In April 2017, more than 6,000 people fled violence around Pajok in South Sudan into Uganda's northern Lamwo district, with at least 4,500 gathered near the border. UNHCR documented staff placing wristbands on new arrivals before relocation to Palorinya settlement. In mass reception, a wristband is a low-tech way to prevent duplicate registration and connect people to later transport and interviews.
This was not a voluntary leisure queue. People escaping violence moved through reception, identification and relocation. The band worked like a place marker, but its purpose included keeping families, medical needs and protection cases visible inside a process handling thousands.