In July 2020, the UN in South Sudan (UNMISS) announced it would begin to hand over the five Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites in the country to the national government. It means the camps will remain, but with management and security responsibilities transferred from the UN to the national government. On 27 January 2021, UNMISS signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of South Sudan for Bentiu camp, handing over to the government the jurisdiction of the camp. On 17 March 2021, the government of South Sudan took over the responsibility of the camp – meaning it is no longer a PoC site but an IDP camp.

In Bentiu, the largest displaced person camp in South Sudan with currently over 100,000 people, MSF has provided services since the formation of the camp in 2014. We provide specialist healthcare, surgery and emergency services for adults and children in our 116-bed hospital.

The hospital has an inpatient department, surgery and emergency room. The services offered at the hospital include maternal care for complicated obstetrics, an SGBV programme, treatment for HIV/AIDS, TB and Kala azar, mental health care, inpatient therapeutic feeding centre and outreach programme within the camp.

The quality and coverage of services in Bentiu camp has been substandard for as long as it has existed. Despite repeated calls from MSF to improve conditions within Bentiu camp, many of our patients suffer from physical and mental illnesses exacerbated by, or a direct consequence of, inadequate water and sanitation and congested and undignified living conditions.

MSF remains extremely concerned of the risks to health posed by the extremely poor and substandard living conditions in Bentiu camp. These include diarrhoeal disease, hepatitis E and malaria which we are now preparing to see an increase in cases with the start of the rainy season soon.