Aya Raile

Aya, 48,became a widow 12 years ago. While in Sudan she was settled with her husband as peasants until when the Sudan conflict escalated in Yei. During the civil strive, their home was frequently attacked by the Sudanese militia and during one such attack her husband was nabbed and detained in a military barracks for 3 weeks. He was charged for collaborating with the SPLA. The home continued to receive unnecessary attention from the militias when the husband was freed and they decided to flee. It was during the flight that the husband was killed. Two of the sons were arrested and later conscripted into the rebel camp

Aya managed to cross the boarder and currently lives at Biringi in the D.R.Congo with four of the remaining children. Since she arrived in this area six years ago she has been very sickly and has not been able to to dig and fend for the family. Most of her relatives and neighbors have left Biringi and returned to Sudan and Uganda but she can not leave because she is too weak to move.

She lives in a hut without a door and one of the daughters is disabled. She is now a devoted Christian and that is what is pushing her on to persevere and tolerate the condition.

Alfred Mugali

When the war intensified in Yei, Mugali was forced to flee from his area with the hope that, he would find a better place in Juba to stay. He became a target of the militia because of his outspokenness. He was a teacher of theArabicc language and was thought to be collaborating with the rebels. Subsequently, he was arrested and severely tortured while in detention.

His family fled soon after his arrest and crossed into the D.R. Congo. He managed with the aid of the missionaries to escape and returned to his homeland in Yei but the situation was not conducive for him to stay.

Within two days of his arrival he was again nabbed by the SPLA on the suspicion that he was spying for the Khartoum government. He again escaped from his detention to the Democratic Republic of Congo to join his family. He arrived in Biringi towards the end of 1994 only to find that his wife had died of sleeping sickness leaving behind four children. Mugali has stayed in Biringi, now for the last 4 years, but all through this time he has not had a moment of peace.

From 1996-1997 he was among those abducted by rebels and forced to carry their loot deep into the forests.

He managed to secure his release from the rebels on grounds of poor health but has lost all hope for a better future because he is sickly and weak. The situation in Congo is not good but he can not go anywhere because he cannot manage to walk the long distance to Sudan.

Moses Alimo

Alimo lost all his parents and guardians during the early Sudanese civil strife of 1960’s. He never had any formal education but was able to fend for himself during times of peace through peasantry activities. During the Sudan conflict of the 1980’s, he lost all his brothers to the war. Being the only survivor, he moved from place to place until he settled himself in Morobo.

When the civil war escalated in the area, he crossed the boarders to the Democratic Republic of Congo and first settled at Langa in 1993. The situation in Langa turned out not to be any better. From his home in Langa he was attacked two times and each time he would lose property. In the last attack he almost lost his life and this prompted him to move to Biringi with the hope that things would be alright but the situation was persistently worse.

Having not attained any formal education, he decided to join primary five school regardless of his age. Alimo is now in Secondary school, but there are no prospects for going further.

The schools he and other refugees go to are very poorly equipped. They lack qualified teachers, scholastic materials, and furniture. Besides, he has to walk 15km to reach the school.

Julius Mawa

Mr. Mawa, 40, is currently one of the chairmen for the refugee welfare in Biringi refugee settlement camp. He regrets why he came to Biringi and says that if he had known what it would be like, he would not have come to this place at all. This is because he cannot easily get food due to the insecurity in the area which cannot allow them to cultivate the land.

While in Sudan, Mawa was a small scale businessman but he says he used to earn enough for his family. He was displaced from Sudan because of war in Yei particularly the aerial bombardments.

He crossed to the Democratic Republic of Congo in December 1993 and during this time relief food was still in supply and the rations were fair.

The relief food is no longer given and Mr. Mawa said that he has to travel for 15 miles in search of food from the bushes. He has to offer his labor and work in people’s gardens in exchange for food. He says this is main means of survival in this camp.

While in Sudan he got a motor accident whose side effects have reduced his capacity to work. He is now worried of how to fend for the family. He is contemplating going back to Sudan.

INSIDE:

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Situation of Human Rights in Sudan Remains Seriously Wanting

Situation of Refugees in D.R. Congo

New Wave of Refugee Influx in Uganda

10 years of the Convention of the Rights of the Child

Refugees Testify Experiences

Overview of SHRA's work, 1999 / SHRA Calendar of Events 2000