The presence of Ugandan forces in the border area of Phogee is hindering the return of internally displaced people to their homes, an official has said.

More than 1,000 civilians fled their homes last week when Ugandan forces arrived in the area.

Residents accused the Ugandan troops of entering and occupying territories more than 15 km inside South Sudan. There was gunfire as the troops entered the area.

Ugandan officials admitted that their forces opened fire, but said they were evicting South Sudanese who they claim settled on Ugandan land illegally.

County Commissioner Ben Kingstone says the UPDF soldiers have now settled in the farms of the displaced civilians in Phogee.

He told Eye Radio that the displaced still fear to return home due to the presence of the UPDF.

“Even if they go back in their houses they will not have access to their farms,” Mr Kingstone said.

The chief of Phogee, Peter Okot, says the forces have also stopped cross-border movement. A committee formed in 2014 by the two countries is yet to demarcate the borders.

A member of the South Sudan team, David Ngailo, told Eye Radio that they have no funds.

But the Ugandan Minister for Disaster Preparedness, Hillary Onek, says the African Union has secured funding for demarcating the Uganda-South Sudan border.

This will also extend to the Uganda-Kenya border and the Uganda–DR Congo border lines.

According to Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper, authorities from South Sudan and Uganda will be engaged in a joint mapping and survey based on colonial boundaries to confirm the actual border lines.

The South Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Barnaba Marial, says a joint technical committee between the two countries has been collecting colonial maps about the borders.

The maps will also help in demarcating the border with Kenya.

“Our technical committee was able to visit London; they went to Egypt and Khartoum in order to collect old maps which will determine the boundaries between Uganda and South Sudan and between Kenya and South Sudan,” Dr Marial stated.

He added that a government delegation will be sent to Uganda next week to continue discussing border demarcation.

(Additional information by Ijoo Bosco)