IOM's regional response to #SouthSudan crisis (7-13 July 2014)

IOM Regional Response to South Sudan Crisis SITUATION REPORT

EXTERNAL SITREP

7 – 13 July 2014

Refugees disembark at the Kule II Refugee Camp in Ethiopia. IOM is facilita!ng their transporta!on from the Recep!on Centres. © IOM 2014 (Photo: Alemayehu Seifesselasie)

OVERVIEW

HIGHLIGHTS

The security situa on in South Sudan remained tense and unpredictable in this repor ng period. Despite the civil war, the country marked its third Independence Day on 9 July.

Hopes remain that South Sudan will overcome the challenges and start to rebuild the country.

General reduc!on recorded in the number of refugees entering Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.

South Sudan: 11,500 IDPs relocated to the new PoC site in Malakal

The number of check points in and around Juba town has increased since 30 June, partly due to reported tensions between the central government and the Equatoria states.

Increased criminality con nues in Juba, linked to the nonpayment of salaries of security forces. During the repor ng period, specula on of imminent a'acks on Malakal and Ben u towns by Sudan People's Libera on Army in Opposi on (SPLA-IO) spread but did not materialize.

Kenya: Cases of bandit a)acks reported among refugees travelling into Kenya.

Uganda: Heavy rains slow down IOM’s Water, Sanita!on and Hygiene (WASH) ac!vi!es.

According to UNHCR, 85,972 refugees have entered Sudan since the conflict broke out in December 2013. IOM is tracking and registering the refugees around Sudan. In the last two weeks of June, IOM iden fied a new movement trend from the open areas of Khartoum State to the White Nile State. This trend is a'ributed to lack of familial support network to join Khartoum.

Ethiopia UNHCR con nued to register a reduced number of refugees this week. In this repor ng period, IOM provided transporta on for 147,924 refugees from Pagak, Burbiey and Akobo to Kule II Refugee Camp. In Assosa, IOM has transported 1,341 refugees to date. Movements from Assosa are done on request by the Administra on for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA).

Uganda, like other countries receiving refugees from South Sudan, has recorded a drop in the number of refugees entering the country mainly through the Nimule and Koboko borders during the repor ng period. 531 refugees were registered by IOM this week compared to 1,641 refugees registered last week. UNHCR reports that 119,003 refugees have entered Uganda since the influx began in January 2014. Uganda has received the second largest number of South Sudanese refugees aFer Ethiopia.

Kenya has received the least number of South Sudanese refugees; 40,196 refugees have been registered to date (Source: UNHCR Sitrep, 11 July). This week 523 refugees entered the country, compared to 650 refugees in the last week. The cost of transporta on to the Kenyan border coupled with heavy rains in South Sudan con nue to hinder the movement of refugees. Addi onally, seasonal rivers are now full as a result of the rains, and are blocking the paths refugees take to reach Kenya.

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IOM RESPONSE TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANCE SOUTH SUDAN: Since 2010, IOM has been providing Common Transport Service (CTS), a common humanitarian cargo transporta on service in support of the Logis cs Cluster.

Presently, a total of 13 trucks are dedicated for this service, deployed at strategic loca ons across the country to provide transport assistance to humanitarian partners.

ETHIOPIA: AirliFs for vulnerable refugees con nued from Burbiey this week and IOM works to ensure that all refugees reach the refugee camps where services are provided. 870 refugees have been airliFed from Burbiey to Kule II Refugee Camp on a UNHCR helicopter since the airliFs began in April 2014.

Transporta on assistance for refugees entering Ethiopia through Assosa also con nued this week. To date, IOM has provided transporta on for 1,341 refugees. IOM is coordina ng refugee movements from the three opera onal entry points in Assosa, on request from ARRA. KENYA: There are increasing incidences of bandit a'acks on refugees making their way to Kenya being reported by the refugees. The a'acks tend to happen in the evening, thereby forcing the refugees to travel during the day.

