Data Story: South Sudan Returnee figures, state and county levels 2021

By Oriba Douglas

A returnee is someone who was displaced from their habitual residence either within South Sudan or abroad, who has since returned to their habitual residence. 

According to Round 11 of IOM’s DTM baseline assessment, Wau County had the highest returnee individuals at 171,394 and also the highest household returnees at 40,541 households. This can be attributed to improved security situations influencing voluntary returns.

Kapoeta North County however produced the least Household returnees with 102 households and total individual returnees of 510 people was also the least among the Counties of South Sudan. This is majorly due to the nomadic lifestyle of the indigenous communities who prefer to be constantly on the move and are not necessarily influenced by security trends.

The other areas highlighted by the assessment are in full detail illustrated in the graph above. 

CAPTION: Comparison of total returnees Household vs Individual

A comparison of the total number of returnees per State vs the total number of Household returnees per State asserted that Upper Nile State has the Highest number of Individual returnees which was found to be 361,232 individuals including women and children and also the highest number of Household returnees at 6,557 households. 

Lakes State on the other hand had the lowest numbers of both individual and household returnees at 61,549 and 11,771 respectively.

Upper Nile State leads in the number of Individual returnees while Lakes State ranks lowest when it comes to individual returns and the same scenario repeats itself when it comes to household returnees.

Western Bahr El Ghazal State leads with the highest number of individual returnees from within South Sudan while Upper Nile State leads with the highest number of individual returnees from Outside South Sudan.

Western Bahr El Ghazal State also leads with the highest number of household returnees from within South Sudan while Upper Nile State leads with the highest number of household returnees from Outside South Sudan.

About the Authors:

Oriba Douglas, a Data Speaks Fellow at #defyhatenow South Sudan, wrote this data story, which was edited by 211 Check Editor Emmanuel Bida Thomas and approved for publication by Steve Topua, a Data Analyst and Trainer. It’s part of the ongoing #defyhatenow South Sudan Data Speaks Fellowship program with funding from the European Union Delegation to South Sudan.

About South Sudan Data Speaks Fellowship: 

This is a three months data journalism fellowship for South Sudanese content creators with an aim of educating participants on the fundamentals of data journalism through in-depth training facilitated by experienced data analysts.

The fellows have been selected from across South Sudan and they are trained in data sourcing/mining, data analysis, and data visualisation for three months (October to December) 

Each fellow will produce a minimum of three (03) data stories during the fellowship. The focus will be on increasing access to information