Malakal County’s population was estimated at 126,500 individuals during the 2008 census but was estimated to have grown in subsequent years before conflict erupted, with Malakal Town considered the second largest city in South Sudan prior to the 2013 conflict. According to a head-count conducted by IOM in February 2018, the population at the time measured only nine per cent of its pre-conflict size. The PoC site had peaked at just under 48,000 individuals in August 2015, shrinking in size since then with 23,343 currently biometrically registered by IOM as of April 2018 and 29,190 estimated present according to the latest headcount. Following the recommendation from the Upper Nile Solutions Working Group, IOM and UNHCR conducted a joint survey in Malakal Protection of Civilian Site (PoC) to establish people’s intentions to return, the tentative time frame of return or relocation and preferred destinations, as well as present an analysis of people’s perceptions and aspirations on the way to move forward. The survey seeks to inform the work of humanitarian and transition/recovery partners, as well as collaborative interventions by the Upper Nile Solutions Working Group.

Download