RENK, South Sudan: Tens of thousands of exhausted people are moving towards home to the world’s youngest country as they flee a brutal conflict in neighbouring Sudan.
There’s a bottleneck of men, women and children camping near the dusty border of Sudan and South Sudan and the world community and the government are concerned about a prolonged conflict.
Fighting between Sudan’s army and the rival militia killed at least 863 people in Sudan before the seven-day ceasefire began Monday night. Several in South Sudan are concerned about what could happen if the fighting next door continues.
“After escaping danger there’s more violence,” said South Sudanese Alwel Ngok, sitting on the ground outside a church. “There’s no food, no shelter, we’re totally stranded, and I’m very tired and need to leave,” she said.
Alwel Ngok thought she would be safe returning home after fleeing clashes in country’s capital, Khartoum, where she watched three of her relatives losing lives. She and her five children reached Renk, South Sudan, where people were sheltering on the ground, some sleeping with their luggage piled up near thin mats. Women prepared food in large cooking pots as teenagers roamed aimlessly. Days after Ngok and her family arrived, she said, a man was beaten to death with sticks in a water dispute.
Years of fighting between the government and opposition forces in South Sudan eliminated almost 400,000 people and displaced millions others until a peace agreement was signed nearly five years back.
Large-scale clashes between the warring parties have subsided, but there is still fighting in parts of the country. South Sudan has billions in oil reserves that it moves to world markets through a pipeline that runs through Sudan in territories controlled by the warring parties. If that pipeline is damaged, South Sudan’s economy could collapse within months, according to Ferenc David Marko, a researcher at the International Crisis Group.
However, the most immediate issue is the tens of thousands of South Sudanese who are returning with no idea of how they’ll get home to their towns and villages. Many are unable to afford the trip. Situated at the northernmost tip of South Sudan, Renk is connected to other parts of the country by few roads. The main routes are flights or boat trips along the Nile, and many people can’t afford them.
The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (UNIOM) is trying to send the most vulnerable South Sudanese who have returned — some 8,000 people — home by boat, with the goal of transporting nearly 1,000 people daily along the Nile to the state capital of Malakal. However, the trips have just begun, and problems in coordination between the government and aid groups at the port this month delayed people from leaving, with sick, children and babies camped by empty boats for days under the scorching sun.
Ehlam Saad said, “How can we stay here in the rain with the kids?” Holding up her UN-issued wristband, the 42-year-old said she has been living in Renk for nearly three weeks. She has no idea how she will get to the capital of South Sudan, Juba, where she and her family lived before the conflict. She said her only choice now is to find the way home and reunite with her son and husband. “A home is a home. Even if there’s fighting, even if you move around the world, even if it’s the worst option, it’s home.”
