Abuk: the flight of a young mother from the conflict in Sudan

Homes are places of stability, security and a sense of belonging. When they break up, due to conflict, as in Sudan, people have no choice but to flee. This means not just being uprooted from what was familiar to one. It also means wanting to stay alive, whatever the cost and despite not knowing what awaits you. Also losing almost everything, including family and friends, and facing the possibility of never being able to return and not being able to be reunited with loved ones. This is the story of Abuk and many others who transit and seek refuge in South Sudan.

“I don’t know where I’m going,” was her first response when I met Abuk, a 26-year-old mother of five, at the Aweil airstrip in the northern state of Bahr El-Ghazel in South Sudan. It was during my recent visit to the region to see first-hand the situation of refugees, returnees and host communities affected by the ongoing conflict in neighboring Sudan, and how World Vision and other humanitarian partners are responding to their needs. . Abuk had just stepped off an International Organization for Migration-supported flight from Renk in Upper Nile state, where most of Sudan’s displaced people enter the country.

During my brief conversation with Abuk, I learned that he had lived in Khartoum all his life. There, she and her husband, a small store owner, raised her children. They led a normal life until the conflict broke out on April 15. That was the last time she saw her husband. She had gone to work that day and since then she has not seen him or heard from him again. Confused about what to do, she went to her neighbor, who was in the same situation as hers. A few days later, her neighbor left for South Sudan. This further confused Abuk. She was torn between staying or going. She did not know where her husband was or if she would return. She also did not know if she would arrive in South Sudan alone with her five small children.

If we could hear all the stories of their journeys towards survival, our hearts would break into a thousand pieces.

Nearly three weeks after the fighting began in Sudan, Abuk plucked up his courage and decided to join a group headed for South Sudan. It was the 6th of May. An old woman offered to help her carry her children and she assumed the cost of a means of transportation. Finally, after eight days of grueling travel with frequent checks and interruptions, she reached Renk, Upper Nile State, through the Wunthou border crossing.

Renk’s transit center was a safe haven, albeit with minimal services, during the five weeks he spent there. “I am glad that my children received some food, although not enough for the five of them. They are alive and their future is in the hands of God, ”he explains to me.

Abuk’s biggest question was: “Where could he go?” He was given the phone numbers of his in-laws in East Aweil County and the names of people he didn’t know. Abuk only speaks Arabic.

Contemplating what awaited her in an unknown place, the prospect of meeting her in-laws for the first time, traversing unfamiliar terrain, and not knowing if she would ever see the father of her children again, she and her children climbed into a truck heading for the dusty trails of rural Aweil.

Life has changed dramatically for Abuk, for his children and for millions of people displaced by the raging conflict, not just in Sudan or here in South Sudan, but in many other parts of the world.

At the very least, we must not forget the plight of the displaced

All of them face unimaginable suffering before, during and even after their journey across borders. They have witnessed and experienced violence, including extortion and looting. If we could hear all the stories of their journeys towards survival, our hearts would break into a thousand pieces. Unfortunately, their voices are often muffled and drowned out by other world events.

At the end of July, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) estimated that almost 200,000 people had arrived in South Sudan since the conflict began in Sudan in April, and “the number of arrivals is expected to increase as the conflict in Sudan continues.” Of this number, the majority are vulnerable people, “including unaccompanied and separated children, the elderly, people with disabilities, people with urgent medical needs, single-parent or female-headed families, and pregnant women.”

To Abuk’s question: “Where could I go?” we too should ask ourselves: “What else can we do?”

It can only be hoped that the warring factions will soon take the necessary steps to end the conflict. The time to act is now. At the very least, we must not forget the plight of the displaced. It takes a people, a nation and all of us to resettle and support people like Abuk to get off to a decent start. This requires greater commitment from governments, humanitarian and development partners and the international community to end conflict and ensure that more financial resources are allocated to humanitarian aid.

Mesfin Loha is director of World Vision in South Sudan.

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