Situation in western Upper Nile “deteriorating”

Deteriorating conditions in western Upper Nile, southern Sudan, are causing concern, humanitarian sources told IRIN. The government of Sudan has “consistently denied” access to western Upper Nile under the humanitarian consortium Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), but church and non-OLS agencies have managed to bring in occasional aid and support. Inter-factional fighting between rebel movements has contributed to producing a large number of war-affected internally displaced civilians in the western Upper Nile region.

Humanitarian agencies have also expressed concern about the number of displaced arrived in Bentui, Nuba Mountain region, as result of fighting. The government of Sudan has said that 150 to 200 people per day were arriving in the Bentiu area as a result of fighting around the oilfields, with the total reaching some 40,000. Displacement by conflict has been exacerbated by the destruction of crops, burning of houses and “lawlessness” by government-supported militia, humanitarian sources told IRIN.