Massive displacement in Sudan’s South Kordofan

Thousands of civilians continue to be affected by renewed hostilities between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in the eastern part of South Kordofan. This has resulted in two patterns of civilian displacement, the latest humanitarian bulletin of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.Some people from SPLM-N-controlled areas have moved to government-controlled areas of South Kordofan. Reports from SPLM-N, however, indicate that more newly displaced remain within SPLM-N held areas. The combined number of people displaced both to government-controlled and areas controlled by the SPLM-N, is estimated at over 100,000 people. This includes 13,500 newly displaced who fled to government controlled-areas and about 90,000 newly displaced in SPLM-N areas. Various reports indicate that while in the past many civilians displaced from SPLM-N areas would seek shelter in Yida in South Sudan (where 81,500 refugees from South Kordofan are sheltering), this does not seem to be the case anymore due to the armed conflict in South Sudan’s Unity State. In the government-controlled areas, humanitarian organisations are providing the newly displaced with assistance, including food, non-food relief supplies, access to health, and other services. UN agencies do not have access to areas under the control of the SPLM-N, and therefore are unable to verify the scope of civilian displacement, and cannot reach the affected people with emergency assistance. Government-controlled areas The cumulative number of people who fled fighting, and sought shelter in government-controlled areas in South Kordofan over the past three weeks stands at an estimated 13,500 people, mainly women and children, according to the Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).Over the past week, HAC and IOM reported that an estimated 2,350 newly displaced from SPLM-N controlled areas arrived this week to Um Baraka village near Abu Kershola town in the northern part of South Kordofan. In addition, some 11,000 people arrived in Rashad town from SPLM-N areas, and another 125 people in Delami town.The South Kordofan HAC Commissioner, Haroun Mohamed Abdallah, told the Sudanese Media Centre that there is a new joint mechanism to vulnerable people coming from SPLM-N held areas. The Commissioner said that HAC had developed a two-stage plan that first aims to rehabilitate and secure conflict-affected areas, and then “focuses on hosting dishosting displaced people and reintegrating them into local community.” Massive civilian displacement in SPLM-N areas On 1 May heavy fighting took place between the Sudan Armed Forces, supported by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and the SPLM-N in Abri, Deri, Tomo, and Mardis in Dalami and Habila localities of South Kordofan.According to the SPLM-N, the attacks displaced over 20,000 civilians to the nearby mountains, where they are reportedly facing dire humanitarian conditions. In an earlier statement, the SPLM-N reported that fighting in Tongoli, Deri and Sabat areas in Rashad and Abu Jubaiha localities had resulted in the displacement of over 70,000 civilians. Hospital The Mother of Mercy Catholic Hospital in Gidel, in SPLM-N held areas, was bombed on 1 and 2 May. Some civilians sustained injuries, and many sought shelter in the bush and the nearby mountain caves. Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of El Obeid, Macram Max Gassis, strongly condemned the deliberate targeting and bombing of the hospital.  According to the bishop, the hospital is the only functioning hospital in the Nuba Mountains. File photo: A woman standing next to her burned house in Dabi village, west of Kauda, South Kordofan, 2013 (archive Radio Tamazuj) Related: Sudan rebels besiege garrison in South Kordofan as Air Force bombs populated areas (1 May 2014) New displacement in Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile (1 May 2014)‘70,000 civilians displaced in Sudan’s North Kordofan’: SPLM-N (21 April 2014) Atrocities against Kordofan civilians as Sudanese army strikes in force (17 April 2014) Sudanese army prepares for major offensive in Nuba Mountains (17 April 2014)