SUDAN: Durable solutions elusive as southern IDPs return and ...

other northern states), and to people who went to the towns of Southern Sudan during the war
and who by now have lived there for years and sometimes decades.
In Juba and other towns in Southern Sudan, IDP communities have been forcibly evicted from
their homes by local authorities in recent years. In some instances, such evictions have not been
carried out in accordance with the law, including requirements to provide adequate notice to the
IDPs in question and to identify alternative land or shelter for these communities. (For more
details, see the section on causes of displacement in Southern Sudan, and the section on land
and property in Southern Sudan).
Resettlement (settlement elsewhere in Southern Sudan)
For some of the former IDPs, neither return to their villages of origin nor permanent settlement in
their places of displacement (i.e. local integration) is feasible, for a variety of reason including lack
of access to land, services, or livelihood opportunities. For this group, the only durable solution to
displacement is settlement elsewhere in Sudan, often in the rapidly expanding towns of Southern
Sudan. Some of the people who end up in Southern Sudan's urban areas are returned refugees
who initially returned from their country of refuge to their villages of origin, before moving on to
places with better livelihoods opportunities. Others are returning IDPs who either came directly to
the towns from their places of displacement, or who end up in the towns as a result of secondary
displacement after having tried but failed to settle in their places of origin (estimated by IOM to be
about 10 per cent of all IDP return movements in Southern Sudan: see above).
Darfur
The Women’s Commission notes that, "Given the escalating violence and insecurity, it seems
unlikely that people will return home in the near future" (Women’s Commission, December 2008,
p.3).
However, a number of observers have sounded warnings about forcible returns in Darfur. Thus
ODI writes:
"The government of Sudan continues to promote return, particularly to central or 'cluster villages',
which is in turn actively discouraged by the DPA’s non-signatory groups. In eastern West Darfur,
where there is a high level of support for the SLA-AW, the very mention of return provoked
hostility from camp leaders (Sheikhs)" (ODI, December 2008, p.4; see also Women’s
Commission, December 2008, p.3).
The Darfur Humanitarian Profile No.34 (January 2009) notes:
"Humanitarian actors continued to assess reports of returns and it appears that the large majority
of these are of a seasonal or temporary nature. Through initiatives undertaken by the Return
Working Groups, protection actors continued to advocate with HAC and State authorities on the
principles of safe, voluntary and dignified return and freedom of movement. In this respect,
particular attention during the period was devoted to potential or announced relocations from IDP
camps - notably in Nyala, Kass and Zalingei areas. The HAC announcement at the end of the
year of a likely relocation of IDPs from Kass camp to Kass rural areas in South Darfur was
followed up at inter-agency level and missions are planned for 2009 to assess the authorities’
relocation plans" (DHP No.34, January 2009, p.16).
In his report to the Security Council of 13 July 2009, the UN Secretary-General noted, "On 9 June
2009, the UNAMID voluntary returns working group, led by the UNAMID Deputy Joint Special
Representative, travelled to Donki Dreisa and Muhagiriya (Southern Darfur) where some 1,500
residents were reported to have returned to their homes. On 17 June, the team visited Seraf
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