IOM Director-General tours South Sudan - The Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), William Lacy Swing, arrived in Juba, South Sudan, Thursday on the third leg of his visit to East Africa.

Ambassador Swing had earlier visited Somalia and Kenya, IOM said in a press release Friday.

Swing is in South Sudan to meet government officials, including President Salva Kiir Maryadit, and to inspect humanitarian emergency work being carried out by IOM.

This is Mr Swing's first visit to the country since South Sudan declared independence from the North in July 2011 and joined IOM at the end of the same year.

Swing will review with South Sudanese government officials the progress made in aiding  the return of thousands of their citizens from the north.

The Sudanese government had set a deadline for all southerners wishing to return to the south to do so before 8 April, 2012, or seek to regularize their stay in the north.

'I am excited to be here to visit the newest of our members to underline IOM's commitments to work with the government and the people of South Sudan. The challenges faced by the new country are many; foremost is to facilitate a safe and dignified return of thousands of South Sudanese and to provide them with means to sustain their livelihood once they are back.

'I am glad that in a short time, IOM has succeeded to assemble a team of highly motivated staff, local and international, who have demonstrated great commitment to take on the work of assisting the returnees and the local community.'

Swing will also tour Pibor town in Jonglei State, the scene of recent inter-ethnic clashes which left an estimated 120,000 displaced.

IOM has sent four convoys of non-food relief items, including plastic sheeting, blankets, jerry cans and cooking utensils to the area, and is currently working with humanitarian partners on the ground to distribute the aid, targeting some 40,000 beneficiaries.

Swing will also inspect ongoing work to assist thousands of Southern Sudanese returnees from the North after they arrive in the South. IOM provides transport to final destinations, pre-departure health checks and other assistance.

On his first day in Juba, Swing met the deputy foreign minister, Prof. Elias Nyamlell Wako, with whom he discussed the need for the South and the North governments to sign a bilateral agreement to facilitate the return of remaining South Sudanese nationals from the north.

There are an estimated 500,000 Southern Sudanese still in Khartoum and elsewhere in the north. But according to Wako, the number could be much higher.

Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, more than 2.5 million South Sudanese have returned to the South. 

Pana 04/02/2012