Uganda: Over 900,000 S. Sudanese refugees need aid
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May 21, 2017 (KAMPALA) - Thousands of South Sudanese continue to
arrive to Uganda every week, bringing the total number of refugees and
asylum-seekers to over 900,000.
JPEG - 55.5 kb
Civilians flee UN protection site in Malakal following attacks by the
government army and militias on 17-18 February 2016 - (MSF photo)
Uganda now hosts more refugees than any other African country,
accepting more refugees than the number who were granted asylum by the
whole of Europe in 2016.
While the refugees arriving are in relatively good health, many
reportedly tell stories of horrific violence in their place of origin
or on their journey, while the scale of the refugee influx has pushed
Uganda’s progressive refugee policies to their limits, overwhelming
reception conditions and the government’s ability to respond.
“Despite the large-scale humanitarian mobilisation, the emergency
response is still far from sufficient, and many people have been left
with insufficient water, food and shelter,” said Jean-Luc Anglade, MSF
head of mission in Uganda.
“As the flow of refugees shows no sign of abating, a sustained and
long-term effort will be needed to assist these people over the next
months, if not years,” he added.
In addition to its operations in South Sudan, MSF says it has been
responding to the humanitarian crisis in Uganda since July 2016, with
medical and water and sanitation activities.
Currently, MSF says it is working in four refugee settlements in the
northwest – Bidi Bidi, Imvepi, Palorinya and Rhino – providing
inpatient and outpatient medical care, maternity care and nutritional
care, and conducting community health surveillance and water and
sanitation activities.
The agency said it has also responded to an influx of refugees into
Lamwo, on the border with South Sudan, after an attack in Pajok,
Eastern Equatoria, but has since handed over these activities to other
organisations.
“Access to water is one of the biggest challenges in the refugee
settlements and MSF has been scaling up operations in water support,”
MSF said in a statement.
In Palorinya, MSF reportedly produces an average of two million litres
per day from the River Nile, supporting over 100,000 people. In total,
MSF produced a staggering 52 million litres of clean water in
Palorinya in April alone.
“There is a never-ending cascade of challenges,” said Casey O’Connor,
MSF project coordinator in Palorinya.
In addition to responding to the refugee influx, MSF reportedly runs
regular programmes in Uganda providing sexual reproductive health
services for adolescents in Kasese, HIV/AIDS care for the fishing
communities on lakes George and Edward, and HIV viral load monitoring
services in Arua regional hospital.
(ST)
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