Southern Sudan: Thousands Dead, Whole Communities Homeless

This year, Doctors without Borders/MSF has witnessed a disturbing increase in violence across Southern Sudan.

So-called ‘tribal clashes’ and attacks by Ugandan rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) have left thousands dead or injured and whole communities homeless.

“In the past, men killed each other in the cattle raids; the children and women were not killed before. This is very new.” – A 75 year old survivor who lost seven wives in an attack.

More than 2,000 people died violently in 2009. In the so-called tribal clashes to which MSF responded, three times more people were killed than injured. Some 87 percent of patients were treated for gunshot wounds.

Bones and decomposing bodies mark areas where attacked occurred and the routes people used to flee the violence. Family members have disappeared, died, or been unable to return, so many bodies remain where they fell.

Once they have fled, survivors have a few options. There are camps, the bush, or other villages where they well population numbers, further overloading the few medical facilities and limited food sources.

“The LRA are in my home in Congo and they are here, in Sudan. When they captured me, they killed people as I watched – beating them with sticks, stabbing them with bayonets. Now I think nothing of the future. What future?” – An LRA abductee, now a refugee in Sudan.

Too many organizations operating in Southern Sudan are not equipped to respond to the injuries and displacement caused by the violence. More than 250,000 people have been displaced so far in 2009.

As always when larger numbers of people are displaced, diseases such as cholera or measles can become medical emergencies. MSF runs vaccination campaigns wherever possible, but the sheer numbers of people mean that coverage is far from comprehensive.

Food shortages, already causing extensive malnutrition in Southern Sudan, are exacerbated by the influx of displaced people. Here, a mother feeds her child nutritious ready-to-use-food (RUF) in an MSF feeding center.

“We don’t have anything. Our plants were burned, we have no land to cultivate and no way to earn money even when there is food to buy.” – A village chief and attack survivor.

Whether they are fleeing so-called tribal violence or the LRA, many displaced people feel that they cannot return home. Nobody feels safe.

“We still fear the past and we think there might be another attack. We still think that they will come again. We fear this.” – A survivor who lost her husband and five children during an attack. The violence continues.

Southern Sudan: Thousands Dead, Whole Communities Homeless

We speak out. Get updates.

How we use funds

Southern Sudan: Thousands Dead, Whole Communities Homeless

Share

More news and stories