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SOUTH SUDAN / DISPLACED RETURN
STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / DISPLACED RETURN
TRT: 03:40
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 07 JUNE 2019, JUBA, YAUI, SOUTH SUDAN
07 JUNE 2019, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shots, internally displaced persons boarding bus and waving goodbye
2. Various shots, internally displace persons boarding helicopter
07 JUNE 2019, YUAI, SOUTH SUDAN
3. Various shots, helicopter landing and internally displaced persons cheering
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Internally displaced person:
“I had wanted to come here since last year but couldn’t make it, now I thank God that am here in Yuai with my children. I believe that my suffering is finally over.”
5. Various shots, internally displaced persons at Yuai air strip
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Internally displaced person:
“I thank UN for the six years they have been hosting us in the Protection of Civilians site from 2013 to 2019. It is good work that they have protected victims until we reach the point where we can survive on our own.”
7. Various shots, Yaui air strip
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Kevin Mutua Mutune, UNMISS Relief, Reintegration and Protection officer:
“By sending them back to the environment that they love with their relatives, that is also a way of providing protection. They are moving from a situation where is like, you know, you’ve seen a POC, it’s like you’re locked in. But when they go back home, they are now free to do things like cultivation, farming, fishing, business, even some people will go back to school, so we are trying facilitate them to move on with their life.”
9. Various shots, internally displaced persons at Yuai air strip
With a reduction in violence following the signing of a new peace agreement in South Sudan, many families now have the confidence to return to their homes.
They begin their long journey just after dawn, packing up their meagre belongings, waving goodbye to their friends, and travelling to the UN’s air terminal to catch a flight home.
Five helicopters headed out one after the other, ferrying 86 displaced people – mostly women and children – to Yuai, in the Jonglei region of South Sudan. They are welcomed by friends and family who they have not seen for years.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Internally displaced person:
“I had wanted to come here since last year but couldn’t make it, now I thank God that am here in Yuai with my children. I believe that my suffering is finally over.”
More than 3,000 people who had sought sanctuary in UN protection sites during the conflict have expressed their desire to return home. It is a major logistical exercise involving UNMISS and humanitarian partners, including UNHCR which is the agency leading the process.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Internally displaced person:
“I thank UN for the six years they have been hosting us in the Protection of Civilians site from 2013 to 2019. It is good work that they have protected victims until we reach the point where we can survive on our own.”
It is a rewarding experience for the UN peacekeepers too as they witness the safe return of the families they have supported and kept safe since civil war erupted in 2013.
SOUNDBITE (English) Kevin Mutua Mutune, UNMISS Relief, Reintegration and Protection officer:
“By sending them back to the environment that they love with their relatives, that is also a way of providing protection. They are moving from a situation where is like, you know, you’ve seen a POC, it’s like you’re locked in. But when they go back home, they are now free to do things like cultivation, farming, fishing, business, even some people will go back to school, so we are trying facilitate them to move on with their life.”
This group of 86 returnees represents just a few of the millions of refugees and displaced families who are beginning their journey home as peace spreads across the country and the brighter and more prosperous future they’ve been dreaming of finally becomes a reality.
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