The head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), David Shearer, has described the lack of information about the situation of some 20,000 internally displaced people on the west bank of the Nile in Upper Nile State as a “real problem.”

Shearer made these remarks during his first field trip to the town of Malakal.

In a statement seen by Radio Tamazuj on Thursday, UNMISS said it believes that the 20,000 people have fled towards Kodok from Wau Shilluk, a town eight miles north of the UN base in Malakal on the west bank of the River Nile.

UNMISS further said, fighting between government forces and opposition forces has expanded geographically across the west bank over the past week, and shows no signs of abating, forcing more people to flee their homes.

“On Thursday, UN peacekeepers attempted to carry out a foot patrol to Wau Shilluk, but were prevented from doing so by government SPLA soldiers located at Wau Shilluk,” partly reads the statement.

“We want to find out what has happened to those people and provide them with assistance if they need it,” said Shearer.

The UN Mission pointed out that the Shilluk population of Malakal has abandoned the town and 33,000 people are currently taking refuge in the camp administered by UNMISS.

Photo: David Shearer speaks to reports at Juba Airport on 20 January, 2017(Radio Tamazuj)