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Ugandan refugee camp to shut down Ceremony underlines Uganda peace
(about 13 hours later)
The United Nations refugee agency and the Ugandan government are due to close down a camp for internally displaced people for the first time. A ceremony has taken place to mark the first closure of a camp for internally displaced people in northern Uganda.
More than 1.5 million people took refuge in camps at the height of the 20-year civil war between rebels and the Ugandan government. Officials of Uganda's government, the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) and diplomatic missions joined in as huts were destroyed at Otwal camp in Oyam.
Security in northern Uganda has improved dramatically since the start of negotiations more than a year ago. At the height of the conflict between the government and Lord's Resistance Army rebels, more than 1.5 million people sought refuge across the north.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have begun their journey home. But security has improved since peace talks began more than a year ago.
Some 12,000 people used to live in Otwal Railway Camp. Many people have now begun to return to their homes.
But the UNHCR estimates that in the last year 90% of them have decided to leave and rebuild their lives in their villages. Camps emptying
Encouraging signs Uganda's Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness, Relief and Refugees, Musa Ecweru, symbolically knocked down a hut with a pick and shovel.
At a closing ceremony on Tuesday, the unoccupied huts at the camp will be bulldozed and unused pit latrines will be filled in. We have had to bend backwards to make sure that this peace is achieved and we are committed to seeing this peace becoming a reality Musa EcweruRefugee minister
AFRICA HAVE YOUR SAY The demolition process is very symbolic and I applaud it. But I'd give it a couple of years to be sure that peace has finally returned Dennis B Aguma, London class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=7271&edition=1&ttl=20070910160952">Send us your comments Many of the dwellings in the camp are now empty - the UNHCR estimates that of the 12,000 people who used to live there, 90% have gone back to their villages.
Otwal is the first of 40 camps in the north that the UNHCR aims to close by the end of 2007. The same is true in many of the camps in this district - 39 more are due to be closed by the end of 2007.
Throughout the 20 years of conflict, the Ugandan government encouraged people to move into camps to avoid attack by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. Peace talks between Lord's Resistance Army rebels and the government have brought a level of security in northern Uganda unseen for years.
At one point there were more than 1.5 million people living in northern Uganda's 200 camps. At the height of the conflict, more than 1.5 million people were living in camps, herded there by the government to avoid attack by LRA rebels.
That number has now dropped to less than a million and it is largely thanks to the peace talks which have been taking place in southern Sudan since last year. AFRICA HAVE YOUR SAY The demolition process is very symbolic and I applaud it. But I'd give it a couple of years to be sure that peace has finally returned
Marred by walkouts and delays, the talks have nevertheless brought about an unprecedented level of security in northern Uganda, which has encouraged many people to make the journey home. Dennis B Aguma, London
Wanted rebels class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=7271&edition=1&ttl=20070910160952">Send us your comments
But a speedy resolution to the peace process looks unlikely, with delegates currently deliberating on the tricky issue of justice and accountability. But the UNHCR says the number of people living in camps is now below one million.
Joseph Kony leads the LRA, which is accused of human rights abuses There is no final agreement yet at the peace talks but Mr Ecweru says this is not a cause for concern.
In 2005, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for four of the LRA's top commanders on war crimes charges. "We have had to bend backwards to make sure that this peace is achieved and we are committed to seeing this peace becoming a reality," he said.
The LRA have made it clear that they will not sign a peace deal if they end up on trial in The Hague. "But in this part of the country people have already gone home anyway, and we think we should build on that."
Leader Joseph Kony refuses to attend peace talks in person for this very reason and remains in eastern Congo. But the problems are not over for the people of northern Uganda.
The Ugandan government is currently carrying out public consultations on what kind of justice those involved in the conflict should face. Many here who have left the camps complain of a lack of basic necessities, such as access to clean drinking water and medical services.
Then both the government and rebels will have to return to the negotiating table to find a way forward. And the road infrastructure across northern Uganda remains poor.