A view of former U.N. protection of civilians (POC) site in Juba, South Sudan, Dec. 5, 2016. (J. Craig/VOA)

Unity State governor Justice Riek Bim has appealed to the state populations still living inside former Protection of Civilian sites (POCS) to leave the crowded camps, return home and rebuild their lives.

The state has seen the largest displacement – with hundreds of thousands still residing in internally displaced persons camps – following the outbreak of violence in 2013 and 2016 and subsequent years of catastrophic flooding.

In May 2024, 137,536 civilians were biometrically registered by UN migration agency IOM as living at Bentiu IDPs camp, and tens of thousands more, majority of whom hail from there, are stranded inside makeshift IDPs camps in Juba.

Speaking at a thanksgiving ceremony organized a students union in Juba, Governor Bim called on displaced families currently residing in former protection of civilian (POC) sites to return to their homes, according to his office.

“He retorted that he is committed to restoring sustainable peace, the rule of law, the improvement of the road network, and the redeployment of mechanisms for fighting flooding in Unity State,” the statement said.

“He also highlighted that they shouldn’t fear unknowns rather than they should come out to establish their lives and to change their living conditions.”

South Sudan’s displacement crisis remains one of Africa’s most significant, with around 2 million internally displaced and a similar number forced into refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.