International Medical Corps’ team of humanitarian first responders on the ground in Malakal call on all sides in the fighting to cease hostilities so they can continue to deliver essential humanitarian assistance to nearly 30,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) at the UN base in the town.
As reported by international media and the South Sudanese government, the cease-fire negotiated by both parties last month in Ethiopia has been broken. Fighting has resumed in Malakal forcing numbers seeking refuge at the UN base to around 30,000 IDPs. International Medical Corps is providing health and nutritional services to these vulnerable communities. Today, International Medical Corps medical personnel treated more than 100 people hurt in fighting.
Julia Albert-Recht, Programme Manager for International Medical Corps in Malakal says, “The renewed fighting is having a devastating knock-on effect for civilians in Malakal. Even inside the UN camp we have seen tensions begin to rise and we have seen fights break out between groups within the IDP camps.
Albert-Recht continued, “Yesterday at our clinic we helped a woman through a very difficult birth and delivered a beautiful healthy baby. If that had been this morning their lives would be in real danger because we aren’t able to get out to help them. There are thousands of innocent families in Malakal who need health and nutrition assistance which they won’t get because of this latest round of fighting. ”
International Medical Corps shares the concerns of many in the humanitarian community that the ongoing and escalating conflict will have a devastating impact on civilians in South Sudan and hopes for a swift cessation of violence.
International Medical Corps has been delivering humanitarian assistance in southern Sudan for 20 years and supporting communities across South Sudan since independence in 2011.