Twic County IDPs in dire need of aid: MSF
Tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) are seeking refuge in Twic County, Warrap State, after being displaced by inter-communal conflicts two months ago.
The Médecins Sans Frontières revealed this in a press release yesterday, and called on the humanitarian community in South Sudan “to increase their provision of support and meet the needs of those displaced in Twic County.”
MSF stated: ‘‘After fleeing their homes more than two months ago, tens of thousands of people are still left without basic necessities in Twic County, South Sudan.
‘‘Despite repeated calls by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the humanitarian community in South Sudan has failed to scale up assistance to people who have largely been left without food, shelter, and sanitation.’’
The residents fled north to Abyei town and south into Twic County in South Sudan’s Warrap State following violent intercommunal clashes in early February in and around Agok, Abyei Special Administrative Area.
In the six locations in Twic County where MSF is currently responding, there are around 33,000 displaced people, the majority of whom are women and young children. Most people have settled in the open, and many still lack basic essentials like shelter, food, and clean water.
“The situation in the displacement camps is terrible,” said Susana Borges, MSF head of mission in South Sudan. People are living in makeshift shelters made of sticks and cloth.”
Because of a lack of food, “Parents are literally pulling leaves from the trees and cooking them to feed their children,” says Borges. “We are doing our best to respond, but more assistance is needed from other organisations to meet the scale of this crisis.”
Despite the critical needs, humanitarian organisations have failed to respond quickly and adequately, resulting in dire living conditions in the camps.
With the rainy season about to begin, the health situation is likely to deteriorate further if the humanitarian response is not immediately scaled up.
“The rain is almost here, and people have small children with them. If the rain falls now, they have no houses to go to,” says Atem, a father of two young children living in a displacement camp after fleeing his home in Agok. “People are really suffering. They need support for shelter; they need support for food.”
