Civil strife in south Sudan and experiences of refugees in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Kiryandongo District, Uganda
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Date
2016-10
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Kampala International University.College of Humanities and social science
Abstract
This study investigated the civil strife in South Sudan from accounts of South Sudanese
refugees in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement and Provision of Social Services to South
Sudanese refugees in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement, Kiryandongo District, Uganda.
The study was guided by four research objectives which included: to explore refugee life
experience before the war; to evaluate refugees' perception of the causes of the civil war;
to find out nature and quality of social services provided to refugees in Kiryandongo; and
determine impact of refugees' influx on the provision social services in Kiryandongo.
The study was a qualitative research that employed a cross-sectional research design and
in addition to that utilized the case study design too. Kiryandongo refugee settlement was
chosen as the case study. The research methods involved using three tools of qualitative
analysis that is observations, interviews with refugee respondents and key-informants,
and focus group discussions to gather data. This was supplemented with literature review
of documents akin to UNHCR reports relevant to the research topic. The respondents
within the sample were chosen by means of non-probability methods like purposive
sampling so that only refugees in the settlement who were affected by the civil war were
picked. The study findings showed that in fact the conflict in South Sudan from 15
December 2013 was due to political dynamics and ethnicity was a consequence rather
than a cause of the conflict. The provision of social services declined and some sectors
improved thereafter such as WASH where available water levels declined and improved
between December 2013 to April 2014; in education primary school classrooms were
overcrowded with teacher to pupil ratio being 1 :88 and never improved; health sector
was challenged with medicine supply being insufficient also medical personnel being
under staffed: land provided for residential and agricultural purpose was not impacted
negatively by surge in influx. Overall the study discerned that the influx of new arrivals
didn't hinder operations of providing social services even in the event that more arrivals
would come. On the other hand, the study found out that there is a need to step-up the
efforts of providing social services so that all sectors, from ailing ones like education and
health to stabilized ones like WASH, can be upto perfect standards. Generally, the study
can state that the provision of social services to refugee in the settlement was impacted
negatively by the civil war in South Sudan but the services provided enabled the refugees
to live a life without abuse of their human rights regardless of the hardship experienced.
The study recommends that civil strife be mediated to a halt to alleviate the strain in
social services provision being endured by humanitarian organizations in Kiryandongo
settlement.
Description
Thesis submitted to the College of Higher Degree and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the a ward of master degree In International Relations and Diplomatic Studies of Kampala International University
Keywords
Civil strife i, Sudan, Experiences, Refugees, Uganda