SOUTH SUDAN / AKOBO RETURNEES

14-Dec-2018 00:02:10
Hundreds of internally displaced people have been assisted back to their homes by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in a first-phase voluntary return process, which comes after the signing of a new peace agreement in September. UNMISS
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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / AKOBO RETURNEES
TRT: 02:10
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTION: NONE
LANGUAGES: ARABIC / NUER / NATS

DATELINE: 26 NOVEMBER 2018, AKOBO / BOR SOUTH SUDAN

SHOTLIST

1. Various Shots, women walking home
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nyakong Nyal Deng, Akobo Returnee:
“After I came here to Akobo, I feel like I came back home - even if there is nothing, there is no problem. Maybe God will help me.”
3. Wide shot, woman entering house
4. Various shots, Interior of house
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nyakong Nyal Deng, Akobo Returnee:
“After I came to Akobo, [I found] there was nothing left of my house. My house was destroyed. My father and his sister they were long dead.”
6. Various shots, woman washing dishes
7. Close up, woman weeping
8. Various shots, collecting dried clothes
9. SOUNDBITE (Nuer) Mariam Nyakong, Akobo Returnee:
“Now we do not have houses or a place to stay. Our houses were destroyed; we need houses. Where we are coming from, there was no river, but now we [have] come to a place where there is a river. We can fish, our children can eat fish. Akobo was gone. Even us as Nuer, everyone was dispersed. We are exhausted and [scattered] all over the place.”
10. Wide shot, Tukul
11. Close up, solar panel
12. Close up, rusted Iron
13. Wide shot, Tukul

STORYLINE:

Hundreds of internally displaced people have been assisted back to their homes by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in a first-phase voluntary return process, which comes after the signing of a new peace agreement in September.

Thirty-two-year-old Nyakong Nyal Deng is one of about 250 internally displaced South Sudanese who has voluntarily returned to her home after being displaced for about five years.

Nyakong and others fled fierce fighting in her hometown, Akobo, in December 2013, and had sought refuge miles away, at a United Nations Mission in South Sudan Protection of Civilians site in Bor. And now with a peace agreement in force, many displaced people are choosing to return home, because things are calmer.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nyakong Nyal Deng, Akobo Returnee:
“After I came here to Akobo, I feel like I came back home - even if there is nothing, there is no problem. Maybe God will help me.”

Happy to be back home, though in a modest compound – and despite the challenges of settling in, Nyakong is getting on with her routine chores.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nyakong Nyal Deng, Akobo Returnee:
“After I came to Akobo, [I found] there was nothing left of my house. My house was destroyed. My father and his sister they were long dead.”

She is back with her entire family – her husband, and her four children, unlike many others – and settling in has not been easy. Although living miles away as a displaced person in Bor seemed much better compared to the destitution back home, memories of a scar on her right cheek – the result of a burn while in Bor – still bring tears to her eyes.

SOUNDBITE (Nuer) Mariam Nyakong, Akobo Returnee:
“Now we do not have houses or a place to stay. Our houses were destroyed; we need houses. Where we are coming from, there was no river, but now we [have] come to a place where there is a river. We can fish, our children can eat fish. Akobo was gone. Even us as Nuer, everyone was dispersed. We are exhausted and [scattered] all over the place.”

With their return also being dependent on peace, they can now indeed pick up the pieces of what was left of their homes during their absence and continue to flourish despite the initial difficulties.
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