25 per cent of the funding it needs.

"So, while we do as much as we can as the international community, there is still lots more that needs to be done as people keep coming in."

Topics: refugees^[7], immigration^[8], community-and-society^[9], uganda^[10], south-sudan^[11]

First posted November 03, 2017 09:03:11

References

1. ^{^} Photo: More than a million South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Uganda. (ABC News: Sally Sara) (www.bing.com)
2. ^{^} Photo: Carly Sheehan says the approach in Uganda is very unique. (ABC News: Sally Sara) (www.bing.com)
3. ^{^} Photo: Morish Lowuya is a new arrival in Uganda. (ABC News: Sally Sara) (www.bing.com)
4. ^{^} Photo: Sunday Angyuo is a community leader in the district of Ocea. (ABC News: Sally Sara) (www.bing.com)
5. ^{^} Photo: A South Sudanese refugee boy catches raindrops in Impevi refugee settlement camp in northern Uganda. (Reuters: Goran Tomasevic) (www.bing.com)
6. ^{^} Photo: South Sudanese refugees wait in line in Omugo refugee settlement camp in northern Uganda. (Reuters: Goran Tomasevic) (www.bing.com)
7. ^{^} refugees (www.bing.com)
8. ^{^} immigration (www.bing.com)
9. ^{^} community-and-society (www.bing.com)
10. ^{^} uganda (www.bing.com)
11. ^{^} south-sudan (www.bing.com)