Consequence of the conflict in Sudan, the massive return of South Sudanese to their country. Since the start of the Sudanese crisis in mid-April, more than 70,000 people have traveled from the Sudanese capital to the small town of Renk, in the north-east of South Sudan, in the state of Haut -Nile.
With our correspondent in South Sudan, Florence Miettaux
After days of grueling travel from Khartoum, it is a difficult return home for many South Sudanese nationals fleeing the Sudan. Here, ” people arrive traumatized because of what they experienced in Khartoum. The bombings, the shootings, the deaths they witnessed on the road… All these difficulties they went through… In addition, some arrive here after being separated from family members who remained in Khartoum says Kamrah Abraham Albert, aid worker with the NGO International Rescue Committee in Renk.
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A transit center offers food and basic services to the most vulnerable. But most newcomers do not benefit from it. The authorities and humanitarian agencies want to avoid at all costs the creation of camps for displaced people in this area, which lacks infrastructure. But the logistics for transporting these tens of thousands of people are not yet up to scratch, knowing that the roads are in poor condition.
” We are completely desperate”
It is therefore mainly by boat, on the Nile, that the South Sudanese who have fled Sudan wait, not without exasperation, to be able to continue their journey. Peter Gatkuoth, teacher, arrived almost a month ago. At the port of Renk, on the Nile, he hopes every day to catch a boat for Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile State: We are completely desperate, our situation is very difficult here. We are hungry and have no place to sleep. That’s why I came to see if there’s a boat leaving this morning. »
It is also a long wait for those who can only leave by plane, like Ngong Malong Ngor, 70. He is from Aweil in the northwest of South Sudan. “ I checked in with my wife and ten children. I have our ticket. But we are on the street and we have nothing to eat. We don’t know what to do. Are we going to die here? We have no idea when we can leave “, he says.
An explosive situation in the small town where tens of thousands of people are stranded. Young people fought in mid-May at the transit center, causing one death.
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