Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 23:27:22 +0200
South Sudanese flood into Ethiopia amid desperate conditions
April 16, 2014 2:13 PM
Geneva (AFP) - Up to 1 000 refugees from war-torn South Sudan are fleeing to
Ethiopia each day, many of them on the brink of death, the UN said on
Tuesday.
A massive 95% of the arrivals are also women and children, added the UN,
citing witnesses saying that both boys and men have been forcibly recruited
by armed men or killed along the way.
Since fighting erupted in December, refugees have been "arriving at a rate
of 800-1 000 per day, and they are arriving on their last legs," Melissa
Fleming, spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, told reporters in Geneva.
If they had not received immediate help, "these people would be dead. They
were really, really in bad shape," she said, following a recent visit to the
region.
More than 95 000 South Sudanese refugees have crossed into Ethiopia since
violence erupted in the world's youngest nation last December between forces
loyal to President Salva Kiir and fighters loosely allied to former vice
president Riek Machar.
Nearly 200 000 more have sought refuge in Sudan, Uganda and Kenya, while
more than 800 000 are displaced inside South Sudan, according to UN figures.
Some of those arriving in Ethiopia's Gambella region had walked up to three
weeks to reach the border, Fleming said, adding that most were "very hungry,
[with] up to 37% malnourished and needing emergency attention."
More than 4 000 malnourished children were receiving nutrition supplements,
as were at least 3 500 lactating mothers, said Fleming.
Thousands of people have been killed in the violence that has also taken on
an ethnic dimension, pitting Kiir's Dinka tribe against Machar's Nuer
people.
New camps
Fleming on Tuesday also joined a chorus of aid workers voicing alarm over
the low number of young men reaching the border.
"Generally in situations like these, we would see many more men arriving,"
she said.
But women were reporting that their husbands and sons had been forcibly
recruited by unidentified armed groups or killed along the way, she said.
"People are arriving very traumatised by this and obviously in a state of
shock," she said.
The UN and other organisations were scrambling to fly in new tents, build
new camps and move refugees to higher ground as the rainy season approaches
in Ethiopia, Fleming said.
At least 86 000 South Sudanese refugees are spread across four camps in
Ethiopia, but nearly 10 000 people are also camped out at border crossing
points.
In preparation for the rainy season, UNHCR has relocated refugees in
low-lying water-prone areas in Kule camp and aid workers were due to begin a
similar operation in the Leitchour camp on Tuesday, Fleming said.
The agency is also working with Ethiopian authorities to prepare a new and
high-lying camp near Kule that should be able to shelter 30 000 refugees
from late April.
A new transit centre was also being built near the Pagak border point to
accommodate up to 5 000 people, Fleming said.
Displaced South Sudanese citizens wait at a Sudanese border checkpoint in
Joda, where Sudan's White Nile state meets the South's Upper Nile, after
fleeing battles between rebel and government forces. (Ashraf Shazly, AFP)
Displaced South Sudanese citizens wait at a Sudanese border checkpoint in
Joda, where Sudan's White Nile state meets the South's Upper Nile, after
fleeing battles between rebel and government forces. (Ashraf Shazly, AFP)
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