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Gov’t enhances community integration strategy for Refugees and IDPs – Angelina

Author: Moyo Jacob | Published: October 22, 2024

Hon. Angelina Teny, Minister of Interior, addresses attendees at the reception ceremony for General Akech Tong Aleu on October 8, 2024. Photo credit: Lou Nelson/Eye Radio.

The Minister of Interior announced that the country is enhancing its community integration strategy to address the ongoing challenges of the refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) crisis.

Angelina Teny announced following after returning from a high-level meeting of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva, Switzerland.

She says the strategy serves as a new push to expand the country’s approach to integrating refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and returnees into local communities.

Angelina highlights the successful model in Ruweng’s Jamjang refugee camp that has seen host communities and refugees living and farming together.

She emphasizes plans to replicate this integration strategy across camps in Western Equatoria, Upper Nile, and other regions amid growing crises, such as recent flooding, which are adding further strain on displaced populations.

“Currently, we have a number of other crises like the flooding, it’s also impacting on this,” Minister Angelina told the Press on Monday upon arrival from Europe.

“We have done this integration in some places for example if you go to the Ruweng area in Jamjang Refugee camp, you will find that the host communities as well as the refugees are living together, they are cultivating together and so on,” she said.

“That approach now is being looked at and that example we want to use it elsewhere like in Western Equatoria we have camps there, here in Juba we have Gorom, in Upper Nile Malakal, we have Maban and so on,” she said.

“We are going to be looking at that example but also already in our cities, there are many urban refugees, returnees and IDPs. They are included because we have been integrating them,” she added.

“They are allowed to travel and move freely in the country and choose where they want to go and live. We have a strategy for durable solutions to address all of those,” she concluded.

Executive Committee meeting of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is an annual summit meant to plan and address refugees’, IDPs and returnees’ protection.

This year, the meeting focused on the status of statelessness and how to protect those who are at risk.

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