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South Sudan Hunger Heightened by Flooding


FILE: An aerial view shows flooded homes within a village after the River Nile broke the dykes in Jonglei State, South Sudan. Taken October 5, 2020.
FILE: An aerial view shows flooded homes within a village after the River Nile broke the dykes in Jonglei State, South Sudan. Taken October 5, 2020.

The UN warned Friday that due to extensive flooding, a camp housing 75,000 Sudanese refugees would receive no food this month.

UNHCR spokesman Boris Cheshirkov said In Mabah, in Upper Nile state, trucks carrying food and other relief items had been unable to reach the Doro refugee camp, he said.

"This means that October's rations will not reach the 75,000 Sudanese refugees living there," he warned.

"Needs are surging for food, shelter, water, and sanitation supplies as stocks of basic items are running out."

This comes after trucks carrying last month's rations to the camp were stuck on the road for weeks, forcing UNHCR to eventually airlift the supplies to the camp.

"There are not enough funds to do this again," Cheshirkov said, warning that many in the camp could go hungry.

In a bid to keep more dykes from collapsing, Cheshirkov said people were now "working around the clock with pumps, buckets, excavators and heavy machinery to keep the water at bay."

In oil-rich Unity state -- one of the worst-hit regions -- the capital Benitu has meanwhile "become an island surrounded by floodwaters," he said.

"All roads in and out are impassable and only boats and the airstrip serve as lifelines for humanitarian aid to reach 460,000 people already displaced by a mix of both flooding and conflict."

Rising water levels breached dykes in two places on Sunday, threatening to flood camps for internally displaced people as well as a base for the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

In oil-rich Unity state -- one of the worst-hit regions -- the capital Benitu has meanwhile "become an island surrounded by floodwaters," he said.

UNHCR "is urging international support for humanitarian efforts in South Sudan in the face of record-breaking rains and floods," spokesman Boris Cheshirkov told reporters in Geneva.

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