Radio Miraya
2767: NATIONWIDE: Governments' political will to end conflicts a priority for refugees to resettle
(upbeat music) - Nationwide, we bring you latest current issues, discussions and information. Nationwide, I'm Radio. - Hello and welcome to Nationwide. My name is Sunny Martin. We are coming to life from Cuba on this 20th day of June, 2024. South Sudan joins the rest of the world today in observing the world refugee day. Under the same solidarity with refugees. And South Sudan is hosting thousands, hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, from Sudan, given the fact that there's a war going on in Sudan. And also some parts of the world, most refugees are based in Central Victoria, Western Victoria and Apanae region and also Western Baragazade state. So I will be joined by, I am joined by four of my guests who will also be opening our lines to you to ask your questions on this world refugee day. I am joined here in the studio by Dr. Dutt Akal, who is the Director General for Protection and refugees. Good evening and thank you so much for joining us here on Nationwide program. - Good evening, Sunny Martin. Dr. Please just call me Dutt Akal. - Okay, Honorable Dutt Akal, I think that should be the right one, right? Okay, and also I'm joined by Gloria Fabianiaki, who is the UN has her Assistant Representative for Protection. Good evening and welcome. You have been having a busy day, I guess, because there was an event at Gorum, right? - Indeed, Martin and good evening and a very happy world refugee day. - Yes, go ahead. - Yes, good evening, Martin, and a very happy world refugee day to all of us. - Okay, and I also have with me here in the studio, William Molit, who is the European Union Program Manager here in South Sudan, Good evening, William, and thank you so much for joining us during this discussion. - Good evening, Sunny, it's a pleasure to be here and thank you for hosting us on this occasion. - Okay. - On the one refugee day. - Right, and we have the leader of Congolese refugees in Lasu. Refugees come in Yay River County, Central Colorado State, Karaba Mokili, welcome to Redeemer. - Thank you so much, and good evening. Once more, mr. (speaks in foreign language) - Okay, first of all, let's begin with but first of all, why is this day very important for a country like South Sudan hosting a lot of refugees from more than one country? - Thank you very much again, Sunny Martin. Indeed, this day was dedicated to be celebrated for refugees all over the world. This is in solidarity to stand with refugees who have faced a lot of challenges in the face of hardship. For our country, it is really very important because, you know, we, South Sudanese, have also been refugees at one time. We have been to Uganda, we have been to Kenya, we have been to Ethiopia, we have been to Sudan, which has the problem now. - Yeah, we have been all over. - We have been all over. So it is important for us to also celebrate with our own refugees who are not with us here now, but they are in exile, they are in other countries. - So what is the role of the government in terms of supporting the refugees and asylum seekers? - Our role mainly is administration and we work with the partners. There are two situations. The situation whereby the influx situation, where you have people coming in a group and then there is a situation whereby an individual come and ask for asylum. In the case of influx, we mobilize the law enforcement agencies, we mobilize our partners, the UNHCR, our main partner and other partners, and we move into the borders where there are influx of refugees. We receive the refugees, we register them, we direct them where they are going to stay on the transit camps or maybe on to refugee settlements. So on the asylum, on the individual case, an individual submits an application. This application, once that application is received, an individual is registered and he gets an asylum certificate. He's not a refugee until his case is decided by the eligibility committee. - Okay. And before we hear from Gloria from the commission, how many refugees do you have currently in the country? Because last time, last year I told over 300,000, what is the figure right now, given the fact that Sudan is in crisis? - The figure has significantly increased. It has significantly increased because of the influx of refugees from Sudan. Currently is 470,000. - 476,000. - 766,000. - 466,957, that is the exact number now. - As we talk. - Okay. Yes, let's find out more from Gloria. Now with these over 400,000 refugees who are spread across the country, could you explain, or could you provide an overview of UNHCR current protection effort for refugees and how these efforts are making a difference in the life of a refugee? - Thank you so much, Martin. And indeed, let me start by saying that this is indeed a significant number and we are very grateful to the government of South Sudan and also the people of South Sudan for being able to receive, host these people and provide them protection. As you will note, Martin, UNHCR is a global organization dedicated and mandated by the United Nations to save lives, to protect rights and build a better future for the people forced to flee their homes because of conflicts and persecution. We lead the international action to protect and provide assistance for refugees for forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. And when we talk about forcibly displaced communities, Martin, here we mean the refugees, we mean the IDPs, we mean the returnees, for instance, including South Sudanese, returnees who are now coming from