South Sudan’s president called on the country’s more than two million refugees to return home in his first public address to displaced people since civil war broke out nearly a decade ago.
President Salva Kiir’s call came on Wednesday as the country prepares to hold its first elections since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011. Postponed elections in South Sudan are scheduled for December 2024.
South Sudan is still recovering from a five-year civil war that erupted in late 2013, claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, and ended with a peace deal in 2018. Uganda.
The presidential meeting comes two weeks after visiting Pope Francis met with South Sudanese displaced people in the capital Juba and called for a lasting peace.
“As the implementation of peace approaches its final phase, when elections end the transitional period, the repatriation of our people from camps in neighboring countries should be high on our agenda,” Kiir said.
The President assured the returnees of their safety and called on international partners to support the government in the reintegration of the returnees.
“For those who decide to return to their usual places of residence, the government will provide security,” Kiir said.
He said those unable to return to their home communities would be given land in states with displaced persons camps.
