Recent armed clashes in the Abyei Special Administrative Area (ASAA) resulted in mass displacement of the population to the north towards Abyei town, and to the south towards Twic County in Warrap State. As a result, Medecins Sans Frontières has adjusted their activities in the region to respond to the urgent needs of the affected population in both ASAA and Warrap State.
On 10 February, heavy clashes erupted in Agok town, which resulted in tens of thousands of people fleeing the area, and caused MSF to temporarily suspend operations at its Agok hospital. MSF recommenced some medical activities and consultations at the hospital on 17 February.
However, in the last 72 hours, the security situation in Agok has deteriorated again, with further armed violence erupting on Saturday 5 March. The people that had remained or returned since the initial violence that occurred in February have also now fled. Armed violence has also erupted in Abyei town, causing deaths, injuries and displacement.
“Since the most recent outbreaks of violence, there are no longer patients coming into the MSF hospital in Agok. The MSF team in Agok have been temporarily relocated to Abyei town to respond to urgent medical needs there. We are also responding to the urgent needs of the newly displaced population in Twic County,” said Trish Newport, MSF Head of Mission. “We will continue to monitor the context and the medical needs, and if required, we will adapt our operations further to respond where the needs are greatest.”
For the past three weeks, MSF has been responding to the urgent needs of the displaced population in four locations in Twic County – Turalei, Wunrok, Mayem Abun and Nyindeng Ayuel – where approximately 32,000 people fled following the violence around Agok. The majority of those displaced are women and children. They have settled in the open, many near swamps or rivers, without any shelter. They left carrying nothing, and many saw their belongings, including cash, destroyed or lost.
“The people we have spoken to said they have no food. This is their biggest concern. They are also worried about not being able to protect themselves against the mosquitos at night,” shared Newport. “Access to clean water is also very limited and many are using water from the nearby rivers. We are deeply concerned about the impact these very precarious living conditions will have on people’s health.”
The host communities that welcomed the displaced have little, if anything to spare, and the services available to them will not cover the needs of the newly arrived people. MSF has donated medication and equipment to the health structures to make sure they do not run out of the most essential medical items. In addition, MSF has started mobile health clinics, focusing on areas where there is no access to healthcare.
Since 27 February, MSF has been providing food in the four locations as well as distributing essential non-food items such as jerrycans, soap, mosquito nets and blankets. However, the needs remain massive and urgent.
“MSF alone cannot cover the dire needs of food, shelter and sanitation for the large number of displaced people for long,” said Newport. “Humanitarian activities need to be scaled up to accommodate the current situation in both the Abyei and Twic County regions. We are appealing to other organizations to urgently respond to this emergency.”
Since 2006, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been providing essential and life-saving medical services in the Abyei Special Administrative Area (ASAA), a contested zone located on the border between South Sudan and Sudan. Shortly after in 2008, MSF opened the hospital in Agok, a town in ASAA. The hospital provides essential and lifesaving medical services, such as emergency care, obstetrics, vaccinations, therapeutic feeding, surgery, treatment for HIV, TB, diabetes and other diseases, as well as various other health services. MSF also manages a community-based health services in 24 villages surrounding the MSF Agok hospital, in order to bring malaria testing and treatment closer to where these populations live.