IOM Khartoum is sending an additional 24 aid trucks to help some
12,000 families displaced by recent fighting between the Sudan
People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)
in and around the disputed oil-rich town of Abyei.

The assistance, consisting of 71 tonnes of Non Food Items,
including urgently needed medical kits, tents and large storage
tents or rub halls, left Khartoum on 25 May for the town of Agok,
some 25 kilometres south of
Abyei.      

Two other IOM convoys, which had departed from Wau and Juba last
week, arrived in Agok on 28 May with 196 tons of assistance, which
was distributed by United Nations partners to some 5,500 destitute
displaced households.

IOM is currently deploying staff in Agok and surrounding areas
to assist in the distribution of aid and to help in the
registration of the displaced.  

According to a recent inter-agency assessment carried out by IOM
in cooperation with UN agencies and international NGOs, some 50,000
to 60,000 persons have been displaced from Abyei to Agok and
neighbouring villages. 

An additional 10,000 people are believed to have walked south
towards the town of Turalei, whilst other groups are said to be on
their way towards Aweil East County in Northern Bahr el Ghazal.

"Despite the insecurity and logistical challenges, IOM aims to
provide as much assistance as possible before the rainy season sets
in," says Nelson Bosch, IOM's Senior Operations Officer based in
Khartoum. "Non Food Items prepositioned in Khartoum, Juba, Wau and
Kadugli are available but IOM urgently needs USD 2 million to
deliver the assistance to the needy."   

For more information, please contact:

Nelson Bosch

IOM Khartoum

Tel: + 249 912 14 1757

E-mail: "mailto:nbosch@iom.int">nbosch@iom.int