IOM urges immediate release of South Sudan abductees

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Friday called for the unconditional release of a female volunteer and a 4-year-old child abducted in South Sudan during a gun-battle that claimed the lives of three IOM humanitarian workers on Oct. 27.

IOM spokesman Paul Dillon said at a UN briefing that the migration agency is trying to locate its missing member and the child.

On Oct. 27, a group of IOM volunteers were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups in Isebi at Morobo county of South Sudan’s Central Equatoria region.

"All possible action is being taken to try to get our colleague released from her abductors immediately without any pre-conditions," said Dillon, quoting IOM's South Sudan Chief of Mission Jean-Philippe Chauzy.

In addition to two men and one woman killed, two other male volunteers suffered non-life-threatening injuries, he added.

"The abducted child is the son of the woman who was slain," said the spokesman.

The IOM staff were working in an Ebola screening point in border areas between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, tracking the spread of the deadly disease.