Uncertain Land

Climate Change and Its Impact on The Internally Displaced People of South Sudan

Photos and text by Christina Simons

July 24, 2024

Catastrophic flooding, driven by the earth’s changing climate, ravages South Sudan. The fledgling nation has endured torrential rainfall events for five consecutive years, which has inundated two-thirds of the country.

Since the escalation of conflict in 2013 and 2014, South Sudan has faced a significant rise in the number of Internally Displaced People (IDPs). Over the past six years, this number has continued to grow due to the climate crisis and extreme flooding in areas where people had resettled or were still displaced from the 2014 conflict. Many of these individuals could not return to their original villages for various reasons, including destruction of homes, looted properties, fear of further violence, or illness.

Villages, grazing land and livestock have been destroyed, and inhabitants have fled their homes and livelihoods, intensifying the humanitarian crisis that continues after years of war. UNOCHA estimates that 2 million inhabitants are currently internally displaced due to flooding. The capital of the province of Unity State, Bentiu, is one of the worst affected areas. Home to the severely overcrowded Bentiu IDP camp, the town and surrounding regions have been isolated by floodwaters. The region is now an island.

The mass internal displacement of people has led to increased food insecurity as arable land and grazing space contracts. The physical isolation of inhabited regions means that supplies can’t reach their intended destinations. Limited space and scarcity of resources – particularly in regional areas – lead to conflict, further exacerbating despair. Malnutrition, particularly among young children and pregnant and lactating women, is an increasing concern. UNOCHA estimates that 1.7 million children under the age of 5 and 870,000 pregnant and lactating women are at risk of acute malnourishment.

Vector-borne diseases, such as Malaria, and water-borne illnesses causing acute diarrhea are increasing. Flood waters are driving snakes into congested areas resulting in more contact with humans and in turn incidents of bites.

Displacement has only increased after the war broke out again last year—many Sudanese fled to South Sudan for refuge, aggravating already strained infrastructures.

Globally, funding for humanitarian causes is stretched. Demands for assistance in other countries enduring conflict have seen resources being directed away from South Sudan. UNOCHA reports that only 20% of the required funding for aid in South Sudan for 2024 has been secured. International aid organisations and the United Nations are appealing to the international community for more funds and greater participation in the recovery effort by the South Sudanese government.

The existence and continued threat of violent conflict compound an already fraught situation in which access to flood-affected areas and resourcing constraints present daily challenges. These images depict the situation in South Sudan in August and September 2022.

**© Christina Simons**
**Abiye, South Sudan, August 26, 2022.**
A woman enters her makeshift shelter in the IDP camp in Abyei after walking home in the evening rainstorm.

Drone image of flooded landscape of Bentiu can be viewed from above. — **© Christina Simons**
**Bentiu, South Sudan, August 21, 2022.**
The flooded landscape of Bentiu can be viewed from above.
According to Joshua Kanyara, IOM Emergency Coordinator, dry land in Bentiu owes its existence to humanitarian-built dykes and roads. In August 2022, flooding spanned 80km and the dykes, constructed by aid organisations, are approximately 2.5 metres high and up to 5 metres wide. The IDP camp in Bentiu houses over 112,000 people displaced due to flooding or conflict. This photo was taken out of the window of a UN operated Russian MI-8 MTV-1 Helicopter. This is not a drone aerial photo.⁠

A young girl walks along the apex of a dyke separating the flooding from the roads in Bentiu surroundings. ⁠ — **© Christina Simons**
**Bentiu, South Sudan, August 21, 2022.**
A young girl walks along the apex of a dyke separating the flooding from the roads.The roads are often too muddy to walk on so people most often walk along the apex of the dykes.
Bentiu is unique in that anywhere where there is dry land it is only due to humanitarian-built dykes; explained Joshua Kanyara, IOM Emergency Coordinator. The floods span 80km, and the dykes are approximately 2.5 metres high and up to 5 metres wide. The IDP camp in Bentiu shelters 112,000+ people all displaced due to flooding and / or violence in their villages.

A cattle herder walks with his emaciated cattle along the main road of Bentiu town with flooded hut on the background. — **© Christina Simons**
**Bentiu, South Sudan, August 21, 2022.**
A cattle herder walks with his emaciated cattle along the main road of Bentiu town, which cuts through flood waters on either side of the road. Flooded homes have been abandoned all along the roadside.
According to Joshua Kanyara, IOM Emergency Coordinator, dry land in Bentiu owes its existence to humanitarian-built dykes and roads. In August 2022, flooding spanned 80km and the dykes, constructed by aid organisations, are approximately 2.5 metres high and up to 5 metres wide. The IDP camp in Bentiu houses over 112,000 people displaced due to flooding or conflict.

Mary Nyantey and a group of children waiting for Yell river plant to eat as flooding has ravaged traditional livelihood in Bentiu, South Sudan. — **© Christina Simons**
**Bentiu, South Sudan, August 21, 2022.**
Mary Nyantey is 40 years old. When her village flooded and she was forced to flee, she could not carry her children through the floodwaters. Instead, she tied her children inside a sack made from a large plastic tarp (previously used to cover her home) and swam them to safety, dragging the floating sack of children behind her. While now safe from the floodwaters, she and her family have no regular access to food and are forced to collect a plant called ‘Yell’ from a nearby river to eat.

A young boy plays in the field of crops that grow on the land of Canal Village, which UNMAS recently de-minded in South Sudan. — **© Christina Simons**
**Canal Village, Malakal, Upper Niles State, South Sudan, August 11, 2022.**
A young boy plays in the field of crops that grow on the land of Canal Village, which UNMAS recently de-minded.
“Early this year, UNMAS responded to community requests from a remote village in Canal where IDPs had resettled on a known minefield. In March 2022, following on from several Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) sessions delivered by UNMAS, Chief of Mine Action, Mr Fran O’Grady, visited Canal to assess how clearance activities could be undertaken in what was a race against time to get mechanical demining machinery on a barge to the site before the onset of the wet season. Thankfully, this was achieved through solid team effort that resulted in the disposal of more than 25 anti-personnel mines and the clearance of over 17,000 sqm of land, making it safe for the estimated 1,500 people to settle and undertake agricultural activities, as well as for safe access for humanitarian response.” – Fran O’Grady UNMAS (United Nations Mine Action Service).

A man wades with a net to catch fish around Bentiu's floodwaters in front of flooded hut. — **© Christina Simons**
**Bentiu, South Sudan, August 21, 2022.**
A man wades with a net to catch fish around Bentiu’s floodwaters. Homes have been flooded in Bentiu for over four years and are predicted to drain slowly over the next six years. According to Joshua Kanyara, IOM Emergency Coordinator, dry land in Bentiu owes its existence to humanitarian-built dykes and roads. In August 2022, flooding spanned 80km and the dykes, constructed by aid organisations, are approximately 2.5 metres high and up to 5 metres wide. The IDP camp in Bentiu houses over 112,000 people displaced due to flooding or conflict.

Christina Simons

Icelandic-American Christina Simons is an acclaimed international documentary photographer with over 25 years of experience in the visual arts. Her work has been showcased in various countries, including the US, UK, UAE, Europe, Russia, and Mexico. Based in Australia, Christina’s photography has been featured in prominent publications like The New York Times, BBC Online, Newsweek, and The Guardian UK. She has collaborated with humanitarian organisations such as Medicines Sans Frontiers, the UN, Marie Stopes, and UNICEF. Simons’ passion for social justice and compulsion to observe has resulted in the creation of striking bodies of work that offer unique visual commentary upon important social, environmental and cultural issues.