MSF team relocates to Mattar to care for refugees fleeing violence on the South Sudan-Ethiopia border

Gambella Region, Ethiopia (May 22, 2025) - As violence intensifies across the South Sudan-Ethiopia border, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has decided to relocate our medical services from the border town of Burbeiye to Mattar, in Ethiopia. This move corresponds with a mass displacement of South Sudanese refugees, who had already fled to Burbeiye, a town sitting directly on the border, and are now fleeing from there to Mattar in Ethiopia. This latest displacement is in response to an escalation of fighting at the border and exchange of fire between the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces and an opposition group. As of 12 May, most people fleeing Burbeiye had arrived in Mattar. Our staff are now on site to respond to a cholera outbreak and meet people’s urgent medical needs.

Over the past weeks, Ethiopia’s Gambella region has been experiencing a dual emergency. More people are becoming infected by an expanding cholera outbreak in Wanthoa Woreda, coupled with the huge influx of refugees arriving because of intense fighting in South Sudan’s Upper Nile and Jonglei states. In the weeks leading up to the displacement, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had treated over 1,200 cholera patients and provided more than 3,000 outpatient consultations on the Ethiopian side of Burbeiye.

The situation escalated when cross-border gunfire from South Sudanese forces injured several people in Burbeiye on 12 May. Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) received nine war-wounded patients, bringing the total number of injured cases seen in our facility in Burbeiye to 217 since the conflict escalated in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state in February.

“Burbeiye has become critically dangerous. With thousands of refugees fleeing in one night alone, it was clear we had to follow the people and the needs,” says Joshua Eckley, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) head of mission for Ethiopia.

Refugees arriving in Mattar report fleeing aerial bombardments and other violence in the towns of Nasir and Ulang in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state. At least one survivor treated by Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had severe burn injuries.

“We moved through villages with no clinics, no medicine, not even water. I crossed the river, fled to Burbeiye, and then walked to Mattar. This is not life — this is survival,” says Nyayul, who had originally fled to the Ethiopian side of Burbeiye, and once again fled to Mattar.

“When the bombs started falling, everyone ran. I lost my children in the chaos — I only have two with me now. The others, I don’t know where they are,” says Nyayul.

Today, between 35,000 and 85,000 people are estimated to be in Mattar, with most refugees living in makeshift and overcrowded shelters. The local infrastructure is stretched beyond capacity. Over 40 per cent of malaria rapid diagnostic tests have returned positive, and nearly 7 per cent of children under five show signs of severe acute malnutrition, while among pregnant and lactating women, the rate of global acute malnutrition is even higher, exceeding 14%. With waterborne illnesses like cholera and acute watery diarrhoea on the rise, the risk of a public health catastrophe is imminent.

To respond, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is relocating our essential health services from Burbeiye to Mattar, establishing emergency services that include mental healthcare, nutrition screening, and support for victims and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence.

“We need immediate action from donors, the UN, and NGO partners,” says Eckley. “Healthcare and other essential services are urgently needed, and these communities cannot be left waiting. They’re not just escaping violence; they’re fleeing the complete breakdown of every system that was supposed to protect them.”

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) calls on all parties involved to ensure a safe humanitarian space and protect civilians and aid workers alike. We also urge donors and humanitarian partners to scale up assistance - particularly in Mattar - where shelter, water, and medical care are in too low supply for people who have fled horrific violence.