Death Rates Climbing At South Sudan Refugee Camp

Horrific living conditions in a South Sudan refugee camp have sparked a humanitarian crisis, according to Doctors Without Borders.

Almost one year to the day since South Sudan became an independent nation, mortality rates at the Jamam camp, which is run by the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, are double the level considered an emergency, and eight children die there every day.

Most of the camp's 40,000 residents are refugees who have fled ethnic violence in Sudan's Blue Nile state. A constant inflow of more displaced people coupled with heavy seasonal rains has put strain on water supplies, latrines and other facilities.

These people have fled terrible violence in Sudan and lost family members during their arduous journeys for safety, and now they are sitting exposed in refugee camps on a flood plain and dying from preventable diseases due to horrific living conditions, Tara Newell, Medecins Sans Frontieres emergency coordinator in Jamam, said in a statement.