Roselinda Clement Bernado, a returnee from Sudan, speaks to Eye Radio at the Malakal transit site, where hundreds of families remain stranded. Photo credit: Obaj Okuj | Eye Radio

In a transit site in Malakal, Roselinda Clement Bernado sells tea every day to provide for her four children.

Roselinda fled the war in Sudan in 2024 and has since been raising her children alone after leaving her husband behind in Khartoum when fighting intensified.

She is among hundreds of South Sudanese families sheltering in a temporary site in Malakal after returning from Sudan, where conflict forced them to flee.

Roselinda arrived in Malakal with hopes of returning to her home, which she had abandoned during South Sudan’s civil war. But when she reached the area, she found only ruins and ashes.

“The situation is not good. Since we arrived, all we’ve received is humanitarian aid from organizations, but we have nowhere else to go. We found our homes destroyed,” she told Eye Radio in Malakal.

“We’re currently staying here because we couldn’t find anywhere else,” she added.

Roselinda says conditions at the camp are difficult, with no proper shelter and limited access to schools for children.

Although some non-governmental organizations provide food assistance, she says it is not enough to support families like hers.

“We walked to Malakal, where our house in the Malakiya neighborhood was destroyed, and then we came back to this camp. I couldn’t go and live in the Protection of Civilians (POC) compound, so we’ve been living here with our children for a year now.

“The situation is dire; there is no work. We sell tea and try to find work so I can rebuild our house. Whatever little we earn, we give to our children to feed them,” she says.

With the small income she earns from selling tea, Roselinda says she has only managed to enroll one of her children in school due to financial challenges.

She says school fees cost 50,000 SSP per term, making it impossible to send all her children to school.

“I have one child who is attending school, and we do not have the means to enroll the others. I only registered the eldest boy. The rest of his siblings are at home with me because I could not find a good job. I managed to do a small favour by helping the eldest child, since their father did not come with us to our home,” Roselinda said.

Another returnee, Teresa Daniel, 35, a mother of four originally from Fangak, also shared her struggle with Eye Radio.

She said she cannot return to her home area due to insecurity and flooding.

“We want to go back to our hometown of Fangak, but there’s no way. We’re living under the protection of the government and aid organizations,” Teresa says. She adds that, thanks to the International Organization for Migration and Caritas, “we receive one meal a day from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Caritas.”

Teresa says the food support is not enough to meet the needs of her family.

“I have four children and I’m 35 years old. My children don’t go to school because of the lack of resources. We use the meager food we have to feed them,” she says.

She explains that humanitarian agencies currently provide only one meal per day for her family.

Teresa is now appealing to authorities and aid organizations to support them with relocation and basic services.

“My message is very simple: at a time when I am still here in the camp I am asking for help to register my children in school, while the Fangak area is still affected by floods, I also need assistance with food so that my children do not end up on the streets,” Teresa appeals.

“I am asking for proper support to register my children in schools and provide food for them. This is my message to them,” she adds.

Returnees in Malakal continue to face multiple challenges, including poor shelter, lack of access to education, and food shortages, highlighting the urgent need for government and humanitarian intervention.