Malakal authorities are still trying to encourage residents to return to come out from UN protection sites and return to their homes. The mayor of the town emphasized in an interview that the security situation is stable in the Upper Nile capital.

The town has changed hands multiple times since the start of fighting in December.

Malakal Mayor Abdullah Deng told Radio Tamazuj he has seen significant movement back to the town in recent days. He said he is meeting with local leaders to assess the number of returnees and arrange for assistance to reach them.

He also held a meeting with the UN High Commission for Refugees asking for additional relief items for people in the area.

However, there were brawls among displaced people in the UN PoC site over the weekend. According to a UN spokesperson in New York, speaking on Monday, the site was “tense over the weekend after a series of clashes between Nuer and Shilluk internally displaced persons that resulted in injuries to civilians.”

Three UNMISS peacekeepers were also injured when they intervened to contain the situation. Another local source told Radio Tamazuj that at least seven displaced people were injured in the fighting. 

UNMISS continues to protect more than 17,000 people in Malakal.

Incidents were also reported at the PoC site last week. The UN humanitarian coordinating office in South Sudan reported on 15 November, “Escalating inter-communal tensions between the youth in the Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites in Malakal, Upper Nile State, continued to disrupt humanitarian operations.”

File photo: A book vendor in the Malakal PoC site, 5 September 2014 (UNMISS)