Wudweil refugee settlement. (-)

At least 24 Sudanese refugees mostly children and elderly died in Northern Bahr el Ghazal’s Wedwiel settlement in October, the camp leader said, blaming the situation on inadequate food and drugs.

Mahamoud Mohammed Osman, Chairperson of Wedwiel Refugee Settlement, said a local health facility is currently overwhelmed with sick refugees mostly elderly people, children, and pregnant women.

Mr Mohammed said the main illnesses are malaria, diabetes and other chronic conditions.

He attributes the alarming illnesses and hunger to funding cuts faced by many relief organizations delivering assistance in the camp.

“The difficulty that we are facing is inadequate food and it led to many health complications for the elderly people, children, and pregnant women, we need food from the donors inshallah,” he said in an interview with Eye Radio.

“The second issue is medical treatment. We have one hospital operating which belongs to IRC, and treatment is not available and we are suffering a lot, we lost dozens of people children, and elderly people, as a result of no proper treatment.”

“We have three days we don’t have an ambulance. We have sick people here who cannot go to get further treatment in Wau, we need a hospital bigger than this within the settlement.”

One of the refugees Muna Abdallah Mohammed called on the UN agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations to intervene and provide the camp with adequate water supply, food, and drugs.

“We have some centers and blocks are lacking water, and the mothers and pregnant women and children are carrying water from very long distances,” Muna said.

“We wish that water will be connected to all centers to help us because there are negative phenomena from the youth at the settlement camp due to the inadequate service and deterioration of service of water, drugs, and food.”

The Assistant Commissioner of Refugees Affairs in Northern Bahr el Ghazal Nicodemus Nguet Thiep has admitted that food is not enough at the Wedwiel settlement.

He said organizations are trying their best to support the suffering refugees amid severe funding shortages.

“Food insecurity is a key issue. WFP is giving 50% of food to the refugees, which is not enough. Many of them try to cultivate. But due to the flood, those who cultivate at the lower lands are severely affected,” he said.

“Organizations are trying their best to give what they can to make sure that they maintain the minimum standards of living rather than nothing. The inadequate food becomes a challenge, but we are also encouraging them to strategize on micro-business.”

The camp in Northern Bahr el Ghazal is currently hosting more than 13,000 Sudanese refugees.