Local authorities in Maban County intend to establish a new camp for about 5,000 internally displaced persons who are now living in the area.

Alex Balla, a coordinator for the refugee commission in Maban, told Radio Tamazuj that the new camp will enable the NGOs operating in the area to provide aid assistance to the conflict-displaced people being accommodated in the county.

He pointed out that the majority of IDPs fled from Malakal, Renk and other neighbouring counties in Upper Nile state shortly after the fighting broke out in December last year.

Balla further said some of the displaced are currently living with their relatives in Maban area, while estimating the figure of IDPs at 501 households.

The coordinator revealed that the number of individuals could reach 2,010 in addition to over 1,000 Nuer IDPs mostly women and children.

He added that the Nuer IDPs were being protected in military barracks since the fighting erupted between the Nuer and Maban Defence Force (MDF) in the area.

“We told the Nuer to establish their camp near the military barrack so that humanitarian organizations reach them there,” he said.

Maban County also hosts a far larger population of north Sudanese refugees from Blue Nile State, which borders the county to the north.