South Sudan Refugee Camp Under Water: Alarming Mortality Rates Indicate Worsening Crisis

Preliminary studies reveal mortality rates nearly double the emergency threshold in a refugee camp in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State, currently home to a quarter of the roughly 120,000 refugees who have fled Sudan’s Blue Nile State since late last year. The death rates were derived from rapid epidemiological surveys carried out in the Jamam refugee camp in Maban County prior to the onset of heavy seasonal rains that have flooded the camp and gravely expanded the risk of illness for the already weakened refugees. All agencies involved in the relief effort, led by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, must find better options for the people living in Jamam camp, one of three refugee camps in the area. Failure to do so will almost certainly lead to more misery and deaths. Read more