Gov’t official says returnees, refugees facing dire conditions in Northern Bahr el Ghazal

AWEIL, MAY 2, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – More than 1, 550 South Sudanese and 2,700 Sudanese fleeing from ongoing conflict in Sudan are in dire need of humanitarian assistance after arriving in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.

This was revealed by Dut Majokdit, Chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) in Northern Bahr el Ghazal on Monday.

Majokdit said the refugees and returnees who arrived in Aweil on Saturday through the Kiir Adem border are mostly women, children, and elderly women.

“We received refugees and returnees in big numbers, Sudanese are very many and they were about 2,700 individuals and the returnees were 1,550 and these were the people we received at the border of Kiir Adem,” Majokdit told Sudans Post in an interview on Monday.

He said their situation is worse and are in dire need of food, medication, and shelter.

“Most of them are women, breastfeeding mothers with their women, men are very few and the situation is worse because they are all under trees and many people are coming in,” said Majokdit.

“They need shelter, they need also medication and most of the children are malnourished and they need nutrition and also they need food and a place for them to settle.”

He said thousands of refugees continue to arrive daily in Northern through its six entrance points.

More than 40,000 people fleeing the conflict in Sudan have arrived in neighboring South Sudan since fighting broke out in mid-April between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The returnees and refugees have reportedly arrived in the border town of Renk, Paloch in Upper Nile state, and Kiir Adem in Northern Bahr El Ghazal state.