Pakok
Encyclopedia
Pakok, formerly Khor Shum, is a community in South Sudan
on the border with Ethiopia.
Pakok is near the border with Ethiopia
, near Dimma, Ethiopa.
In 1985, a group of 500-600 army officers and soldiers from Uganda
fled to South Sudan as refugees after a coup. The Sudan People's Liberation Army
(SPLA) gave them the choice of remaining to fight for South Sudan independence from the north, or return to Uganda. Almost all choose to remain, and were sent for training to SPLA bases in Ethiopia. The bases were tolerated by the Ethiopian government, which was hostile to the Khartoum regime. In 1988 the Ugandans were brought to Khor Shum, where they built a camp and lived there from February 1988 until November 1992. They were assigned work planting crops and building huts for an SPLA base, and also portering food from the refugee camp at Dimma.
During the Second Sudanese Civil War
(1983–2005) many civilians fled to Ethiopia. Several thousand unaccompanied boys
were trained by the SPLA, then used to help prop up the Mengistu regime.
When that regime collapsed in May 1991, the SPLA began moving hundreds of thousands of refugees back to Sudan, many of them temporarily settled at Nasir, Pochalla, and Pakok (the new name for Khor Shum).
Refugees from Fugnido camp migrated to Pochala while those in Dimma walked to Pakok.
Many of the Ugandan crops were destroyed when the first repatriates arrived, but some were harvested and sent to SPLA troops in the field.
By the end of 1991 the United Nations
registered slightly less than 10,000 refugees at Pakok, including 2,548 unaccompanied minors. In November 1991 a nutritional survey showed that two thirds of the boys at Pakok were moderately malnourished.
In January 2007, more refugees from Dimma camp in Ethiopia arrived in Pakok after walking for 13 hours.
Many of them were male students, who had left Dimma because their educational allowances for the 2006-2007 academic year had been reduced and because they did not want to wait any longer before returning home.
Most of the returnees made their way by foot to the nearby village of Boma, where the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the South Sudan Rehabilitation and Relief Commission (SSRRC) registered 612 returnees, mainly from Upper Nile and Jonglei States.
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...
on the border with Ethiopia.
Pakok is near the border with Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, near Dimma, Ethiopa.
In 1985, a group of 500-600 army officers and soldiers from Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
fled to South Sudan as refugees after a coup. The Sudan People's Liberation Army
Sudan People's Liberation Army
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as a rebel political movement with a military wing known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army estimated at 180,000 soldiers. The SPLM fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War against the Sudanese...
(SPLA) gave them the choice of remaining to fight for South Sudan independence from the north, or return to Uganda. Almost all choose to remain, and were sent for training to SPLA bases in Ethiopia. The bases were tolerated by the Ethiopian government, which was hostile to the Khartoum regime. In 1988 the Ugandans were brought to Khor Shum, where they built a camp and lived there from February 1988 until November 1992. They were assigned work planting crops and building huts for an SPLA base, and also portering food from the refugee camp at Dimma.
During the Second Sudanese Civil War
Second Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....
(1983–2005) many civilians fled to Ethiopia. Several thousand unaccompanied boys
Lost Boys of Sudan
The Lost Boys of Sudan is the name given to the groups of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced and/or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War , about 2.5 million killed and millions were displaced...
were trained by the SPLA, then used to help prop up the Mengistu regime.
When that regime collapsed in May 1991, the SPLA began moving hundreds of thousands of refugees back to Sudan, many of them temporarily settled at Nasir, Pochalla, and Pakok (the new name for Khor Shum).
Refugees from Fugnido camp migrated to Pochala while those in Dimma walked to Pakok.
Many of the Ugandan crops were destroyed when the first repatriates arrived, but some were harvested and sent to SPLA troops in the field.
By the end of 1991 the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
registered slightly less than 10,000 refugees at Pakok, including 2,548 unaccompanied minors. In November 1991 a nutritional survey showed that two thirds of the boys at Pakok were moderately malnourished.
In January 2007, more refugees from Dimma camp in Ethiopia arrived in Pakok after walking for 13 hours.
Many of them were male students, who had left Dimma because their educational allowances for the 2006-2007 academic year had been reduced and because they did not want to wait any longer before returning home.
Most of the returnees made their way by foot to the nearby village of Boma, where the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the South Sudan Rehabilitation and Relief Commission (SSRRC) registered 612 returnees, mainly from Upper Nile and Jonglei States.