Sudanese fleeing region of Abyei
Tens of thousands of Sudanese are fleeing from the contested north-south border region of Abyei, and the top U.S. official in the region warned Friday of a humanitarian crisis over the north's invasion.
Section:Picture story
Internally displaced southern Sudanese outside a church that is serving as a makeshift camp in the village of Mayen Abun, southern Sudan on Thursday May 26, 2011.
Pete Muller Associated Press
County Commissioner Dominic Deng said Friday that up to 40,000 people have arrived in Turalei, a town just south of Abyei. He said at least 80,000 people have fled Abyei, a zone about the size of Connecticut which northern Sudan invaded last weekend. Most of the displaced fled Abyei on foot and carried few, if any, belongings.
Associated Press
Internally displaced southern Sudanese sleep on the floor of a church in the village of Mayen Abun, southern Sudan on Thursday May 26, 2011.
Pete Muller Associated Press
On a visit to Turalei on Friday, the top U.S. official in Southern Sudan, Barrie Walkley, said "we have a perfect storm" creating a humanitarian crisis. Sudan's north is blockading border crossing points, preventing food and fuel from getting to the south. Militias are attacking southern forces, and the northern army displaced tens of thousands of people by invading Abyei, he said. Lise Grande, the U.N.'s top humanitarian official in Southern Sudan, said there are not enough stocks in the area to supply all the fleeing families with food and shelter. The fuel shortage is greatly hampering relief efforts, she said.
Associated Press
Father Emmanuel Malau stands with internally displaced children who recently fled heavy fighting in Abyei inside his church in the village of Mayan Abun, southern Sudan on Thursday May 26, 2011. Malau spent days souring the area in his pickup truck looking for young children who struggled to walk from Abyei to safer areas.
Pete Muller Associated Press
Both northern and Southern Sudan stake a claim to Abyei, a fertile grassland near several oil fields. Fighting between north and south broke out last week, and northern troops moved in with force. Southern Sudan's president says the south will not respond militarily and risk a resumption of the country's civil war. More than 2 million people were killed during war, which ended with a peace deal in 2005.
Associated Press
An internally displaced woman from Abyei brings her son to a United Nations food distribution in a makeshift camp in Turalei, southern Sudan on Friday, May 27, 2011.
Pete Muller Associated Press
North and south Sudan ended more than two decades of civil war in 2005 with a peace deal that promised both Abyei and the south a self-determination vote. The south voted overwhelmingly in January to secede and becomes an independent nation July 9. Abyei's vote never happened, so its future was being negotiated by the north and south.
Associated Press
Thousands of displaced persons from Abyei collect food rations in a makeshift camp in Turalei, southern Sudan on Friday, May 27, 2011.
Pete Muller Associated Press
But since fighting broke out last week, families have been pouring into Turalei, hoping for refuge. Many walk for days barefoot through the thorny jungle, carrying screaming children in their arms. Some end up sleeping under trees. The lucky ones are taken in by families, where they face the agonizing realization that every morsel that feeds their own children is taking away from the children of their hosts.
Associated Press
A young displaced girl from the town of Abyei poses for a portrait in a makeshift camp in Turalei, southern Sudan on Friday, May 27, 2011. after she and her family traveled by foot from Abyei to Turalei, a journey that took more than one full day. She and members of her extended family were taken in by residents of Turalei.
Pete Muller Associated Press