Recent surge of violence triggers new displacement in Unity state

May 16, 2015 (JUBA) – Thousands more civilians were fleeing the war zones in the southern part of Unity state as result of the recent offensive carried out by the government troops on rebel positions.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its weekly bulletin Saturday that there was a steady flow of displaced people into the Bentiu Protection of Civilians (PoC) site since the escalation of military operations in the oil rich Unity state.

“Partners reported that 2,394 people arrived from 4 to 11 May. About 78 per cent of the new arrivals were from the surrounding county of Rubkona. Transit shelters were constructed and food distribution was to be completed”.

An assessment mission conducted on 15 May after weeks of limited access, registered 2.700 people.

Also “the mission saw an estimated 20,000 head of livestock in the area. The people reported fleeing from around Nhialdu in Rubkona County following recent fighting.

Various reports from UN agencies and humanitarian groups continue to paint a gloomy picture about the ongoing crisis in the Unity state where hundreds of thousands of civilians are displaced by the violence there.

The resumption of government attacks on rebel positions forced humanitarian aid workers to evacuate from Leer, Koch, Ganyiel and Mayendit counties in the southern part of the state capital, Bentiu.

The offensive earned condemnations by the international and regional community as the attacks reached villages and displaced vulnerable populations, mainly women, children and the elderly.

Since the time the latest fighting erupted in Unity state in late April, up to 151 staff members from 22 different relief organizations fled from the state, leaving over 300,000 people vulnerable to hunger, diseases and gunshot wounds.

The offensive also targeted traditional planting season which it has interrupted while stocks of food which relief organizations had stored was depleted.

In a statement issued on 11 May, Toby Lanzer, humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan called on the warring parties led by president Salva Kiir and opposition leader, Riek Machar, to stop the war and allow for unhindered humanitarian intervention in order to avert the situation.

He also called on the parties to work in cooperation with aid agencies based on the principles
of “humanity, impartiality and neutrality” without delay to assist populations in need.

He added that it is incumbent on all forces engaged in military activities to protect civilians in
accordance with international humanitarian law, and that people should never be harmed, and certainly not targeted or forced to flee from their homes.

(ST)