Fear of hunger likely to trigger more displacement as people try to get out before rains make trek across border more arduous - International Rescue Committee
LONDON (AlertNet) - The onset of the rainy season in Sudan and South Sudan is about to make a bad situation worse, a group of international aid agencies said on Tuesday, warning that roads will be impassable, trapping people in conflict zones.
The five aid groups said the rains, which have already started in some areas, would exacerbate already dire conditions in camps sheltering thousands of refugees fleeing fighting and hunger in Sudan's South Kordofan and Blue Nile states which border South Sudan.
The rains are also likely to heighten the risk of waterborne diseases such as dysentery and malaria.
"A toxic combination of conflict, rising food and fuel prices, and severe cash shortages is having a devastating effect on the civilian population in both countries," said Save the Children's South Sudan country director, Jon Cunliffe.
"With the rains on the way the situation could not be more critical," he said in a statement.
The latest round of fighting between Sudanese government armed forces and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan broke out in June last year.
Some families have not yet planted their seeds because of conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, which has sent an estimated 151,000 refugees into Ethiopia and South Sudan, the agencies said.
Recent arrivals to Yida camp in South Sudan's Unity state take the total number of refugees to nearly 30,000.
"Those arriving in the camp in recent weeks are visibly exhausted and malnourished after walking for four or five days with little food or water, and some children show signs of severe malnutrition. Women are being raped and assaulted, both on the journey and once they arrive," said Ibrahim Kallo, emergency field coordinator for the International Rescue Committee in Yida.
"Fear of hunger is likely to trigger a further wave of displacement in the coming weeks, as people try to get out before the rains make the trek across the border more arduous."
There are indications there will be no let-up in fighting despite the rain.
"The rainy season is guerrilla time," Jagod Mukwar, an SPLM-N general in charge of the eastern division, told Reuters.
For the SPLM-N rebels, the rainy season heralds a chance for an offensive. Historically, the Sudanese army's superior firepower has given it an advantage in the dry season but its heavy weaponry and vehicles become bogged down when rain turns the countryside's dust to thick mud.
Sudan and South Sudan have been at loggerheads over oil, security and frontier disputes that ignited border clashes last month and for a while raised fears of full-blown war – like the civil war Sudan's north and south fought for more than two decades before a 2005 peace deal.
The aid agencies which issued today's statement were: Christian Aid, International Rescue Committee, Oxfam, Refugees International, Save the Children.
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