Nairobi — Churches in southern Sudan are gearing up for increased numbers at Christmas services due to a peace accord to end a decades-long civil war that means refugees who fled the conflict can return from camps where they spent many years.

     "Our people are tired of being in camps. They want to go home," the Rev. Peter Tibi, deputy executive secretary of the New Sudan Council of Churches told Ecumenical News International on 19 December. "They have been there for too long and would want to participate in the rebuilding of their country."

     Hundreds of thousands of southern Sudanese went into exile to flee the 21-long year civil war between the predominantly Arab and Muslim north and rebels seeking autonomy for the south where Christianity and traditional religions are predominant.

     Many are now voluntarily returning to the country a year after the signing of the peace accord in January, although churches are anxious about the absence of structures and services to meet them.

     Church leaders see hope in the start of the organized repatriation operation launched on 17 December by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR flew 67 refugees, all from the Kakuma camp in northwest Kenya, to the town of Bor in Jongley state and took another 64 by bus to villages in Eastern Equatoria.

     "You could say it's a drop in the ocean compared to thousands in neighbouring countries. But a drop in the ocean can be the start of a tsunami," Jean Marie Fakhouri, UNHCR's director of operations for Sudan told journalists in Nairobi. "Today the message will go out to everyone that maybe we should start thinking about going home now."

     The Rev. Fred Nyabera, executive director of the Fellowship of Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes region and Horn of Africa, said the start of repatriations was a good sign. "Churches have been waiting for this kind of gesture," he said. "They have in the past been overwhelmed by voluntary returnees."