There are reports from Juba that South Sudanese refugees have started making the desperate decision to trek back to their home country.
The refugees are heading back to South Sudan, due to what is being reported as severe shortages of food, water, and medical supplies at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
Authorities in Greater Kapoeta have confirmed a growing influx of refugees trekking back on foot crossing through Nadapal into Eastern Equatorial.
A data officer who is working with the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) in Kapoeta, East of Eastern Equatoria State, says more than 600 South Sudanese migrants arrived on foot from the Kalobeyei settlement near Kakuma, in the Turkana West province in just two weeks.
According to the officer, Lokali Daniel, a total of 668 South Sudanese trekking back to Juba have already reached the Kapoeta East County.
The returning back of the South Sudanese had been recorded over the past two weeks after walking from Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee settlements in Kenya.
Many of them are complaining of dire conditions of living including hunger, famine, health concerns and poor treatments at the camps due to acute food and medical supply shortages.
The problems arise due to massive cuts in humanitarian funding leading to lack of basic services in Kakuma, reasons behind the mass exodus of South Sudanese from the camps.
Adut, the First Daughter of President Salva Kiir and newly appointed Presidential Envoy for Special Programs, has pledged support for the returnees from Kakuma as rising numbers cite food shortages, funding cuts, and poor services, with government and aid agencies tasked to ensure safe reintegration.
As the number of returnees continues to rise, both South Sudanese government and humanitarian organizations face the pressing task of ensuring that families who have endured years in exile are safely reintegrated back into their home communities.