Fresh violence that erupted in Juba on 7 July between rival factions has worsened the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded in South Sudan since 2013. An already bleak refugee situation in South Sudan is further exacerbated by more fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) loyal to President Kiir and the SPLA Opposition supporting Vice President Machar forcing people to flee to neighbouring Sudan and Uganda.
About 26,000 refugees have crossed into Uganda following the latest fighting, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR reported. According the the Agency, over 8,000 refugees crossed into Uganda in a single day. There are about 1.6 million internally displaced persons within South Sudan, with close to 60,000 people having fled to Uganda. The recent influx of refugees from Juba as well as Eastern Equatoria region of South Sudan into Northern Uganda is putting the Uganda’s resources under strain. People arriving at detention centres, which are overstretched are giving health and medical care, with malnutrition on the rise especially among children. More than 90% of the new arrivals are women and children.
On a visit to the refugee camp of Aweil the Head of the UN’s Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Mr Stephen O’Brien stated that it was up to them to partner with the people of South Sudan to have a better future. A spokesperson for UNHCR, Mr Edwards, stated that severe underfunding is severely limiting the humanitarian response to emergency and life-saving activities instead of the full range of humanitarian assistance that can be provided.
To know more, read:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54608#.V6HqDdJ96Uk
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54554#.V5jNnDHIaJS
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54529#.V5Y1ctJ96Ul
https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/south-sudan
http://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2016/7/5790cb554/flight-across-border-depressingly-familiar-south-sudan-families.html?utm_content=buffer3564e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
http://www.internal-displacement.org/assets/publications/2016/IDMC-quarterly-update-2016-QU2final.pdf
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/south-sudan-humanitarian-situation-worsen-160803072330264.html
