Malnutrition rates in Bentiu “among the highest”

A group of about 53,000 displaced people in Bentiu, Wahdah State in southern Sudan, is affected by some of the highest malnutrition rates reported in southern Sudan. World Food Programme (WFP) information officer Lindsey Davis, who has just returned from Bentiu, told IRIN that there was a 24 percent global malnutrition rate among the displaced. The number of displaced in Bentiu has recently increased, Davis said. In April 1999, there were about 20,000 displaced people, which increased to 60,000 in August 2000. Some of the displaced had returned to their homes, mainly around Ler and Jikaing, south of Bentiu, causing figures to drop, until another increase last October. A new wave of arrivals started in February-April this year, Davis said. People interviewed said their homes had been attacked, burnt and looted by militia. WFP said the displaced were receiving monthly food distributions, and that therapeutic and supplementary feeding centres had been set up. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that the displacement was believed to be linked to the fact Bentiu was “in the heart of the oil concession area”. The Sudan government has strenuously denied that it has caused civilian displacement in oil areas in conflict-affected southern Sudan.