There seems to be no end to the number of people pouring into the Doro refugee camp in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state.
About 20,000 people who fled the country’s Blue Nile state due to the bombings are taking shelter in Doro, and aid agencies expect 30,000 more by the end of the year.
The majority of refugees who took the 40 kilometer journey from the border arrive sick and hungry. Médecins Sans Frontières, which runs a clinic in Doro, notes high levels of malnutrition, malaria, and a number of skin and respiratory diseases that stem from a lack of shelter, food and proper sanitation, and plans to set up a mobile clinic near the border to provide immediate medical assistance for the sick.
“It’s a long walking distance for them and we had some concerns about their health status while they are making this trip, etcetera, for four, five days, it is very tiring. And if the people have a sort of sickness or health issues on the borders, they really cannot make it,” Emergency Field Coordinator Asaad Khadhum told Voice of America.
Meanwhile, lack of supplies, especially food, push refugees to return to Blue Nile to fetch food for children whose bellies are already swelling. People are pinning their hopes on January’s harvest to prevent a food crisis.
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