AFRICA/UGANDA - Thousands of South Sudan refugees crowd into already precarious camps

Gulu (Agenzia Fides) – In just three weeks 30,000 refugees have entered Uganda where the camps are overcrowded to the limit. Recent fighting in South Sudan has put pressure on the already difficult situation. In early December 2015, Uganda had almost 511,000 refugees and asylum seekers, only Ethiopia and Kenya had more.
Elegu camp on the border between South Sudan and Uganda, at present hosts 10,000 people, ten times its capacity. Heavy rains hamper assistance and healthcare. There is refuse everywhere. The latrines are insufficient and thousands have to defecate in the open.
“The situation is alarming and frightening. The numbers are overwhelming and the humanitarian agencies relatively few ” we read in a statement sent to Fides by Caritas office in the archdiocese of Gulu. Children and women visibly exhausted and hungry, comprise 90% of the new wave of refugees. The situation is just as difficult in Nyumanzi camp, north west of Adjumani. Built in 2014 to accommodate 2000 people for no longer than two weeks, today Nyumanzi camp has 20,000. The refugee Camp at Kuluba made to hold 300 persons, has 1500.
(AP) (26/7/2016 Agenzia Fides)

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