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UN expert decries plight of displaced South Sudanese

Xinhua, May 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Chaloka Beyani, has lamented the humanitarian situation in camps hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Sudan.

Beyani told journalists in Juba, capital of South Sudan, late Thursday that the IDP situation in South Sudan was unique and challenging, and called on the authorities to address their plight.

"This is the only place in the world where we have IDPs in camps under the Protection of Civilian (POC) sites," he said.

UN figures show about 200,000 people live in POC sites in South Sudan, which is about 14 percent of the 2.3 million people displaced by more than two years of civil war in the country.

Beyani said a timeline for the IDPs to return home had not yet been set.

"We need to do a survey, go back to where these people moved from and find out if others are occupying them. If they are occupied then those occupying them must leave. The IDPs have to feel safe first to move out of the camps," Beyani said.

"You cannot go back to nothing, you have to put measures in place for these people first," he added.

Beyani also cautioned the resettlement process should be treated as a humanitarian issue to avoid politicians meddling in it.

South Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013 after President Salva Kiir fell out with his former deputy Riek Machar, who later formed a rebel force. Tens of thousands have been killed in the violence.

An agreement signed between the two sides last August under UN pressure brought Machar back to Juba last week. He has taken up his old post as First Vice President, with the formation of a transitional government of national unity led by Kiir under way.

The UN special rapporteur's remarks came after the UN Security Council called on the unity government to urgently remove impediments on the ground to the delivery of humanitarian assistance as there are 2.5 million people displaced from their homes and 6.1 million people in need of aid.

The UN Security Council also urged the unity government to allow the free movement of the UN Mission in South Sudan to exercise its mandate, including protection of civilians and investigation of human rights violations. Endit