• Text size Normal size text | Increase text size by 10% | Increase text size by 20% | Increase text size by 30%

US-bound teen dreams of helping his native Sudan despite identity crisis

News Stories, 5 October 2006

© UNHCR/K.Gebre Egziabher
Sudanese refugee Deng Duot meets UNHCR Representative in Ethiopia, Ilunga Ngandu, before heading off for a new life in Atlanta, Georgia.

DIMMA CAMP, Ethiopia, October 5 (UNHCR) – Deng Duot flew out of Ethiopia for a new life in the United States late last month, but the 16-year-old Sudanese refugee felt like he was going into exile for the first time in his life.

His dilemma is one faced by many refugees born and raised in host countries and now facing repatriation or resettlement overseas. The teenager left for Atlanta, Georgia on September 25 with his mother, two brothers and sister under a UNHCR resettlement programme.

Duot was born at this camp in western Ethiopia after his parents crossed from neighbouring southern Sudan in 1987 to escape the bitter North-South conflict in their country, which drove hundreds of thousands of people into exile. His father was later killed fighting for the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army.

Home is a vague concept for Duot, and thousands like him, and the only picture they have of Sudan is gleaned from fragmented stories recited by their parents. They end up feeling more affinity for their host countries, whose language and culture many adopt.

"Ethiopia," Duot said without hesitation, when asked where he considered himself from. "I was born and brought up here and I have never been to the country my parents call home," he added in an interview shortly before leaving Ethiopia.

But, inevitably, he does feel some connection to Sudan through his parents. And he wants to play a role in getting the country back onto its feet. "My mother has been telling me that lack of justice and peace was the reason for the family's flight and I believe ignorance is the mother of all the troubles our people have been suffering from," said Duot, who is determined to pursue his studies.

"By enrolling me in school, UNHCR has shown me the way and I will repay my debt to the organisation by excelling in my studies, which I will be using to the betterment of my people," he vowed.

Duot has been apprehensive about leaving Ethiopia since 2004, when the peace process in Sudan was progressing well and repatriation seemed to be around the corner. He regarded repatriation as a displacement rather than a return home – and he wrote a moving poem about his fears and frustration at that time.

UNHCR officials saw the poem – reproduced below – and invited him to recite it at a World Refugee Day ceremony in Addis Ababa in June 2004. It was also reproduced in the UNHCR staff publication, Dialogue, and used on a Christmas card issued by a Dutch aid agency.

In the end, Duot's family were offered resettlement in America. And while the teenager is confused about his identity, he is bright enough to realise that he is being given a great opportunity – and he intends to make the most of it. He described life in the United States as "exile," but added that "this time I know this to be a rewarding and temporary one."

A grade A student, he wants to study geology in America. As a geologist, he could help exploit Sudan's vast mineral resources and use them for the good of the Sudanese people. "If for some reason I miss the chance to go to a school of geology, I will study sociology and become a social worker and devote my life to assisting people in trouble – such as refugees," he said.

By Kisut Gebre Egziabher in Dimma Camp, Ethiopia

Becoming a Refugee

The actual moment
Of exile
Is like an illness.
You are ill
With rage.
To each family,
It means closing the door
On friends, culture, your native country.
One year is an exile,
Compared to 10 years.
Ten years means nothing
In the history of the country,
But for a human being
Is a long time.
For a child,
A lifetime.
Some of us
Were born in Ethiopian camps.
Peace is around the corner.
What I call home
Will still be
Another exile,
Because
I don't know home.
What an irony.

• DONATE NOW • • GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

 

Related stories by:

UNHCR country pages

Prominent Refugees

An A-Z of refugee achievers around the world.

Crisis in Horn of Africa

Tens of thousands of Somalis are fleeing conflict and drought into Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Integration Handbook: Refugee Resettlement

A relevant handbook on the reception and integration of resettled refugees.

UNHCR-NGO Toolkit for Practical Cooperation on Resettlement

A repository for exchanging ideas on resettlement partnerships, June 2011.

Resettlement

An alternative for those who cannot go home, made possible by UNHCR and governments.

UNHCR Resettlement Handbook and Country Chapters

July 2011 edition of the UNHCR Resettlement Handbook.

The 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol

The most frequently asked questions about the treaty and its protocol.

Refugees: Telling Their Stories

A publication of the winners & finalists of UNHCR's High School Writing Competition

[PDF, 40pp. 1.2Mb]

Battling the Elements in Chad

More than 180,000 Sudanese refugees have fled violence in Sudan's Darfur region, crossing the border to the remote desert of eastern Chad.

It is one of the most inhospitable environments UNHCR has ever had to work in. Vast distances, extremely poor road conditions, scorching daytime temperatures, sandstorms, the scarcity of vegetation and firewood, and severe shortages of drinkable water have been major challenges since the beginning of the operation. Now, heavy seasonal rains are falling, cutting off the few usable roads, flooding areas where refugees had set up makeshift shelters, and delaying the delivery of relief supplies.

Despite the enormous environmental challenges, UNHCR has so far managed to establish nine camps and relocate the vast majority of the refugees who are willing to move from the volatile border.

Battling the Elements in Chad

Southerners on the move before Sudanese vote

Ahead of South Sudan's landmark January 9, 2011 referendum on independence, tens of thousands of southern Sudanese in the North packed their belongings and made the long trek south. UNHCR set up way stations at key points along the route to provide food and shelter to the travellers during their arduous journey. Several reports of rapes and attacks on travellers reinforced the need for these reception centres, where women, children and people living with disabilities can spend the night. UNHCR has made contingency plans in the event of mass displacement after the vote, including the stockpiling of shelter and basic provisions for up to 50,000 people.

Southerners on the move before Sudanese vote

Chad: Relocation from the Border to Refugee Camps

Since fighting broke out in Sudan's western region of Darfur last year, more than 110,000 Sudanese refugees have fled into Chad. They are scattered along a 600-km stretch of desert borderland under a scorching sun during the day and freezing temperatures during the night.

Access to these refugees in this inhospitable region is difficult. Staff of the UN refugee agency drive for days to locate them. Bombing in the border zone and cross-border raids by militia from Sudan put the refugees at risk and underscore the urgent need to move them to camps in the interior. In addition, the approach of the rainy season in May will make the sandy roads impassable. Aid workers are racing against time in an attempt bring emergency relief to these refugees.

Chad: Relocation from the Border to Refugee Camps

Ethiopia: Arriving in Assosa Play video

Ethiopia: Arriving in Assosa

Zeneib was living in her husband's village in Sudan's Blue Nile state when it was attacked. She lost three brothers and then endured tremendous hardship on the journey to Ethiopia with her children.
Sudan: A Perilous RoutePlay video

Sudan: A Perilous Route

Kassala camp in eastern Sudan provides shelter to thousands of refugees from Eritrea. Many of them pass through the hands of ruthless and dangerous smugglers.
Sudan: Heading for a New HomePlay video

Sudan: Heading for a New Home

UNHCR is offering to help move hundreds of people from Sudan to newly independent South Sudan, where they will build new lives. Almost 250 families with ties to the south are waiting for a ride.