South Sudan’s president has urged more than two million refugees in the country to return home in his first meeting with the displaced since civil war broke out almost a decade ago.
President Salva Kiir’s appeal on Wednesday came as the country prepares to hold its first elections since independence from Sudan in 2011. South Sudan’s postponed elections are scheduled for December 2024.
South Sudan is still suffering from a five-year civil war that broke out in late 2013, killing hundreds of thousands and ending with a peace deal in 2018. For a time, fleeing South Sudanese formed the world’s largest refugee camp in neighboring Uganda.
Also, read; Iconic West African Leader Sankara Reburied in Burkina Faso
The President’s meeting came two weeks after Pope Francis’ visit to the capital Juba, where he met with displaced people from South Sudan and called for lasting peace.
“As the implementation of the peace nears the final phase where elections will end the transition period, the repatriation of our people from camps in neighboring countries must be high on our agenda,” Kiir said.
The President assured the safety of the returnees and appealed to international partners to support the government in reintegrating the returnees.
“For those who choose to return to their usual places of residence, the government will provide security,” Kiir said. He said those unable to return to their home communities will be given land in countries where there are camps for displaced people.
