GENEVA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Of all the 12 million population in South Sudan, one in three residents has been displaced, while one in two is severely hungry and in need of food assistance, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday.
"You just carried your child and run without any property. We don't even have beds in the camp. We just sleep on the ground," Sebit Akuar, a 31-year-old father of four now living in a makeshift home, was cited as saying by ICRC in s media statement issued Tuesday.
Belila Sabino, a mother of five children, told ICRC that she fled her home quickly when the conflict escalated. While was pregnant at the time, she walked for 10 days on foot with her children to reach a camp in Deim Zubeir in the northwest South Sudan.
"When the attacks happened my husband was away," she said. "I fled with my children. I do not know where my husband is and he does not know where we are. It is a daily struggle to get food. I have no one to help me."
In an effort to assist residents harmed by warfare, the ICRC recently distributed an emergency food supply to 1,000 families, or about 6,000 people, in the village of Deim Zubeir.
About 54,000 people, including around 18,000 internally displaced people (IDP), live in Deim Zubeir.
According to ICRC, a majority of the IDPs in Deim Zubeir arrived with close to nothing. The host community is sharing the little they have.
South Sudan has been embroiled in more than three years of conflict that has have taken a devastating toll on the people.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 between the rival leaders under UN pressure led to the establishment of a transitional unity government in April, but was shattered by renewed fighting in July 2016.
The UN estimates that 1.5 million people have been forced into neighboring countries and another 7.5 million people across the country are in need of humanitarian assistance and protection
