Sudanese refugees in Renk in dire need of humanitarian assistance

By John Wulu

Sudanese refugees in Renk County of Upper Nile State are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.

Seba Ali, a person with special needs who flew from Khartoum with seven children told journalists on Tuesday, at the Renk County Transit Two site that they have been sleeping on the floor with her children since they arrived from Khartoum three months ago.

Ali said she left her husband in an unknown place in Khartoum and does not know whether her husband is alive or dead.

“We were given only 16,000 South Sudanese pounds by the World Food Programme since last three months and we have never received any support, be it food items or non-food items,” Ali said.

She urged humanitarian agencies to provide them with plastic sheets, blankets, sorghum, beans and cooking utensils.

“I am sick and I have been transferred to Juba for medication I talk to many UN Agencies who used to visit us here but no support, it is either I will die or God can make a difference in my life,” Ali said.

Another refugee, Mohamed Hassan who  escaped the ongoing conflict in Sudan said they lack food, shelter and medication.

“We are now fasting in Ramadan but in the evening during dinner, we go to the market and share food with our friends who sell goods in Renk County,” Hassan said.

He called on the Muslim community living in South Sudan to support them during the month of Ramadan. “Many of our fellow Muslims are sick and others were transferred to Maban for medical attention but there is no good health facility in Maban,” he said.

Sudan descended into conflict in mid-April 2023 following a disagreement between Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the head of the Sudan Sovereign Council and his former deputy and leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo over the integration process of the latter’s forces into the national army.

Recent estimates by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) suggest that more than 13,000 lives have been lost since the outbreak of violence.