Authorities in South Sudan's Jonglei state are urgently appealing for humanitarian support for people displaced by intercommunal fighting in the Pibor Administrative Area.
Displaced Pibor resident Mary Tilalo said she and her three children fled to Bor after deadly clashes broke out in Pibor.
“When I left that area with my children, I was not coming here to look for food but first to look for where we can survive. We now feel safe here and we are praying so that peace comes in so that we live in peace with our brothers,” Tilalo told South Sudan in Focus.
Jonglei state acting administrator Mabior Atem Mabior said 3,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), mostly women, children and the elderly, arrived in Bor County Thursday and were now camping on open ground in harsh weather.
“The people currently are from greater Pibor. What we can’t establish is who is actually chasing them, but they are saying that they are coming here for safety. So we have already received and they are now under our care,” Mabior told South Sudan in Focus.
'They really need help'
Mabior said that while state authorities had provided the IDPs with some sacks of food, there were not enough supplies for everyone.
“We are urging the international community and the agencies that are operating in the area here to take part in conducting an assessment and also articulate the same case to the major donors so that they can intervene and help. They really need help,” Mabior told South Sudan in Focus.
On Thursday, Boma Administrative Area authorities said intercommunal fighting between the Lou-Nuer and Murle had left an unspecified number of people dead and many others injured.
Peter Mawut Ajak, the acting Relief and Rehabilitation Commission coordinator for Bor County, confirmed that his office was aware of a large influx of IDPs into Bor from Pibor.
“We had a meeting today with different partners and they are all willing to support, so hopefully by Monday there will be a tangible support from different agencies,” Ajak told South Sudan in Focus. “I am appealing to the agencies to speed up with assistance because these people are in need.” They arrived in Bor, he said, with “nothing in hand.”
Ajak also asked Jonglei state officials to provide security to the IDPs as their numbers continue to increase in Bor County.