Some 80,000 people are running short of water in inaccessible camps in South Sudan's Upper Nile state
NAIROBI (AlertNet) - Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) warned on Wednesday of a “mounting refugee crisis” in a remote, barren region of South Sudan, where some 80,000 people are running short of water in inaccessible camps that are likely to turn into swamps with the April rains.
South Sudan’s Upper Nile state hosts the largest concentration of refugees fleeing violence in neighbouring Sudan, the majority running from aerial bombardment and fighting between the government and rebels in Blue Nile state.
“The area of the refugee camps is physically inhospitable and a logistical nightmare for humanitarian assistance but the refugees are 100 percent reliant on external assistance for survival,” said MSF”s regional information officer, Maimouna Jallow, in a statement.
The medical charity called for a massive scaling up of aid before the rains start in late April, when the region will likely become “a vast swamp with small islands of dry ground”.
LIVES AT STAKE
The rapid influx of new arrivals, exhausted from long walks and lack of food and water, is putting massive pressure on humanitarian agencies. The United Nations (U.N.) has been forced to airlift tents, plastic sheets, blankets and mosquito nets into the two refugee camps to meet demand.
Close to 3,000 new arrivals were registered at the Doro and Jamman refugee sites in Upper Nile’s Maban County last week, the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its weekly update.
MSF said “serious gaps in assistance” remain, with refugees receiving less than eight litres of clean water per day, far below the recommended minimum standard of 15 to 20 litres per day.
As a result, cases of diarrhoea are rising, accounting for one in four consultations in MSF clinics.
“With the refugees’ lives and health at stake, such essentials as water, food, household items and shelter must urgently be assured before the rains start,” MSF said.
Water is being trucked to Jamman camp while agencies are drilling in the hope of locating underground supplies.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan last year, after almost five decades of civil war. Conflict has continued in both countries with rebels fighting governments which they claim are marginalising them.
Conflict broke out in Blue Nile in September. Like neighbouring state South Kordofan, the region is home to tens of thousands of fighters who fought alongside the south during the civil war and have not disarmed.
The Sudanese government is restricting international agencies’ access to displaced, hungry populations. Experts say it is using food aid as a weapon of war to starve the rebels and their supporters.
This means that people are likely to continue to cross the border in search of help.
“Contingency plans are being developed for a large influx following unconfirmed reports by refugees that entire communities in Blue Nile state are on the move,” the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on March 10.
In an indication of the inhospitable environment, refugees outnumber local populations by six to one, it added.
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