the Sudan. In South Sudan, particularly, UNHCR works in collaboration with the government, is explained by Honorable Deut and the Honorable Deut, I mean, in the commission of refugees affairs and also the Minister of Interior to ensure that the refugees are welcomed to the country. And, you know, and we have an open door policy, you know, and, you know, this open door policy in South Sudan is commendable, you know, globally. And UNHCR work makes a difference to just answer the second part of your question by ensuring that refugees and asylum seekers are well protected, both legally and physically. UNHCR ensures that barriers to refugee participation in social and economic lives are removed and durable solutions to their plight is found. Thank you. - And still with you Gloria, what are some of the most pressing needs of these refugees living in South Sudan? - Well, you're not talking about the challenges. - Yes. - Indeed, there are plenty. - Maybe there are needs, what do they need right now? - They need protection, they flee from persecution. Imagine these people in their houses, their homes, and, you know, they flee because their lives were in danger, right? So, there are several challenges in the country, particularly, you know, at a time where now the forcibly displaced, the number of forcibly displaced people is at a record eye. We can also talk about, you know, one can also think about the conflict in South Sudan, the political and economic upheavals around the world. And then you have, on the other hand, the refugees who now have been forced to flee from their homes and their countries. And what are we saying is that while South Sudan has maintained its borders open to the refugees, in many other countries of the parties of the world, this is not the case, this is not the situation. We see refugees and asylum seekers, you know, going through tough and restrictive policies, making it harder for people fleeing war, violence, and persecution to access safe and legal routes. We see competition over jobs, international resources, and they fuel tensions amongst the communities. - The host communities. - Yes, with the host communities, definitely Martin. And we see increasing discrimination and xenophobia. And then particularly, you know, for those people who are coming from different culture, religion, and ethnicity. And talking about impacts on the other part of your question, we can also talk about climate change, you know, disrupting livelihoods and depleting resources on vulnerable regions. In South Sudan, for instance, talk of the floods that happened since 2022. In areas like Ben Tiu, you know Bo, you can clearly see-- - And some parts of the webinar. - Fantastic, you can clearly see, you know, effects in such areas. We can also talk about escalating tensions when you know you have competing, you know, competing needs between the host communities and the refugees. - So how are those being addressed by UN herself together with the government and other partners? - So we have been trying, number one, to just ensure that refugees are safe. You know, they remain alive. Their rights are protected. And of course, we try as much as possible to make sure that we find solution to their plight. And this involves all of us, including the international community, including the people of South Sudan, the refugees themselves. We just have to provide sanctuary and protection as an expression of shared humanity. We are all human at the end of the day. And, you know, we say that no action is too small. Whether it's just welcoming a refugee into a community or advocating for favorable policies that support them or providing funds in terms of our donors who have been supporting us is less likely to protect those who flee from violence. - Okay, yes. - Yes, William, how is the European Union supporting refugees in South Sudan, most special way your work has the program manager? - Once again, thank you for my time for hosting us. As I said, just before I go to your question, I think I just wanted to echo the same message, I think, for the colleagues, and particularly on the open door policy that I think the people of the public of South Sudan and also the government of South Sudan have been able to offer these refugees over the years. And I think that signifies a very, very good spirit in the humanity somebody mentioned. And just to say that I think our role as a EU, I think working together with the House of Government and also with the partners in particularly the different sectors. I think the EU, as you might know, that we have different sort of interventions, particularly for displaced and people and also the people that are facing challenges as regards to forced displacement from their different countries. And on the EU side, I think one of the things that I want to mention is that we have been working, particularly on the development side, and at the same time on the humanitarian side, providing multi-sector sort of interventions. And I think on the humanitarian side, which is actually one of the key or the basic service provision at the time of displacement, at the times of, you know, these are often meant for to save lives. And this has mostly been provided through our partners together with the government. And this is managed through our echo wing, which is the humanitarian wing. I think coming back to the development which I actually directly work with, working with the partners, such as the government and also the UN agencies, such as UNHCR. And I think, particularly with the recent crisis in Sudan, we have been one of the development partners that