JUBA-The ongoing conflict in neighboring Sudan has forced nearly 80,000 refugees and returnees, mostly women and children, including hundreds with gunshot wounds, to flee to South Sudan, a medical charity said on Sunday.
Emanuele Montobbio, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Emergency Coordinator in Renk, said South Sudan continues to receive a massive influx of tens of thousands of people amid conflict in Sudan.
“We have added 14 tents around the hospital to make space for the war-wounded patients that are arriving at Renk County Hospital,” Montobbio said in a statement issued on Sunday.
Montobbio said over 5,000 people crossed into South Sudan each day since the beginning of December, as the fighting escalates near the border in Sudan’s White Nile, Blue Nile, and Sennar states.
He said the influx of people into Renk town and surrounding areas has overwhelmed already scarce resources, leaving displaced people in crisis.
“There is no place for other tents in the surroundings, while patients and their families keep coming to the hospital.”
He disclosed that they were working alongside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to treat war-wounded patients and manage the growing influx of critical cases.
“The mass casualty response in pre- and post-operative care wards, but the situation is completely overwhelming, and it’s not enough,” he said.
“Just a few dozen people have been treated with surgical interventions and tetanus vaccinations in recent weeks, while over 100 wounded patients, many with serious injuries, still await surgery.”
He said thousands of people have been forced to live under trees or in makeshift shelters, with limited access to food, clean water, healthcare, or any other basic services.
He disclosed that the poor water and sanitation conditions posed a heightened risk of disease outbreaks at a time when Renk is already experiencing an ongoing cholera outbreak.
For her part, Roselyn Morales, MSF deputy medical coordinator in South Sudan, said immediate action must be taken to address the worsening humanitarian situation of refugees and returnees.
“Thousands of people are living in dire conditions under the open sky in informal settlements, facing critical shortages of food, clean water, shelter, and healthcare,” Morales.
“We urgently call on both South Sudanese authorities and international organizations to rapidly scale up their response in Renk and beyond, ensuring that the essential and lifesaving needs of the affected population are addressed without delay,” she said.
Most of these returnees and refugees initially entered South Sudan through the official Joda border crossing; an increasing number are now crossing through informal routes to the east of Renk.
More than 82,000 new arrivals came from Joda, Duku Duku, Jerbana, Shemmedi, Gosfami, and Atam in Sudan.
“Our village was in flames,” says Alhida Hammed, who is displaced from Sudan’s Blue Nile state and is currently under treatment for a gunshot wound at Renk County Hospital.
“The houses were blazing, and everyone was running in different directions. We have been displaced and now live under a tree,” Hammed said.
Another refugee, Bashir Ismail, who is from Mosmon in Blue Nile state, said he had no desire to return to Sudan.
I have no desire to return home. Home is no longer a home—it is filled with bad memories.” “I used to only hear about air raids, but recently, it became a reality,” Ismail said.
“I was at the market buying some items when the bombing started. Something hit me in the chest—it was the most painful experience of my life. I was so disoriented that it felt like I had lost my memory.”
