The government is considering plans to repatriate displaced South Sudanese in and outside the country while calling on international community to back the plan.

The government’s announcement came nearly a month after the Kenyan government said it would close Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps which host more than 400,000 refugees including South Sudanese, Somali nationals and Congolese.

Though the UNHCR opposed Kenya, based on the UN human Rights Charter that obliges Kenya to accommodate asylum seekers, Presidential Press Secretary Ateny Wek Ateny said the South Sudan government had the plan even before Kenya’s decision to evict refugees.

 “People should return to their homes particularly the IDPs and those outside our borders like Kokuma refugees camp and all other camps.  Even before the Kenyan government said they wanted to close the camps, this was already under the government plans,” Ateny told media on Wednesday.

Reports indicate there were more than 4 million displaced South Sudanese including more than 2.2 million seeking refuge in neighboring Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo and the Central African Republic.

Despite signing of the September 2018 revitalized peace agreement, many have continued to live in either IDPs camps or refugee settlements due to insecurity, exacerbated by sub-national and armed conflicts in many parts of the country.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) since 2020, closed some of its protection of civilians sites in Wau and Bor, handed over the responsibility of IDPs to the government to encourage voluntary returns to their homes. It did not happen.

According to former UNMISS boss, David Shearer in early 2020, many of the IDPs have chosen to remain in the camps due to lack of basic and social services and insecurity outside the camps.

However, without details of the repatriation modality, Ateny said for comprehensive peace implementation to take place people have to return and rebuild homes and rebuild their livelihoods, which requires support.

 “Repatriations of IDPS and refugees requires time and money and that is where the government is calling for help from the international community to ensure that in the process of implementation of peace agreement, people return home,” said Ateny.