SUDAN / SOUTH SUDANESE REFUGEES

STORY: SUDAN / SOUTH SUDANESE REFUGEES
TRT: 07:35
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 17 MAY 2023, RENK COUNTY - UPPER NILE, SOUTH SUDAN

SHOTLIST:

17 MAY 2023, JODA BORDER CROSSING POINT, RENK COUNTY - UPPER NILE, SOUTH SUDAN

1. Wide shot, border crossing point
2. Various shots, South Sudanese returnees crossing the border with donkey carts loaded with their belongings
3. Med shot, mother carrying her baby arriving at the border
4. Med shot, people crossing
5. Various shot, UNHCR protection officer greeting returnees at the border to identify vulnerable families/family on donkey cart, children, mother
6. Close up, man looking on
7. Med shot, family traveling with luggage on donkey cart
8. Various shots, reception centre
9. Various shots, vulnerable family getting bracelets
10. Med shot, UNHCR officer talking to new arrivals
11. Various shots, general views of the reception centre, women and children
12. Various shots, people crossing into South Sudan
13. Close up, children
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Gatludk Phay Pkol, Community Leader:
“We don’t have tents and are forced to reside in an open space. With a newborn baby, if a rain falls now, this child can die. On the other hand if this situation continues for a month, many children are likely to suffer from malnutrition, we have elderly people here with us, and mothers who are not able to find proper food for their kids.”
15. Wide shot, people at water point
16. Wide shot bucket of water filing up
17. Med shot, woman carrying bucket of water
18. Various shot, temporary shelter
19. Various shots, mother and her children seated under a makeshift tent
20. Med shot, woman doing laundry
21. Wide shot, woman walking near reception centre
22. Various shots, families in centre
23. Various shots, boy holding head looking on

17 MAY 2023, PORT OF RENK, UPPER NILE, SOUTH SUDAN

24. Wide shot, busy street at sunset
25. Med shot, women carrying buckets of water
26. Various shots, Families waiting by the water with all their belongings for a boat journey of two days to be relocated in Malakal
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Bose Angelo, Displaced Sudanese:
“Some people have taken even at least three weeks, yet they cannot get what they want. So if you are going to stay here at least they should give you shelter but if you are not going to stay at least they should evacuate you so that even though this rainy season approaches, you will be with your family safely in your region.”
28. Wide shot, youth walking on canoes
29. Various shots, family sheltering under makeshift tent
30. Various shots, kids sitting around an abandoned tank with their belongings

STORYLINE:
South Sudan has seen an influx in people arriving in the country to escape conflict in Sudan. At least 46,000 South Sudanese have gone back home to the country they once fled. UNHCR and partners are providing new arrivals with food, water, blankets, mats and buckets, as well as emergency medical treatment.

Fighting in Sudan has seen at least 46,000 South Sudanese cross back home to find safety in recent weeks. Some 800,000 South Sudanese refugees were living in Sudan, but since the violence erupted in Khartoum and quickly spread to other areas of the country, some have gone back to the country they once fled. Many are now stranded in Renk where services are extremely limited and humanitarian agencies are racing to scale up emergency assistance.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is helping transport people from the border to the transit centre it set up with other humanitarian partners. There, new arrivals are provided with basics such as food, water, blankets, mats and buckets, as well as emergency medical treatment. UNHCR is also building communal shelters to house over 500 of the most vulnerable as well as emergency latrines.

The new emergency is straining an already stretched and underfunded response in a country that is still reeling from the devastation of a brutal seven-year civil war that ended in 2020. Over 2.2 million people remain internally displaced due to the conflict and the impacts of climate change, while three-quarters of the population are in need of aid.

In addition, South Sudan is hosting more than 300,000 refugees from Sudan and other countries. Aid agencies are concerned about the wider impact of Sudan’s conflict on conditions in South Sudan's northern states, which are dependent on Sudan for many basic goods and food.

The conflict has already disrupted cross-border trade, sending market and fuel prices skyrocketing in Renk and creating scarcities of bottled drinking water and other essentials. Meanwhile, flooding linked to climate change has devastated much of northern South Sudan’s already limited road infrastructure. For those returnees hoping to travel onward to their home areas, transportation options are limited and out of reach for most.

With the conflict in Sudan entering its second month, the United Nations and its partners this week called for US dollars 3 billion to help millions of people in the country and hundreds of thousands fleeing to neighbouring countries.