U.N. high commissioner for refugees warns that without international help it won't be possible to respond to South Sudan's multiple crises
(Updates U.N. figures on Sudanese refugees fleeing across border to South Sudan's Unity and Upper Nile states to more than 80,000, updates number of Sudanese who have fled to Ethiopia to 33,000; adds comments by U.N. high commissioner for refugees)
By Katy Migiro
NAIROBI (AlertNet) – Fears of a “major food crisis” in Sudan and South Sudan are mounting, Oxfam said on Tuesday, while the United Nations warned that South Sudan could face a humanitarian disaster of “enormous proportions” amid mass displacement.
About 417,000 people have been displaced by fighting that broke out in June between the Sudanese army and SPLM-North rebels in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, and that spread in September to the state of Blue Nile.
“Parts of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile are expected to reach emergency levels in early 2012, with early warning systems predicting that food insecurity will reach Phase 4 of 5 – one step below famine levels,” the aid agency said in a statement.
Fighting is making it hard for people to work their farms, as well as limiting market and aid supplies, Oxfam said.
“Many rural areas on both sides of the new border remain inaccessible to humanitarian organisations,” it said.
Sudan has refused to allow international aid workers access to rebel-controlled areas of the two states, saying only local citizens can deliver emergency assistance.
Valerie Amos, the United Nations’ under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, recently told reporters she had received “alarming reports” about malnutrition and the food situation, particularly in areas controlled by SPLM-North.
She appealed for Khartoum to lift its ban on international U.N. staff travelling to the two states.
In response, the Sudanese government asked the United Nations to write a written proposal on how it would deliver aid to people in need in rebel-controlled territory, according to the Sudan Tribune.
South Sudan declared independence from Sudan in July under a 2005 peace agreement with Khartoum that ended decades of civil war. Both Blue Nile and South Kordofan contain groups who sided with the south in the civil war and say they continue to face persecution inside Sudan.
FLEEING SOUTH
The United Nations said recent fighting in Sudan's Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states has forced more than 80,000 Sudanese refugees to flee across the border into Unity and Upper Nile states in South Sudan. Another 33,000 sought refuge in neighbouring Ethiopia, it said.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, wrapping up a visit to South Sudan, on Tuesday called on the international community to provide massive humanitarian support for the new country as it faces multiple displacement crises.
South Sudan’s Upper Nile State, just over the border from Blue Nile, is hosting over 55,000 newly arrived refugees. Numbers are still increasing in camps where food and other essential services are already in short supply, Oxfam said.
“South Sudan is one of the poorest and least developed nations in the world, and the influx of refugees is placing enormous strain on already scarce resources,” Fran Equiza, Oxfam's regional director, said in the statement.
After meeting Sudanese refugees in Doro camp in Upper Nile State’s Mabaan region on Sunday, the U.N.’s Guterres warned that without international help it will not be possible to respond to the multiple crises in South Sudan.
“The vast majority of some 28,000 refugees in Doro camp are exhausted, hungry and vulnerable, women and children who walked several days to seek safety across the border. Most of the men have stayed behind to watch over their property,” the United Nations said.
Fighting broke out last week between members of the Lou Nuer tribe and the rival Murle tribe, when some 6,000 armed Lou Nuer members attacked the town of Pibor in Jonglei state bordering north Sudan.
The government has declared the area a disaster zone.
“This emergency operation is going to be one of the most complex and expensive in South Sudan since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005,” said Lisa Grande, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, adding the aid could only be delivered by air.
The Lou Nuer and Murle have been at odds for years over land and water for cattle grazing, resulting in cattle raids and the abductions of women and children.
Over 3,000 people were killed in Jonglei State last year, according to Government of South Sudan figures cited by Minority Rights Group.
And in Kassala, East Sudan, some 70,000 refugees mostly of Eritrean origin reside in 12 camps, the United Nations said. It said both refugees and the local host community face acute poverty and risk of famine.
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
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