Displaced persons in the Bentiu camp, located within the Unity State have rejected the directive requiring them to return to their respective villages.
The call to break the camp was made by South Sudan’s Vice President for Infrastructure Taban Deng Gai during his recent tour of the region.
However, the affected persons explained that it will be impossible for them to resume normal life considering that the directive did not take into consideration the fragile security situation and lack of basic services
Displaced representatives confirmed that the persistent insecurity, deteriorating living conditions and the increasing cases of the arrest of opposition leader, Riek Machar, renders their imminent return to their original homes to be a dangerous risk.
The displaced persons also lamented that their home villages still suffer from destroyed infrastructure and lack of basic healthcare and education facilities thus making their return an impractical option
In this context local leaders expressed the displaced willingness to return once security conditions improve, and services are restored but stressed that the camp despite its difficult conditions provides a minimum level of stability thanks to humanitarian aid
Displaced persons concerns have recently been fueled when the Médecins Sans Frontières decided to transfer their medical services from the camp to the state hospital.
The move is threatening to weaken healthcare for around 110,000 displaced people including large numbers of women and children amid the spread of diseases such as hepatitis
Observers point out that the Bentiu camp was established in 2014 following the outbreak of civil war and therefore should be one of the largest displacement centers in the country which must not be dismantled all of a sudden.
Apparently, most of the inhabitants at the Bentiu camp rely almost entirely on international aid amid ongoing political and economic crises in South Sudan