Upper Nile Refugee Crisis. Avoiding past mistakes in the coming year

Starting in November 2011, thousands of refugees fleeing aerial bombardments and
food shortages in Blue Nile, Sudan, arrived in Maban County, in Upper Nile state,
South Sudan. The international community and the Government of South Sudan
were poorly prepared to effectively meet the needs of these refugees and, as a
result, refugees suffered unnecessarily. Eighteen months into the response the
situation for refugees remains fragile. With the rainy season due to begin in May
and a Hepatitis E outbreak ongoing, at least twenty-five thousand refugees need to
be relocated, and a further influx of refugees is predicted. Through concerted
action, the humanitarian community can avoid repeating past mistakes to shape
what happens now and in the future. Working together, the UN, the Government of
South Sudan, NGOs and donors must improve the quality of the humanitarian
response and accountability to refugees and the communities that host them.