South Sudanese return to Sudan seeking relief, but find more hardship

 

South Sudanese families who returned to Khartoum after the 2011 secession, live in a makeshift shelter in an abandoned plot of land in Bahri, Sudan, August 16, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

 

 

South Sudanese who have moved back to Sudan are finding life more difficult as the economy of their previous country collapses. They live in frail wooden and plastic tarp shelters or half-finished concrete buildings.

 

"It's quite challenging. Things are worse than they were. Neither here nor in the South, we are unable to determine what to do "stated mother of nine children Toka Ayman Agok.

 

Thousands of people migrated to South Sudan after it got independence from Sudan in 2011 following decades of strife.

 

However, after years of civil war and increasing poverty, many South Sudanese have since moved back, while others were never able to make the trip in the first place.

 

According to the U.N. refugee agency, there are more than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees in Sudan, and over 113,000 of them reside in and around Khartoum, the country's capital.

 

They struggle to get healthcare and education in their old nation since they are no longer citizens of Sudan.

 

Alissa Deng, who said she was initially able to work as a house cleaner, enroll her children in school, and rent a home, but she grew unwell and her life in the South became difficult. She claimed she couldn't find any treatment or hospitals there, so she returned to Khartoum.

 

However, Sudan's own economy has stalled and is in a worsening economic crisis since the military seized control in full in October. Inflation is approaching triple digits, and hunger is becoming worse.

 

"My landlord raised the rent to 50,000 Sudanese pounds and kicked me out ... I took my kids out of school," said Deng.

 

Illness has stopped the widow and mother of five from working, and with little source of income she was forced to move in with relatives on an abandoned plot of land in the city of Bahri, which adjoins Khartoum.

 

Rights groups have long advocated that South Sudanese have their rights as Sudanese citizens restored. Attempts to improve their lot have stalled, while most depend on aid groups for cash or food as well as help accessing education.

 

Source: Reuters