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South Sudan, decrease in violence provides a sigh of relief

Map of South Sudan. Map of South Sudan. Photo by PeterHermesFurian on iStock

09 June 2021

Signs of improvement  in Greater Pibor, South Sudan have allowed for some IDPs to return home.

After an unprecedented amount of armed violence in the Greater Pibor Administrative area in recent months, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported promising news. According to IOM South Sudan, most of the armed groups that were wreaking havoc in the region have fled north and ceased open conflict. The amount of chaos in the last three months alone, created a severe rise in internally displaced populations (IDPs), with thousands of women and children, alongside terrified families, being forced to leave their villages and neighboring towns. Between May 7th and May 13th, the IOM estimated that around 20,000 people within Greater Pibor were forced to flee due to the violence. Luckily, however, the situation has improved dramatically within the last month.

The decrease in hostilities has permitted thousands of affected families to gradually return home. Some of these people will be able to resume their daily activities while others will be returning to destroyed homes, businesses and lives. To assist in the process, the IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) has actively monitored the homecoming of those returning from displacement sites within Pibor town. It’s reported that out of the 7,015 IDPs estimated across nine sites on May 23rd, only 820 remained on May 31st. Furthermore, displacement centers like Pibor Boys Primary School, the Special Action for Life Transformation (SALT) and Livewell compounds no longer host any IDPs. 

Most of the IDPs who were sheltering at these locations have now returned to their native town of Gumruk, while a smaller portion joined their relatives in their host communities or simply moved to Kundako and Lukurnyang. IOM South Sudan will continue to monitor the situation in Greater Pibor to ensure a smooth transition into normalcy and awareness of any future flare-ups. Nonetheless, the international community must strive to enhance the efforts of organizations like IOM so that the most vulnerable populations can attain the assistance they so desperately need.

 

Sources: 

https://reliefweb.int/report/south-sudan/iom-south-sudan-response-displaced-idps-pibor-flash-report-update-2-24-31-may 

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/south-sudan

 

Author: Sergio Gomez; Editor:Xavier Atkins

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