- Title: UGANDA: Milions of displaced people in Northern Uganda urged to return home
- Date: 2nd March 2007
- Summary: (AD1) AGWENG, UGANDA (RECENT) (REUTERS) SANTA ADONG COUGHING INSIDE HER HUT ADONG ARRANGING STICKS IN FIREPLACE VARIOUS OF PASSAGE THROUGH HUTS AND PEOPLE APPROACHING VARIOUS OF ADONG'S FAMILY OUTSIDE HUT VARIOUS OF ADONG LEAVING HER HUT VARIOUS OF BUILDING HUTS ROOF TOP VARIOUS OF ADONG'S FAMILY PICKING COTTON, CLEARING WEEDS AND CUTTING LEAVES FROM TREES ADONG'S FAMILY
- Embargoed: 17th March 2007 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Uganda
- Country: Uganda
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9D6N7VU6EMDTNH8AMW16V46IV
- Story Text: For almost a decade, nearly 2 million people have been confined to camps in Northern Uganda due to the government's conflict with the rebel Lord Resistance Army (LRA). But now the curfew has been lifted and camps for the displaced are being closed. The government of Uganda has told people to go back to their villages. But, talks between the government and the LRA have recently stalled, making people nervous to leave the camps.
Santa Adong is trying to keep her spirits up. She has spent nearly a decade confined in a camp for the displaced in northern Uganda. But now, rumours abound that the camps will soon be closed.
The Ugandan government has finally lifted the curfew it had placed on the area for years due to a 20-year war with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army or LRA. The LRA are notorious for cruel attacks on civilians: bludgeoning people to death, mutilating victims and abducting thousands of children to use as fighters and sex-slaves.
But last year's peace talks were credible enough for the government to begin urging the 1.7 million people living in these camps to return home. Santa is eager to leave; the camps are filthy, congested, and have some of the highest HIV-AIDS rates in the world. Santa is one of those suffering from AIDS. And like most people here, she is unemployed and dependent on handouts.
"There is nothing enjoyable about living in this camp and I feel like I want to go back, there are a lot of changes that have taken place here. I can't have control over my family, I can't enjoy my home any more, and I feel I want to go back to my village."
Many of the camps' residents have made reconnaissance trips to check on the houses and fields they abandoned. Some have even begun to rebuild and repair their homes.
Santa's family is treading a bit more carefully. They are building a house and preparing a field just outside the camp.
But the LRA pulled out of peace talks with the government in south Sudan's capital Juba last month, citing security fears after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir threatened to "get rid of the LRA from Sudan".
They have refused to resume talks unless another venue outside Sudan is found, a request Kampala rejects as a time-wasting tactic. The truce that was agreed last year expired on Wednesday (Feb 28).
While touring the north to encourage people to go home, President Yoweri Museveni warned that military operations against the LRA are still possible.
"The return back home is irreversible irrespective of what happens with the peace talks. This is because of the army, the army is now more capable, more stronger, we have spent more money on the army since 2002. So the army will guarantee the safety of the people," Museveni said.
Analysts say Museveni has had little faith in the peace process, but sees that it might be the only way out of a costly war that has tarnished Uganda's international image. 219 million dollars in aid was given to Uganda last year.
Aid agencies fear the resumption of one of Africa's longest wars and renewed humanitarian catastrophe.
"Our humanitarian imperative tells us that we have to assist people and humanitarian assistance should follow the population, an ideal end result would be people back home cultivating their fields and re-establishing their livelihoods," said Morten Peterson, who works for the European Commission's Department of Humanitarian Aid.
Working together with the UN refugee agency the European Commission has funded several programs to encourage people to go home. Tools are being handed out to help people clear land and rebuild.
For more than a decade, the north was patrolled solely by the military. Now civilian police are being deployed to keep the peace, a tough challenge in places where social structures have broken down under the years of violence and encampment. Bicycles and hand radios have also been distributed to help the police cope.
"The police have a challenge; to be present where we have not been, and we have to get ourselves there," said Julius Odwe, Police Superintendent for Lira District in northern Uganda.
But despite these overtures, it doesn't seem like people are ready to fully commit themselves to life outside the camps until the LRA problem is resolved for good.
"I do come here every day to check on my land, on my gardens, I constructed a small hut in preparation for my return, I'm still in the camp, I'm not very sure of the security, I'm still here, and the rest of the people, waiting for the feedback from peace talks," says Galdino Adong, Santa's husband.
Until that happens, people here will have nothing but their hopes and dreams to hold on to as they wait for the next chapter in the tragic 20-year story of northern Uganda. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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