About 1,000 people have arrived to Bentiu in Unity State after the warring parties SPLA-Juba and SPLA-IO opened a corridor to allow civilians to cross the frontline.

Bentiu and its twin town Rubkona and the surrounding areas saw heavy fighting several times since December 2013; the area has been fairly calm over the last few weeks. OCHA, the UN humanitarian coordination agency, reported today that the situation is “calm but unpredictable.”

“Local authorities requested for assistance for an estimated 1,000 people arrived in Bentiu town. An inter-agency assessment team is investigating the situation to establish the needs,” OCHA stated in its latest regular bulletin.

Earlier this week a UN spokesman said that some new arrivals were coming from Leer and Koch counties, which are controlled by SPLA-IO.

Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Monday that on the same day “over 150 internally displaced persons arrived at its compound in Bentiu, to seek shelter at its protection-of-civilian (POC) sites.”

“The group included women and children who came from Koch and Leer counties in southern Unity State, after a transport corridor was opened to that part of the state with the cooperation of opposition forces,” he disclosed.  

More civilians have apparently arrived since he made these remarks.

Meanwhile, international mine clearance teams in Bentiu have begun assessing roads that approach the city, as drier weather allows for easier road travel.

“On 25 November, a joint team assessed the road from Rubkona to Unity Oilfield. The team did not observe any evidence of land-mines or [explosives] on the road,” OCHA said.

“Further road assessments will be done on Rubkona-Pariang and Rubkona-Bentiu-Abiemnom. The latter is the main supply route for humanitarians, and the former is the support to Yida airport considered for air drops.”

File photo

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Unity official applauds rebels for allowing movement of civilians (24 Nov.)