Leap for Life best practices to assisted mandatory return for south Sudanese refugees and IDPS have been developed. The best practices below are fairly general and LFP team in south Sudan viewed as an inspiration for the design and implementation of return and reintegration assistance projects not only in Katire Ayom,, (Magui south Sudan but in other villages  with people returning to their origin land as home.

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 Information campaigns.

• Extensive dissemination of material informing potential returnees and other relevant Stakeholders about current return assistance programmes.

Comprehensive legal and return counselling.

• Impartial and individual legal and return counselling must be

• Offered to all rejected asylum seekers, using counsellors with both protection and repatriation expertise.

Case specific, up-to-date and reliable information.

• Return counsellors must deliver case specific, up-to date and reliable information about the country of origin (e.g. from field trips or Go-and-Inform Visits) if potential returnees are to constructively consider both the risks and opportunities of mandatory return.

Sufficient time to prepare.

• Adequate time should be given to prepare for return, allowing rejected asylum seekers to return in a dignified manner. Necessary documentation, such as diplomas of educational activities and birth certificates, must be procured to facilitate legal reintegration upon return.

Arrival and initial reintegration support.

• Information and advice on how to access legal, health, and educational services in the country of origin must be available upon return. Initial basic humanitarian support should be provided to returnees, taking into consideration the specific needs and vulnerability of different groups of returnees.

• Housing and shelter. Returnees with no immediate housing solution should be assisted in finding materials for permanent shelter on their land – either through housing reconstruction or through e.g. funded shelter materials for those who do not own property or land.

Income generation activities and employment.

• Preparing potential returnees for economic reintegration begins in the host country by allowing asylum seekers to maintain and/or develop vocational skills, as this is vital for a successful reintegration upon return. Return-related vocational training must be based on detailed and up-to-date information about the social and economic situation in the country of origin, and should preferably take place in cooperation with local partners.

Children, youth and schooling.

• Ensuring a successful reintegration of children may imply offering native language training to the children of returnees to ease reintegration into the school system upon return. Social activities should also be facilitated, where young returnees can socialise with other young local residents to facilitate reintegration and reconciliation. With all workers should speak Acholi, leaders on the land engaged, and stakeholder as well.

 Health issues and medical services.

• When relevant, information on healthcare institutions in the country of origin should be provided prior to return, in coordination with local authorities and NGOs. Returnees must bring with them their translated medical records from the host country, as this serves as a solid base for continued treatment upon return. Returnees should also receive financial support for medicine and care for a certain period of time upon return.

Re-acceptance and reconciliation.

• Activities for and support to returnees must not create a gap between returnees and the existing local community. Return assistance programmes should therefore support community activities that involve the resident local population, and should include a balancing component that supports vulnerable members of the receiving community as well.

Monitoring and follow-up.

• Cooperation with local partners or implementing organisations is essential to assist in safe, dignified and sustainable returns. This enables pre-return counsellors to provide relevant and up to-date information, and makes follow-up on the reintegration of returnees possible. It allows support to be adjusted if unforeseen problems arise.

Cooperation and coordination between sending and receiving ends.

• Return assistance programmes should build on increased cooperation between organisations and authorities in host countries and countries of origin.

This is imperative to avoid duplication of services as well as positive discrimination between different groups of returnees. Cooperation between sending and receiving ends will also facilitate the capacity building of local institutions, and is vital to a holistic approach to return and reintegration assistance. Along with the recommended return assistance measures, it is concluded that sustainable return is highly dependent on the concrete situation of the individual returnee. However, it is extremely important to ensure that the preconditions for sustainable return are in line with the recommendations presented above, by providing relevant and reliable information in the pre-return phase, providing reintegration assistance in the post-return phase, and by monitoring the returnees for a certain period of time after return. It is equally important that returning states address the issue of reconciliation by developing programmes which include a balancing component and capacity building of local institutions and NGOs, combined with development assistance, in the receiving state.

There is no easy or inexpensive way to achieve sustainable return, and even if every aspect is included in a return programme there is no guarantee that this return will be sustainable. As stakeholders in the return process, we can only advocate for and assist in the process of ensuring that the relevant preconditions for sustainability are in place

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Welcoming Boarders (Katire Ayom,, (Magui south Sudan)

• Narusi Board Kenya

• Nimule, Boarder Uganda

• South Sudan border Ethiopia 

• And group coming from Sudan and IDPs within south Sudan

Leap For Life CEO: Mary Gideon

Contact No: 0481897058

Headquarter: Australia

Email: leapforlifes.com.

Website: www.leapforlifes.com