UNHCR representative Arafat Jamal said that “frustration is mounting and people are fleeing as the conflict escalates. Civilians are under attack in this incredible conflict. We must ensure that they get protection.”
Jamal warned that the majority of those displaced are women, children and other at-risk groups, while some elderly and disabled people were unable to flee and hid in bushes along the White Nile River during the attacks.
He confirmed that those affected are “obviously in shock” and reports of murder, gender violence, kidnapping, extortion, looting and burning of property. Many of those affected have lost their homes or been separated from their families.
A UNHCR representative last week made the first multi-agency visit to Adiyang village since the September 7 attack.
Four thousand people fled Malakal to take refuge in an internally displaced persons camp run by the United Nations Assistance Mission in South Sudan, a city with a capacity of 12,000 people but which currently numbers 37,000.
The delegation also visited the town of Diel in Jonglei on Sunday, where some displaced people are returning after seeing their homes burnt down. “We saw the consequences of brutal violence in Adidiang and Dial,” Jamal insisted. According to UNHCR, 6.8 million people are in need of help due to armed conflict, violence, flooding, food insecurity and economic distress, yet only 46 percent of the $214.8 million to fund the response has been received so far this year.
After gaining independence from Sudan in July 2011, South Sudan faced a devastating civil war that left thousands dead as warring factions split along ethnic lines.