have been able to first provide funds that could cater for development response in areas that have been receiving this significant population that is coming particularly from Sudan. And also previously in areas that have seen some population who actually saw some of the needs that have been actually been displaced in the past and trying to come back to the country, try to integrate. So the EU has been sort of providing funding for almost different sort of integration in across different parts of the country, depending on what needs on those different entry points and also on the needs of this particular population. - Okay, yeah. - And Karab, you are a leader of the convalesce refugees in Lasho, Piam, Lasho refugees come in the area of accounting, central control state. First tell us, how has your journey been as a refugee in South Sudan? - First and foremost, Mr. Martin, I would like to give you thanks so much to what's dancing particularly I personally in this occasion. And I personally, I am a convalesce in refugees by nationality and my first day for each in South Sudan, particularly if I can remember that in South Sudan was in 2010, November 2010. That's my first day in South Sudan. If you look right now, I have so far done almost 15 years in the indigenous life, particularly in South Sudan. So my then it was not easy as young, but the grace of all my team, but today I'm alive. And despite the fact that, you know, I lost so many families in the loved one, but we have so far gone a lot of achievement in a refugee's life. - So what does this day mean to you? - Yeah, this day means, since you are to me, I personally, it means a lot. Because it's a day which we really honor the refugees and we strength the protection and the support of refugees. So each, every as a country, we remember these days for the refugees life. - Okay, and if you have just joined us right now, our lines will be open to you shuddly, where you can call us on 091, 206, 2799. Or you can also send us your question to our SMS numbers, 091, 21771, 141. My name is Sany Martin, and I have with me in the studio, William Wollit, who is the European Union Program Manager in South Sudan. And we have Honorable Duke Akal, the Director General for Protection Commission for refugees affairs. And we have Gloria Fabiannaki, who is the UN HR Assistant Representative for Protection, Karaba Mokkili, the Congolese refugee leader, Lasso refugee camp in Yay River County, Central Colorado State. Yes, you can call us and ask your question. Before we open our lines, let me ask this crucial question of Gloria. For you to do your job, you need money. And there is a donna fatigue all over the world. Crisis are all over the world, and the need keeps growing day by day. And when Filippo Grande came to Juba on the 29th of August 2020, say last year, he was asking the donnas to raise funding to support countries hosting the refugees from Sudan. First of all, I know this may not be under your docket, but do you think there is a availability of funding to cut out your activities in terms of supporting refugees in South Sudan? Thank you very much, Marty. And indeed, as you noted yourself, this is a million dollar question indeed. The needs are very, very, what can I say, very, very high. And the support that we are getting is not adequate. First of all, let me just start by being thankful to everybody who supports us in any way that they come to our donnas, to our governments, and to all partners who have supported UNSCR to carry out its mandate. Whatever we do, however small it is or big it is, then definitely it is a result of the support that we get from those who have decided that it is worthy to support the refugees. It's worthy to ensure that they are alive, and it's worthy to protect their rights and wellbeing. Okay, and with the fighting in Sudan going on at the moment, are we expecting more refugees to come from Sudan? The situation in Sudan has not changed, Marty. As you are following up, probably in the news channel and in any other channel that gives us the information of what is going on in Sudan, we still have a situation where tensions are ongoing, civilians are subject to the conflict to the war, and they are fleeing and coming to South Sudan. We have seen them entering through Jodaboda particularly, and now we can even say that maybe we are at an average of 1,400 a day. So that is not a small number. Crossing into South Sudan. So that is not a small number, Marty. It includes not only the Sudanese refugees who are seeking asylum in South Sudan, but it also includes South Sudanese who were once refugees in Sudan. And they're now coming back home in conditions that are less than ideal. Okay, Director General, what are some of the main challenges the government is facing while trying to address the issue of refugees, situation in South Sudan? Thank you very much, Sanymatin. I think one of them, the awardee asked Gloria, is about his funding. We have a very limited funding, and it is quite difficult for us to move to where the refugees are, to carry out, to receive them, to transport them to where they are supposed to go. So that is one big problem. The other big problem is accessibility. The accessibility is difficult for some areas to be accessed by road. So if you want to go, for example, to rank, we have to fly, okay? And if we have to transfer refugees to a jungle, we have to fly them, you see? And that is a costly. Very costly. And if we have to go, for example, to borrow Medina in Raja. So that takes us like two days drive. And if you fly, it is also very expensive. So there are really great challenges in carrying out our mandate. Okay, our lines are now open. You can call us and ask our guests here, and they will be willing to answer all your questions. 