Thousands of households displaced by floods and conflicts are in dire need of food and non-food items in the disputed territory of Abyei, local officials said.
Deng Juach Dau, Abyei’s Director for Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), told Radio Tamazuj on Friday that his commission convened a series of meetings with humanitarian organizations concerning the needs of those displaced.
“There are ongoing plans in the RRC commission. In Thursday’s meeting, IOM offered little assistance in terms of non-food items, and we told WFP to respond to this crisis too, so WFP has in its store emergency response food, and it will be given to IDPs next week,” he said.
“The situation is deteriorating, especially the issue of food, and you know the farms have been devastated, and the forest is flooded, which makes it difficult for those who used to collect charcoal and firewood for living to access them,” he added.
He pointed out that the closure of the Sudan-South Sudan border over insecurity in the area has continued to render locals there helpless.
“The roads are all closed as such, no goods are coming from Sudan and no businesses people are now working, and the estimation we have made is 73, 000 households, that is for people who were displaced by floods and those displaced by recent Aneet-Twic incident,” Dau added.
The area paramount chief, Bulabek Deng Kuol, confirmed the situation and called on humanitarian organizations to step up and assist the needy people.
“Concerning the humanitarian situation, it is worse because all roads are impassible, and up to now, Amiet market has no goods so humanitarian organizations should step up and help people here,” Bulabek said.
Meanwhile, Ajak Deng Miyen, the Abyei area’s minister of information, said the humanitarian situation is worsened by flooding, making it hard for the displaced families to get support.
He pointed out that flooding has hindered governmental activities in the Abyei Administrative Area.