In this May 14, 2017 file photo, displaced South Sudanese walk in the United Nations' protected camp in Wau, South Sudan. (AP Photo)
Juba, South Sudan: No one thought the desperate experiment would last this long. Nearly four years after the United Nations, in an unprecedented move, threw open its peacekeepers' camps to civilians fleeing the violence of South Sudan's civil war, more than 200,000 people still shelter in the often squalid camps. Now the government is trying to entice them to go home, even as fighting rages on.
The rising frustration over the camps had a flash of global attention when the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, was evacuated while recently visiting one because of a demonstration against South Sudan President Salva Kiir. Many camp residents said they were unhappy with their temporary home.
Even as the crowding and filth are well-documented — the UN refugee agency says some in the seven UN-run camps resort to harmful coping mechanisms like "alcohol addiction, survival sex, exploitation of all sorts" — many people would rather remain than venture into open conflict. They say they're too scared to leave.
"These people were terrified," the head of the UN mission in South Sudan, David Shearer, told The Associated Press. "There's no doubt that many of them would have been killed if we hadn't opened our gates."
They are called Protection of Civilians sites and as they embark on their fifth year of existence, they are an increasing point of contention. South Sudan government officials say their citizens are becoming reliant on aid handouts.
"The (camps) have created a dependency," said Hussein Mar Nyuot, minister of humanitarian affairs and disaster management.