Aid workers distribute sorghum to IDPs. csi
The ongoing war between the rebels of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has exacerbated the refugee crisis in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile regions of southern Sudan. It has so far resulted in nearly eight million registered internally displaced, according to United Nations agencies. Humanitarian actors say the actual number could be above 18 million. In addition to those fleeing fighting, the number includes people returning to the two areas from the capital, Khartoum.
Crammed together in camps holding tens of thousands, people are suffering from hunger and dying from treatable diseases. Cholera and measles are rife.
Against this backdrop, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) has distributed food and emergency aid to 900 households in three camps in Thobo and Ingpung counties in the Nuba Mountains, and 646 households in Jabarona camp in Blue Nile.
In total 1,546 households with 9,276 people have been reached.
Fighting drives IDP influx
CSI project manager Franco Majok and CSI partner for Subsaharan Africa Hassan John visited the Thobo camp at the end of May, where 50,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are struggling to eke out an existence. The arrival of ever more IDPs is putting a strain on already limited resources, says Majok. “When we were there in May we met people who had just arrived at the camp. Every time we go there are new people arriving.”
Majok explains that rebel group SPLA-N controls 90 percent of the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile regions, which are home to the largest Christian communities in Sudan. SPLA-N has joined forces with the RSF to attack government troops, and fighting has been intense. “The towns that the government still controls in Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile are surrounded by SPLA-N now and sometimes there is shelling. So people are leaving those towns and going to the camps.”
In the three camps where CSI provides aid through a local partner, it targets the most vulnerable groups of IDPs, namely unaccompanied minors, widows, orphans, the elderly, the disabled and new arrivals from the frontlines.
These include 38-year-old Fatuma Kuor, a single mother.
“I fled from Kadugli [the capital of South Kordofan state] because there was hardship caused by the war that erupted in the town,” Fatuma told CSI. “My eight children are with me here. I fled with the children and left my husband behind; he is disabled and could not run so we had to leave him.”
Critical food shortage
The rainy season began in May, and in October local farmers should be able to harvest their food crops. But the IDPs – who have no land or tools – are unable to farm and are therefore fully reliant on aid, says Majok.
“The only thing they can do is to go outside the camp and collect wild vegetables and fruits. Fortunately, especially at this time of year there is a lot. It’s in the dry season when people really suffer.”
Nevertheless, the CSI project manager says, “the need for food is critical.”
The IDPs live in simple grass tents propped up with sticks, exposed to the elements. In the rainy season these need to be covered in plastic sheeting. Other essential items are blankets and mosquito nets, all of which CSI provides.
CSI’s aid comprised in total 500 100 kg bags of sorghum, a type of grain, 310 plastic roofing sheets, 310 blankets and 395 mosquito nets.
Disease spreading
The sheer number of people living in the camps makes them a breeding ground for diseases, such as cholera, Majok says. CSI’s partner is able to provide medical treatment to some sufferers, while others may be evacuated to South Sudan as “there are no hospitals here.”
Self-medication is often the only course of action when people fall ill, Fatuma Kuor says.
“When the children fall sick, we look for leaves [with medicinal properties] or we go to a clinic, but it is very far – over three hours’ walk from here.”
Majok reckons that CSI’s food aid is sufficient to last for three months. “When it runs out, they will go back to suffering, where they just go out to find something to eat for that day, and then spend two days without food.”
CSI is grateful to its donors for making the emergency food distribution possible.
