Paper short abstract:

Many South Sudanese are after their “return” to South Sudan confronted with politics of belonging which often contradicts their past experiences. The paper reflects how the “returnees” position themselves and how they claim to be recognized as Sudanese and South Sudanese at the same time.

Paper long abstract:

After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Sudanese Government and the Sudanese Liberation Movement SPLM(A) in 2005 the "return" of the Southern Sudanese living in Northern Sudan was on the political agenda. The paper argues that the mass movement of Southern Sudanese from Khartoum and other places in North Sudan must be understood as part of an international refugee regime in which belonging is constructed along the "national order of things" (Malkki 1992). Furthermore, taking the case of returnees belonging to the Bari group, an ethnic group originally from the area around Juba,the paper argues that the politics of return forces people to identify with specific forms of belonging and relate this belonging to specific places. This complex landscape of belonging got even more complicated after some of the "returnees" moved back to their former homes in Khartoum. The paper reflects how the "returnees" position themselves and how they keep relationships not only to many places but also claim to be recognized as Sudanese and South Sudanese at the same time.