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Kenya: Refugees Camping in Uganda Grapple With Hard Choices
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The Nation (Nairobi)
11 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Nairobi
They were thrown out onto foreign soil by fellow compatriots in a tragic twist of fate that was the post-election violence. They have endured months of suffering, living miserably in refugee camps far away from their country. But even after relative calm returned, the lot is unwilling to come back home yet. They feel strongly that what they always called home is not ready to receive them back.
These are the slightly more than 2,000 Kenyans who took refuge in Uganda in the face of the crisis that nearly crippled the country at the beginning of the year, leaving more than 1,500 dead and over 350,000 displaced in its fatal wake.
Eight-bus convoy
The UN refugee agency has now completed the transfer of the refugees from a transit centre in eastern Uganda near the border with Kenya to Kiryandongo refugee settlement in Masindi district in the west.
Both the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and refugee representatives told the Sunday Nation that they were not ready to relocate back home since they feel the environment is still not right.
An eight-bus convoy carrying the first group of some 460 refugees left Mulanda transit centre in eastern Uganda on Monday morning for the nine-hour journey to Kiryandongo, 620 kilometres away. The relocation exercise is expected to be completed on Thursday.
The second group of 512 refugees left Mulanda on Tuesday aboard eight buses for their journey to the west. They will be hosted at Kiryandongo, a long established settlement which was built for refugees fleeing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Sudan.
However, another group of some 200 refugees who have signed up for voluntary return to their homes in Kenya were be transported home on Friday.
Tears of joy
In Busia, hundreds of residents turned up at the police station to receive relatives who had fled to Mulanda. Tears of joy flowed freely as the relatives reunited after four months.
Three buses carrying 132 Kenyan refugees arrived at the Busia border point at 2.45 pm and after clearance on the Ugandan side the refuges led by UNHCR officials entered the "no man's land".
On the Ugandan's side, the refuges were given ripe bananas as they left.
On the Kenyans side the refuges were scrutinised for almost two hours by security officer. Finally at 4.35pm, they were allowed to enter the Kenyan soil and driven to Busia police station to join other 400 IDPs who have been camping there.
There was no government official at hand to receive the returnees except UNHCR Kenya spokesman Emmanuel Nyabera and other staff.
"We wish them well as the refuges are having some basic necessities to start their live and it's our prayer that the Kenyan government will support them," Mr Nyabera said.
Declining to go home
Busia police boss Paul Kariuki assured them of their security at the camp with most of the refuges saying that they will be leaving the camp soon for their homes.
But even as the 132 returned to the country, more than 400 IDPs were still holed up in the Busia police station where they had been camping from December last year, casting doubts on whether the programme would be successful.
Early this week, the government launched a programme in which it aims at resettling all the IDPs but the move has in some cases hit a snag with some of the victims declining to go back home, for fear of insecurity or demanding compensation before they move.
Kenya's High Commissioner Japheth Getugi accompanied a Ugandan government delegation to hand over 339 refugees displaced during post election violence to Kenyan authorities in Teso district at the Kenya-Uganda Border on Friday.
Mr Getugi added that the 339 refugees were not forced but voluntarily accepted to return home following the formation of coalition government.
Mother of ten
Ms Margaret Wangare a mother of ten and a refugee who talked to Nation said they were not forced by the Uganda authority to return into the country but were motivated by commitment of the coalition government to the coalition agenda.
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Mulanda is a temporary facility without basic social amenities. The transfer to Kiryandongo will ensure that displaced children can go to school and families have better health care, said Stefano Severe, UNHCR's Representative in Uganda. He added that the refugee settlement has adequate room which has been vacated by Sudanese refugees who have returned home.
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