PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
UN: Mission in SouthSudan transfers IPDs to protection sites
New York US (PANA) - The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has opened new sites for about 28,000 internally displaced persons adjacent to its bases in three state capitals to improve living conditions of civilians who have been uprooted by the recent conflict, a senior UN official said in Juba on Tuesday.
Speaking to the reporters, Mr. Derk Segaar, head of UN Resident's Coordinators Office Relief, Reintegration and Protection (RRP), said the new sites had been constructed in Juba, Malakal and Bor.
He noted that UNMISS was protecting more than 100,000 civilians on its bases throughout the country.
"When we first opened our gates, we expected it to be a temporary solution, and the situation has become prolonged and we are looking for solutions to make it more bearable," he said.
Mr. Segaar stated: "Still, in our view, it is a temporary solution that we hope to reverse when stability returns so that people can go home. It was also very much a measure of last resort that I don't think it is a good situation for anybody to be confined in these small spaces for a prolonged period of time."
The UN official said that the living conditions were better, though the sites were still "improvised, temporary and not a great place to live".
He noted that 11,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) had been moved from the mission’s base in Tomping, Juba, to a new protection site near the mission’s headquarters.
According to him the process to move the remaining 3,000 people in Tomping would start on Wednesday.
He also said that another site had been completed at the mission’s base in the Jonglei State capital Bor, where only 3,000 people remained. In the Upper Nile State capital Malakal, 14,000 IDPs had moved to a new site the mission was expanding to accommodate the remaining 4,000 people.
Mr Segaar said the situation was especially bad in the Unity State capital of Bentiu, where the area for the IDP camps was completely submerged following heavy rainfall earlier this week.
"In Bentiu, the situation is dire, the site is continuously flooded. We have worked with partners
to provide drainage so that people can live in a more dignified way than they are doing," Mr.
Segaar said.
He added that partners were also working on a dry season plan to improve conditions for 50,000 IDPs seeking shelter at the UNMISS base in Bentiu, saying that UN agencies would continue to drain water using pumps and excavators to alleviate the unacceptable living conditions facing most of the site's population.
South Sudan’s Government has been at war with rebel groups since 15 December, when a clash between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to former Vice-President Riek Machar snowballed into full-scale fighting.
-0- PANA AA/MA 21Oct2014
Speaking to the reporters, Mr. Derk Segaar, head of UN Resident's Coordinators Office Relief, Reintegration and Protection (RRP), said the new sites had been constructed in Juba, Malakal and Bor.
He noted that UNMISS was protecting more than 100,000 civilians on its bases throughout the country.
"When we first opened our gates, we expected it to be a temporary solution, and the situation has become prolonged and we are looking for solutions to make it more bearable," he said.
Mr. Segaar stated: "Still, in our view, it is a temporary solution that we hope to reverse when stability returns so that people can go home. It was also very much a measure of last resort that I don't think it is a good situation for anybody to be confined in these small spaces for a prolonged period of time."
The UN official said that the living conditions were better, though the sites were still "improvised, temporary and not a great place to live".
He noted that 11,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) had been moved from the mission’s base in Tomping, Juba, to a new protection site near the mission’s headquarters.
According to him the process to move the remaining 3,000 people in Tomping would start on Wednesday.
He also said that another site had been completed at the mission’s base in the Jonglei State capital Bor, where only 3,000 people remained. In the Upper Nile State capital Malakal, 14,000 IDPs had moved to a new site the mission was expanding to accommodate the remaining 4,000 people.
Mr Segaar said the situation was especially bad in the Unity State capital of Bentiu, where the area for the IDP camps was completely submerged following heavy rainfall earlier this week.
"In Bentiu, the situation is dire, the site is continuously flooded. We have worked with partners
to provide drainage so that people can live in a more dignified way than they are doing," Mr.
Segaar said.
He added that partners were also working on a dry season plan to improve conditions for 50,000 IDPs seeking shelter at the UNMISS base in Bentiu, saying that UN agencies would continue to drain water using pumps and excavators to alleviate the unacceptable living conditions facing most of the site's population.
South Sudan’s Government has been at war with rebel groups since 15 December, when a clash between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to former Vice-President Riek Machar snowballed into full-scale fighting.
-0- PANA AA/MA 21Oct2014
