UN says 1.4 million refugees returned to South Sudan in 5 years

Juba: More than 1.4 million South Sudanese refugees have returned home between the signing of a revitalised peace agreement in October 2018 and May 31, 2024, the UN refugee agency said.

There are 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees in the region, including in Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic, as of May 31, according to a joint report released on Friday by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC).

Uganda is hosting the highest number of South Sudanese refugees, at 939,538, followed by Sudan, 668,847; Ethiopia, 422,107; Kenya, 181,963; the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 53,621; and the Central African Republic, 2,813, the report said.

The UNHCR said the most cited reasons for returning home from the countries of asylum included reunion with family members, improvement of the security situation in South Sudan, and to assess land, property and housing, Xinhua news agency reported.

The reasons cited by the refugees for leaving their countries of asylum were insecurity, lack of employment, livelihood and economic activities, and reduction in food ration in refugee camps.

The report said that 41,600 South Sudanese returned home in May, a slight increase from the previous month.

"The slight increase is due to insecurity in some of the countries of asylum, especially Sudan, reduction of food ration and lack of employment and livelihood opportunities in some parts of the country, which impacted the spontaneous refugee returns to South Sudan during the reporting month," the report said.