No information, no protection. Anyone out there?

Forgotten Ethiopian refugees kids living in dangerously overcrowded conditions in Malakal.

April 29, 2009 (Nairobi) — When we met with a group of 300 Ethiopian Anyuak refugees in February in Sudan, we had no idea that a week later they would be calling us because they were caught up in heavy fighting between northern and southern Sudanese forces. The Government of Southern Sudan and the United Nations had failed to protect them.

The group had fled in 2003 after their community suffered targeted attacks in Ethiopia. Their experience since arriving in Sudan had not been a good one. They had been forced to move twice after harassment and attacks. Their last move was in December 2008, to the town of Malakal, where they were taken in by a church. All 300 people slept there for weeks, living in dangerously overcrowded conditions. Then the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) found them a temporary place to stay at their way station – a facility which is set up for Sudanese returnees to stay in for a night or two while they await transport back to their home villages.

When we met the refugees they had been living in the UNHCR way station for some months. They were depressed, since they were living in limbo, with no idea of when they would find somewhere permanent to stay, and no schooling for their children. They had not been given documents to identify them as refugees and they felt vulnerable. Most worrying for the community, the way station was situated right next to an army barracks, and they were frequently harassed by the soldiers. The refugees told us that they wanted a piece of land near Malakal, where they could live together as a community and re-establish their lives, get jobs, and send their children to school.

A week later, Malakal exploded into violence. Local tensions resulted in fighting in the streets of the town and many deaths. One would expect that the UN would take steps to ensure the protection of this refugee population during the outbreak of violence, especially since they were living in a UN facility. The refugees certainly expected this. But they waited in vain. Meanwhile buildings nearby were burning, and then a shot was fired into the way station. The refugees tried to call UN offices, but they got no reply.

So, the refugees phoned us and told us they were terrified and wanted to know if the UN was coming to get them. We were in the capital of south Sudan, Juba, and we alerted UNHCR and the UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan (UNMIS). We asked for UN peacekeepers to go to the way station to provide protection. We were told that nothing could be done, as the UN was in “lockdown” in Malakal due to the violence there. They said that the UN did not have the necessary equipment to protect itself, left alone protect civilians, from the artillery being fired in the town. So we phoned back the refugee leader and passed on this distressing news. He said that this information was essential to them, since now they knew they had to run to seek safety. They had been desperate for information so they could decide what to do.

We phoned the refugee leader four times that day to check on his community. By the end of the day they had returned to the way station since things were a bit calmer. We continued to contact the UN to insist that this group of refugees receive urgent assistance. Two days later UNMIS peacekeepers went to patrol around the way station, brought water for the community, and took sick people to the hospital.

We understand that UN peacekeepers cannot be expected to enter the line of fire once a full battle is raging when they do not have the necessary protective equipment. However, no contingency plans or protection strategies exist in south Sudan that could prepare UN agencies to protect vulnerable groups in situations like this one. There is not even a system in place for passing on information to civilians in moments of crisis. We simply had been  passing through Malakal for two days, and yet we could be in communication with these refugees. Why could the UN not do so?

If the UN cannot provide any protection for vulnerable civilian groups during a crisis, even those who are living in a UN facility, it proves that an urgent review of their role in protecting civilians is desperately needed. Raising unrealistic expectations of safety could be even more dangerous for vulnerable groups than facing the threats alone.