Refugee influx in South Sudan “completely overwhelming”
Doctors Without Borders(MSF) has warned the situation on South Sudan`s borders is “completely overwhelming.” According to AFP and Arab news On December 23,2024, Doctors Without Borders has estimated around 5,000 people are crossing the border each day.
Sudan is currently experiencing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian emergencies, with each day, thousands are attempting to cross the border to escape war. The conflict initially broke out in April 2023 between the Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
During this time, tens of thousands have been killed, and millions displaced.
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An MSF emergency coordinator in Renk town, South Sudan, has stated they are working with the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide medical care.
Despite this, the situation is completely overwhelming and not enough,” according to MSF emergency coordinator Emanuele Montobbio.
Although facilities have been expanded to accommodate the arrival of war wounded, they have not expanded enough to be able to treat everyone.
“Over 100 wounded patients, many with serious injuries, still await surgery,” Montobbio stated.
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Bashir Ismail, recovering in hospital in Renk after an air raid said,
“Something hit me in the chest — it was the most painful experience of my life,” He goes on to describe being so disoriented that it felt like he had lost his memory.
Alhida Hammed also fled to Renk after his village was attacked and he was wounded in Sudan’s Blue Nile state.
“The houses were blazing, and everyone was running in different directions,”
Now in South Sudan, Hammed is shelterless, living under a tree, but holds he does not wish to return to Sudan as it is no longer a home, filled with bad memories of the war.
South Sudan’s deputy medical coordinator Roselyn Morales stated thousands who had crossed the border are now facing “critical shortages of food and shelter, clean water, shelter and health care.”
South Sudan is not equipped to handle the arrival of thousands seeking shelter from the war, they themselves battling violence, poverty and natural disasters.
Arab News,AFP
