The displaced, mostly women and children, are being provided with food, household supplies and medical care
NAIROBI (AlertNet) - More than 3,500 people have fled their homes after their villages on Sudan's north-south border were hit by Sudanese army bombers, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid agency said on Wednesday.
Political tensions are mounting ahead of a planned referendum on Jan. 9 on whether the country's oil-producing south should secede or stay in Sudan, a vote promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended two decades of north-south war.
On Tuesday, the government of semi-autonomous South Sudan accused Khartoum of fresh bombing attacks on its territory this week -- a charge denied by Sudan's northern army.
The allegations came after the southern army accused the north of bombing inside its border several times in November. The north said it accidentally dropped bombs once as it battled Darfur rebels just over the border in the north but has denied all other reports.
"The displaced started crossing into North Aweil after the attack on November 12 and have been arriving in waves at a makeshift camp in the town of Jaac -- following a nearly two day journey across the rivers and through thick forest," IRC said in a statement.
Aid agencies are providing the displaced, who are mostly women and children, with food, household supplies and medical care. Immunisation was a priority because none of the fleeing children had had been vaccinated, IRC said.
“Epidemics can spread quickly among displaced populations so this is an easy intervention that saves lives,” said the IRC’s Vincent Kahi.
Kahi said Sudanese army planes circled overhead during a visit last week by a team composed of several aid agencies, which was sent to assess the needs of the displaced.
“The overflying planes caused additional fear and alarm among a group already traumatised by last month’s bombings,” he added.
Susan Purdin, the IRC’s country director in South Sudan, said the latest violence and displacement were "troubling".
“With the referendum a month away, these incidents raise political tensions and distrust on both sides of the border," she said in the statement.
Humanitarian agencies are making contingency plans for the referendum. The U.N.’s refugee agency UNHCR predicts that up to 200,000 Sudanese may flee to Kenya if the vote leads to renewed violence.
"We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst,” IRC’s Purdin said.
Southerners are expected to vote overwhelming for independence.
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