IOM Regional Response to South Sudan Crisis EXTERNAL SITUATION REPORT
5 – 11 January 2015
IOM staff distribute high energy biscuits to refugees as they board a bus at the Nadapal border point © IOM 2015 (Photo: Joseph Kabiru)
OVERVIEW
HIGHLIGHTS
Currently, there are 1.4 million IDPs displaced within South Sudan, and an additional 480,000 refugees have fled the country. There were also reports of fighting in Nasser and Maban counties (Source: UNHCR Sitrep: 9 January 2015).
South Sudan: IOM is leading the development of the new PoC extension in Malakal. Kenya: During this reporting period, IOM provided transportation assistance to 96 refugees.
The security situation in Bentiu and Rubkona was tense throughout the week. During the reporting period, an estimated 400 people arrived in the Protection of Civilian Site (PoC), fleeing fighting in surrounding areas. Due to exchange of fire in surrounding areas, including at Unity oil field, movement of aid workers to Bentiu town and the PoC was temporarily paused, as were flights, though both had resumed by 7 January.
Ethiopia: IOM has provided transportation assistance to a total of 184,656 refugees in Gambella and Benishangul‐ Gumuz regions.
Since the beginning of the conflict, 45,627 South Sudanese refugees have crossed into Kenya, 194,546 refugees into Ethiopia, 119,709 into Sudan and 136,595 refugees in Uganda (Source: UNHCR Sitrep, 9 January 2015).
On 9 January, UNMISS issued a report detailing two separate incidents of alleged human rights violations in the ongoing conflict. The report claims that Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA/IO) forces killed hundreds of civilians on 15 April 2014 as they retook control of Bentiu, Unity State from the SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army). However, the security challenges haven't hampered IOM’s humanitarian assistance.
IOM RESPONSE CARGO MOVEMENT SOUTH SUDAN: During this reporting period, over 103 metric tonnes of cargo was moved in Juba, Malakal, Rumbek, and Bentiu using the Common Transport Service (CTS) - a free service provided by IOM for transporting humanitarian supplies in South Sudan. CTS trucks remain strategically positioned across the country to provide transport assistance to humanitarian partners.
The report further documents another incident, in which a group of armed men approached the UNMISS protection site in Bor on 17 April 2014, demanding the expulsion of Nuer IDPs, and then reportedly killed dozens of civilians in the site.
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