UNHCR Press Release: Sudanese refugees face increasing challenges in South Sudan camps

Juba, 2 May 2012. The UN refugee agency in South Sudan is concerned
about increasing numbers of malnourished refugees arriving in Yida.
Additionally, water shortages could worsen the plight of refugees in
Jammam settlement. Urgent action is being taken to avert humanitarian
crises in both locations.

Yida, a refugee settlement in Unity state on the border with Southern
Kordofan, received a daily average of 300 new arrivals in April, almost
four times the rate in February and March. This week the population of
Yida surpassed the 27,000 mark. New arrivals cite mostly food shortages
in the Nuba Mountains as the cause of their flight.

QUOTE With the larger numbers of refugees arriving and increasing cases
of malnutrition among them, we have stepped up assistance,UNQUOTE said
Mireille Girard, UNHCR Representative in South Sudan. QUOTE Upon
arrival in Yida, refugees are screened and issued with food including
high energy biscuits. Agencies are providing urgent medical attention to
malnourished children and implementing therapeutic feeding programmes.
UNQUOTE

According to Ravindran Velusamy, who heads UNHCR operations in Unity
state, the swelling refugee population in Yida has increased pressures
on basic services over the past month. QUOTE There are longer queues at
water points. We are working with the community to manage timetables for
drawing water while specialized agencies install additional water
facilities. UNQUOTE

Velusamy noted that as the rainy season approaches, a blanket
distribution of relief supplies is being organized. QUOTE Plastic
sheeting for shelter and mosquito nets are the priority. We already had
targeted distribution of essential items for the most vulnerable
refugees, including older persons, the handicapped and unaccompanied
minors. UNQUOTE New arrivals are also prioritized for distribution.

The World Food Programme is pre-positioning food stocks, and agencies
are discussing arrangements to evacuate refugees who may need medical
treatment as roads become impassable. QUOTE Last year, Yida was an
island. Surrounding areas were flooded and road access was impossible.
We had to fly in humanitarian aid, a costly endeavour with considerably
less impact than overland operations, UNQUOTE said Girard.

Although recent hostilities between South Sudan and Sudan did not
affect refugee locations in Unity state directly, UNHCR remains deeply
concerned that the proximity of Yida to the disputed border area of Jaw
is a serious threat to the refugees security. Preserving the civilian
character of refugee locations also remains a core concern for
humanitarians. We therefore continue to advocate for the refugees to
move to other settlements at a safer distance from the border.

In Upper Nile state, humanitarian actors are stepping up measures to
remedy water shortages and mitigate the risk of outbreaks of cholera or
other water-borne diseases in Jammam refugee settlement.

A combination of factors, particularly population density and the
limited water yield, is intensifying health risks. Jammam is home to
37,000 Sudanese refugees. The water supply situation became increasingly
problematic as the population multiplied earlier this year. Existing
sources could not yield adequate quantities of water to support growing
demand. Despite extensive drilling, sufficient viable water sources have
not emerged thus far.

Humanitarian partners have been trucking and piping water from
elsewhere and treating surface water where available. Medical and other
humanitarian actors drew up contingency plans to respond to any eventual
outbreak of disease. They pre-positioned medical supplies and
established treatment units.

QUOTE We are taking urgent measures to immediately move 15,000 refugees
to a different location in order to reduce demands on limited water
resources in Jammam, UNQUOTE said Frederic Cussigh, UNHCR head of
operations in the area. QUOTE We will also continue drilling efforts, to

provide water for the remaining 22,000 refugees as well as local
communities. UNQUOTE

Urgent efforts are being made to transport a much larger rig than those
already in place, to explore deeper water sources. Transporting such
heavy duty equipment to this remote part of the country is a major
logistical challenge.

In nearby Doro settlement where another 52,000 Sudanese refugees are
residing, drilling efforts have been more successful. Partners have
secured 13 litres of water per person per day and aim to reach the
internationally recommended standard of 15 to 20 litres per person per
day shortly.

Less than a year after gaining independence, South Sudan is one of
Africa’s major refugee-hosting countries. In addition to nearly
120,000 Sudanese refugees in Unity and Upper Nile states, there are some
23,000 Congolese and Central African refugees in LRA-affected areas
along the southern border, as well as some 4,000 Ethiopian Anyuak
refugees in different parts of the country.