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The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the European Union signed a $7 million (around SSP4.3 billion) initiative to assist South Sudanese returnees in resettling in neighbouring countries.

According to Arafat Jamal, the UNHCR’s country representative, the funding arrangement for the Solutions Initiative is for three years and focuses on places that 

Arafat stated that the main objective of the project is to provide displaced persons and local communities with access to protection centres and self-reliance-oriented support that encourages reintegration, peace, and development. The project must be completed in a safe, sensitive to interpersonal conflicts, and environmentally responsible manner.

He said the UNHCR had identified seven counties in South Sudan where large numbers of people have returned to their communities. The places which he referred to as ‘pockets of hope’, had a little conflict, little environmental damage, little famine, and strong government support. 

The UN agency said that in Eastern Equatoria State’s Torit and Magwi counties, for instance, almost 100,000 South Sudanese have returned since the peace accord was signed in 2018.

Arafat said the agreement represents a vision of growth, productivity, and hopes for South Sudan, with a focus on those places where there is production and a chance to improve the lives of the people.

“They vaulted on their feet, took the decision on their own, and came back, and we showed them ourselves. We talked to them, and they are not wasting time, they are investing in their country, in their communities, developing and flourishing. We want to do is make sure that people like them are enabled to build their livelihoods even further,” he said. 

“We have pockets of hope along the border with Uganda; we have them in the north next to Sudan, and we also have them in the east next to Ethiopia.”

“This is the concept of the pockets of hopes, so part of the agreement with the European Union is actually investing in these pockets,’’ he commented.

“Recently, we have been working with the European Union on many levels on this, conceptually, strategically, but also practically,” Arafat stated.

Timo Olkkonen, the ambassador of the European Union to South Sudan, visited Unity State, Ruweng Administrative Area, Torit, and Magwi this week as part of his first official visit outside of Juba since being assigned to the country. He noted that the visits were both very interesting and extremely concerning because there is still much work to be done in South Sudan.

“Of course, the humanitarian emergency is much more severe, and we must assist the people of South Sudan in meeting the challenges that they face today, but we must also move forward in terms of development in terms of how we can support them in the medium and long term,” he said.

Timo reaffirmed the EU’s ongoing support for returnees having paperwork that upholds their rights. By Keji Janefer, The City Review

Thames Valley Police© Provided by The Telegraph  

An asylum seeker accused of raping a teenager has been found by police in a migrant hotel where children were staying after a major blunder.

Thames Valley Police identified the asylum seeker on Thursday using police files after he had gone “missing” earlier in the week following his transfer from another migrant hotel 80 miles away in east London, where he allegedly raped a teenage boy.

It is claimed that Clearsprings, the government contractor for the asylum hotel in Buckingham, where he was found, had failed to account for the suspect - leading to claims that he had disappeared.

His presence at the hotel also appeared to be in breach of Home Office policy that criminals or suspects should not be housed in hotels but instead restricted to immigration removal or detention centres.

Greg Smith, Conservative MP for Buckingham, said: “I remain incredibly concerned about this. There has been a major failure. The most important thing is to ensure that the suspect is placed in a secure detention centre.”

It was on Oct 5 that the asylum seeker was arrested and taken into custody by Metropolitan Police officers after reports that a teenage boy had been raped at a hotel in Waltham Forest, east London. He was released on bail pending further inquiries and told he must return to the police station in early January.

As part of his bail conditions, he was barred from the Waltham Forest area and it is believed he was transferred to Buckingham by police, although it is understood the Metropolitan Police maintains the Home Office was responsible for transport and accommodation which meant officers were not required to escort him to the hotel.

Buckinghamshire County Council only became aware of his transfer to a hotel in their area when they were alerted to it by officials at Waltham Forest. 

However, when Buckinghamshire council officials contacted Clearsprings to confirm that was the case, they were told there was no record of him at the hotel, leading to claims that he had gone missing on Wednesday.

Within 24 hours, Thames Valley police who were called in to investigate found the asylum seeker at the Buckingham hotel, confirming his identity with photo identity from police files. 

‘Huge safeguarding issue’

A local source said: “It is a huge safeguarding issue. There are people in the hotel who have presented as adult men but are children. There are also two schools nearby. It is a total mess. He should be in a secure facility.”

The Home Office declined to say where the asylum seeker had been placed and said it could not comment on individual cases.

A Home Office spokesman said: “If someone claiming asylum commits a criminal offence then their bail conditions would be set by the police in the usual way. Their subsequent movements would be dependent on the conditions set, and them abiding by them. The Home Office does not have powers to detain individuals on police bail.

“If an asylum seeker absconds before a decision is made on their asylum claim, or if they fail to comply with our processes, we have a dedicated national absconder tracing team to track them down and bring them back into contact with the Home Office and their claim may be withdrawn. Full security checks are carried out before anyone enters the asylum system.”

Martin Tett, leader of Buckinghamshire County Council, said he had written to the Home Office and Metropolitan Police, raising their concerns about the incident. Thames Valley Police referred calls to the Met. The Met has been contacted for a response.

The case follows a backlash over the surge in the use of hotels for migrants after a record 42,000 have crossed the Channel this year in small boats. On Friday Ben Bradley, a Conservative MP, complained that homeless people were removed from a hotel in his constituency, Mansfield, to make way for 34 asylum seekers.

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, has established a new protocol that MPs and councils should be informed at least 24 hours before any decisions are taken to move asylum seekers into hotels in their area. It follows complaints that hotels had been block-booked before they were told. By Charles Hymas, Telegraph