Uganda struggles with the continued influx of refugees from South Sudan

When the ethnic war playing out in South Sudan between President Salva Kiir and his then deputy, Dr Riek Machar, resumed in early July 2016, between 2 000 and 2 500 refugees were being registered daily at Elegu border in Adjumani district in the first two weeks from 8 July onwards. Although the daily influx has steadily lessened, the Ugandan government is afraid that the refugee population might exceed the native population, especially in Adjumani, where refugees are being hosted in 19 settlements.

In an interview with This Is Africa recently, Titus Jogo, the Refugee Desk officer in charge of the Adjumani, Koboko and Yumbe districts, revealed that the 2014 Uganda National Population Census put the number of Ugandans in the Adjumani district at 210 000. By 20 August, the refugee population in Adjumani had also reached 210 000. With a daily influx of between 200 and 300 refugees across the Elegu border, the implication is that Ugandans could become the minority in their homeland.

“From 1 July, the total number of new arrivals stands at over 50 000 and we are still receiving more on a daily basis,” Jogo told us on 20 July. “We have sent about 13 000 refugees to Yumbe, while others enter across the Olaba border. The numbers keep increasing.”

Inadequate food a concern

Since 15 December 2013, more than 30 humanitarian organisations have been responding to the refugee crisis, which was caused when tensions between factions loyal to President Kiir of the Dinka ethnic group and those aligned with Machar of the Nuer ethnic group exploded into fighting in Juba, the capital city.

Uganda showed hospitality to the many innocent people who were running away from the bloodshed. Jogo explained that the provision of food to the refugees is the role of the World Food Programme (WFP). Every month, each refugee gets 13kg of maize or sorghum seeds, 6kg of beans, and about 8g of cooking oil. He said that, according to WFP, the above food ration was  enough for one person to survive for a month. However, when This Is Africa went to visit Pagirinya, a new settlement in Adjumani, most of the refugees reported the same challenge: not enough food.

“Recently, we were told that the food we receive was going to be reduced by 50%,” said Yar Joi Ajak, a refugee and mother of two. She explained that even the food they had been receiving was not enough, and that they had to sell some of the grain to have it milled. Her situation was similar to that of refugees at Ayilo II refugee settlement, who had earlier reported that they sold donated food to access other services and to buy non-food items.

Jogo told us that the food cut was temporary and would last until end of August 2016. He said it would not affect the new arrivals. “It is only going to affect refugees who came before 1 July [because] the WFP cannot supply all the food we require for the entire Uganda,” Jogo said.

On 18 August one of the local newspapers reported that, according to the United Nations High Commission for the Refugees, the decision to reduce the food rations came as the result of low levels of funding. Ironically, a commissioner in the office of the Prime Minister, David Apollo Kazungu, is reported to have said that Uganda could host an additional 300 000 refugees without exhausting the country’s capacity.

Commenting on the food cut, the acting WFP country director, Mike Sackett, said: “We have done everything we can to avoid this but we have been left with no option but to reduce food assistance for many of the refugees in Uganda in order to stretch available resources and prioritise the most vulnerable new arrivals.”

New settlements opened

To counter the competing numbers in Adjumani, the Office of the Prime Minister opened up new settlements in Yumbe, a district that neighbours Adjumani and South Sudan. Jogo told This Is Africa that the first attempt to transfer refugees from Nyumanzi reception centre to Yumbe was met with rejection. Most refugees argued that they preferred Adjumani since they could speak the native language, Ma’adi.

“We don’t force anybody,” Jogo told us. “We have strategies and plans and we know how to implement them as far as refugee protection and management is concerned. We are also aware that it will have implications if the population of refugees in Adjumani outnumbers the population of the host community.”

One of the implications hinted at is the environment, because a large number of trees is being cut down to clear land for settlements. Trees are also chopped down to provide materials for constructing temporary homes.

Jogo has a piece of counsel for the dissatisfied groups: “Refugees are guests in this country. We have plans, strategies and guidelines for managing their protection. It’s as if you have a visitor in your home but this visitor dictates what to eat or where to sleep. As our visitors, we expect them to abide by our strategies and plans. We respect the rights of the refugees but they also have the obligation to understand and abide by the plans we have made for them.” He added that the government would continue to engage with refugees so that they can appreciate the situation they are in.

Appeal to donors

The government of Uganda, through the Office of the Prime Minister, the UN Refugee Agency and the WFP have appealed to donors to urgently speed up contributions to the humanitarian response because the situation is getting out of hand. The WFP requires approximately USD7 million every month and about USD20 million is required to restore full food rations to the refugees for the rest of the year.

This also comes after the Danish Refugee Council warned last month that the refugee situation in northern Uganda could become “catastrophic” unless more support was given to contain the asylum seekers from South Sudan.