BENTIU, Hundreds of internally displaced persons in Bentiu have staged a peaceful protest, calling on the World Food Programme (WFP) to continue providing food assistance to all eligible residents holding ration cards in the camp.
The protesters expressed concern over reductions in the number of people receiving food assistance, arguing that many families have no alternative source of food after flooding and difficult weather conditions disrupted cultivation and livelihoods.
Residents said reducing humanitarian food assistance at this time could leave vulnerable families without enough food and increase tensions within the displacement camp.
The protesters called on WFP and other humanitarian partners to reconsider the targeting of food assistance and ensure that vulnerable households are not excluded from support before they have alternative means of sustaining themselves.
Bentiu IDP Camp Chairperson Nyir Gatchang warned that providing food to some households while excluding others could create tensions among displaced families who face similar economic and humanitarian difficulties.
He expressed concern that people excluded from food assistance could become desperate and attempt to take food from those who continue to receive it, potentially creating conflict within the camp.
Gatchang said communities have struggled to cultivate enough food because of environmental and climatic challenges affecting the area, leaving many displaced families dependent on humanitarian assistance.
He appealed to WFP to reconsider the reduction in beneficiaries and assess the conditions facing families before removing them from food assistance.
According to the camp leadership, many residents have lived in displacement for years and have limited opportunities to produce food or establish sustainable livelihoods.
The protesters maintained that possession of ration cards and continued vulnerability should be taken into consideration when determining eligibility for humanitarian food assistance.
The Bentiu displacement camp, formerly known as the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site, was established following the outbreak of conflict in South Sudan in December 2013.
Thousands of civilians sought protection at United Nations bases as fighting spread to different parts of the country, including Unity State. Over the years, the Bentiu site became home to large numbers of displaced families fleeing armed conflict, insecurity and other humanitarian emergencies.
Although peace agreements were signed in 2015 and 2018, many displaced people have remained unable or unwilling to return permanently to their areas of origin because of continuing concerns over security, livelihoods, basic services and the impact of recurrent flooding.
Years of severe flooding in Unity State have also affected farmland, livestock, homes and other sources of livelihood, increasing the vulnerability of communities already affected by displacement.
For many families in the camp, humanitarian assistance has therefore remained an important source of food and basic necessities.
The protesters urged humanitarian agencies and authorities to consider these conditions when making decisions about reducing assistance to displaced communities.
They also appealed for longer-term solutions that would enable displaced families to rebuild their livelihoods and eventually return to their communities in safety and dignity.
At the time of publication, WFP had not responded to the specific concerns raised by the protesters regarding the reduction in the number of food assistance recipients in the Bentiu camp.
