NAIROBI (AlertNet) Â? Young children who have returned to their ancestral homeland of south Sudan are living in emergency shelters at risk of exploitation and disease, says U.N. childrenÂ?s agency UNICEF.
At the end of October, some 6,000 people left SudanÂ?s capital Khartoum to settle in the southÂ?s Unity State ahead of a referendum on independence for the south on Jan. 9.
Many are sheltering in schools in Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, while others have nothing more than plastic sheets for protection.
Children are left alone in emergency shelters during the day while their mothers try to earn money cutting grass for sale or doing domestic work.
Â?They are vulnerable on their own. For girls, they could easily be raped or they could be tempted into sex just for them to be able to survive,Â? Bismarck Swangin, a spokesman for UNICEF in south SudanÂ?s capital Juba, told AlertNet.
Many families have been unable to return to their land because it has been flooded. Seven states in south Sudan have been hit by heavy rains, forcing the Sudanese Red Crescent Society to launch a $2.4 million emergency appeal for 50,000 people last month.
Â?It is evident that most of these people will be delayed. They will have to stay where they are now until the water recedes,Â? said Swangin.
In most cases, there is no trace of the original homes which they abandoned in the 1980s and 1990s, when they fled northwards to escape the civil war. The conflict ended in 2005.
UNICEF is concerned about the childrenÂ?s health because water is scarce and hygiene conditions in the emergency shelters are deteriorating. They are vulnerable to diseases like diarrhoea, which can kill if lost fluids are not quickly replaced.
Under its Â?Come Home to ChooseÂ? scheme, the government of south Sudan hopes that up to 1.5 million southerners will return home to take part in the January referendum.
Politicians from Unity State have visited Khartoum to persuade southerners to come home. This is partly because of fears that Khartoum might not allow people to participate freely in the poll.
But the United Nations says it does not have the necessary supplies to support a huge number of returnees.
Â?We have been telling them this would create a humanitarian crisis in the south,Â? said Swangin.
Â?If there is anything the government (of south Sudan) can do to support the population in the north, the focus should be on guaranteeing their safety, including in the voting, which is what the government here doesnÂ?t think is guaranteed.Â?
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