The joint military operation launched against rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in December by Ugandan, Congolese and southern Sudanese troops has created serious and unexpected humanitarian challenges in southern Sudan.
During a press briefing today (13 March) in Juba, UN Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande said that the refugee influx from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the overall humanitarian situation might not improve in the near future.
"The joint operation which was launched in December by the Ugandan Southern Sudanese and Congo armed forces against the LRA: The key message is there have been serious and, let me be frank, and unexpected humanitarian consequences."
The LRA attacks against civilians in the DRC and southern Sudan have caused large-scale displacement among populations living near the international border between Sudan and the DRC. Over 100,000 people in Western and Central Equatoria states are affected, according to Grande.
Lise Grande Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator: "Here is the problem: The numbers are getting too big, conditions are now sliding, we are worried about this."
Inter-agency assessments confirm that food security conditions and nutrition levels have deteriorated dramatically in the past three months. An additional 50,000 people in southern Sudanese host communities are also reported to be at risk.
Lise Grande Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator: "The conditions in these areas where the host communities are, the refugees are, and the IDPs are, those humanitarian conditions are deteriorating and they are deteriorating quickly."
Thus far the government of southern Sudan, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations have been able to deliver relief assistance and programs to help stabilize the most adversely affected communities.
The current humanitarian response is focused on providing protection, non-food items, and water, sanitation and health projects. But amid expectations that more Congolese refugees may cross into southern Sudan in the coming months, the task of meeting humanitarian needs could encounter new difficulties when most roads become impassable during the upcoming rainy season.
The LRA rebels have been waging a brutal war in northern Uganda for more than 20 years and are notorious for perpetrating massacres of unarmed civilians, the forcible recruitment of child soldiers and the rape and mutilation of their victims.
APTN