By Matik Kueth
At least 30 women from Gorom Refugee Camp were arrested on Thursday after protesting a four-month suspension of food rations by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), camp authorities reported. Nine children were also detained alongside their mothers.
Ulangi Okot, the camp chairman, told King News that the arrests followed an incident where the women allegedly threw stones at a UNHCR vehicle, damaging its windows. In response, UNHCR staff requested the police to intervene.
“The information is true. There are 25 women with nine children. So now there are about 30, all of them,” Okot said.
According to Okot, the women’s strike is a result of their starvation after four months without food rations in the camp.
“Actually, those women, have been here for four months now without food distribution to them,” he stressed.
He claimed that they were promised money vouchers in October last month, but it was all naught.
He added, “But when they went there for verification, they found also they don’t have their car keys, which means no money inside. Now they start, yesterday [Thursday] they start complaining why you people do something like ABCD to them.”
However, King Media’s efforts to get a response from UNHCR on the issue were futile.
The Gorom refugee camp is a settlement of refugees from neighboring countries, including Sudan, Congo, as well as internally displaced persons (IDPs) and South Sudanese returnees.
The situation is awful and the camp authorities are still appealing for additional humanitarian assistance.