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No Safe Place to Call Home: "Night Commuters" in northern Uganda leave home to seek safety

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Young people in northern Uganda are facing increased risks of gender-based violence, recruitment into government military forces, and other human rights abuses due to the continued lack of security and protection, according to a new report by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children.

"In the absence of adequate government protection, displaced people are seeking alternative means of protection," says Matthew Emry, project manager of the Women's Commission's Children and Adolescents Project, and a lead researcher and author of the report. "An estimated 50,000 'night commuters,' most of them children, adolescents and women, leave their homes in rural northern Uganda each night to escape attacks from the rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and spend the night in the relative safety of town centers, walking as far as six miles each way."

The night commuters are among the 1.6 million people displaced by the 18-year civil war in northern Uganda. The Women's Commission's research centered on the districts of Kitgum and Gulu, which have long been centers of LRA activity. During the war, the LRA has kidnapped more than 30,000 children, including some 18,000 since 2002 when the Uganda government began Operation Iron Fist, a military offensive against the rebel group.

The report, No Safe Place to Call Home: Child and Adolescent Night Commuters in Northern Uganda, details how, en route to the town centers, girls and women face the dangers of sexual assault and harassment, increasing their risk of early pregnancy, psychological trauma, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases for which there is little existing medical care or support in local communities. Survivors of rape face stigmatization and have little access to counseling assistance to address the trauma they have experienced.

The report also details how local civilian militias, formed to counter LRA attacks, are actively recruiting children into fighting. The report concludes with recommendations, including calls for the LRA to cease attacks on civilians and for the government of Uganda to step up protection against the LRA and stop all child recruitment into local military forces.

"The international community, donors, and community-based organizations must work together to explore ways in which to improve coordination, material support, and partnership with each other and youth groups to enhance protection of at-risk children and youth," says Emry. "Improved protection will in part rely on increased opportunities for youth leadership. Young people are more than future leaders, they are today's leaders, and the future of Northern Uganda will largely depend upon building their capacity and ensuring their security."

• Read the report, "No Safe Place to Call Home: Child and Adolescent Night Commuters in Northern Uganda"