South Sudan: People returning from Sudan are arriving in alarming health conditions
Humanitarian organisations must urgently scale up their response to ease the difficulties faced by people fleeing the conflict from Sudan to Upper Nile state in South Sudan, says Doctors without Borders (MSF). Thousands of returnees have been arriving sick and exhausted at the Bulukat transit centre in Malakal, northeastern South Sudan, after travelling almost 72 hours by boats on the White Nile River.
The Bulukat transit centre hosts about 5,000 people at any time, many waiting weeks for onward transfers. People need more food, shelter or healthcare, as they live in temporary tents or open during the rainy season.
"In our facilities in Malakal, we are recording an alarming rise in the number of measles and malnutrition cases, especially amongst children," says Luz Linares, MSF Head of Mission in South Sudan. "The mortality rate in our facilities is extremely high, as the patients arrive so late and sick that the medical teams at times are unable to save lives."
"There must be an immediate scale up of medical and humanitarian response by humanitarian groups for people arriving from Sudan, from the time of entry into South Sudan, until their relocation to the areas of their choice", says Linares.
Out of the 245,000 people who have entered South Sudan to seek refuge since April, about 198,000 have crossed through Renk, in the country's far northeast, according to the United Nations. Around 50 per cent of these people have expressed their intention to stay within the Upper Nile state. This area is already severely affected by the inter-communal conflict and lack of healthcare services.
People returning from Sudan, also known as returnees, often arrive at the border exhausted; they usually need more money to continue travelling further or with which to survive, relying on humanitarian aid. Food is the most significant problem people in Bulukat face. Returnees are given a mere US$14 per person to buy a week's worth of food, which is very little compared to the high food prices in the area. Moreover, most of them wait in the transit centre for several weeks, sometimes months, without additional assistance for food and supplies to survive.
"We need shelter, and we also need good living conditions. We do not have food here. We do not have soap. We also need mosquito nets," says Akuch Deng, who travelled from Sudan with her two children. "The small cash they give here is not enough in the market."
Since July, MSF has run a mobile clinic in the transit centre, providing over 100 daily medical consultations. Our teams are seeing and treating increasing numbers of measles cases and an alarming number of malnourished children. Meanwhile, those requiring hospital care are referred to the MSF hospital in Malakal town.
"What I have witnessed is really terrible, especially the living conditions," says Apayi Dawa, MSF Nurse Supervisor in Bulukat. "People don't have shelters. So, when it rains, the shelters are washed away by the water. We have people dying on the boats. They also have very limited food to eat."
MSF teams need help to meet the needs of the thousands of returnees in Bulukat. Our teams receive young children daily who have travelled from Renk while sick. As a result, the MSF paediatric hospital in Malakal, whose capacity has recently been extended from 70 to 121 beds, faces a very high 5.95% mortality rate.
Since April, a remarkable increase in admissions to the paediatric ward has been recorded for three consecutive months. One hundred eighty-four patients were admitted in July, compared to 114 in April. Additionally, a significant 75 per cent surge in admissions was observed in July in the inpatient therapeutic feeding centre (ITFC) for malnourished children.
In Renk, MSF teams provide basic healthcare through two mobile clinics and suppor a paediatric ward and treatment facilities for patients with measles and malnutrition.
"With the rainy season, we can face a big outbreak of malaria if nothing is done in terms of proper shelter and mosquito nets distribution," says Nuru Katikomu, MSF Emergency Field Coordinator in Bulukat. "On top of that, there is risk of a cholera outbreak in such circumstances. It could be catastrophic. That's why we have to push all humanitarian groups to do more to prevent a worsening of the crisis."
As the measles and nutrition situations are already alarming, a more complex health crisis is looming with the arrival of the rainy season and poor living conditions. MSF calls for the urgent improvement of screening activities in Renk – that should be operating 24/7 – to prevent severely sick patients from being sent to Bulukat before they get medical attention. Moreover, there is an immediate and urgent need to scale up response for improved, coordinated, and prompt assistance for basic necessities, particularly food, shelter, hygiene and sanitation.
Read more about our activities in South Sudan
MSF Nurse Supervisor in Bulukat Emergency Project Apayi Dawa walks in front of MSF’s Mobile Clinic in Bulukat, Upper Nile State in South Sudan. The Bulukat transit camp has turned muddy following the rain, increasing health access challenges and risk of water borne diseases for the thousands of people fleeing the conflict in Sudan. Photographer: Gale Julius Dada | Location: South Sudan | Date: 16/08/2023
MSF Pharmacist Char Reath Kwon dispenses medicines to a patient at the MSF Mobile Clinic in Bulukat, Upper Nile State in South Sudan. The Bulukat transit centre hosts over 5,000 returnees who fled the conflict in Sudan. Photographer: Gale Julius Dada | Location: South Sudan | Date: 16/08/2023
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About Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is a global network of principled medical and other professionals who specialise in medical humanitarian work, driven by our common humanity and guided by medical ethics. We strive to bring emergency medical care to people caught in conflicts, crises, and disasters in more than 70 countries worldwide.
In South Africa, the organisation is recognised as one of the pioneers of providing Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) in the public sector and started the first HIV programmes in South Africa in 1999. Until today, the focus of MSF’s interventions in the country has primarily been on developing new testing and treatment strategies for HIV/AIDS and TB in Eshowe (Kwa-Zulu Natal) and Khayelitsha (Western Cape).
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