Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement

Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement is a refugee camp located in the districts of Madi-Okollo and Terego District in North Western Uganda.

Location and geography

Rhino settlement covers an approximated area of 225 km². It extends in Odupi, Omugo and Uriama sub-counties in Terego District.

Background

It was opened in 1980 and expanded in the wake of the South Sudanese civil war to host the sudden influx of refugees into Northern Uganda.
As of January 2018, the settlement had 123,243 registered refugees, mostly South Sudanese, and continues to receive new arrivals.
As of 2021, Rhino camp hand the following number of refugees from different countries.

Country of origin	Number of refugees
South Sudan	121,440
Democratic Republic of the Congo	3,275
Sudan	836
Rwanda	49
Burundi	26
Central African Republic	12
Kenya	10
Total	125,648

Education

Rhino camp Refugee settlement has seven zones which includes, Ofua Zone, Omugo Zone, Ocea Zone, Odobu Zone, Siripi Zone, Tika Zone and Eden Zone.
As of 2020 Rhino camp Refugee settlement has a few of the following schools which have been established in the various zones as follows:
Ofua Zone

Amuru Primary School
Royal Nursery and Primary School
Cinya Primary School
Ofua Secondary school
Bright Star Primary School
Alengo ECD
Ofua 3 Primary School Project 25.

Omugo Zone

Komoyo Primary school
St Mary's Ociea Primary school
St Luke Ayitu Primary School
St Kizito Odra primary school
St Luke widi secondary school
Tinate ECD centre
St Mary's ECD centre
Loketa ECD centre
St Mary's Ocia ECD centre
St James ECD centre

Ocea Zone

Yoro Primary School
Hope Primary School
Harmony CED
Ocea Primary School
Katiku Primary School

Siripi Zone

Siripi Primary school
Wanguru Primary School
Ariwa Primary School
Yelulu Primary School
Ariaze Primary School

Tika Zone

Tika Primary School
Olujobo Primary School

Odobu Zone

Odobu Primary School
Wanyange Primary School
Rhino Camp High Secondary School

Eden Zone

Eden Primary School
Health

Health concern is a growing demand as health conditions become more reported in the camp. With the large influx and continuous arrival of refugees, health centers have been crowded with the demanding numbers, hence causing delays in service providing and referrals.
The refugee health report ascertains that the number of deaths per 1,000 population across Palabek, Imvepi, Rwamwanja and Rhino Camp had the highest incidences of reports still suggests that the health conditions in Rhino camp is demanding.
In response, UNHCR supported 95 health facilities across 12 refugee hosting districts by 2017 that provided a total of 2,129,027 medical consultations in 2017 out of which 22% were to host population.... There were 19 maternal death across all refugee settlements which were all investigated.
Local reports from the RWC request a better professionalized treatment, including more local language speaking volunteers to be added to the hospital to increase communication efficiency between the patients and the medical officers. Susan Grace Duku who was a South Sudanese refugee in the camp documented the issues in the camp during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rhino camp refugee has a number of mini health facilities:
1. Ocea Zone, Ocea Health Center 2
2. Siripi Zone, Siripi Health Center 3
3. Odobu Zone, Odobu Health Center 2
4. Tika Zone, Olujobu Health Center 3
5.Ofua Zone, Ofua Health Center 3
6. Omugo Zone, Omugo Health Center 3
7. Omugo Health Center IV
8. Ocia Health Center 3

Agriculture

Some of the refugees grow cash crop such as Tobacco while others grow food crops. And also some rear animals such as goats

Water

According to the Uganda Refugee Response Monitoring Settlement Fact Sheet: Rhino Camp, there are few water sources and difficult-to-pump boreholes contribute to long wait times for refugees to access water. Poor-quality ground water means expensive piped water networks have to be constructed; with the settlement dependent on water provisioning through trucking as construction is ongoing. Additionally, the quality of water from the tanks is poor, with reports of occasional contamination.
The other water sources in Rhino Camp refugee Settlement Arua District include:

Boreholes in all the seven Zones of Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement
Motorized Solar Power Borehole
Water solar pump system which pumps water and produces 200,000-300,000 litres of water per day helping to raise the amount of water each refugee household gets from the initial average of 5-7 litres per day to 18 litres per person per day.
Water trucking
The main organization dealing with water in Rhino camp is Danish refugee council.
Environment/Natural resources

Two settlements of Rhino camp and Imvepi host 13% of the refugee population with majority women, children and youth hailing from South Sudan.
With the intense pressure on natural resources, refugees are conflicting with host communities on natural resources for survival, there is increased degradation of soils, water, tree cover leading to high temperatures, low water table, drought, irregular rainfall patterns, low crop yields, heavy winds that cause intense destruction to the temporary houses and food crops among others. With support from CARE International in Uganda, Rural Initiative for community West Nile, a local NGO based in Arua district in West Nile Sub region initiated climate action programs like planting of trees, recycling non biodegradable materials, and others. The refugees were also bedeviled with the inability to access natural energy when the need arises. This situation will spur them to rely heavily on unclean and nonrenewable energy sources such as charcoal, wood, traditional biomass, and kerosene which will eventually pollute the environment as these energy sources can emit high intensity of carbon content
Rhino camp is divided in to main regions, Upper Rhino and Lower Rhino, and each of these different segments of Rhino camp refugee settlement have a diverse texture and terrain in its lands, for example the upper part of Rhino which includes, Ofua zone, Omugo, Amuru and the rest has a rocky terrain, and the lower Rhino which includes Ocea zone, Eden zone, Odobu zone and the rest has a sandy terrain of soils which affects the farming.

Social work environment

Rhino camp refugee settlement has been blessed with numerous and yet sprouting community led initiatives that work tirelessly alongside other partners and donors in levying support in different thematic areas to the refugees. These community based initiatives are organized and recognized by the Office of the prime minister Uganda and work under a district directive. These initiatives seek to provide a platform for refugees in skills development, peace building and social cohesion, gender equality, entrepreneurship and livelihood, education, health etc.
Some of the youths in rhino camp have been trained on how to make briquettes to improve their status of living by different organization like Kulika-Uganda, YSAT.

Relocation

Due to the current influx of refugees, Rhino camp settlement has been a host to 116,000 in 2018. refugees with more still coming.
Upon arrival, refugees are registered and sent to reception centers where their data is taken and then they are transferred or relocated to settlements.
They receive social amenities and domestic items which include blankets, mats, solar lights, saucepans, and food.
pollution