Sudanese refugees reject relocation to West Nile

  Khartoum- Sudan (PANA) -- About 16,000 Sudanese refugees at the Kiryandongo refugee camp are rejecting relocation to West Nile and threatening to walk back to the Sudan in protest, the local daily Al-Raai Alaam reported Wednesday.
The refugees are currently camped at Kiryandongo in Masindi district after being displaced from the Acholi Pii camp in Pader district by the Lord's Resistance Army rebels.
The Ugandan government wants the refugees relocated to the Ikafe camp in Yumbe district and the Madi Okolo camp in Arua district, both in northwestern Uganda.
Mannix Oloya, chairman of the refugees complained in a memo to Moses Ali, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Disaster Preparedness, that they were unwilling to return to West Nile due to prevailing insecurity there.
"We stand firm not to go the West Nile.
If the Ugandan government is unable to host us, we request it to open way for us to go to another country or to leave us return to Sudan," the memo said.
But Ali advised refugees to go through the repatriation and resettlement process according to their wishes.
"Those who prefer to return to Sudan instead of the West Nile are free to fill in the forms and prepare to go back to Sudan voluntarily," Ali said.