SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
1. Some 98% of the 2,108 IDP households surveyed reported that they were unwilling to return to the villages of origin.
2. Insecurity (42%), followed closely by the fact that their house was gone (37%), and that their land was gone (21%) were the most commonly cited reason for not wanting to return to their villages of origin.
3. Security (26%) was the IDP's over-riding pre-condition to return home, followed by food (19%), temporary shelter (16%), and water (8%) as pressing concerns.
4. Some 97% percent of the IDP households surveyed were unwilling to relocate to another village.
5. Violence (65%) [including attacks (36%) and looting (29%)], destroyed crops (11%) and the killing of their livestock (11%) were the most common reasons IDPs surveyed left their villages. Fear of attack (6%), lack of necessities of life (7%), [comprising of lack of food (5%), lack of health services (1%) and lack of water (1%)] were the next most commonly cited reasons for fleeing.
6. Some 19% of IDP households surveyed returned to their village of origin, and of these 30% returned to retrieve possessions, 23% to check on the status of their house, 13% to check about security, 12% to plant or cultivate, and 11% to check on their land. Fewer went back to find family members (9%), or to rebuild their house (1%), or because they were told to return (1%)
7. Some 60 % of IDPs indicate that they receive information about return from those who have returned to their villages of origin, either fellow villagers or relatives.
8. Some 53% of respondents noted that men are the primary decision makers in the community about return (men the community (21%) together, followed closely by the sheik (20%), and male heads of households (12%)). Some 15% of those decided-and some 589 persons amongst these respondents felt the UN or international agencies would decide for them. Only 6% indicated women were the decision makers about return (3% female heads of household, and 3% women in the community decide together).
9. Some 48% percent of the IDP households surveyed felt secure in their current IDP camp/cluster, some 42% did not feel secure, and some 5% felt somewhat secure. The results differed significantly by location, with IDPs in the Kutum/Kassab/Fata Barno area feeling the most insecure (75%), followed closely by Saraf Omra (68%) feeling insecure. When the data was desegregated by gender the results were almost the same for men and women. Desegregating the data by age did not produce significant variances.
10. Some 77% of IDPs surveyed cited violence as the reason they felt insecure in their current location [39% cited violence outside the location, and 38% cited violence inside their current location]. IDPs in Abu Shouk camp, more so than in other camps, had more frequently been told that they had to return home (14%), compared to a range of 1%-4% in other locations.
11. The presence of more international agencies (37%), and improved assistance (31%)-total 68%, followed by being reunited with family (24%) would also make IDPs feel more secure in their current locations. When the data was desegregated by location, residents in both Saraf Omra (29%), and the new arrivals in Abu Shouk II (29%) felt reunification with family members was the second factor that would make them feel more secure, as opposed to the other locations where improved assistance was a second factor.
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