South Sudan on the brink of famine

You can smell Bentiu camp in South Sudan before you see it – the stink of human waste hangs in the humid air.

Spend an hour walking around the camp and the overriding emotions are those of anger and frustration that people should have to live like this. People forced to flee fighting in South Sudan’s Unity state are now living in knee-deep, sewage-contaminated floodwater. Some have been forced to sleep standing up with children in their arms.

When the fighting broke out last December, some 4,000 people fled to the UN compound in Bentiu seeking protection. Located on low-lying wasteland that would in normal circumstances be deemed unfit for human habitation, the camp has seen numbers swell to more than 40,000. This massive displacement has been compounded by the onset of rains, which are due to last until November, and we are now struggling to meet the needs of acutely vulnerable people in what is, to all intents and purposes, a swamp.

Living conditions in the camp are are an affront to human dignity. Talk to any of the women living here and they tell the same story of how their homes have been burned down, their crops destroyed. With no alternative besides the likelihood of death should they attempt to return home, they are essentially trapped with their families in the overcrowded, flooded squalor of the camp.

The threats facing anyone who ventures outside the camp are horrifying. Frequently heard artillery fire and shelling provide a brutal reminder that going home is not an option. Men who venture outside risk being caught and killed – women and girls risk being abducted and raped. One woman said to me: “We have no choice but to stay here. We are living in mud, but we are safe.”

A handful of aid agencies, including Concern, have been working together to deliver lifesaving support, despite the massive security and logistical challenges. The recent killing of six NGO workers in Maban has highlighted just how dangerous our work can be.

Dangerous

Today, as we mark World Humanitarian Day, we remember humanitarian workers we have lost and also celebrate those working in difficult conditions all over the world. It is an exceptionally dangerous time to be an aid worker. In 2013, 155 aid workers were killed worldwide; in 2003 this figure was 87. Kidnappings have increased significantly (up from seven in 2003 to 132 in 2013), as have the number of being injured (up from 49 in 2003 to 168 in 2013).

In the Bentiu camps Concern has built temporary shelter for vulnerable women whose huts have been washed away. A 1.2-km drainage canal is being dug to draw the water off, with each agency working in the camps contributing to the cost. It is expected to be completed in seven days and it is hoped not too much heavy rain will fall between now and then.