Government mulls documentation for refugees, IDPs

The government is planning to undertake registration and nationality documentation targeting refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees in a bid to facilitate their integration into society.
Angelina Jany Teny, Minister of Interior speaking during closing of the three-day workshop on mitigation of statelessness.

By Simon Deng

The government is planning to undertake registration and nationality documentation targeting refugees, internally displaced persons and returnees in a bid to facilitate their integration into society.

“We want to embark on mass civil registry activities and we believe, it is an activity that we will undertake very seriously in the next two years, without proper data it will be very difficult for government to plan,” said Angelina Jany Teny during the end of the six-day workshop on mitigation of statelessness held at Pyramid Hotel in Juba on Saturday.

Teny said the government has pledged to provide protection to refugees, including providing   readable identity cards and travelling documents which will help them access services in the country.

Maj.Gen Simon Majur Pabek, the Director General of the Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport and Immigration, said they aim to register people at risk of statelessness with support from partners like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

“We have a project in which Central Equatoria is the first beneficiary, we have registered people in Yei of Central Equatoria and Bor in Jonglei state, this project helps displaced persons not only in Juba but in Upper Nile state,” said Pabek.

South Sudan hosts some 330,000 refugees and asylum-seekers mainly from Sudan, and has 2 million internally displaced persons due to conflict, insecurity and the impact of climate change.

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