By Gift Friday
It was a journey to behold. The returnees held their breath as the lorries transporting them back home hurtled through the rugged terrain of the North. They arrived in Juba, Southern Sudan, after nearly 30 days of traveling through the wild. But they were overjoyed at having returned back to their roots, despite the energy-sapping journey that started in Kassala, on the Eastern edge of North Sudan. They were returning to Juba to vote in the referendum in which the people of Southern Sudan voted overwhelmingly for the birth of a new nation, autonomous from the North.
In an interview at the Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) office in Juba in April, one of the returnees, Martin Benjamin, 32, told the People’s Voice about his moments of joy amid a harrowing traveling experience.
“It was fear mixed with joy because as much as the journey was difficult, I was happy that I was returning home to witness the birth of a new nation,” he said. Martin was living in Kassala in Eastern Sudan, when the registration for southerners in the North started. “Since we were 5 households some were transported before the referendum around December while we remained behind,” he said. Martin and his compatriots first spent 10 days travelling from Kassala to Kosti by lorry. “Upon arrival in Kosti we spent 7 days, then started for Juba were we spent 15 days on the Nile before reaching Juba” he said.
He added that they waited 12 days along the Nile in Juba, waiting to be relocated by the concerned authorities since they did not know anybody in Juba. “We had run out of food during the long , tiring journey and had started starving when we finally arrived in Juba,” said Martin.
Having voted in the referendum, Martin now says he will never return to the North. “I have not settled down well but, I feel very relieved. I have tasted the fruit of freedom,” he explained. Martin, who is a graduate from the faculty of Natural Resource from Juba University, said he tried in vain to get employment in Khartoum. “I am happy that I am now in a country where I can be recognized. I know the government will give me a job.”
Western Equatoria State is among the states that have registered a high number of returnees since the beginning of the referendum period. The Acting Director of Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) in Western Equatoria State, James Benson, disclosed that the state is to host over 223,889 returnees from North Sudan.
Benson told the People’s Voice that the state has so far received about 254 organized returnees from the North before and after the referendum. He added that on 13th February 2011, they received about 48 returnees, who settled in Maridi, Ibba, Sambura and Nzara Counties.
He said the returnees will stay with their relatives temporarily and will then be allocated land for settlement. However, the official lamented that the government was lacking funds for transporting and resettling the returnees.
But, even as the returnees await resettlement, many of them have no regrets about returning home. Charles Luis, 29, said he was happy to get back home. “Life in the North was harsh. Here, we have enough rain, and land to cultivate,” he said. The County and local authorities have demarcated areas that will be allotted to returnees who do not have plots of land. Luis disclosed the government in the North was discriminating against Southerners. “Sometimes the northerners claimed we are not Sudanese people. Many of us who lived in Khartoum were treated like Internally Displaced Persons,” said Luis. Luis pointed out that his younger brothers are already enrolled in school thanks to support from UNICEF.
Amjima Mizere Mbia, a 35 year old mother, said she had been in Khartoum all her life and does not know of any relatives in Yambio where she is awaiting resettlement. “We were registered three times even before 2010 but, finally in January 2011 we were brought back to South Sudan. She added: “All my children died and now I am without a single child.”
Another returnee, Angelina Benjamin, 20, said she had heard of Yambio but, had never seen it because she grew up in Khartoum, but was now happy to be in Yambio.
During Sudan’s two decades of civil war which led to the loss of 2 million lives, most southerners took refuge in the North.