A group of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have been living in shocking squalor at Juba international airport are appealing to be sent home. The Juba Airport IDPs have been stranded at the airport for the last three months. They live under trees, and in makeshift shacks erected at the airport. They have no clean drinking water or regular supply of food and defecate in open. The group is made up mainly of children as young as one month old, women some of whom are elderly and infirm.
The IDPs include women and children displaced from the violence in Yei River state and other returnees from other refugee camps outside the country. Some were attracted by the prospect of being transported home after watching on SSBC that there was a programme initiated for transporting them to upper Nile.
The plight of IDPs has been brought to light by a local NGO called “Crown The Woman” (CREW). CREW through its initiative of “Play for Peace” had visited the settlement with the interest of offering psychosocial assistance to the children; they however found that the children and the settlers were in dire need of food and sanitation. This prompted them to start a social media campaign to address the plight. After meeting the Minister of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and the Undersecretary on Monday, CREW said that the government offered IDPs aid. On Tuesday the government brought in construction equipment and started digging pit latrines for the IDPs. CREW took two children, a boy and a girl, coincidentally born on the same day, 12th December for immunization at Juba Teaching Hospital. The Undersecretary, who joined CREW officials, promised that water tankers shall be delivered to the IDPs.
The women and children, stuck in limbo at the Juba Airport, have however not gotten access to much needed medical care and food. Although the water tankers had arrived as promised, there is still a large portion that has not accessed by Thursday. Following the visit of the King of Morocco, about 50-60 women and children received food aid from the government. Naomi Aluel with Crown the woman continues to advocate for the Juba Airport IDPs to be supplied with food, water and medical care.