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SOUTH SUDAN / RETURNEES
STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / RETURNEES
TRT: 5:57
SOURCE: CERF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 24 JANUARY 2012, JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Wide shot, port of Juba, South Sudan with returnees seated amidst luggage
2. Med shot, South Sudan flag in port
3. Wide shot, camp
4. Med shot, woman in camp washing her feet
5. Med shot, elderly woman in camp
6. Set-up shot, 25-year-old returnee Zeina Sebit:
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zeina Sebit, South Sudanese returnee from Khartoum:
“When we were in Khartoum after the results were released - in the market and grocery stores - the Northerners used to say ‘Are you still around? When are you Southerners leaving?’ These kinds of remarks made us depressed and made us move.”
8. Wide shot, camp
9. Med shot, family sitting in camp
10. Med shot, women gathered around belongings
11. Med shot, family under tent
12. Med shot, elderly woman near her belongings
13. Med shot, children around their belongings and garbage
14. Med shot, children sitting on ground
15. Wide shot, aerial view of the River Nile
16. Wide shot, tent with IOM logo
17. Various shots, barge with people arriving in Juba Port
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Donkin, IOM staff:
“We offload all the luggage barges. We load them onto trucks, and for those returnees that are not residing in Juba but travel on to either Western Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, or one of the more northern states, we transport them on a daily basis to and from the way station.”
19. Wide shot, returnees in camp
20. Med shot, man grooming a boy
21. Med shot, woman stirring a pot by her bed
22. Wide shot, woman sitting by tent surrounded by garbage
23. Med shot, child taking water from UNICEF-provided water point
24. Various shots, men walking to UNICEF-provided latrines
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Cosmas Andruga, UNICEF staff:
”The CERF money from UNICEF covered the fencing of the latrine facilities, and it has also covered the management of this place. Which includes paying for the chemicals, for the people cleaning the latrines. The buckets and also water supply that people use every day in the latrines.”
26. Wide shot, man filling pot with water before going to latrine
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Daniel Ngemela, UNICEF staff:
“We have been pre-positioning ourselves to make sure we are ready to act if there is an increasing number of diarrhoea cases and also if there is outbreak of cholera, we’re always prepared.”
28. Wide shot, returnees’ luggage
29. Med shot, returnees in front of UNHCR bus
30. Med shot, UNHCR bus with returnees and luggage
31. Med shot, returnee Johan Abadi sitting on his luggage
32. Close up, luggage
33. SOUNDBITE (English) Johan Abadi, returnee:
“I am coming from Khartoum and I’ve been here for 15 to 18 days.”
34. Wide shot, UNHCR bus driving away
35. Med shot, Signboard UNHCR way station Juba
36. Various shots, way station with returnees with boys playing ball
37. Med shot, woman cooking
38. Close up, boy
39. Med shot, mother with children while she cooks
40. Med shot, woman smoking from a hookah
41. Med shot, woman sitting on the ground with children
42. Med shot, woman sitting with others sleeping around her and UNHCR signs behind
43. Wide shot, family sitting by their belongings
44. Med shot, children under tent playing
45. Various shots, children playing
46. SOUNDBITE (English), Hy Shelow, UNHCR:
“For example, CERF is used to drill over 110 boreholes bringing clean water to communities that didn’t have it in the past. These communities tend to have very large percentages of returnees who are coming home and placing additional burdens on already stretched infrastructure which is pre-existing there. So we try to assist with CERF money and other funding to build up those resources so that when people come back home, they’re actually seen as a benefit to the returnee host communities that they’re coming back to.”
47. Wide shot, camp
48. Various shots, Poibe Warabas walking with child
49. Wide shot, Poibe Warabas buying meat on the market
50. Wide shot, house with children
51. Wide shot, Poibe Warabas seated in front of her house
52. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Poibe Warabas, returnee in Juba:
“I was renting a house in Khartoum and I had no money. I was poor. I was poor. But now I am home and I am not going back to Khartoum because I am home now. I am so happy. There is an organization that built our houses here and I am living in one. When I was in Khartoum I was renting and poor. I will never go back to Khartoum again. I am not going back.”
