- The Ugandan government now has succeeded in relocating half of the 16,000 Sudanese refugees to a camp close to the Sudanese border after the controversial operation got off to a violent start earlier this month. The government still claims nobody was killed as refugees earlier violently protested their transfer to an allegedly unsafe area.
The large number of Sudanese refugees last year had been temporarily relocated to a camp in central Uganda after an attack by the brutal Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. Over 50 refugees had been killed in the attack. The Kiryandongo camp however is overcrowded and cannot host this large number of refugees, and Ugandan authorities decided to relocate them again to two new sites in the West Nile region - Madi Okollo, a former refugee camp that has been recently rehabilitated, and Ikafe.
The decision to relocate the refugees to the West Nile region - which is close to the conflict area - immediately caused protest among the refugees and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. In April this year, Ugandan authorities asked the UNHCR representative in the country, Saihou Saidy, to leave after he had raised concern over the security situation in Madi Okello and Ikafe.
Ugandan authorities and UNHCR, after the departure of Mr Saidy, later agreed on the necessity to relocate the Sudanese refugees. The operation, which was led by Ugandan security forces, however met growing resistance among refugees in the Kiryandongo camp.
The start of the current transfer was blighted by violent clashes between Ugandan security personnel and stone-throwing refugee youths who were objecting to the location of their proposed new home. Reports that three refugees died in the clashes are still denied by Ugandan authorities.
According to eyewitness reports from Kiryandongo camp, Ugandan police entered the camp at night, started shooting in the air and used tear gas. Refugees unwilling to relocate allegedly were arrested and the refugees' huts were set afire as soon as they were vacated.
The Ugandan government has strongly rejected these reports and claims that the relocation was organised on voluntary terms. However, only on 4 September, after the tense situation in Kiryandongo had calmed down, UNHCR officials received government authorisation to enter the camp for the first time since the operation began.
During their visit, UNHCR officials found thousands of refugees living under makeshift shelters as they awaited their turn on the daily relocation convoys taking them up north - a 30-hour drive by truck. Many refugee families were sheltering under plastic sheeting and other rudimentary structures in conditions that had been made more difficult by the onset of the short rainy season. In addition, the section of the camp hosting the waiting refugees was extremely congested, the agency said.
The UNHCR team also visited the health centre in the camp where they saw four refugees who were injured by rubber bullets during the fracas which marked the start of the relocation operation. The agency's staff also visited the prison at Kiryandongo where 25 refugees are being held on charges including disobedience of lawful order, causing malicious damage to property and carrying arms in public.
Meanwhile, Ugandan authorities have regained total control over the relocation operation. UNCHR yesterday reported that more than half the 16,000 Sudanese refugees have now been successfully transported to the new camps. "The relocation exercise is expected to be completed within the next few days," UNHCR said.
In the West Nile region, where the refugees now are arriving, the security situation currently is reported to be acceptable. Since 1999, the formerly war-ravaged region has experienced relative tranquillity and most of the area's displaced people have returned to their homes.
The temporary fraternity between Ugandan and Sudanese authorities - which had fought conflicts in Southern Sudan and the West Nile region - allowed Kampala to take firm control of the region. As Khartoum-Kampala relations again are turning sour, there are however new reports that Sudan is again providing weapons to Ugandan rebels, raising concerns over the fragile situation in West Nile.
While the Ugandan government claims the LRA leadership has crossed back into Southern Sudan to acquire supplies, the Sudanese government strongly denies the charges. The LRA rebels however have stepped up their terror campaign against Ugandan civilians this year and are closing in on the West Nile region.
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