Over 150,000 South Sudanese sheltering in UN bases

The number of South Sudanese civilians sheltering in United Nations bases has risen above 150,000 for the first time in 18 months of civil war, the UN said on Tuesday. A total of 153,769 civilians are now seeking safety behind the barbed wire of six peacekeeping bases of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Many fled into the camps, which are spread across the country, as war broke out in December 2013 and have never left because they are too terrified to venture out for fear of being killed. But tens of thousands more have entered the bases during an upsurge in fighting since April, taking those seeking shelter to the highest number yet. Over 10,000 have arrived in the past week alone, according to official figures released by UNMISS.

Over 28,000 are based in the capital Juba, where aid workers are trying to stamp out a cholera outbreak that has killed at least 32 people since cases were first recorded last month, including inside the UN base.Another 91,500 are sheltering in Bentiu, capital of the northern battleground state of Unity, where a UN report last month described how South Sudan’s army raped then burned girls alive inside their homes during a recent campaign marked by “new brutality and intensity”.