Southern Sudanese return home

Tens of thousands of southern Sudanese are returning from the north before south Sudan's referendum on Sunday regarding its plans to separate from the north.

The government of south Sudan financed and organized many convoys to bring its people back, the first of which carried over 6,000 people.

Many of them are seeing their homeland for the first time.

Southern Sudanese fled to the north years ago to escape the the south's civil wars.

Many of them say they were treated as second-class citizens in the north, and are delighted to go return to the south, even though many face poverty.

Al Jazeera's Casey Kauffman went on the road with Marco Toot, a man tasked with bringing thousands of southern sudanese back home to vote.