The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
The UN Migration Agency appealed on Friday for the immediate liberation of a volunteer and child who remain missing since a gun battle in South Sudan at the weekend that claimed the lives of three agency workers.
According to IOM, they were caught in the crossfire between two armed groups in Isebi, Morobo County, in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria region.
The volunteers had been manning an Ebola screening point in border areas between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, tracking the spread of the deadly disease that has killed more than 2,180 people in DRC since last August.
Speaking in Geneva, spokesperson Paul Dillon repeated the call “for the unconditional release of a female volunteer and a four-year-old child abducted in South Sudan during gun battle on Sunday morning that claimed the lives of three IOM humanitarian workers”.
The three IOM workers were two men and a woman, and it is understood that it was her son that was abducted, Mr. Dillon said.
He added that “all possible action” was being taken “to get our colleague released from her abductors immediately without pre-conditions”.
For the time being the agency has halted operations in several border areas.
“Obviously, we are there for a reason, to monitor possible flows of Ebola into South Sudan,” Mr. Dillon explained.
“These individuals in South Sudan as in many other countries are very much on the front line in this response.”
He added: “We have suspended our operations in five of those border areas until we can get clarity on the security situation and the commitment from all actors in that area that the security of our staff in that area will be safeguarded.”
IOM began operations in southern Sudan in early 2005 and established the IOM South Sudan mission after the country’s independence in July 2011.
Last month, Deputy Special Representative and Humanitarian/Resident Coordinator Alain Noudehou noted concerns that if Ebola spread to South Sudan, it risked overwhelming the healthcare system.
Since the outbreak of civil war in December 2013, IOM has provided support to thousands of host communities, returnees and internally displaced people.
This includes those seeking protection at the United Nations Mission in South Sudan Protection of Civilians sites, IOM said in a statement.
- Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations, Geneva.
- Wide shot, journalists and podium in Press Room III, United Nations Geneva.
- Medium shot, journalists, profile.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Paul Dillon, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “The International Organization for Migration continues to call for the unconditional release of a female volunteer and a four-year-old child abducted in South Sudan during gun battle on Sunday morning that claimed the lives of three IOM humanitarian workers.”
- Medium shot, journalists, profile, Press Room III, United Nations Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Paul Dillon, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “All possible action is being taken with the goal of trying to get our colleague released from her abductors immediately without pre-conditions.”
- Medium shot, TV camera crews, Press Room III, United Nations Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Paul Dillon, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “We have suspended our operations in five of those border areas until we can get clarity on the security situation and the commitment from all actors in that area that the security of our staff in that area will be safeguarded.”
- Close up, journalists, profile, Press Room III, United Nations Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Paul Dillon, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “Obviously, we are there for a reason, to monitor possible flows of Ebola into South Sudan. These individuals in South Sudan as in many other countries are very much on the front line in this response.”
- Close up, journalist’s fingers holding pen and writing on notepad, Press Room III, United Nations Geneva.
- Medium shot, podium partly obscured by press release being held up by journalist, Press Room III, United Nations Geneva.
- Medium shot, journalists, Press Room III, United Nations Geneva.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News , B-roll | OCHA
Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA
Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
/Includes OCHA footage from Gaza City/
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Children in Gaza are going to bed starving, says aid agency
The biggest UN aid agency in Gaza on Tuesday condemned the two-month Israeli blockade on Gaza that has left families sharing a single tin of food at mealtime and the sick and injured without lifesaving medical help, amid daily bombardment.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine force frontline areas to empty: UNHCR
With Ukrainian cities still reeling from this week’s deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, communities on the front line continue to be targeted too, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. “We also see attacks on frontline regions increasing and it's, as always, civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Funding and supply shortfalls for the UN World Food Programme (WFP)'s work in Ethiopia will halt lifesaving treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children at the end of the month. “We are at the breaking point,” it said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians, the UN Human Rights Office warned today.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNWOMEN , UNDP
Sudan: Aid teams report massive displacement after latest Darfur atrocity; women’s bodies ‘turned into battlegrounds’
In Sudan’s North Darfur, tens of thousands of people have fled a displacement camp following the massacre of civilians and aid workers as the country enters the third year of a conflict marked by horrific levels of sexual violence, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
Global trade could shrink by three per cent as a result of the United States’ new tariff measures which in the longer term could reshape and boost as-yet untapped regional commercial links, a top UN economist confirmed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Warring parties in Sudan are overseeing a wholesale assault on human rights amid global inaction, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday, as the conflict is about to enter its third year.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said Israel’s increasing issuance of so-called “evacuation orders” for Palestinians in Gaza have resulted in their forcible transfer.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNHCR , UNWOMEN , WFP , WHO
Two years of war in Sudan have created epic suffering, aid agencies say
Two years since Sudan’s brutal conflict began, UN agencies warned that famine is spreading and civilians of all ages continue to suffer shocking abuse, including rape and gang rape.
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
In Gaza, ongoing Israeli military operations and the aid blockade have continued to add to daily fears and hardships confronting those in the devastated enclave, the UN Mine Action Service, UNMAS, said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP
Dangers grow for Myanmar earthquake survivors, health system 'overwhelmed' - UNDP
In earthquake-shattered central Myanmar people are sleeping in the streets in fear of buildings collapsing, facing early monsoon rains and the risk of waterborne diseases, the UN Development Programme warned on Tuesday.