VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKH #0639/01 0701007
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111007Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1863

UNCLAS KHARTOUM 000639 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W 
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AF/EA, DCHA 
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS 
USMISSION UN ROME 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
NAIROBI FOR SFO 
NSC FOR JMELINE, TSHORTLEY 
USUN FOR TMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI KAWC SU
SUBJECT: RETURNEES ARRIVING IN HUGE NUMBERS TO WESTERN 
BAHR EL GHAZAL, NORTHERN BAHR EL GHAZAL, AND UNITY STATES 
 
REF:  a) Khartoum 0620,  b) Khartoum 0637 
 
------------------- 
Summary and Comment 
------------------- 
 
¶1.  The USAID/Khartoum Senior Humanitarian Advisor and 
Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Specialist visited 
Unity State from February 19 to 23 to review the IDP 
returns situation and examine sources of fragility.  As 
reported reftels, the USAID Khartoum IDP Specialist also 
traveled with a USAID Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and 
Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/DCHA) team to Western and 
Northern Bahr el Ghazal States for the same purpose from 
February 23 to 28. 
 
¶2.  All states visited have established and maintained a 
Sustainable Returns Taskforce, which includes 
stakeholders involved with IDP and returns issues. 
However, the monitoring and tracking systems were not 
functional due the failure of the Sudan Relief and 
Rehabilitation Commission (SRRC) to release the funds for 
field implementation of the project. 
 
¶3.  Spontaneous returns continue, especially to Unity and 
Northern Bahr el Ghazal States, despite the critical lack 
of basic services and poor roads.  Many returnees have 
chosen to stay somewhere close to home if home is not 
ready, creating new large villages or swelling towns that 
could be sanitation and public health hazards during the 
rainy season.  End summary and comment. 
 
---------- 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶4.  From February 19 to 23, a USAID/DCHA mission from 
Khartoum visited Unity State to investigate reports of an 
influx of returnees to the area and to examine sources of 
fragility in the state.  The visit was part of a series 
of USAID/DCHA assessments to determine how USAID/DCHA 
programs might provide a stabilizing environment in 
support of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).  A 
USAID/DCHA team from the southern sector also visited 
Northern Bahr el Ghazal and Western Bahr el Ghazal States 
from February 23 to 28.  This cable complements the 
fragility analyses, focusing specifically on IDP 
movements and intentions. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
IDP/Returns Tracking and Monitoring Issues 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  Unity State has long been the battlefield for 
 
militias, the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), 
and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).  The state's vast 
oil reserves have been a major contributing factor to 
continuous war and instability.  Following the signing of 
the CPA, significant changes have begun with the 
disarmament and merging of militia groups, arrival of 
returnees, and increased freedom of movement. 
 
¶6.  In the Unity State, the influx of returnees is quite 
visible.  According to the U.N. Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 40,000 
returnees arrived between May 2005 and January 2006. 
Roads from Khartoum through Southern Kordofan are 
passable during the dry season, especially to the 
northern parts of the state.  Abyomnom (Mayom County) and 
Pariang (Pariang County) are the two primary receiving 
points for returnees.  Most of the returnees intend to 
continue to other parts of the state, but the poor road 
conditions and the presence of landmines complicate the 
journey.  Heavy forest now covers some roads that have 
hardly seen traffic during the past 20 years. 
 
¶7.  The SRRC, OCHA, and the international non- 
governmental organization (NGO) CARE have established and 
operated a monitoring and tracking system for registering 
returnees in the state.  In addition, a Sustainable 
Returns Team has also been functional with assistance 
from OCHA.  However, the tracking system no longer 
 
functions because the enumerators and field protection 
monitors have not received payment for eight months and 
have stopped working.  OCHA has been responsible for 
paying the enumerators.  U.N. World Food Program (WFP) 
distribution figures indicate that the IDP population for 
Bentiu and Rubkona is approximately 95,000. 
 
¶8.  The International Organization for Migration (IOM) 
plans to establish a way station in the vicinity of 
Bentiu town, although most humanitarian agencies on the 
ground preferred the way station to be placed farther 
north in Kharasana.  State officials sought to avoid this 
site, claiming it to be a contested area (along with the 
Heglig oilfield) that lies within Southern Kordofan 
borders, according to current U.N. maps. 
 
