APD | International Organization for Migration calls for the release of female volunteer and four-year-old child in South Sudan

By APD writer Melo M. Acuña

The International Organization for Migration appealed for the unconditional release of its female volunteer and a four-year-old child abducted in South Sudan during a firefight last Sunday morning that claimed the lives of three IOM humanitarian workers.

In a statement datelined Juba in South Sudan, the IMO said there are efforts made to locate the whereabouts of their missing colleague and the child.

“All possible action is being taken with the goal of trying to get our colleague released from her abductors immediately without any pre-conditions,” said IOM South Sudan chief of mission Jean-Philippe Chauzy Friday morning.

The IOM said last Sunday a group of their volunteers were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups in Isebi, in Morobo County, in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria region.

Two men and one woman were killed while to other male volunteers suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The abducted child is the son of the woman who was slain. The humanitarian workers were on an Ebola screening point in border areas between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, monitoring the spread of the deadly disease.

Chauzy and a small team from Juba flew to Yei, the largest town in the area where the incident occurred yesterday for an emotional meeting with IOM volunteers and colleagues of the deceased and later the deputy governor.

“It was extremely important to meet with our volunteers, to listen to their concerns, their stories about the people who died. It was raw but I also want them to know that no effort is being spared to ensure the safety and locate the missing,” Chauzy added.

It will be recalled IOM began operations in southern Sudan in early 2005 and established the IOM South Sudan mission after the country’s independence in July 2011. Since the conflict began in December 2013, IOM has provided support to thousands of host communities, returnees and internally displaced persons including those seeking protection at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan Protection of Civilian sites.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)