25/04/2025
Youth Organization for Peace Support Distributes Food Aid at Abyei Transit Camp, Calls for Urgent Humanitarian Support
Abyei, April 24, 2024 — The Youth Organization for Peace Support (YOPS) conducted a food distribution at the Abyei Transit Camp, where hundreds of refugees and returnees fleeing the conflict in Sudan are currently residing under increasingly harsh conditions.
The initiative was carried out in partnership with the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management. The Commissioner for the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, the Director for Training at the Ministry, Hon. Lawrence Akola, and YOPS Executive Director Mr. Deng Makuac led the visit to the camp, accompanied by the full YOPS team.
The Transit Camp, initially designed as a temporary stopover for refugees and returnees before their relocation to various parts of South Sudan, has now become a long-term settlement due to the lack of transportation and logistical support. As a result, conditions in the camp have significantly deteriorated.
Camp residents are grappling with food and water shortages, lack of proper shelter, inadequate sanitation, and little to no access to healthcare. With the ongoing rainy season and exposure to harsh weather, the risks of disease outbreaks, such as cholera, are rising.
Addressing the camp’s residents, Mr. Makuac expressed YOPS’s commitment to advocating for more support. "We recognize the gravity of the situation facing returnees and refugees here. YOPS is dedicated to lobbying for the resources needed to ease their suffering and to support their relocation," he stated.
Many returnees and refugees echoed similar pleas, listing food, clean water, permanent shelter, and most urgently, transport to designated resettlement areas as their most critical needs.
YOPS is now urging government institutions, humanitarian actors, and well-wishers to step in with urgent assistance. "The plight of these people cannot be ignored. We call on all stakeholders to act swiftly and stand in solidarity with the displaced communities in Abyei," Mr. Makuac emphasized.