0912062079 or 0912062950, those are all our lines. So you can send us your question to our SMS number. 0912177141, those are all our contacts. You can call and ask your questions right here, as my guests will be answering them. And today is World Refugee Day. And we have also the leader of the commercial refugee here with me in the studio. (speaks in foreign language) (speaks in foreign language) - Good evening to your name. (speaks in foreign language) - Okay, (speaks in foreign language) Go ahead, please. - Thank you so much for good program. A question to the guests in the studio since now these are our people from South Sudan. And then you are saying that they don't have enough hands. What is the move of our government? Since these are our people. They are South Sudanese. What is the move of the government? So I, these are IDPs. - Okay. You can also call us and ask your question to our guests here. We have representatives from UNHESRA. We have representatives from the government side. And you also have the leader of the Congolese refugee here with me in the studio. And also William, from the European Union. He will be also telling us more about their support. What kind of support are they providing currently to the refugees? Yes, maybe let's check this. Let us check this channel to differentiate between the refugees and their autonomy. So it's very important for our listeners to know the two different. Sometimes once I am displaced from village A to village B, what does it mean, am I entitled to the same services the refugees are getting? Or I am under a separate category of people who should be assisted by the local government in that area? So maybe I don't know who can try to differentiate between that, the DG? - Yes. - Yes, go ahead. Because now, like Gloria said, we have South Sudanese who were once refugees in Sudan and because of the ongoing conflict in Sudan, they are now coming back in hundreds every day. So please, could you try to differentiate between these people and the refugees and what kind of assistance also is being given to them and who helps them? Is it to Yanisara, is it the government? - Thank you so much, Sarni Martin and Lal Ramiz for bringing up this. Okay, to differentiate between the commission for refugee affairs and the RRC or the humanitarian affairs, the commission for refugee affairs deals with refugees and asylum seekers. That means citizens from other countries who come to seek refuge in South Sudan is our responsibility. And RRC is also a government wing, is a sister government wing that deals with internally displaced people. So right now in rank, we have two teams. There's team of CRA that deals with the refugees and there is the team of RRC and humanitarian affairs that deal with the returnees. - The South Sudanese. - The South Sudanese. But I am going to answer this part of that question because I was in the high level committee on the Sudan response situation, which was formed shortly after the incident in Sudan. - Last year. - Last year. So what happened is the government pledged money, pledged money to give to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs to provide transport, to provide food, to the coming South Sudanese because the situation by that time was really dire. And I think it's even today. - I think, I don't know how much was given to date, I cannot tell, but the government gave money to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. Also, other partners that deal with this are IOM. IOM currently are also transporting our South Sudanese to their locations, they are taking them to Malachal, they are taking them to Wo, those ones are being taken to Zhonglei. So all over, there is a lot of transportation. The problem is that there is a great number of people coming and the only means of transportation, of transferring them to their locations is buyer. - Because of the challenges you have said earlier. - Yes. - Yes, we have another question here coming in from Deng in Moniki here in Cuba, it says my question goes to Gloria. He says what kind of support are you giving to the host communities where these refugees are? Like you said, sometimes there are challenges of scrambling over the meager resources in that particular area. What kind of support do these host communities get in terms of education, health, do they share the same health center with their refugees? That's from Deng here in Moniki. - Thank you very much Martin. And thank you very much, Deng, that is a great question. And indeed, the refugees and the host communities do share resources that are available for refugees. Take an example of any, I don't know where Deng is calling form, but if Deng is in Cuba, for instance, in Gorong camp, or is in area like Maban, where we have a refugee camp there for a long time, you can just be a witness to what is going on, whereby the host communities are welcome without any restriction to be supported through a hospital. That is also saving refugees. We can also talk about schools that are there, that the host communities also do also have access to. And even you leave the refugee camps and you go to areas like here, where my brother is coming from. I think he can tell you how, for instance, UNHCR has built schools in those areas. He can also tell you that we do have a hospital that UNHCR has built, and we can also say, for instance. - So it's being shared by the host communities, right? - Yes, yes, and some of