Unable to travel at night, the journey takes more than 11 days.

(Lakes). IOM is leading the efforts to expand the PoC areas in Malakal and Bor and is providing assistance in UN House and Mingkaman. Voluntary reloca on of households from Tongping and UN House began on 16 June. As of 5 July a total of 861 IDPs have been relocated to UN House.

WATER SANITATION AND HYGIENE SOUTH SUDAN: IOM is a main WASH actor in Malakal and Melut PoCs, and is working with partners to ensure that the IDPs have access to potable water and sanita on facili es. Addi onally, IOM is trying to promote good hygiene prac ces. As WASH focal point in Melut, IOM con nues to lead the coordina on of cholera response in partnership with the Health cluster. A consolidated Cholera Response Plan for Upper Nile is currently being developed and will be shared within the week.

As the lead provider of WASH assistance at the Doro camp, IOM con nues to meet the needs of the camp’s refugee popula on. All key water, hygiene and sanita on indicators are currently above the minimum standards.

However, there remains a need to maintain these standards to prevent the outbreak and spread of waterborne diseases amongst the refugee popula on and surrounding host communi es.

The number of sick refugees arriving in Kenya is also increasing with malaria, and malnutri on being the most common challenges. Cases of opthalmia in small children have also been reported. Kenya’s Ministry of Health has been providing refugees with medical support at the border since May 2014.

IOM reached 8,599 individuals with hygiene and sanita on promo on messages, 6,909 through house visits and 1,690 through social mobiliza on sessions. Of those reached during social mobiliza on sessions, 1,417 refugees were reached during a jerry can cleaning exercise that was carried out in three villages. Jerry can cleaning con nues to be done to promote safe water chain by providing access to clean water and currently targets villages with reported high cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD).

Hygiene and sanita on promo on messages were disseminated during the cleaning exercise.

SUDAN: IOM has tracked and registered 43,392 people since the conflict began. Between 29 June and 5 July, IOM tracked and registered 544 refugees, with approximately 79 people arriving per day. In the last repor ng period, IOM tracked and registered 890 individuals.

UGANDA: Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister and UNHCR con nue to try and iden fy addi onal land to establish new se'lements site. Authori es from Yumbe District have already offered land where refugee se'lements can be established.

SHELTER AND NON-FOOD ITEMS (NFI) Cluster partners in South Sudan have reached 123,114 households with NFIs, and 38,410 households with emergency shelter. This represents a 61% achievement for NFIs (200,000), and a 28% achievement of the emergency shelter target (90,000). This week the cluster’s opera onal focus was to increase response in hard-to-reach areas and coordinate the overall response with partners in Melut, Akobo, Koch, Leer, Renk, Yuai, Gormai and Old Fangak. The on-going response includes the distribu on of light emergency shelter kits, targe ng 7,000 families in Melut.

Heavy rains in Ayilo and Baratuku se'lements are affec ng IOM’s efforts to establish household latrines in the area, due to water logging, even as surveillance and preven on efforts for water borne diseases con nue.

CAMP COORDINATION AND CAMP MANAGEMENT The efforts to improve the holding capacity and living condi ons con nued at PoC sites in UN House (Juba, Central Equatoria), Malakal (Upper Nile), Bor (Jonglei), and Ben u (Unity); and IDP sites in Mingkaman /Awerial

IOM has supported 24,800 refugees in Adjumani se'lements through the provision of medical equipment, construc on of toilets and the rehabilita on of water points. To date 15 boreholes have been constructed, and eight Water User Commi'ees have been established and trained. Water User Commi'ees manage and maintain the sanita on of water points (boreholes, etc.) and also ensure that all damages are effec vely repaired .

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For more informa!on on IOM’s Response in South Sudan, see h)p://southsudan.iom.int/crisis/ Contact IOM Preparedness and Response Division | PRD@iom.int Regional Emergency and Post-Crisis Unit | DANILA Bogdan Silviu | bdanila@iom.int