The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Geert Cappelaere, has expressed his deep concern about reports that large-scale displacement, including possible forced relocations, taking place in Blue Nile state’s Bau locality, and possibly in other parts of the state.

“I am very concerned by these reports,” Cappelaere said in a statement issued today. “As conflict has increased in Blue Nile, it continues to be civilians who bear the brunt of this fighting.”

Humanitarian needs are rapidly rising in Blue Nile, but aid agencies are often not permitted to independently assess these needs, and respond accordingly in the state, he stated.

Cappelaere called on all parties to stop fighting immediately, and allow aid agencies to provide assistance to people in need, “wherever they may be located. These people should not have to suffer.”

Separately, a humanitarian coordination group working in Blue Nile reported the "forcible relocation" of around 12,000 civilians who were resident in the Ingessena hills in Bau locality, in Blue Nile state, starting on 12 May,2015.

“Households were evicted from their villages - Khor Maganza, Samansur and Maidum - loaded onto trucks and moved to locations on the outskirts of Damazin and Rosaries, namely Elgari, Shanish and Wad Ufudi,” the group reported.

Reports from civilian monitors indicated that their original villages were then torched and burnt to the ground.

File photo