OCHA: Resources mobilised to assist 2,000 returnees in Sirba locality, West Darfur

UN agencies and partners started mobilising resources to support up to 350 returnee families (about 2,000 people) in Dumta village in West Darfur’s Sirba locality and 100 nomadic families in the nearby area, according to the Recovery, Return and Reintegration (RRR) sector in Sudan.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports in its latest humanitarian bulletin that “in 2016, the Government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) reported new returns in a number of villages in West Darfur State, including Breidya (El Geneina locality), Argod, Himmeida, Gornei, Kuta, Ortaig, Gemainees, Dumta and Garwal (Sirba locality) and Shoyo, Kajameji, Tambali, Welegei and Umkharoba (Beida locality). In January, a joint team from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), HAC and the Commissioner of Refugees (CoR) visited some of these villages.

“The returnees in Breidya said that they returned from Chad where they fled to following inter-tribal tensions in the area between 2013 and 2014. In Shoyo village, only 33 of the 75 returnee families reported in the area were found. According to the returnees, the other 42 families returned to Chad after the harvest season. Two inter-agency assessment missions are planned to assess the needs of the returnees in Dumta and Shoyo return villages shortly.

“According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), nearly 118,000 people returned to various locations in West Darfur between 2013 and 2016, with Jebel Moon registering the highest number of returnees and Kulbus the lowest.

“According to the RRR Sector, about 230,000 returnees—both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs)—were registered in Sudan between 2014 and 2016. Of these returnees, about 13,000 are in need of assistance in West Darfur, according to RRR.

Returns to West Darfur by locality (2013 – 2016)
Source: IOM