Community leaders in Jonglei State’s Akobo County have reported that at least 370 individuals have returned to Alali Payam amidst a dire humanitarian situation exacerbated by floods and have appealed for intervention and relief aid.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday, John Opiew Olok, the leader of the Anyuak Community in Akobo who is also a former state legislator, said the returning community members left their camps in Ethiopia last week and started arriving in Alali on Tuesday.
“These people arrived in Alali on Tuesday after 8 days of wading through floodwaters. Their situation is dire because food items were destroyed during a raid in May and now they are affected by floods from the overflowing Akobo River. A total of 370 returnees have arrived so far,” he said. “As a community, we are engaging relevant stakeholders like the state government and county commissioner and have come to inform them of these new arrivals so that they can come to their aid. We met the commissioner before he left for Akobo Town and he offered to help with a satellite phone for communication to Alali.”
Opiew added: “Generally, our plea is that Alali be included in the national program on flood intervention.”
For his part, Akobo County Commissioner Puok Nyang Tutjiek said parts of the county have been submerged in floodwaters and that communication was being established to help with the assessment of the devastation caused by the floods.
“That area (Alali) does not have network coverage. Akobo network does not reach there unless they call themselves. What happened in May is that the area was deserted by the community. They moved to other villages near Pochalla,” he explained. “While in Bor, I heard that people have started returning to Alali but we do not have access yet. We heard that that the humanitarian situation is worsening there because they did not cultivate as they had planned and the community left the area.”
Commissioner Nyang added: “So, as they return, there is a situation related to hunger and flooding.”