Displaced by fighting, around 12,000 people who are sheltering adjacent to the UNMISS base in Wau are in critical need of water, sanitation services and medicine, the International Organization for Migration said in a press release today.

On June 24th and 25th, fighting broke out in Wau town between government forces and a rebel group, and thousands fled the area.

“Staff have assembled tap stands to increase access to safe water at the base and have adequate supplies on hand to construct nearly 100 latrines” IOM said in a press release. “Health staff are also setting up a clinic at the densely-populated South Sudan Red Cross, where medical supplies are limited”

The organization says that it and other relief agencies are addressing urgent health, shelter, sanitation, and protection needs of the IDP’s near the UNMISS base and in Wau town. 

Alarmingly, IOM reports that humanitarians are having difficulty serving areas in need of assistance.

“Aid agencies are finding negotiating access to affected areas increasingly complex in what is already a difficult and remote working environment” IOM said.