By Philip Buda Ladu
A severe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) crisis is unfolding at the Bentiu Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Unity State.
Overcrowding, deteriorating facilities, and a lack of support have led to a significant increase in diseases like hepatitis E and B.
The camp, home to nearly 200,000 people, has been inundated with returnees from Sudan and locals fleeing floods hiking up the number from its previous 150,000 IDPs, according to local authorities.
This huge number now live in an overcrowded camp ring-fenced by flood barriers (dikes) with deteriorating WASH facilities characterized by a dirty environment littered with garbage, damaged latrines, and bathrooms encouraging open defecation.
The deteriorating WASH facilities, coupled with the projected approaching worse flood season, pose a serious health threat.
Health authorities in Rubkona County, Unity State have recently reported 451 cases of hepatitis B in the past three months alone. Hepatitis E cases have also been confirmed in the IDP camp and Bentiu State Hospitals respectively.
The situation is being exacerbated by the lack of support from international organizations, which previously provided WASH services to the camp.
Residents of the camp, expressed their frustration with the lack of basic sanitation and hygiene fearing for their health and safety as the anticipated worse flooding approaches.
David Garang, a Community WASH Group (CWG) Coordinator in the Bentiu IDP camp, was working with UNPOL when the PoC was first established, and now the CWG works with the Joint Police Unit following the handover of the camp to the government.
Garang told a group of journalists during a UNMISS-facilitated media field visit to Bentiu that the situation of WASH is something that is affecting everybody in the IDP camp.
He said things worsened after the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which was supporting the WASH sector at the camp, left, and since then no other organization has come to take over.
The CWG coordinator emphasized that the situation in the camp is dire; people are suffering as the latrines are full and there’s no distillation, no cleaning, and no collection of garbage.
“What I see in the near future is an outbreak of many diseases.” Garang sadly said, calling on health partners to rescue the situation.
He highlighted the ongoing outbreaks of Hepatitis E and B diseases as announced by the health authorities in Rubkona County, one of which is caused by poor water, sanitation, and hygiene situations that people are now grappling with at the IDP camp.
Tap Mach Dhieu, a 43-year-old resident of the Bentiu IDP camp who has been staying at the camp since 2014 after escaping violence in his home village, echoed the same sentiment.
He noted that the environment is very dirty since IOM pulled out from supporting the WASH sector in the camp.
“IOM was supporting the WASH sector, and right now, as you can see, the area is too dirty. Good enough this year there is not much rain; otherwise, if there was enough rain, there should be an outbreak of cholera in the area,” he said.
Mach expressed the voice of the suffering population, saying all the civilians at the camp are crying for a partner that can support the WASH sector.
The pullout of NGOs running water, sanitation, and hygiene projects, including IOM, Concern World Wide, and Mercy Corps, led to deterioration of the WASH facilities, as latrines are reportedly full and there are not enough bathing rooms.
“So as you see now, these people need help,” Mach echoed.
Nyagun Mach, a mother of four who has stayed for 9 years at Bentiu protection of civilian site turned IDP camp, said life at the camp is dire.
“Livelihood at the IDP camp is bad; people don’t clean, and there is a lot of malaria,” she stated.
With relative security in the state, Nyagun said their only major problem now is the floods. Stating, “When the water subsides, we will go to our villages.
In July 2024, health authorities in Abyei declared an outbreak of hepatitis E; since then, 41 cases have been reported, resulting in six deaths, including three pregnant women.
Hepatitis E is an infectious liver disease caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV), mainly spread through contaminated water and poor sanitation, while Hepatitis B is an infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus spread from person to person via blood or body fluids.
Another deadly waterborne disease that spreads like wildfire in a dirty environment with poor hygiene is cholera, which some IDPs remain wary of.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned that as the ongoing rainy season continues to cause widespread flooding and threatens drinking water sources and drainage systems overflow, the risk of hepatitis E and other waterborne diseases such as cholera is at stake.
Flooding is expected to worsen within the coming weeks, with experts predicting extreme riverine flooding and flash floods downstream the Nile River creating more distress to the country, which has been ravaged by floods since 2019.
As the flood season intensifies, urgent action is needed to address the WASH crisis in Bentiu IDP camp and prevent further outbreaks of diseases.