A UN food truck loaded with more than 15 metric tonnes of food meant for Congolese and Nuba refugees settled in Lasu Payam of Yei River County was looted last week.
The truck fell into an ambush by unknown armed men in Rubeke area when gunmen forced the truck off the roadside a few metres into the bush and offloaded all the goods. The driver and staff were later released.
“They took all that they wanted and later released us without any punishment on us,” said a staff of UNHCR in Yei.
The commissioner for refugees affairs Ndole Doromo Kumama said the refugees are stranded without food in their settlement camps. Ndoromo said all the stores in the camps are empty with no food forcing the stranded refugees to resort into borrowing food items from the host communities for their meals.
He also said the camp’s health facility has run out of HIV drugs and personnel to operate the facility.
“According to report I got from the UNHCR, the food was one vehicle and fifteen metric tonnes and their situation is desperate, the store is empty with no food and the dispensary is also empty with no medicine for the sick patients more especially those with HIV/AIDs. There is only one nurse working 24 hours,” he added.
The officer has appealed for safe passage of food and humanitarian relief workers to the refugees in Lasu Payam.
One of the Congolese refugees who spoke on condition of anonymity told Radio Tamazuj by phone from the area that they are very desperate with nothing to eat. “Nowadays, we are surviving on cooking greens with salt and in the day we eat hard maize also fried with salt for our meals.”
“We don’t have food to eat and my children’s health is deteriorating and am praying that they should not fall sick because there is nothing to eat,” she said.
Meanwhile, Yei River state Governor David Lokonga Moses has condemned the act carried out against the humanitarian partners. “UN is an independent body and it is supposed to be respected whether in conflict and peace affected areas,” said Lokonga.
According to the commission there are thousands of Congolese refugees in Lasu Payam who fled LRA atrocities in the eastern parts of Congo over the past years.