South Sudan: Refugees Seek Protection in Uganda and a Way Home

The independence of South Sudan symbolised a moment of extraordinary achievement and hope. On the one hand, there was optimism that independence had heralded a new era of equal citizenship for those in the South that would override the tensions and divisions of the old Sudan.

On the other, this optimism was always countered by a strong degree of realism: many feared that the new dispensation would simply reconfigure the lines of power and reinforce the history of exclusion that lay at the root of Sudan's fragmentation.

The recent escalation of conflict, which has led to the displacement of almost a million people, appears to be a clear indicator of an emerging state based on exclusion rather than inclusion.

The International Refugee Rights Initiative has just released a report^[1] focusing on the plight of those who have fled the recent outbreak of conflict and are now living as refugees in Uganda's Adjumani district, close to the border with South Sudan.

Although by no means representative of the views of those impacted by the violence as a whole, their views give insight not only into the current circumstances in which many are now living, but also into the causes and dynamics of the conflict.

In the case of the former, this influx of refugees into northern Uganda has echoes of the previous war between the Sudanese government in Khartoum and a number of rebel groups across the country, which forced hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees to live in a situation of protracted exile.

Most of those who were interviewed for this report had been displaced at least once before, and their (re)displacement points to the tragedy that is being played out for those who had returned with hope to South Sudan leading up to and after independence.

Although even at the time of return there was strong realism about the fragile process of state-building that was underway, (see report^[2])  there was also optimism that the creation of South Sudan might give them the opportunity, as citizens of this new state, to construct legitimate spaces for belonging in the place that so many had called "home" for decades in exile.

Recent events, however, have undermined this hope and the stories and images of their (re)displacement create a terrible sense of déjà vu.

References

1. ^{^} a report (www.refugee-rights.org)
2. ^{^} see report (www.unhcr.org)