Militia raids on increase, US committee says

The US Committee for Refugees has released a report which profiles several southern Sudanese individuals and families who have been uprooted by their country’s war and have suffered constant rounds of famine, slave raids, bombings and attacks. “The people of southern Sudan have fled their homes in larger numbers than in any other country on earth, four million are internally displaced within the country, and 350,000 are refugees in neighbouring countries,” it noted. Although a massive international food airlift curtailed the famine late last year, the health situation remains precarious in 1999, it warns. The report further warned that the deadly raids by government-supported militia against villages in the south have increased again in recent weeks, threatening to disrupt aid efforts.