After escaping violent attacks in Jonglei and Upper Nile, thousands of people are surviving outdoors with little food, water, or medical care.
An escalation of violence between government forces and opposition groups in and around Lankien in Nyirol County, Jonglei State and along the Sobat River in Upper Nile, northeastern South Sudan, has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. Many families fled on foot, walking for days, to escape attacks and burned villages. At least 25,000 people have sought refuge in Chuil town, Jonglei, and thousands more are scattered across surrounding villages and swamps. Others have moved to Nyangore and Barmach in Ulang County, Upper Nile, and an additional 28,000 people have arrived in Minkaman, Lakes State. Many had to flee multiple times. People arrive with nothing and are now living outdoors without any shelter, or in makeshift settlements without adequate food, clean water, or health care.
Scaling up activities to support thousands left without care
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is scaling up medical and humanitarian support for people displaced in Ulang County, and in Chuil. In Chuil, MSF has upgraded the primary health care center (PHCC), increasing capacity to 60 beds to provide emergency care, malnutrition treatment, maternal health services, and trauma stabilization. Since late February, MSF teams have provided 2,200 consultations, admitted 172 patients to Chuil PHCC, and referred 16 for further treatment. Our teams also distributed non-food relief items – including mosquito nets, blankets, soap, jerry cans, sanitary pads, plastic sheeting and empty sandbags – to more than 1,500 families to help them cope with the harsh living conditions, with more distributions to follow. To help with water and sanitation services, MSF is building 300 latrines and constructing a water purification plant.
MSF teams also travel through swamps and rivers by boat to run mobile clinics in Yakuach, Tanakuacha and Pathiel, areas around Chuil. We have provided 1,349 medical consultations and have referred some patients needing higher-level care. More than 70 MSF staff members who were also displaced from Lankien are now supporting the response in Chuil. In the coming weeks, MSF will establish a health post in Tanakuacha, while our teams will continue running mobile clinics in Yakuach and Pathiel, providing referrals, mental health activities, outpatient consultations, and sexual and reproductive health activities.
Since early March, in Minkaman, Lakes State, MSF has provided 2,210 consultations to new arrivals from Jonglei through mobile clinics. We have also made medical donations to Minkaman PHCC and are reinforcing their capacity to respond to outbreaks. MSF water and sanitation teams have also drilled two boreholes, repaired broken hand pumps and are rehabilitating the surface water treatment plant and constructing emergency latrines.
Displaced by violence, left without protection
Major gaps remain, particularly in nutrition and water, sanitation, and hygiene, raising the risk of cholera and other waterborne diseases. Screenings by MSF in Chuil show alarming malnutrition levels: Of 1,263 children under five screened, 54 percent were acutely malnourished, while 21.5 percent of 609 screened pregnant and breastfeeding women were acutely malnourished. Referrals of complicated cases remain a challenge as well.
Continued attacks on civilians and health facilities
The crisis is unfolding in a region where access to health care was already limited. In 2025, the MSF-supported hospital in Ulang was looted and destroyed, and just last month, Lankien hospital was bombed, closing the two main referral hospitals for the region.
“In swampy areas around Lankien, thousands remain in dire conditions, still waiting for assistance,” said Turkmen. “People continue to arrive every day. Displaced MSF medical staff there are doing everything they can, but patients die due to lack of medicine. MSF has requested access from local authorities, so far without success.”
Humanitarian access remains limited and irregular, and safe, sustained, uninterrupted access must be guaranteed. MSF calls all parties to the conflict to take all feasible measures to spare civilians from the effects of hostilities. Civilians and civilian infrastructure, including healthcare, must never be targeted; direct attacks against them constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law. Any further escalation of fighting in or around Chuil would have devastating consequences for civilians sheltering there, severely disrupting life-saving medical and humanitarian assistance.
