Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2014 21:35:03 +0100
South Sudan refugees struggle in Ethiopia
2014-11-05 10:28
Pagak - With war raging in South Sudan and severe flooding in Ethiopia's
western state of Gambela, 10-year old refugee Nyanhial Gatkuoth is caught in
the middle.
For four months the little South Sudanese refugee has been living at Pagak,
an Ethiopian town on the border with her war-torn home country.
"I miss going to school", she told AFP. "In South Sudan, I was learning
English."
Now she spends her free time playing with other children, using an inflated
rubber glove as a football.
She and her mother are waiting to be relocated to a refugee camp, where they
hope to find a school. Pagak is only a way-station, and refugees there are
unhappy with their small rations and the large tents they must all cram into
to sleep.
For now, there is no camp available for Nyanhial, or for the 13 000 other
refugees the UN estimates are waiting. Surrounding camps are filled to
capacity, or are swamped in fetid, mosquito-infested water.
The war in the world's newest nation erupted in December, when President
Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek Machar of trying to stage a coup.
Thousands of people have been killed and almost two million have been forced
from their homes, including almost 100 000 who are sheltering in squalid UN
peacekeeping bases fearing they will be killed if they leave.
The violence has since broadened into an ethnic conflict, and now includes
more than 20 different armed groups.
Long-running peace talks in Ethiopia are stalled, and hundreds more refugees
cross each week into Ethiopia, which is now hosting almost 200 000 South
Sudanese who have fled the war.
'Planning for war'
With fighting apparently escalating once again now the rainy season that
made roads impassable has ended, fears are growing that the numbers fleeing
will increase further.
Local UN refugee agency chief Angel Djohossou says all efforts are being
made to find new sites for those waiting at border sites, and for the
thousands more who may pour into the country.
But existing camps are already struggling.
One, Leitchuor camp, once hosted more than 47 000 refugees. But heavy rains
flooded the site, forcing about one-third of the inmates to move to dry
ground.
"Facilities like grinding mills, water points, latrines, refugees cannot
access them because they are flooded", UNHCR worker Matthew Binyiri said,
estimating that more than three-quarters of investment had been "washed
away".
John Wiyual, aged 41, is one of thousands stuck knee-deep in water at
Leitchuor. He arrived at the camp in March with four children and wants to
find a dry place to live, but cannot venture out too often because he is
worried about his family.
"I can't let the children run around without somebody around, there is so
much water and they might fall in", he said.
This week, each side accused the other of launching attacks, with rebels and
government troops exchanging artillery barrages and heavy gunfire in Upper
Nile state, which borders Ethiopia.
Ateny Wek Ateny, spokesperson in Kiir's office, said the government
delegation to peace talks had been recalled home until the rebel side turned
up.
"The team is sitting idle in Addis Ababa doing practically nothing, while
the chief negotiator of the other side is planning for war," Ateny said,
adding that they would return as soon as mediators called them.
Kiir and rebel chief Machar met last month in Tanzania, shaking hands and
accepting mutual responsibility for the war.
It was their first meeting since they signed a ceasefire in August, which,
like three previous agreements, swiftly collapsed.
"The more they attack the more there is fighting", South Sudan army
spokesperson Philip Aguer said, blaming the rebels for the recent surge in
violence.
Meanwhile, the refugees in Ethiopia say they will not return to South Sudan
until the war is over.
"We will stay here until we get peace in South Sudan", said Wiyual, adding
that all he had left was prayers. "I hope, God willing, there will be
peace."
A displaced child by fighting in South Sudan is vaccinated at a refugee
registration centre at the Pagak border crossing in Gambella, Ethiopia.
(Zacharias Abubeker, AFP)
A displaced child by fighting in South Sudan is vaccinated at a refugee
registration centre at the Pagak border crossing in Gambella, Ethiopia.
(Zacharias Abubeker, AFP)
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