Bishop in southern Sudan says 20,000 refugees in his diocese need aid

Published: 2004-04-27

ROME (CNS) -- A Catholic bishop said some 20,000 people have arrived hungry and homeless in his diocese in southern Sudan after fleeing violence in Darfur in western Sudan. Bishop Cesare Mazzolari of Rumbek said at least 60,000 people fled Darfur earlier this year after their homes and crops were burned to the ground by militias. He told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview from Nairobi, Kenya, that the people "fled on foot to the South to find safety and since March about 20,000 people have arrived just in my diocese alone." Many of the people who left Darfur died along the way, he said. Those who survived the exodus "are living as displaced people, without food or water; they have nothing," said the Italian-born bishop. "We're trying to help them, but it's not enough. More needs to be done; they're dropping dead like flies," he said.

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