About fifty homes were destroyed in the UNMISS base in Malakal, Upper Nile state on Sunday after a group of displaced people set fire to a portion of the camp.
The fire broke out in the mid-afternoon in camp's Sector 2, which was unihabited because its residents fled the clashes which took place in the base last month. Sector 2 contained homes and belongings of the people who fled.
"They came and looted, and then set some shelters on fire, and then left," an aid worker with knowledge of the latest incident told Radio Tamazuj.
The fire was quickly contained by UNMISS who controlled the situation and prevented the fire from spreading further, according to another aid worker, Ashley McLaughlin, who is the communications officer for the International Organization for Migration aid group.
McLaughlin said IOM staff treated six people for minor injuries such as scrapes and cuts which were sustained while falling running away from the blaze. No injuries were life threatening, she said.
"The shelter response is ongoing, and IDPs are slowly moving back and rebuilding in some areas of the site," McLaughlin said.
Though UNMISS contained the blaze, the first aid worker raised questions about the mission's actions because its peacekeepers were not able to prevent the arson attack.
"Humanitarians were very concerned about the blocks being burned down, and UNMISS had put in place a cordon of Rwandan peacekeepers [to prevent IDPs from entering and burning the area]," the aid worker said. "Yes the UNMISS response was quick and appropriate once it started, but with that type of cordon, this shouldn’t have happened in the first place."
A UNMISS spokesperson did not respond to multiple emails sent by Radio Tamazuj regarding the incident.
Sector 2 had been inhabited mostly by Dinka people before last month's clashes, which involved Shilluk and Dinka youth inside the base as well as SPLA soldiers who attacked from outside. At least 25 people were killed and sections of the camp inhabited mostly by Shilluk and Nuer people were burned down during those clashes.
Most Dinka people left the base afterward, while Shilluk and Nuer people stayed but relocated to other parts of the base which were not burned.
