Two young boys who took a risky journey to war-torn Sudan have been been reunited with their families.
The minors who had been embedded with Arab Reizgat pastoralists since 2022 have returned to Gok-machar this week.
One of the boys who declined to be named said he had a chat with some of the pastoralists during the dry season in Gok-machar who convinced him to join them.
“He promised to give me a cow after spending two years of herding his cattle but he did not fulfill the promise. He disobeyed the agreement by abusing me so the year didn’t even end because we decided to escape back to our home,” he told Juba Echo on Thursday.
He said they were not attending school in Dheen area of West Darfur.
Another minor, identified only as James said that when they fell sick their custodians did not provide them with treatment.
“They could not even provide us with treatment which made us take a decision to return home before we complete the year,” James said.
Deng Garang, a member of the Reizagat-Dinka Malual peace committee that has been negotiating for years between the Sudanese and South Sudanese pastoral tribes, said they are glad to receive the two minors.
“We are glad that they came back home safely amid ongoing violence in Sudan. We will go to their parents to find out why they did not fulfill their responsibility as parents,” Garang said.