these are in host communities, not with refugees, but some of them, those that are in refugees camps are being shared together with the host communities. And there are those that are built particularly for the host communities. And if you allow me, Marty, is not only about services to the refugees, the host communities have also benefited, for instance, from issues like infrastructures, what is this, what a provision through the world and et cetera. And recently, for instance, we are working with the MOI, with the CRA, and this MPI to issue the national ID for the host communities. So we have been able, for instance, from January up to date, to issue 5,600 national IDs to the South Sudanese. - So national IDs from the Minister of Interior, right? From the direct rate of immigration and passport? - So if the UN has had a providing that? - Exactly. - What's he getting? - Exactly. - Okay. First of all, Karab, maybe you can take it from Moi and Laurie, I'll stop. Could you describe the relationship between the refugees in Lasso, the refugees come and the host communities? Has there been any problem? How do you coexist with the host communities? - Thank you very much, once more, Mr Martin. Allow me to say a brief concern in the relationship between the refugees and the host community, particularly in the UAE and the Lasso camp. - Yeah, straight to my question, I'll tell you a question, the relationship between the refugees and the host community, particularly the national, are really very, very well. And the inequity of the staff, UNShara alone, UNShara with the refugees, they really very coexist in terms of support one another. When you look at right now, Yay, particularly, Yay is not only for the refugees alone. When you reach Yay, you may find different status. I'll try to tell you that in Yay, you may find the refugees. You find the IDP, you find the refugees, and you find the host community. The population at Yay comes very high because the south Chinese went Uganda, in Daskong, they're not coming back. And most social services in Yay, we are sharing together. We are sharing together with the refugees and the IDP as refugees. UNShara also in Yay is not working alone. UNShara has already have one partnership called MASS, and MASS is a particular look at the rich Chinese understanding. So MASS is also support IDP and the rich Chinese in terms of social support and also kind of physical support. And even in Yay, particularly the government, but it's here together with the UNShara, they have so far provided a practice. You know, why do the product of practice? So that the refugees, first of all, particularly, as Madam Gludaz spoke on Samilat Bak, you know, the conflicts in Sudan as well, after even the global economic situation is done, and even it has already been affected with the refugees. So they provided practice for the refugees so that they should look at it by themselves and eat the food come from themselves. So even the school alone, you know, UNShara has already put hand in the government school. Understand, you know, UN is going in Yay, right now, you find, you know, UNShara is already building a school block. Whereby all the refugees should go and start for free. Okay. Which means there's free education, particularly in Yay. Okay. And we have two questions here. One, actually, three questions. One coming from Jackson in Dubai here. It's going to Gloria. He says, does UNShara have enough food to feed the refugees? Most especially, Sudan is refugees for coming right now because there has been some complaints that refugees coming from Sudan, most specialty, the Baragasar region. Sometimes they don't get the basic needs they require. That's from Jackson here in Dubai. And another question here is coming from a non-name. It says, from Yay River County, the Central Cultural State, and it says any other digic and answer or Gloria. Sometimes back there were issues of armed men invading the camps of refugees in Yay. Sometimes abducting people and terrorizing the refugees causing a lot of fear. Has that been addressed already? Another question is coming from Lopai in Dubai here. And it's going to the EU representative in the studio. What kind of system of support is the European Union providing out support the refugees in South Sudan? Maybe we can begin with the question from Lopai to William. Yes, William. And thank you, Sam and thank you, Lopai, for that interesting question. I think just to start, maybe just to refresh that, the European Union delegation, as I said, have different wings, and the humanitarian wing usually provides immediate assistance immediately if they are displacements or needs is actually very short term. And that is echo. On the other hand, there's also the European Union delegation, which only focuses also on the development section within the-- I mean, within the interventions that it prioritizes within the country. I think just to the kind of support that the EU provide to refugees, particularly, I think that was the question. I just wanted to say that the EU is supporting South Sudan-- I mean, South Sudan response, particularly to different displacement and refugee situations. And in the case of South Sudan, the EU provides development funding. In the case of the current, the recent issues in Sudan, where we had significant numbers of people, we've had the numbers of over 450,000 people that have arrived. And I think these ads are going to the numbers that have been there in the past. And also, with also internal challenges that South Sudan has been facing. So the package that the EU has in terms of providing assistance