A member of Western Bahr el Ghazal state Legislative Assembly has appealed for humanitarian support for some 17,000 victims of the recent spate of violence in Jur River County, Western Bahr el Ghazal State.
Armed youths believed to have come from the neighboring Gogrial East County of Warrap State attacked Tharkueng payam on Monday. More than 20 people were reported killed, several others wounded, and houses burnt down. The attack also forced a large number of people to leave their homes.
Agieu Athuai Agieu, MP representing Tharkueng Payam area in Jur River County wants humanitarian aid organizations to urgently intervene in the situation by providing relief assistance to the displaced persons.
In an inclusive interview with Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday in Wau town, Agieu said the Monday violence raised the number of displaced people in Marial-Bai to 17,000.
He added that the displaced people urgently needed medical care, food and shelter.
“Up to now, about 17,000 civilians fled homes because there is still fear in their areas, their homes and properties were all burned down. We visited the area with the acting-governor yesterday. Until this morning, people are returning back home but the situation is still tense, they lost all of their belongings,” said Agieu.
Adding, “As an MP representing the area, I am asking the humanitarian groups to intervene with necessary assistance and on time because there are minors, the elderly and the sick. The situation is not bareble.”
Agieu said the attackers also vandalized and looted the health clinic during the Monday attack.
“This problem led to the looting of drugs at the clinic in the area. So I am calling on the humanitarian aid workers to intervene in the area with even plastic sheets,” he added.
Agiue urged aid workers to visit the area to assess the level of destruction and suffering. “I will not talk about the killings because already, the state government has spoken out about the casualties. I am just speaking on how those survivors could get assistance,” he said.
Contacted for comment, Barsham Musa Ayaga, the state Chairperson for the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) said his office is working on the matter with humanitarian aid agencies.
Ayaga said his office had been trying it’s level best since last year following the first batch of influx of the IDPs from the initial Jur River County violence.
“We have been working on this but the situation is not favorable, there are some people who fled Tharkueng earlier on apart from the recent ones. We are trying our best levels. We don’t have any alternatives but we will go down to the public to help us with clothes and in-kind support because the organizations don’t have any assistance,” said Ayaga.
He added that they already conducted an assessment, which established that the number of affected people had reached 29,000.
“We have already reported back to our headquarters but till now, there is no feedback,” he said.
Ayaga called on host communities to continue supporting the IDPs in their areas as the government and partners scout around for any available support.