The internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Aweil of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State are calling on the humanitarian community to provide them with aid as their situation deteriorates.
The IDPs, originally from the Abyei Administrative Area, started arriving in Aweil in March 2022 when the intercommunal violence erupted between the Ngok Dinka of Abyei and Twic communities of Warrap State.
The over 300 families only received some food aid in August last year.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, some of the displaced said they live in harsh conditions as many go hungry.
“We are suffering now in the Rumanguooth area. We have only received 28 kgs of Sorghum per household on 19 August last year and we didn’t receive after that time,” Achai Anyol, an IDP said. “There is no sorghum at all but we are trying our best to produce little food for our children. If the food items and raincoats are supplied to us, it would also be good because some people got them and others did not.”
Another displaced, Janyjol Jal, said many of them are surviving on wild leaves for food.
“We are suffering from hunger. There is no food at all for the people to eat in Aweil,” Jal cried. “People are suffering indeed and are only living on tree leaves. We are facing malaria, a lack of drinking water and we are situated on the outskirts of the town.”
For his part, the chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) in Aweil, Dut Majokdit, revealed that IDPs across Aweil East County are in dire need of humanitarian support.
“For the issue of the IDPs from Abyei, it is not only those in Rumanguooth but we have many people coming from Abyei due to the inter-communal conflict between the Twic and the Ngok Dinka. So the mass displacement happened and they are now scattered in parts of Aweil East County,” said Majokdit.
He adds, “The IDPs in Rumanguooth received food last year from the UN World Food Program and we facilitated humanitarian coordination meetings, but due to the Russian war on Ukraine, many agencies are lacking funds and they are not willing to respond.”
According to the state RRC, about 317 IDP households have been registered in Rumanguooth alone since last year.