A sign post in Terekeka County. | Photo: Awan Moses/Eye Radio

The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said a localized dry spell and crops failure in Terekeka County has forced the migration of thousands of local communities to neighboring areas.

OCHA said most residents of Terekeka have deserted their homes and migrated to neighboring Awerial County, Mundri East and Central Equatoria State in search of survival means.

According to the agency, some people have also been forced to live at the bank of the Nile where they rely on fishing.

It did not specify how many were displaced.

In its September Humanitarian Snapshot, OCHA said vulnerable people have been in dire need of humanitarian assistance due to food insecurity, conflict, economic downturn, and climatic shocks including floods and droughts and disease outbreaks.

It says 6,000 people have been displaced by flooding caused due to heavy rain in Renk County of Upper Nile State and Mundri West and Mundri West County in Western Equatoria State.

The agency also revealed that 12,000 people were displaced in mid-September during fighting between the SSPDF and armed youth in Pochalla County of Pibor Administrative Area.

In Pigi County of Jonglei State, OCHA says there have been increased death rates among the population, mostly women and children due to measles, malaria and malnutrition.

The agency further states an unknown disease outbreak with symptoms including generalized skin rash, jaundice, fever and flu has killed at least 17 people, including 15 children in Jebel boma in the Pibor in three weeks.