South Sudan IDP Settlement in Panic After Breach By Gunmen

By Ruot George

Internally Displaced Persons in Bentiu in South Sudan’s Unity State are in panic after gunmen breached the camps perimeters and injured two people.

The incident occurred on Friday night. The injured are currently receiving treatment at the Medicin Sans Frontier facility in the town.

Bentiu IPD camp is home to 111, 000 people who fled their homes during the height of the six year crisis in South Sudan.

Unity State was one of the epicenters of the fighting and hundreds of thousands of civilians were caught up.

The fighting led to famine in at least two counties in the State in 2017.

Following the formation of the transitional government of national unity in 2020, the United Nations Mission in the country de-gazetted Bentiu as a protected civilian site.

It is currently protected by a joint force of government army and former rebels.

Abraham Maed who heads the community high committee in the camp confirmed the incident by phone, saying the actors have not been identified.

Multiple residents of the camp said the security situation in the Bentiu IDP site has deteriorated.

Unity state government has deployed a joint protection unit of 36 police officers from the different armed groups to provide security and protect the IDPs but many have claimed insecurity has been increasing since May.