Sudan OCHA bulletin 44: Over 30,000 people return to Central Darfur’s Um Dukhun

According to a mission to Um Dukhun locality, more than 30,000 people who were displaced in Chad, South and Central Darfur have returned to their home villages. More than 50,000 people who fled to North Darfur from Jebel Marra are receiving aid. About 96,500 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan this year so far. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have launched a new knowledge-sharing migration platform.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in its latest weekly bulletin that an assessment team visited five villages in Um Dukhun between 29 September and 2 October.

The team identified that over the past three months 32,000 displaced people, most of whom are from the Salamat tribe, retuned to the locality. They fled the conflict between the Misseriya and Salamat tribes in the locality between 2013 and 2014.

INGO Triangle Génération Humanitaire and partners will immediately respond to their urgent water and sanitation needs. However, an in-depth needs assessment is needed before further assistance can be delivered, OCHA states. Aid organisations have already put in a mission request to local authorities.

Jebel Marra displaced in North Darfur continue to receive aid

Aid organisations continue to respond to the needs of the displaced from Jebel Marra who have taken refuge in North Darfur.

About 25,000 people took refuge in Tawila, 22,000 in Sortony, 3,000 in Kabkabiya town, and 3,000 in Shadad camp near Shangil Tobaya.

In Sortony, Oxfam and the UN Children’s Agency (Unicef) provided 198,000 litres of water over the past week. The displaced supplement this assistance with water from nearby boreholes.

The health situation is stable with Médecins Sans Frontières-Spain (MSF-E) and the Sudanese Anhar providing services at three clinics, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef.

A total of 256 suspected whooping cough cases have been reported in Sortony since late September. MSF-E and Anhar have initiated case management activities including awareness raising activities through Community Health Workers

In Tawila, the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) has started distributing emergency shelter and household supplies provided by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to the displaced who arrived this year.

Humanitarian actors continue to assess needs and provide assistance and basic services across all sectors to thousands of displaced, returnees, and other people affected by the Jebel Marra hostilities in parts of Central, North, and South Darfur, the bulletin reads.

However, humanitarian actors have been unable to assess and respond fully to the needs of all people. The UN is extremely concerned about the plight of these civilians, and humanitarian partners continue to engage with government actors to advocate for access to assess needs and assist people in inaccessible areas. For more information on the crisis, see OCHA’s latest Jebel Marra Fact Sheet.

96,500 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sud an this year

Fleeing conflict and food insecurity, some 96,500 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan in 2016, of whom some 55,700 or about 58 per cent are in East Darfur. This is in addition to those who arrived since conflict broke out in South Sudan in December 2013. By 31 September, some 261,800 South Sudanese refugees had arrived in Sudan since December 2013.

The humanitarian response in El Ferdous and other locations hosting South Sudanese refugees in East Darfur continues. In El Ferdous, food for one month was distributed in October. The health of the new arrivals is generally good and South Sudanese refugees have access to local health facilities; however, hours of operation of mobile clinics are limited because staff travel from the capital Ed Daein every day, and there are medicine shortages.

Because of insufficient funding, humanitarian partners in East Darfur are facing challenges supporting water trucking, sanitation. and hygiene activities. This funding shortfall is also reported in the Old Raja camp, which is also hosting refugees from South Sudan.

IFRC launches smart practices migration platform

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched a new knowledge-sharing migration platform, making information from a recent report entitled Smart practices that enhance resilience of migrants available for governments and all IFRC National Societies to ensure that they have the knowledge, resources, and capacity to support vulnerable migrants.

The IFRC will continue to identify and share smart practices, as national organisations and partners test, implement and scale up new initiatives.