23 Unity state families seeking refuge in Tonj North need assistance – lawmaker

JUBA – At least 23 families displaced by violence from Unity state’s Mayom County are seeking refuge in neighboring Tonj North of Warrap state and are also in dire need of humanitarian assistance, a lawmaker said on Thursday.

The recent communal violence in Mayom County of Unity State has left over 30 people dead and displaced more than 23 households.

Speaking to Sudans Post on Thursday, Kornelio Mawien Dhor, a lawmaker representing Tonj North County of Warrap State at the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly, said 23 families who fled fighting in Mayom County five days ago are in desperate need of assistance.

“I am calling on humanitarian actors and goodwill ambassadors to help in rescuing them by assisting those families who have crossed to Warrap State with humanitarian aids,” Mawien told Sudans Post in an inclusive interview on Thursday in Juba.

Mawien disclosed that the populations left their homes in Mayom County in Unity State following communal fighting which left 30 people dead.

“It happened five days ago, a group of 60 young men who were well armed with 23 families and more than 100 cows, and two wounded people crossed from Mayom to Tonj North in Lou area,” he said.

“They ran away from Unity State because of communal conflict. They fought among themselves and more than 30 people were killed as the group fighting them were allegedly been backed up by the state government,” he added.

The lawmaker said the populations are finding it difficult to survive without the basics of shelter and food.

“Tonj North Commissioner, Kuol Akoon has welcomed them and he is providing protecting them. They are now staying with a local community of Lou.  They are living in peace and harmony but their situation is bad and they need support to be rendered to them,” he said.

He said local authorities in Warrap are seeking an explanation from the Unity State government as to why their people abandoned their homes.

“There are in stable conditions. They are just a group of people who are running away from the conflict and they need to be protected but we want to enter into discussion with the Unity State government to explain to us what really happened and why this population has abandoned their state of origin,” he said.