to refugees, particularly, it's sort of integrated. So for example, most recently, the development section or wing of the EU had provided funding to cater for migration and first displacement, amounting to about 12 million, which is provided in different parts. And this comes as a result of the crisis in Sudan. And this would, of course, add on to other ongoing programs that has been there to the refugees in the country. And also, there's also a plan to provide assistance in the future, working with the different partners. I think, as a continuation to the current program, which actually focuses mainly on the Sudan, the results of the Sudan crisis. And I think the main objective of this development component of this particular funding is to look at how do we include these refugees to the social systems of the country. And also, how do we improve issues to do with the social system? As I said, there are challenges that South Sudan faces as a country, and especially when you host this big number of population from the refugee. So these fundings are actually streamlined in a way to be able to provide different sort of interventions around the day issues, for example, economic inclusion for the refugees, and the blood can enhance social cohesion among the refugees at the same time, providing some of the basic needs at the end of the day. OK. Yes. Digi, this question that came from, hey, there's no person never wrote his or her name. The question of that sometimes back there were stories of armed men invading their refugee camp. Has that been addressed? And is it still happening? I think this is-- I will just give a very short answer. Yeah. Because we have offices in refugee hosting areas, in yay, in yambio, in a wheel, praying, all this. And we get reports, security reports, from all those offices. And so far, there has not been any report of insecurity, of camp being invaded by armed men. There was an insecurity at some time back. I think it is a while now that we have not had any insecurity in the area. Thank you. Yes. Glory, you have two questions here. The first one here is coming in from a Gwok Simon in Torit. Does UNHSA give refugees an opportunity to join public universities in the country? Yes. In the second one? And the second one is about, does UNHSA have enough food to feed over 400,000 you talked about earlier? Because he cited an example of some parts of Baragasarijul. Some of the Sudanese refugees have been complaining. They don't have access to their basic needs. Yeah. Thank you so much, Marty. And I think the question came from Gwok Simon in Torit. And Gwok, thank you very much. Yes, go ahead. Yes, thank you very much, Gwok, for these two questions. And they are good questions. The issue of food, food is basic need. And I think when it comes to provisional food, we just have to bring in WFP, the World Food Program, into the question, because this is the organization that really deals with the provision of food to the refugees. And we see every day that they try to support the refugees in all the camp. They give them food that has enabled them to survive to this day. We know there are challenges involved in that. And there has been a situation where I think there has been a little bit of reduction in the amount of Russian that is given. But it is still provided in the country. And then we, I think, would like to use this forum, really, to play to our donors to support the refugees, just to ensure that they get food and that they are well supported. But mostly important, Marty. I think we want to move from a situation whereby we give refugees handouts in terms of food. And I don't know non-food items here and there. To a place where refugees are self-sufficient, they are resilient and they can provide for themselves. When we speak with refugees, they tell us they want opportunities, not handouts. And when we talk about opportunities, I think we can also bring in the issue of education. Whereby, honestly, we in UNHCR desire every refugee to be educated. We do provide basic education in terms of primary and secondary education. But you know, tertiary education is another level. And that one really depends on more than our wish to have refugees there. It depends on several factors. Do they have the marks to go to these universities to them? The place. Do they have the funds to pay for the fees, et cetera? So we can say that we do have several scholarships for recent attack scholarships, the MasterCard scholarships. And these have been able to support us and to help some refugees to attend some of the tertiary education. Is it enough? No, it is indeed not enough. But you know, when we speak to the refugees to my brother here, you know, Elia in the day we had a chance to discuss, you know, they tell us that refugees, they want opportunities, not handouts. Most of them becomes with skills, qualification, and creative ideas to the country. And when given the chance, they make significant contribution, not only to the economies of the country, but also to the host communities. OK. Yes, and because of the interest of time, and let's begin winding out our discussion here, first of all, Karaba, what is your message on this day to the millions of refugees around the world? And there are over 100,400,000, I should say, who are here in South Carolina and have the opportunity to come from here after Juba here. You are privileged. Thank you very much once more. My only message for today is, my fellow refugees, we should not forget our Western country. Despite the fact that there's a lot of instability, but let us have the hope, let us have the hope, time