¶9.  In Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Aweil, Northern 
Bahr el Ghazal, each state's Sustainable Returns Team is 
meeting regularly and sharing information; however, the 
monitoring and tracking systems are not functioning also 
due to the lack of funding. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
IDP/Returns Situation in Wau and Aweil 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  Five IDP camps surround Wau.  Although the SRRC 
estimates the number of IDPs living in and around Wau to 
be 52,000 people, U.N. agencies use a figure of 31,000. 
The IDPs are mostly Dinka from neighboring Warap and 
Lakes States, and some are from the Raja area.  IDPs in 
the camps mainly depend on selling charcoal and firewood, 
cutting grass, and doing casual work in the market to 
earn a living.  USAID partners CARE and the International 
Rescue Committee (IRC) helped establish community centers 
and trained IDP women on income-generating activities. 
 
¶11.  IDPs have indicated a willingness to remain in Wau 
and Aweil unless services improve in areas to which the 
IDPs hope to return.  A group of more than 600 returnees 
predominantly from the Dinka tribe traveled from Western 
Equatoria and arrived in Wau during late January.  The 
group initially planned to reach Warap State, but has 
decided to stay in Wau in an area called Majak.  NGOs and 
U.N. agencies provided food and other services to the 
group, who claimed the poor services and inter-tribal 
clashes in Warap have forced them to stay longer in Wau. 
(Comment:  Some interlocutors suspected that the Dinka 
want to build a presence in Wau town to counterbalance 
the Fertits and other tribes.  End comment.) 
 
¶12.  In a visit to Eastern Bank camp, the main IDP camp 
in Wau, the USAID IDP Specialist interviewed some IDP 
families who said they would stay in Wau even if the 
humanitarian community offered a return package and 
transportation.  IDPs expressed concern over the floods 
and droughts that have affected Lakes and Warap States in 
recent years and caused poor harvests.  One of IDPs 
stated, "People are still coming from Warap.  Why do you 
want us to go there?"  During a recent visit, the SRRC 
commissioner tasked the SRRC Wau director with leading 
the process to devise a state plan for IDP return and 
reintegration.  The SRRC office in Wau will soon have 
three branch offices in the three Western Bahr el Ghazal 
State counties. 
 
¶13.  In Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, conditions are 
similar.  Since the onset of the dry season in October, 
returnees from Darfur and Khartoum have arrived in Aweil. 
Based on a February assessment, SRRC estimates that there 
are 6,200 vulnerable persons in Aweil, including 2,100 
returnees. 
 
¶14.  Aweil has two small IDP camps with an estimated 
total population of 4,500.  The main camp, Koum, is 
located seven kilometers outside Aweil town and includes 
a permanent USAID-funded IRC health center, a water 
point, and a huge base for brickmaking, an income- 
generating activity for IDPs.  During discussions with 
USAID representatives, IDPs indicated a preference to 
remain in the area, which has good farmland.  No figures 
are available on the number of returnees, despite the 
 
influx from the North and South Darfur.  Returnees coming 
from South Darfur use Al Deain-Gok-Machar route, and 
those coming from Khartoum use Moglad-Warawar route. 
 
¶15.  Although humanitarian capacity is Aweil is weak, it 
should improve, as more agencies are planning to move to 
town.  Local authorities have endorsed IOM plans to 
establish a way station at Warawar to assist returnees. 
IRC, WFP, OCHA, and the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) are 
present in Aweil town.  Other humanitarian agencies are 
present in areas previously held by the SPLM. 
 
--------------- 
Recommendations 
--------------- 
 
¶16.  Enuerators and field monitors need to be paid 
regularly to ensure the tracking and monitoring system 
does not fall apart. The system is only useful if it is 
consistent. This information needs to be fed regularly 
into the Sustainable Returns teams and used as a planning 
tool for provision of services in areas of return. 
 
¶17.  Provision of basic services in places of arrival for 
returnees should be treated as top priority. The 
availability of services proved to be a key factor 
affecting the decision of returnees to go home or not. 
Even those who decided to go home are waiting at another 
gathering point that is not their final destination, 
until services are available. 
 
¶18.  As reported reftels, a community-based approach must 
be adopted in order to focus on the most vulnerable 
populations regardless of their status (displaced, 
returnee, or resident) to avoid generating unintended 
inequities and conflict. 
 
WHITAKER