Over 20 years in search of safety, South Sudanese family gets hope through the Emergency Transit Mechanism
Over 20 years in search of safety, South Sudanese family gets hope through the Emergency Transit Mechanism
Achul and her daughter pose for a photo before departing the ETM for resettlement.
On a sunny afternoon, Achul, 41, carefully picks her clothes and other belongings one by one, packing her luggage for a long trip. Just outside her shelter, her daughter cheerfully adds the final touches to her hair and makeup before they leave the Emergency Transit Mechanism (ETM) centre in Gashora, which has hosted them for 11 months.
“I'm so happy today, I can't even express how happy I am!” says the mother of two, as she leaves her compound, surrounded by her friends at the ETM, walking towards a coaster. “We're going to France! We'll get treatment from the best doctors and relax mentally, emotionally, and physically.”
After 21 years of uncertainty and searching for safety, Achul and her two children are finally ready to begin a new chapter in France following their resettlement from Rwanda’s ETM in mid-November 2025. For her, this moment feels like a miracle. Her life has been marked by displacement.
Long journey to safety
Originally from Abyei, an area in South Sudan that has been ravaged by conflicts for years, Achul and her family left South Sudan and went to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya two decades ago. After spending 12 years in Kakuma, she left and went to Egypt where she lived for seven years together with her family.
While in Egypt, hardship struck again: all her siblings and mother passed away. She struggled to cope with the situation and decided to leave and go to Libya.
In Libya, she couldn’t find a normal life either.
“I felt like I was tied up in a bag… I was still suffering. I slept on the streets for four months in Libya. I spent the fifth month in prison there,” recalls the mother of two.
Ray of hope
In the meantime, Achul found an organization that supports refugees and told them her story of displacement and they registered her and her children. After getting out of the prison, the organization invited her for an interview and after a few months, she was informed of the opportunity to be evacuated to Rwanda through the Emergency Transit Mechanism. She arrived in Rwanda in December 2024.
“After I heard that I was coming to Rwanda, I was over the moon with joy. A joy I couldn't express. But I was extremely happy. I kept saying ‘The Lord hasn't forgotten me yet,’” she recounts. “Life in ETM Gashora was wonderful.”
Achul, her children and other fellow evacuees got lifesaving assistance during their temporary stay at the ETM Gashora; which was established in 2019 by the Government of Rwanda, the African Union and UNHCR, generously supported by partners such as the European Union (EU).
The ETM provides shelter as well as access to healthcare, psychosocial support, and livelihood trainings for the evacuees during the processing of their refugee status and identification of future solutions.
The south Sudanese lady participated in some of the activities designed to equip the evacuees with life skills such as driving and tailoring. And she hopes to use some of these skills to rebuild her life.
“My plans are to study, to learn and to work…because I genuinely love work. I don't like someone feeding me,” she points out. “And I hope my children will study.”
Since the establishment of the ETM centre in Gashora, in 2019, 2,760 people have been evacuated from Libya to Rwanda. As of December 15, 2025, 2535 of these people have already departed through resettlement and 15 under complementary pathways to third countries.