to come, we should go back to our own country. And my message goes to the government of South Carolina, including the initiator. We should try their level of best to address really some of the challenges that refugees are facing here in South Carolina. Like Samir at the back of Madam, Gloria, put on phone, the issue of food insecurity. You know, the refugees, particularly in the day, they are not likely another refugee, you know, in South Carolina receiving food assistance. So we really beg a unit share together with the international partnership to help refugees, particularly in terms of food insecurity. And bring most good training for the refugees so that they can really strengthen their life. There's a lot of training. All right, now, just briefly, is it a challenge for most convalescent refugees to switch from learning in French to English in your camp? In fact, in fact, I have my whole experience. In 2010, when I came to South Carolina, I couldn't speak English. I own learned French language. But because of the effort which I was having, I got the scholarship to unish her with the partnership across. So after completing, I also went for that study through that scholarship program. That's why today you see me, I can speak English, and I'm also teaching the community. So it is a bit of, you know, kind of, despite the fact that, you know, learning French to English, I have a bit of heart, but it made a personal effort. - Okay. - Understand. So it made a personal effort. - Right, yes, William, so as we mark this day and so many refugees, like you had expected to be coming to South Sudan, and despite the fact that South Sudan is having its own challenges, what more can your department do to support both the government, the UN, to support refugees in this country? - Thank you, Sami. I think in simple terms, I just wanted to say that the huge, the needs are very huge. And I think in the last couple of months, I think in particular with now in the Sudan crisis, there were a lot of concerns on how to probably, at the end of the day, be able to meet some of these needs. I think one other thing that I wanted to mention is that recently during the recent Paris conference, and in April, the prospect of funding had significantly improved, particularly from the EU countries, which are the EU member countries. I think that pledged up to about 900 million and euros, and this will probably also be directed towards providing this level of assistance where the displacement as far as refugees are also concerned. And I think, as I said, again, the needs will remain to be huge, but we'll try to tackle those together with their partners with limited resources that can be available. And I think the role that the host government has been able to play for us as the EU has been very much important. I think it goes beyond just the funds, and I think this particularly goes into having, or being able to provide space for these particular refugees. The element of land that has been able to be allocated to the refugees to provide some of these other infrastructure types of services, I think that is much, much commendable to the government. And I think this extends even far beyond the money that has been able to provide by the EU and the donors. Thank you very much, William. And, yes, Director General, what more can the refugees expect from you as the host government to get out the partners? Thank you very much, Sarni Martin. Indeed, refugees expect a lot from us. The government and the UNCR. Only that what we are doing currently is managing those expectations because the expectations are high, and the chances that people lose hope are there. So what we do is talk to them from time to time. You know, we have our fellows, the Sudanese. We have, some of them are not settled completely. Right from the time they enter the country. They move from refugee camp to another camp to another camp, hoping that they will get a better situation. And the situation keeps the situation moving. But you know, you have to be resilient in order to manage this. Thank you very much, Honorable Dutta Akhol. And the final glory in the second is because we have to now go to the newsroom. What's the final remark on this important day? Thank you so much, Marty. I'm so happy and grateful to participate this day in South Sudan. The country that is indeed commendable, you know, in supporting refugees. So three things from me. Number one really is a call and a plea to everybody to support countries that are welcoming refugees and who are in need of more resources to ensure refugees can fully be included and supported. Second, we plea for the political will on the parts of the government, you know, to end the conflicts and find solutions that will allow refugees to return home or resettle in other countries. And lastly, really, is a plea to all of us, including the international community, the donors, and everybody to show solidarity with the refugees and address the challenges that they are facing. Thank you very much, Gloria Fabian-Yanki, UN Assistant Representative for Protection. And I had the Honorable Deut Akal, the Director-General for Protection, Commission for Refugees Affairs, Karabah Mokhili, Congolese refugee leader, Lasour refugee camp, A River County, Central Colorado State, and William Olet, A.U. program manager. And that's it. I have for you this evening, the news is coming next at the top of the hour. In English, you and my colleague, David Lukan, for the second hour of nationwide. My name is Sani Martin. Nationwide, your daily current affairs program on Radio Mirai. [MUSIC PLAYING] You