The leader of Abyei, an area fought over by Sudan and South Sudan, says 21,000 people who left because of fighting in Sudan need urgent help.
The people who came back are living in different villages and in Abyei town, according to the media.
Over the weekend, two groups of young people with weapons from Warrap State in South Sudan attacked Abyei, and at least 52 people, including two UN peacekeepers, were killed.
The UN’s Interim Security Force (Unisfa) in Abyei is giving food to people who had to leave their homes because of the fighting and are staying at its base. But the help won’t continue for very long.
“The situation in Abyei is ‘more difficult’. ” There have been a lot of people here in the last two years, but they couldn’t grow crops because it’s not safe. Many people have come back from Sudan to Abyei, which has made the area more crowded, the chief administrator Chol Deng Alak told the BBC in a phone call.
He said the situation for the people returning to Abyei after the fighting on Sunday is very bad. He said that humanitarian agencies need to help right away.
Mr Alak says a group of people from the UN’s humanitarian agency and other international organizations will come to Abyei on Friday to see what the people there need.
Sudan and South Sudan are still arguing about who owns the oil-rich area of Abyei. Right now, it is being run by a temporary special agreement between the two countries.
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Over 20,000 Abyei returnees in critical need of assistance – Official
