South Sudan: Over 5,000 Cross From DR Congo Amid Ebola Fears
By News

More than 5,000 people have crossed into South Sudan from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), reportedly fleeing the Ebola outbreak there, the United Nations said this week. The arrivals entered Ibba County in Western Equatoria state between July and mid-October, according to International Organization for Migration (IOM) figures cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The movement adds pressure on a remote border area with limited services and raises the importance of disease surveillance at crossing points.

Who is arriving and what they need

As reported by Radio Tamazuj, OCHA said nearly 380 of the arrivals are Congolese nationals, while the rest are South Sudanese returning home after having sought refuge in the DRC. During a visit to Nabanga Payam in Ibba County, OCHA and its partners found that most recent arrivals urgently needed medicines, nutritional supplies, food, kitchen utensils, sleeping mats, blankets and dignity kits for women and adolescent girls.

OCHA called for an Ebola isolation centre to be made operational to strengthen screening and surveillance at the Nabanga border crossing, warning that continued transmission in the DRC risks spreading the disease into South Sudan through cross-border movement.

Local authorities have been tracking the arrivals for weeks. In mid-September, Eye Radio reported that the county’s Relief and Rehabilitation Commission had registered 3,450 people in Nabanga, including 1,816 children, 1,603 adults and 31 people with disabilities, across 575 households, 220 of them headed by women. The commission’s county coordinator, John Venasio, said people had left after Ebola information and awareness campaigns by authorities in the DRC. Returnees were initially housed in a church before a temporary transit site was allocated, and health personnel were deployed to set up a screening checkpoint.

Preparedness in Western Equatoria

South Sudan’s Ministry of Health, the National Public Health Institute and UN partners have recently carried out simulation exercises in Juba and in Yei and Yambio counties to test their ability to prevent, detect and respond to suspected Ebola cases. In Yambio, Western Equatoria’s Caretaker Governor Badagbu Daniel Rimbasa led officials on an inspection of the Infectious Disease Unit, which is managed by International Medical Corps and has 28 beds across four wards, according to Radio Tamazuj. The facility’s manager, Dr Nomi Poni, said at the time that South Sudan had not received any Ebola cases since the outbreak in the DRC began.

Earlier, Eye Radio reported that screening centres had been established along border routes between Western Equatoria and the DRC, including around Gangura, Mediapai and Nabanga, and that state health officials had urged residents to report symptoms promptly.

What it means for the sector and affected communities

The situation combines two pressures that humanitarian organisations know well: population movement into an under-served area, and the need to prevent a dangerous disease from crossing borders. Host communities in Ibba County share limited water, health and food resources with new arrivals, and returnees often need help to re-establish livelihoods. Partners will need to balance immediate relief with community-based surveillance, risk communication and protection services.

South Sudan also faces other humanitarian strains. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has expressed concern about escalating violence in Tonj North and Tonj East counties in Warrap state, where clashes on 26 October left 72 people dead and 38 wounded, according to the same UN briefing.

What this means for NGO job seekers

Cross-border displacement combined with outbreak preparedness typically drives demand for a mix of health, protection and logistics expertise. Roles likely to be in demand include:

  • Public health and epidemiology, surveillance officers, infection prevention and control specialists and rapid response team members.
  • Risk communication and community engagement, staff who can explain health measures clearly and build trust in local languages.
  • Protection and gender-based violence prevention, especially with many women-headed households and children among the arrivals.
  • Nutrition, WASH and shelter, delivering the supplies OCHA identified as urgent.
  • Logistics, supply chain and data management, registering arrivals, managing stock and coordinating access to remote areas.

Experience in previous Ebola or cholera responses, knowledge of local languages and familiarity with IOM displacement tracking or humanitarian coordination systems will strengthen applications. Browse NGO jobs in South Sudan, browse current NGO vacancies across the region, or explore NGO jobs by country. Our career resources include tips on preparing for emergency-response interviews and deployments.

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