Скачать или смотреть Graves, Humanitarian needs and UNMISS patrols (long)

Fresh graves.

A testament of recent killings in Kuda, where fear lurks in the air.

Ahead of the World Humanitarian Day, a team from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is in the area - 72 kilometers west of South Sudan’s capital Juba - to investigate the killings.

There have been reports of unrest following allegations that one community attacked another, with an aim of stealing humanitarian supplies provided by the World Food Program.

SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Majuec, Relief, Reintegration and Protection
“We came here today to investigate the clashes that have happened between the two tribes – the farming and the cattle keepers. So we found here the IDPs [Internally Displaced Persons] from the farming community.”

14 people have been killed in separate attacks and about 600 households from five different villages have been displaced, and are living in a primary school located near South Sudan’s government military barracks.

The men, women and children have fled the insecurity of their homes, and they say they are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, proper health facilities, and protection.

SOUNDBITE (Juba Arabic) Grace Yangi, Displaced Woman
“No food. We are hungry. We are just depending on the greens. We only cook it with water. No salt. No oil, no groundnut paste. Our children’s eyes are swelling, our situation is very bad. We just depend on these greens – we divide it amongst the children on the plates and the children take it. Look at me; I have no milk for the child.”

Patrols from the UN Mission set out on day- to week-long patrols to assess and, monitor situations in various localities.

SOUNDBITE (English): Masmina Munga, Civil Affairs, United Nations Mission in South Sudan
“They are asking for food because – now they are here, but they have their own food in the villages where they came from. Now they have to go from here so they can get their own food to eat, but when they go there, the situation is still tense they can be attacked by those armed groups – those who attacked them. They are still around, so they fear. Their fear is [that] if they go, they will be killed, so it is better if the assistance is provided for them [here].”

At a meeting with the community, leaders in the area described the situation, with others calling on the government to resolve the crisis.

SOUNDBITE (English) Elinoma Latio Manas, Assistant Chief, Kuda Payam
“These people came here because people were being thrown into fire, they are being killed. So you are seeing your brother being killed, then you run, that is why they are here sheltering in the school. So now the school is not functioning, so we are all here, staying in one place, like something being put in one pot, ready to be burnt.”

SOUNDBITE (Juba Arabic) Grace Kani, Displaced Woman
“We are asking the government to intervene to solve this issue so that the pastoralists can be removed from here, so that our place can be left free for us, because that is where we are used to getting food from the forest (farming). This is [the] one thing we want. Even if we say the government will come and help us, it’s like every day help, everyday help … won’t the government get tired?”

Though South Sudan is considered one of the most difficult and dangerous locations in the world for humanitarian actors to work in, UNMISS peacekeepers continue to work in support of the humanitarian aspect of its mandate, with teams continuing to crisscross various parts of the country, either on assessment missions like this one to Kuda, or as protection force - creating conditions conducive to aid delivery.
ENDS.