South Sudanese airlifted from Kosti

The International Organisation of Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday that it has begun an airlift of some 12,000 stranded South Sudanese from Kosti, 300km south of the Sudanese capital Khartoum. "On Monday, May 14, the first two IOM-chartered flights arrived in Juba from Khartoum carrying a total of 326 people. A third flight left Khartoum on schedule at 9.15am local-time this morning and a fourth is expected to leave later today," said the IOM spokesperson Jean-Philippe Chauzy in a press briefing. "Yesterday's returnees, who included vulnerable people, including the old, the sick and families with small children, were received at Juba airport by South Sudanese officials before being transferred in IOM buses to a transit complex run by the UNHCR on the outskirts of Juba," he added. IOM apparently has $2.3 million to pay for the aircraft, buses and staff required to move people from Kosti to Juba. It believes that it will need $5.5 million to complete the operation and is appealing to international donors for the additional $3.2 million. The flights are the first in an IOM flight-plan between the two capitals designed to move South Sudanese stranded in Kosti to South Sudan, following the country's independence last year. Many have spent months living in difficult conditions in the way-station waiting for transport and are desperate to leave, according to the chief of IOM's Sudan mission Jill Helke. "This huge operation will assist thousands of people who have already been waiting too long for help to move to South Sudan to restart their lives. These are people for whom the recent deterioration in the political situation has created a real crisis," she said. "Air operations are inherently complicated and we have had a number of setbacks and delays, but we hope that this smooth start has reassured everyone concerned. Our aim is to assist both two governments and to help the most vulnerable to travel to their homes and villages safely and in dignity," she added. Each trip starts from Kosti, where IOM prepares manifests and provides pre-departure health checks. The returnees then travel to an IOM transit centre in Khartoum on IOM-chartered buses. IOM staff, including medical escorts, accompany each flight to take care of the most vulnerable on board. Kosti became home to the biggest single concentration of South Sudanese awaiting transport, and many have been living there in makeshift shelters or barn-like buildings, waiting several months to travel South. Sudan's authorities declared the migrants a security threat and initially gave them a May 5 deadline to leave, sparking concern from the United Nations and the IOM, which has already helped thousands of South Sudanese to head home. Officials extended the deadline to May 20 but then told the IOM to disregard the time limit after plans for the airlift were devised. Sisto Caesar, from the South's Eastern Equatoria state, arrived in Juba with his five children, some of whom were born during the 14 years he spent in Khartoum, where he fled during Sudan's 1983-2005 civil war. "Life was not bad, but recently things started becoming hard," Caesar said. "I have arrived home, and I am very happy." The returnees will stay initially a camp in Juba before later travelling on to the villages they came from originally. Over 376,000 ethnic Southerners -- many of whom have spent decades in the north -- have returned to the South since October 2010. However, up to 500,000 remain in the north, despite the passing of a six month grace period for them to either formalise their status or leave Sudan, after the South separated and became independent in July 2011 following a two-decade long conflict. An estimated two million people died in the war, one of Africa's longest, and drove many more to the north. Recent border clashes between the armies -- the most serious violence since Juba's independence -- prompted international fears of a return to full-blown conflict. However, fighting has since calmed on the disputed frontier, and Khartoum and Juba are due to restart stalled talks this week to comply with a United Nations Security Council resolution.