UNMISS Tongpiny camp flooded - Mar 2014

A charity organization, Medecins San Frontieres has criticized the United Nations Mission in South Sudan for ‘choosing not to improve the living conditions of the Internally Displaced Persons in Juba.’

MSF issued a sharp criticism against UNMISS for deliberately delaying the relocation of IDPs from water-borne infested areas to conducive locations.

The charity organization says the displaced people in the UN’s Thongpiny camp in Juba continue to live in appalling conditions, despite the availability of dry land in the compound.

The organization’s Project Coordinator, Stefan Liljegren, said the lives of 21,000 people living in flood-prone part of Tongpiny camp are at risk – if immediate action is not taken.

Mr. Stefan told Eye Radio that UNMISS has failed to put infrastructure in place to respond to the worsening health conditions of the IDPs.

“We have been trying to convince UNMISS here in Thongpiny to release more land within the UNMISS compound to decongest this camp in preparation for the coming rain and this has not happened,” he said.

“Thongpiny is not a very good place to be, and the rain is coming. So the people here will have a very, very tough situation. So they [UNMISS] need to decongest the Thongping camp in order to facilitate that area to live in.”

Mr. Stefan said 150 latrines had collapsed in Thongpiny camp during the first rains of the season, and nothing was done about it.

He said about 82,000 people from Bor living in open camp in Minkamman rather than in the UN camp are also living in appalling conditions.

MSF also says its provisional data indicates alarming mortality rates in the UNMISS base at Malakal, and preparations to improve the situation are minimal.

The health agency says it sees a disturbing lack of preparedness on the side of UN to improve the lives of IDPs as rainy season approaches.

However, UNMISS says it is well aware of the situation of the IDPs, and that it has drawn up plans to respond to their needs.

UNMISS says the UN camp at Tongpiny was not designed to host IDPs.

The Mission’s spokesperson, Ariane Quentier, said that UNMISS has negotiated with the South Sudanese authorities to access more land to accommodate the displaced.

Ms. Arian said that UNMISS is also building additional new Protection of Civilians sites in Bor, Juba, and Malakal in order to provide more space and decongest the currently crammed sites.

She told Eye Radio that UNMISS and humanitarian partners are working quickly to move IDPs to new sites. .

“It’s a concern for everyone, it’s a concern for UNMISS, a concern that we voiced from the very first day,” she said.

“The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Hilde Johnson, has been announcing that we are planning to close this site in May.

“what we are doing in the meantime is as much as possible improve the living condition and the provision of basic services for displaced persons and displaced population on the protection site in Thongping.”

Ms. Arian also said UNMISS continues to advocate with the authorities in South Sudan for a political and security solutions that will allow civilians to return to their homes.