Feature: Uganda opens new settlement for South Sudan refugees

As the day broke on Thursday, South Sudanese refugee Joseph Okumu at Ngomoromo, a small border post in the northern Ugandan district of Lamwo, was anxiously waiting for the trip to his next destination in Uganda.

Okumu fled to Uganda about a week ago after his home town Pajok was engulfed in fighting between government troops and rebels. His family joined the over 5,000 South Sudan refugees who fled the fighting and are now at Ngomoromo.

Buses and trucks on Wednesday started transporting the refugees from the border post to a new refugee settlement in Palabek about 60 km away from the border post.

Carrying a few of their belongings like mattresses, cooking utensils, the refugees boarded the buses to create space at the already crowded border post.

They are being transported by the Ugandan government and the UN refugee agency UNHCR to the new settlement where they will be given plots of land to settle down.

"We have been transporting them to West Nile but now were are taking them to the new settlement so that we can decongest this place. Since last week we have had around 5,000 South Sudan refugees here at Ngomoromo," Joy Bamutya, a refugee officer with the Ugandan government told Xinhua.

After the 60-km bumpy and dusty ride, Okumu's family arrived at Palabek Refugee Settlement. They went through health screening and were given a hot meal.

Okumu's family will after 24 hours be given a piece of land where he will set up a tent for shelter and also cultivate.

At the settlement, there was already a beehive of activities as different families are setting up camp. Relief agencies like the UN World Food Programme are also setting up a food store.

OVERCROWDED CAMPS

The opening of Palabek Refugee Settlement followed the rapid filling up of other refugee settlements that are hosting South Sudanese refugees.

Of the over 1.5 million South Sudanese who have fled the country since fighting broke out in December 2013, over 800,000 are in Uganda.

Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement that was opened up early this year quickly filled up, making it the largest refugee camp in the world. The camp hosts over 30,000 South Sudanese refugees.

Many refugees are rushing to Uganda, which is acclaimed for its open refugee policy and where refugees are given land to settle and cultivate.

Yet the country has warned that it is at a breaking point as it does not have enough resources to accomodate the increasing number of refugees.

The country and aid agencies have called for increased international assistance but little is trickling in.

Relief agencies like the UN World Food Programme are struggling to provide food to the increasing number of refugees.

Last year, the food aid agencies reduced the food rations given to refugees who fled South Sudan earlier than 2013 so that it can be able to cater for the new arrivals.

Relief experts argue that the major global powers seem to be concentrating more on other crises in the world, for instance the Syrian crisis.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni while meeting the visiting South Sudan's First Vice President Taban Deng Gai earlier this week urged the leadership to help end the bloodshed.

"I call upon all people of South Sudan to refrain from violence. The only politically viable way is peace and dialogue to achieve development," Museveni said. Enditem