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IDP
Resettlement - Vulnerable People Stuck in Camps By Aidah Nanyonjo,
New Vision ( July 11, 2007 Seated
at the entrance of her hut in Agweng internally displaced people's (IDP)
camp, Jane Sinyola, 68, looks puzzled; she does not know how her future
will be. She is so desperate that she thinks everyone who goes to her hut
is out to help her. Sinyola
is among the 22,500
people formerly living in Agweng camp in Lira district. They fled to the
camp due to the insecurity caused by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
rebels in northern Since
the introduction of the resettlement programme by the Government last
year, many
IDPs have returned to their homes. However, Sinyola is still stuck in the
camp because of her inability to construct a house when she goes back
home. She
came to the camp when the rebels attacked Orit, her village, in 2002. She
lost most of her relatives, including her five children, due to the
insurgency. According
to a report by the Christian
Children's Fund, 92% of the population in Agweng camp has returned home.
As a result, many huts and latrines have been left open, posing a health
hazard. The
report says 5% of the people living in the camp are vulnerable. Sinyola
adopted a 10-year-old boy, who was once kidnapped by the LRA, but failed
to trace his biological parents on return. The boy helps her with house
chores. In
February, the World Food Programme stopped supplying food to the camp and
since then, Sinyola has been depending on handouts from well-wishers.
Sinyola is willing to return home if someone constructs a house for her.
There are others who have decided to stay in camps because they cannot
trace their villages. Musa
Ecweru, the state minister for disaster preparedness, says the
resettlement programme is challenged by the overwhelming number of
vulnerable people, especially the children and elderly, who cannot
construct houses for themselves. He
says the ministry plans to put in place a programme to resettle the
elderly and orphans. "After
resettling the able-bodied people, we shall draw up a programme for the
extremely vulnerable individuals," Ecweru said. The
minister was touring Lira, Pader, Gulu and Katakwi districts recently. People
who agree to return home are given resettlement kits. These include farm
tools, seeds and iron sheets. For
the last 20 years, the Government and NGOs have been focusing on improving
the livelihood of the displaced people in camps, but it has shifted to
delivering services to the areas where the people are resettling. "These
people have been in the camps for more than 20 years. Their homes have
turned into bushes, without roads, schools and hospitals. The unfriendly
environment in their home villages has made some to have one leg in the
camp and another in the villages," Ecweru says. The
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has started a
return-monitoring group to study the livelihoods of the returnees. The
group comprises the local people, who are conversant with the local
languages. George
Swimmer, the field officer in charge of security in Lira district, says
the Police has been equipped with bicycles and phones to ease
communication.
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