MSF calls for urgent humanitarian aid in South Sudan

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Doctors without Borders on Thursday released a report calling for urgent humanitarian assistance for thousands of people who fled fighting in Wau Shilluk area in South Sudan.

Also known by its French acronym, MSF, the group’s East Africa Unit based in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi said that since January over 30,000 people had fled fighting in the Greater Upper Nile region in the town of Wau Shilluk and were in dire need of humanitarian aid.

MSF's deputy head of mission for South Sudan, Abdalla Hussein Abdalla said in a statement that “the humanitarian needs of those that fled are vast and are not being met".

"Most of the people who fled left all their belongings behind. They walked for days to escape the violence, and now they are in dire need of water, food, shelter and medical attention."

MSF said that it had launched an emergency medical operation to support the thousands of displaced persons settled north of the town of Kodok, in Aburoch area.

MSF said that for weeks people had only received an average of two liters of clean water per person, with 90% of families it visited lacking basic supplies such as plastic sheeting to protect them from the sun or the cold at night, jerry cans to collect clean water and cooking pots.

“Many people don’t know where to settle because they are afraid the fighting will force them to flee again. It is essential that they are spared from any more violence, and that assistance is provided to them where they choose to settle,” added Abdalla.