UN migration agency appeals to South Sudan group to free volunteer worker and child
Flags remain at half-mast outside IOM South Sudan’s office in Juba
1 November 2019
The UN migration agency appealed on Friday for the immediate liberation of a volunteer and child who’ve been missing since a gun battle in South Sudan at the weekend that claimed the lives of three agency workers.
According to IOM, they were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups in Isebi, Morobo County, in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria region.
The volunteers had been manning an Ebola virus screening point in border areas between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
It is understood that the four-year-old child is the son of female IOM worker who was killed, along with two male team members.
IOM spokesperson Paul Dillon said that “all possible action” was being taken to secure the release of the two individuals immediately, and that operations had been suspended for the time being in several border areas.
“Obviously, we are there for a reason, to monitor possible flows of Ebola into South Sudan. These individuals in South Sudan as in many other countries are very much on the front line in this response... We have suspended our operations in five of those border areas until we can get clarity on the security situation and the commitment from all actors in that area that the security of our staff in that area will be safeguarded.”
IOM began operations in southern Sudan in early 2005 and established the IOM South Sudan mission after the country’s independence in July 2011.
Last month, Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator Alain Noudehou noted concerns that if Ebola spread to South Sudan, it risked overwhelming the healthcare system.
Since the outbreak of civil war in December 2013, IOM has provided support to thousands of host communities, returnees and internally displaced people.
This includes those seeking protection at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan Protection of Civilians sites, IOM said in a statement.
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