The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) together with the UN Humanitarian Air Service have evacuated more than 100 children from the UN base in Malakal to Juba and will bring more children from elsewhere in the state.
The children and their caregivers were living at the SOS Children’s Village in Malakal before mid-February, but since then have been trapped inside the UN base where they sought protection from opposition forces who took over the city.
UNMISS Child Protection Officer in Upper Nile State Moussa Camara said the relocation, which began 13 March, was made at the request of the organization SOS Children’s Village in Juba.
“The 118 children and their caretakers were airlifted from Malakal on a World Food Programme (WFP) flight,” the peacekeeping mission said in a statement.
SOS Children’s Village announced on their website that a first group of 52 children and five mothers and one caretaker arrived in Juba on 13 March, and a second group comprising 48 children and 13 staff members arrived in Juba on 14 March.
Upon the arrival of the children in Juba, SOS South Sudan Project Manager Kiros Aregawi said, “This is one of the happiest moments of my life. This is a crucial moment for us.”
The organization together with the UN are also planning to evacuate another 31 children and young people who had made their way to Paloich, a town north of Malakal. Another two children from the orphanage are unaccounted for.
“Negotiations to move all the children from SOS Children’s Village Malakal to SOS Children’s Villages Gulu in Uganda are currently ongoing,” the organization stated on its website.
File photo: SOS Children’s Village in Malakal