South Sudan: Violence a ‘Hidden Crisis’ in Jonglei
Juba — MSF report reveals medical consequences of violence and the impact on healthcare
A report released today by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) highlights the devastating impact of violence on the lives and health of civilians in South Sudan’s Jonglei state. Women and children as young as four months old are among the victims. Healthcare is threatened as medical facilities are targeted and destroyed.
Jonglei state has a long history of intercommunal cattle-raiding; however, since 2009 thousands of civilians, women and children have been caught up in violent attacks, which usually occur in the dry season.
Intercommunal violence
A disarmament campaign process in mid-2012 led to widespread insecurity and was accompanied by abuses against civilians.
Further fighting between a militia group and the South Sudan armed forces in Jonglei compounded the violence and caused new displacement at the height of the malaria season.
“Patients arriving in MSF clinics to seek treatment for injuries describe how they have been forced to make devastating decisions about which children to flee with and which children to leave behind,” says Chris Lockyear, MSF operational manager.
“What we are seeing is an emergency; the lives and health of Jonglei’s population are hanging by a thread. The dry season is now upon us, making movement around the area possible again, and we fear a further spike in violence, injury and displacement.”
MSF report
MSF’s report South Sudan’s hidden crisis: how violence against civilians is devastating communities and preventing access to life saving healthcare in Jonglei contains harrowing accounts of civilians caught up in attacks on
Category: East Africa
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