IOM, the International Organization for Migration, is to suspend operations to transport returnees stranded in Sudan and South Sudan if the agency does not get much needed funding.
IOM Public Information Officer, Samantha Donkin, told CRN on Saturday that the temporary transport suspension will affect 16,000 returnees stranded in Renk, another 3,000 in Kosti railway station plus 38,000 South Sudanese who registered with the UNHCR in Khartoum to return home.Ms Donkin said the little money that IOM has is being used to transport extremely vulnerable individuals, including pregnant women and patients in need of medical attention.
On Friday, IOM issued a statement saying it will have to suspend transporting South Sudanese returnees because funds dried up.
Ms Donkin said IOM is now appealing to donors and to the Government of South Sudan to provide money for transporting the returnees waiting to come home.