The mayor of Malakal, Upper Nile state said lack of food in the town is the reason residents are not returning to their homes.

Mayor Abdulla Jango Deng said the food shortages are due to the fact that humanitarian agencies are not distributing food in the town.

Humanitarians instead distribute food in the nearby UNMISS base where over 17,000 internally disaplced persons (IDPs) have taken refuge for fear of violence and ethnic attacks.

Mayor Jango said that if basic goods were more common in the Malakal market, many of the IDPs would leave the UNMISS base.

The mayor said over 10,000 people including some IDPS visit Malakal town each day for various activities, and that some people whose houses were not destroyed are returning to resume life.

Mayor Jango said the municipal government is unable to offer anything to convince IDPs to return home, but said the city can help clean up the town and open roads.

Related:

Malakal residents under UN protection fear to return home

Photo: Homes burned in Malakal, 4 Feburary 2014 (WFP/Challiss McDonough)