The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kiryadongo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Up to 32,350 Sudanese refugees have fled to Uganda due to conflict in the past year. The refugees entered the country between November 2023 and August this year.
The refugees have since been received and accommodated at the Panyadoli refugee settlement area in Kiryadongo district.
Emmanuel Turyagenda, the settlement Commandant at the Panyadoli refugee settlement area, explained that they had registered 32,350 refugees as of Tuesday. He says the new arrivals are exerting pressure on the few available resources allocated to other refugees in the settlement.
Turyagenda appealed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees-UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies to consider allocating more funding to the Panyadoli refugee settlement area to help accommodate the surging numbers of refugees in the area.
He says that the settlement area has a total of 111,450 refugees, stating that they expect the number to surge following conflicts in Sudan and South Sudan respectively that have seen the settlement receiving new arrivals daily.
Syan Ahmed, a Sudanese refugee who fled to Uganda with her parents in March says, the situation in Sudan is alarming elaborating that when the war broke out in 2023, several people were killed and property looted. She says several schools were closed and to date, thousands of Sudanese students have abandoned school.
Ahmed has called on world leaders to engage authorities in Sudan to embrace dialogue.
She appealed to humanitarian agencies to help send relief items to the people in Sudan saying that, at the time they fled into Uganda, thousands of people were on the verge of starvation.
Tareq Albakri, the Program specialist at Education Above All-EAA, one of the non-governmental organizations funding the education of refugees in the Panyadoli refugee settlement area says countries should show their commitment to protecting education infrastructure and stakeholders such as students and teachers from attack.
According to Albakri, protecting education from attack is a pathway to safeguard future generations, engage in development and prosperity, and uphold international obligations and accountabilities.
The Panyadoli refugee settlement area hosts refugees from South Sudan, Burundi, Sudan, Rwanda, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo-DRC.
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