Aid workers have evacuated from Leer in South Sudan’s Unity State fearing an “imminent attack” on the town.
In a press statement released today, Doctors Without Borders / Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said it is “gravely concerned about an imminent attack on the town of Leer…and the potential impact on civilians and medical facilities.”
Leer is located in the south of Unity and is the hometown of SPLM/A-In Opposition leader Riek Machar. The town has been a rebel stronghold for about a year.
On Saturday, MSF said it pulled all its international staff and halted medical services at the Leer hospital due to “heavy fighting in Unity State.” Earlier this week, MSF and other humanitarian organizations reduced their staff as violence pushed south from Bentiu.
Radio Tamazuj previously reported that the government has been taking territory in Unity State from the rebels over the past week.
“We must sound the alarm on the grim situation in southern Unity state,” said Pete Buth, deputy operations director for MSF. “We cannot stand by and watch as civilians and medical facilities are attacked again. All warring parties must take immediate steps to ensure that civilians, as well as humanitarian staff and their facilities and vehicles, are not targeted in the fighting.”
MSF noted that last year an attack on Leer resulted in the destruction of their hospital there. Government-aligned forces including soldiers from the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement have been accused of carrying out those atrocities.
“We hope that we do not see a repeat of what happened in January 2014 when fighting forced thousands of people – including our local staff who took along dozens of critically ill patients – to hide in the swamps with their families,” said Paul Critchley, MSF Head of Mission. “When our staff were able to return some months later, we found the hospital burnt, the operating theatre destroyed, and our supplies looted.”
MSF said that the evacuation means they will be unable to provide vital health care for South Sudanese citizens in the area including people in need of ongoing treatment for HIV, tuberculosis, and Kala Azar diseases.
“Today, we withdraw again with a heavy heart, because we know how civilians will suffer when they are cut off from critical, lifesaving medical care,” said Critchley. “We call on all armed actors to show unconditional respect for our patients, medical facilities and staff.”
MSF said that in one month of this year their medical teams in Leer hospital treated over 1000 malnourished children, and managed over 6500 other patients.
Photo courtesy MSF
Related:
Unity State violence displaces 100,000 people in a single week (8 May)
Mass displacement in Unity State after government offensive (7 May)