The UN International Organization for Migration or IOM in South Sudan and Sudan in partnership with international humanitarian NGOs took assistance to thousands attack survivors of Abyei Area.
In a statement IOM said it provided to seventy households blankets, bed sheets and sleeping mats, jerricans, soap, plastic canvases and rubber ropes for making temporary shelters.
The response came after a rapid interagency assessment conducted on January 24 concluded that roughly 4,000 people fled to Abyei town.
With support from the Core Pipeline Unit, IOM is sending more relief items including mosquito nets and solar lamps from Juba to Abyei by air and road this week.
It is also coordinating the WASH assistance and started emergency latrine digging at Abyei Boys Secondary School where the majority 230 households from Kolom are sheltering.
‘We are deeply saddened by the loss of life as a consequence of the events which have taken place in Kolom over the last week,’ said Jean-Philippe Chauzy, IOM Chief of Mission in South Sudan.
He added that ‘this attack is a huge concern as it also sets back other lifesaving activities in Abyei region’.
‘The recent attacks cast a dark cloud over efforts to hold a cattle migration conference intended to search for common ground for the amicable co-existence of the Misseriya and Ngok-Dinka, and to find solutions to mitigate fighting over the migration corridor and cattle raiding,’ said Chauzy.
‘In situations like these, we know that people flee in different directions,’ said Asar Ul Haq, IOM South Sudan Programme Coordinator.
He added that ‘we work with these communities and it is heart-breaking to witness what happened.’
‘So far, our immediate response has only reached families displaced in Abyei centre, but we intend to support all households affected by this tragedy and the findings from the joint assessment will shed light on what help is needed and where’, Ul Haq explained.
At least 33 people, including women and children, were killed and an unknown number wounded during the attack in Kolom, nine kilometres from Abyei town last Wednesday. It is reported that children were abducted during the incident.