KHARTOUM, 14 December (IRIN) - John had been receiving reassuring calls from family members urging him to return home to Northern Bahr el Ghazal State of southern Sudan, but he
remained reluctant to leave Khartoum."A bus ticket costs at least 10,000 Sudanese dinar [US $50] per person," the 40-year-old father of seven said after registering to return home. "My wife and I
cannot afford the journey for all of us. It is too risky for us to go unassisted."John is one of an estimated two million southern Sudanese living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps and
squatter areas around the capital and in other states in the north.The IDPs were forced from their homes by more than two decades of conflict between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement (SPLM).By the time the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in 2005, many of the IDPs had been displaced for on average of 17 years, according to the International
Organisation for Migration (IOM). As a result, thousands of children in Khartoum's schools or playing football in the dusty squares have never experienced the markedly different life in the greener,
swampy south. First step to returning homeRegistration started three weeks ago. Managed by the IOM and the Fellowship for African Relief, more than 27,000 households have signed up to
voluntarily return to the south.After this first step, assisted return operations will be organised by the Khartoum-based Sudanese government, the southern Sudan government, the United Nations and
IOM, targeting 150,000 people. Three departure centres are being established before the first convoys leave in January. But there is a worry that time is running short because the return season
lasts a few months - when the muddy roads have dried up sufficiently for buses and trucks to pass. Even with enumerators and monitors working from 35 tents erected around Khartoum six days a week,
there are still challenges."Every week we have new problems to deal with. Last week a parallel registration that has nothing to do with the official one here sprung up in some areas and is greatly
confusing people," said Laura Janssen, IOM's registration coordinator. Community elders were also vying for greater control in the registration and return process, while those being registered have
many complaints."Many complain that they have registered before for voluntary return and nothing happened," an enumerator in Wad el Bashir camp in Omdurman, said. "They cannot be disappointed
again." Other IDPs are sceptical, knowing that the CPA stipulates that each person has the right to remain where they are."I was one when I came here. I am in my second year of studies and will
certainly stay until I get my degree. What comes after that, I cannot say," Emmanuel said."My father has flown down to Juba and will report to us what he finds there. As a political scientist I
might be able to make a greater contribution to the development of society from Khartoum rather than in the south."Registration for return during this dry season ends in February 2007; from March
onwards registrations will only apply to returnees after the mid-year rainy season. Spontaneous returnsNot everybody bothers to register and some IDPs are returning spontaneously and unassisted
- even risking their lives on freight barges leaving from Kosti in White Nile State just south of Khartoum - down the River Nile.The journey is hazardous - even with the network of way-stations
that provide shelter, water and basic medical services for both assisted and spontaneous returnees en route.At tracking points along the main return routes, IOM and the Adventist Development and
Relief Agency counted 1,063 spontaneous returnees in October and 1,378 in the first half of November.Aid workers say a large number of people will eventually return to the south. According to UN
estimates, communities in southern Sudan are likely to receive up to 500,000 returnees in 2007."The challenges are enormous," said Bob Turner, head of the Return Reintegration and Recovery Section
of the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). "To some extent, the actual return is the easy part [but] success will depend upon the capacity of all players to provide timely reintegration assistance, so that
host communities are not disadvantaged by the influx." For the potential returnees, the south is the land of hope. "If we are given a plot of land, we can work with our own hands and need not
depend on anyone," said a widow who had registered with her 10 children in Soba Aradi squatter area."It will be hard, and we know there is nothing really in place, but we want to be back more than
anything else," she added.Turner said expectations should be realistic. "Sustainable return is a long-term project," he explained. "Work is under way to address complex issues such as land
allocation, demining, human resource capacity-building and access to basic services and infrastructure, but many years of work lie ahead."hb/mw/eo
