The people of the Nuba Mountains--who have been variously targeted by Government of Sudan Antonov bombers and Sochki fighter jets over the past six years--are on the run again.
Initially, tens of thousands fled across the Sudanese border into the Republic of South Sudan and sought sanctuary in the Yida Refugee Camp. Now they are fleeing from South Sudan to Uganda due, in large part, to the treacherous and brutal actions of rogue South Sudanese soldiers and rebels, who are engaged in a vicious civil war. Some of the actions of the latter are so disgusting, so loathsome, and so gruesome that I am not going to even comment on them. I assure you, even if you let your imagination loose in an attempt to come up with what I am referring to, it is dubious you would even come close. I certainly wouldn't have, and I am speaking as one who has made five humanitarian trips to the war-torn Nuba Mountains and seen some terrible tragedies up close.
The Nuba are now seeking sanctuary in refugee camps in Uganda, but they are far from the only ones. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese civilians have been flooding across the South Sudanese and Ugandan border over the past several years. Currently, close to 3,000 people are crossing into Uganda per day from South Sudan. It is estimated that 300,000 South Sudanese alone will enter Uganda this year, on top of the 600,000 already there. While the Ugandan government is doing everything in its power to meet the needs of the refugees, it is a losing proposition. Uganda simply does not have the wherewithal to meet all of the critical needs.
The UN, of course, is involved in trying to meet the needs of the refugees, but when some 21,000 people a week enter the region, it is not surprising that many refugees (86 percent of whom are children and women) are going hungry. Many are literally wearing rags--not a few that are blood-stained from the horrific injuries they have suffered at the hands of those whose only purpose in life seems to be focused on pillaging, stealing, raping, and killing at will.
As is often the case in hastily erected refugee camps, sickness frequently follows. In Uganda, there has been an outbreak of cholera due to filthy water and a lack of toilets. Many are drinking dirty water since some refugee camps are only able to provide the refugees around 10 liters of water per day, far short of the emergency standard of 15 liters.
I am heading to Uganda shortly. It is my goal to provide both Nuba and South Sudanese people with as much food, clothing and medicine as I possibly can. In a way I am heading in blind since I will have to locate the refugee camps, some of which are at least 13 hours north of Kampala and situated along the South Sudan/Uganda border.
Still, I am assuming that this mission will be at least 50 percent easier than those I have carried out in the Nuba Mountains. At least in Uganda, the roads are paved, shops offer thirst-quenching drinks for sale, and certain nights I will likely end up in a small hotel--none of which exists in the Nuba Mountains. Also, I will not have to constantly be vigilant about potential aerial attacks, as one has to be in the Nuba Mountains. As I've told my wife, I hope that I am not in for a rude and ironic surprise. Time will tell. It always does.
Over the past years I have been plagued with a series of medical emergencies (a hiatal hernia that literally sucked my stomach into it) and spinal surgery at the Mayo Clinic, and thus I was unable to carry out two missions I had planned, purchased airline tickets for, etc. I only mention this because the good and generous people of Arkansas donated a good sum of money to help with purchasing food and medicine for the people in the Nuba Mountains and the Yazidis in Kurdistan. Now such donations shall be solely used to purchase the aforementioned food, medicine and clothing for the refugees from the Nuba Mountains and South Sudan now ensconced in Uganda.
An April UNHCR report had underscored for me just how desperate the situation is in the refugees camps today: "The elderly and disabled who could not run" from the killers (South Sudanese soldiers) "were shot dead." One mother, now a refugee, said, "I am so happy even though I have nothing to eat and I have lost everything, my children are alive. I was so scared--I didn't know if I would see them again. The bullets were flying everywhere and you couldn't move, you had to lie on your belly. I am very grateful I am alive."
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Samuel Totten's latest book is Sudan's Nuba Mountains People Under Siege: Accounts by Humanitarians in the Battle Zone. He retired from the University of Arkansas as a full professor after 25 years of service in 2012. Totten can be contacted at [email protected] or (479) 927-0318.
Editorial on 06/05/2017