Doctors in Juba: ‘Our patients are telling us terrible stories’ JUBA (15 Jul.)
Medical workers in South Sudan’s capital Juba say that many of their patients are psychologically traumatized after their family members were killed or abused. Doctors Without Borders, known also by its French name Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), is running mobile clinics among displaced people in Juba in the wake of four days of fighting in the city. The aid group says they received reports of “very terrible” events in the city, including killings, looting and humiliating acts, according to an article published on the MSF website yesterday. MSF field coordinator Ruben Pottier explained that their teams have done more than 500 consultations at St. Theresa’s Church, which is serving as a refuge for thousands of people who fled violence in their own neighborhoods. “Our patients are telling us terrible stories—how armed men came into their houses and shot the people inside. In escaping from the violence, many people lost family members.” Pottier recalled, “Today I met an eight-year-old boy whose mother and father were both shot and who now has no one to take care of him.” He added, “I saw a girl of 12, her three-year-old sister in her arms, come for a consultation, saying she had lost both parents. My colleagues in the mobile clinic have seen at least three other children who came without any family, saying their mother and father had been shot.” During the killings, many people fled in panic, leading to injuries from climbing over wire fences, for example. Others were wounded by bullets in crossfire. Some patients have reported that soldiers deliberately humiliated them. According to Pottier, “Two patients told us that armed men without uniforms came to their house, took away their children, [and] took away all their possessions, including their clothes. They said they had to flee naked out of the house. They received some clothes from people in the neighborhood, and those clothes are now all they have.” MSF says many people are afraid to return home and are remaining at the St. Theresa’s Church compound, or elsewhere in the city. Others tried to go back but found that all their belongings were looted. The aid group pointed out that some of these incidents happened after the end of serious fighting on Monday. -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/southsudankob View this message at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/southsudankob/topic-id/message-id For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14or3N%3DLD82WBoAdnH4-fb%2BqYCH9Vu6176_%3DYxhi4BK%2BMGA%40mail.gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
