South Sudanese in some parts of the country, including Bentiu continue facing outbreaks of infectious and waterborne diseases, increased food insecurity and malnutrition, due to floods.
At least one hundred and fifty two people live in horrific conditions due to failure from humanitarian organisations and authorities to quickly respond to their needs.
Médecins Sans Frontières or MSF calls on other humanitarian aid in Bentiu, United Nations, Ministry of Health and South Sudan government, to urgently increase food and nutrition assistance, water and sanitation services, shelter and healthcare.
In a statement to CRN, MSF emergency operations manager, Will Turner says “The dangerously slow and inadequate humanitarian response is putting lives at risk. The deplorable situation inside Bentiu displacement camp – the former Protection of Civilians site – is not a new phenomenon. For years, we have repeatedly warned about the dire conditions, yet other organisations and agencies responsible for the water and sanitation services in the camp have not sufficiently increased or adjusted their activities,” he adds.
Turner says this year’s floods have hit the people in Bentiu, the hardest, while over eight hundred thousand people across the country have been affected.
“An estimated 32,000 people have fled due to rising flood waters in the surrounding villages and counties of Guit and Nhyaldu, and are now living in four makeshift camps in Bentiu town. Meanwhile, the number of people in Bentiu internally displaced persons camp (formerly a Protection of Civilians site) has grown by 12,000 in just a couple of months, and now holds at least 120,000 people, with thousands more likely to have arrived in the past weeks, said Turner.
“When the floods came, it destroyed everything. We had to leave our house. Now we are suffering because we don’t have the essentials like plastic sheets, clean water, enough food,” says Johnson Gailuak, a 28-year-old man who was displaced by the floods”, says Turner.
He adds that “With the influx of people in Bentiu camp, the MSF hospital is now completely over capacity. So far, in November our teams have seen an average of 180 patients per day. The majority of patients are children under the age of five suffering from malaria, respiratory tract infections and malnutrition”.