53. Wide shot, camp
Hundreds of South Sudanese who fled the North after their country seceded from Sudan face new, but uncertain futures as they come through Juba, South Sudan’s new capital.
Many of these returnees say they were harassed by their neighbours after the 2011 referendum in which the population voted for South Sudan to separate from Sudan.
25-year-old Zeinab Sebit came from Khartoum with her one daughter and her family.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Zeina Sebit, South Sudanese returnee from Khartoum
“When we were in Khartoum after the results were released - in the market and grocery stores - the Northerners used to say ‘Are you still around?’ When are you Southerners leaving? These kinds of remarks made us depressed and made us move.”
Tens of thousands of South Sudanese began a perilous journey by train, bus, or barge from Khartoum and other parts of Sudan. Many travelled some 1,200 kilometres along the Nile to Juba. In 2011, a surge in the flow of returnees prompted the Central Emergency Response Fund – or CERF - to release US$23 million dollars to support the returnees through various UN agencies.
The International Organization for Migration is using a portion of the funds to provide returnees free transport for people and their belongings across the Nile.
SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Donkin, IOM staff:
“We offload all the luggage barges. We load them onto trucks, and for those returnees that are not residing in Juba but travel on to either Western Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, or one of the more northern states, we transport them on a daily basis to and from the way station.”
Depending on the day, Juba Port may harbour over 1,000 people. Many returnees start small businesses to survive, or live on food aid. But the port is not suited for prolonged stays and the United Nations Children’s Fund has used the CERF money to provide clean drinking water and sanitation for returnees.
SOUNDBITE (English) Cosmas Andruga, UNICEF staff:
”The CERF money from UNICEF covered the fencing of the latrine facilities and it has also covered the management of this place. Which includes paying for the chemicals, for the people cleaning the latrines. The buckets and also water supply that people use every day in the latrines.”
These measures have prevented potential outbreaks of cholera.
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Daniel Ngemela, UNICEF staff:
“We have been prepositioning ourselves to make sure we are ready to act if there is an increasing number of diarrhoea cases and also if there is outbreak of cholera, we’re always prepared.”
To avoid congestion at Juba Port, returnees are encouraged not to linger for long. They are transferred to a transit centre – known as a “way station.” 60-year old John Abadi has been waiting 2 weeks for his belongings, and is ready to leave.
SOUNDBITE (English) Johan Abadi, returnee:
“I am coming from Khartoum and I’ve been here for 15 to 18 days.”
UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, manages the Juba Way Station on the outskirts of the city. Here, returnees receive accommodation and hot meals, as well as basic medical assistance. All of which is funded by the CERF.
For many, the entire voyage lasts as many as 5 months and the way stations can provide a respite before the final leg of the journey home.
Reflecting on the operation, a UNHCR believes that CERF funds have made a difference, especially as many areas in which returnees settle are poorly developed.
SOUNDBITE (English), Hy Shelow, UNHCR:
“For example CERF is used to drill over 110 boreholes bringing clean water to communities that didn’t have it in the past. These communities tend to have very large percentages of returnees who are coming home and placing additional burdens on already stretched infrastructure which is pre-existing there. So we try to assist with CERF money and other funding to build up those resources so that when people come back home they’re actually seen as a benefit to the returnee host communities that they’re coming back to.”
Among the returnees is 45-year-old Poibe Barawas. She came with her family some time ago and was allocated a piece of land by a community near Juba where she feels at home. Despite drought and food shortage, she is not going back to Khartoum.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Poibe Warabas, returnee in Juba:
“I was renting a house in Khartoum and I had no money. I was poor. I was poor. But now I am home and I am not going back to Khartoum because I am home now. I am so happy. There is an organization that built our houses here and I am living in one. When I was in Khartoum I was renting and poor. I will never go back to Khartoum again. I am not going back.”
UNHCR, together with UNICEF and IOM, have helped the Government of South Sudan to relocate some 365,000 returnees from Sudan since October 2010.
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