Letter to President Kiir: Repatriate all the IDPs in the UNMISS PoCs

Open Letter to H.E Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Republic of South Sudan: Requesting H.E President Salva Kiir Mayardit to Repatriate the South Sudanese living in Protection of Civilian site (POCS)

Your excellency, 

Tuesday, June 09, 2020 (PW) — Please accept my greetings and best wishes to you and the nation as we navigate through the COVID-19 crisis and the incident of Sherikat that bedeviled our country.

I commend you and your government for forming a committee that shall investigate, prosecute, and apprehend the criminals that are behind such senseless and abhorring killings of hardworking citizens at their place of hustle. 

Your excellency,

I write to you as Nuer, and as a citizen of South Sudan baffled by the state of the people living in UNMISS CAMP (POCs) for approximately 6 years now. I also write to you as a staunch supporter of the party (SPLM/A) in which you lead concurrently with our nascent republic.

These two reasons have placed you as the highest civil servant in our country that formulates, directs, and inspects policies that are meant for the national good of our country. 

In 2016, I was a member of the SPLM/A-IO Under the First Vice President Dr.Riek Machar, but following the July 8th incident of 2016, I relocated to UNMISS POCs for reasons that are known to me-one of it is, I made a promised not to turn my gun on my fellow South Sudanese.

Therefore, I went to UNMISS and lived with those people for about 4 months, and I can tell you for a fact, life isn’t easy there. while in UNMISS I was given reports/research carried out by the NGO researchers, and I learned with regret that, the reports indicate that approximately 40% of 230,000 people living in POCS have developed mental illness.

the report was carried out in 2015 and we are in 2020 now, so the number has the probability of shooting to about 70% or more. The rate to which this mental illness grow is exponential as it is not easy when well-off person is reduced to zero and confined to live in the condition in which they have lived-in for these years.

However, your excellency, I am not here to explain the challenges they are facing as I know you’re much aware of the refugee life and their circumstances as those were the reasons why you took-up arm against the Khartoum Regime to liberates and defend your people who were living as refugees in their capital of Khartoum. 

Your Excellency,

I am here to request your esteemed authority to speedily initiate Chapter V, article 5.4 which talks of the establishment of compensation and the Reparation Authority (CRA). I am aware that it should be constituted after 6 months from the commencement of the transitional period but with due respect, your excellency, their relocation, and or repatriation to the place of their choice is critical and important given that nature of uncertainty and political dynamic of our country.

And not only those, there are also other environmental factors which can hinder the “right time” for their relocation and resettlement as provided for in R-ARCSS. Therefore, I find now is the right time and how I wish, it should have been the priority that could have been tackled before anything else as it concerns your citizens in which you lead and served;

The situation on the ground is much worse than we all can imagine. therefore, urgent resettlement will be helpful now that, there is calm and free movement of people.

Your excellency, I’ve never requested anything before either privately or publicly, this is my first time coming to the public requesting you to repatriate your people to the place of their choice so that they are integrated into the society and begin the process of rebuilding their lives. As one of the officials in the 2010 election, I can tell you without fear of contradiction that you’ve garnered 90% votes in greater upper Nile.

Thus, by that virtue, they are your citizens and supporters that believe in your leadership and still is despite the slogan they are chanting in UNMISS such can be understood as frustration caused by overstay in a concentration camp for period closed to 7 years and also given the fact that they are families of the victims and survivors whose lives have been shattered by wars, and who are living with great despair, anger and bitterness following the 2013 Conflict.

They must be resettled such that the enemy of peace doesn’t exploit their anger for political mileage and patronage.

Whereas you and your colleagues gathered for the Extra Ordinary African Union Summit to deliberate on how best to uphold the promise of the African Union to end impunity, and silencing of the guns, I ask you to never lose sight of the profound suffering that is linked to IDPs, and their much wailing for justice.

The hybrid court is the only hope for them as they believe that the perpetrators of the gravest crimes shall be held accountable just as you swiftly respond to the Sherikat incident. I hope that shall be the norm for our nascent republic going-forward. In resettling the IDPs, we can voluntarily devise a framework on request if need be such that smooth and successful resettlement is done in timely manner.

Your excellency, as you tether the spread of covid-19 that have posed threat to the country, and its economy, I want you to be awakened by the lives of your citizens that is dwindling at alarming rates next door.

As you are aware the educators, researchers, ordinary citizens of South Sudan, region and the world are closely following the progress of our country and how it treats its citizens; in my opinion something better than what is given to citizens currently should have been offered; for we are blessed with resources that most countries that are perceived to be rich don’t have.

Hence, should this process be caused to delay because of lack of funds, I purpose the following;

1. Formulate a salary cut of about 40% of you and your Five vice Presidents, and ministers so that, the people are immediately resettle without delay.

2. Consider financing this through domestic and foreign borrowing as you wait to reimburse when the funds for this project is availed or projected into the financial year.

3. Central Bank of South Sudan can cover this through money creation or by increased credit of the banking system which can have minimal cost or even nil.

Yours sincerely,

The author, Gatkuoth Jal Gatluak Nyak, is the Executive Director at Raise A Finger (RAF); he can be contacted via his email: banyjal@yahoo.com/gatkuothjal4@gmail.com.

About Post Author