The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Africa Development Aid said they delivered much-needed shelter and household items to more than 10,200 returnees, internally displaced persons and the communities hosting them in Tonga, an isolated area of South Sudan’s Upper Nile region, last week.
The distribution followed an assessment conducted in May, which found that thousands were in need, with many households recently returning to Tonga after fleeing violence between government and opposition forces in April 2017.
In a press release extended to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, IOM said although a sense of security has returned to Tonga, fighting and isolation have left the area without basic services.
"IOM and humanitarian agencies are rushing to provide support as the May-to-October rainy season begins to intensify,” partly reads the statement.
During the distribution, IOM said, households received plastic sheeting, a blanket, a mosquito net, a half cooking set and rubber rope to support shelter construction.
In March 2018, IOM migration health teams also participated in a multi-sector assessment and response mission to Tonga.