Rumbek East County, Lakes State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 NBS Census population: 122,832
2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 227,973
2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 174,891

Ethnic groups and languages: Agar Dinka (Ruop: Ajak, Aliab, Boor, Tiek) (Aliamtoc: Athoi, Dhiei, Duor, Durciek, Kok/Kook, Panyar), ‘Jur Bel’/Belli

Displacement Figures Q2 2022: 8,117 IDPs (+5,866 Q1 2020) and 11,789 returnees (+7,393 Q1 2020)

IPC Food Security: November 2022 – Crisis (Phase 3); IPC Projections: December to March 2023 – Crisis (Phase 3); April to July 2023 – Emergency (Phase 4)

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Rumbek East County is located in Lakes State. It borders Yirol East County to the east, Yirol West County to the south-east, Wulu County to the south-west, and Rumbek Centre County to the north-west. It also borders Unity State (Panyijiar County) to the north-east.

The county lies within the Western flood plain sorghum and cattle livelihood zone, with black clay soil, short vegetation and a meandering network of streams and rivers, which tend to flood and turn the area into swamps in the rainy season. The Naam River flows roughly down the county’s north-south axis. Lake Nubor is located near the county’s northeastern border with Yirol East County. The majority of the population lives in the southwestern region of the county, where water is easily accessible via rivers, streams and springs.

In 2018 it was estimated that 80% of households engage in agriculture (FAO/WFP 2018). This remains the case in figures from 2021 (FAO/WFP 2022). Gross cereal yields for Rumbek East County were at 1.1 tonnes per hectare in 2021, increasing to 1.2 tonnes per hectare in 2022 (FAO/WFP 2023). The main crops cultivated in this region are simsim (sesame), groundnut, millet, sorghum and vegetables. A minority of households also grow cassava and maize. Cattle herding is also a common livelihood activity and herds are grazed within Rumbek East County as well as neighboring counties. Fishing and farming take place mainly at subsistence levels. Some residents also undertake small-scale trading of essential goods. The county experiences annual flooding during the rainy season which makes agriculture difficult and reduces access to markets. A general lack of physical infrastructure is also reported to be a significant challenge to resident’s livelihoods (REACH 2019).

Over recent years, Rumbek East has faced a deteriorating food security situation. IPC projections put Rumbek East County at crisis (IPC level 3) levels in November 2022, with food insecurity conditions projected to persist at the same level until March 2023, whereupon it deteriorates to emergency (IPC level 4) levels. In 2021, Rumbek East was identified as a flood-affected county by the Emergency Response Coordination Center.

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES

The county headquarters is located in Aduel Payam. Insecurity over the years (including inter-and intra-clan violence and criminality) has limited access to markets – including Aduel – and the maintenance of livelihoods. Flooding and conflict-related insecurity on the road running to Yirol East periodically disrupts trade and the flow of goods and makes parts of Rumbek East inaccessible. Recent erratic rainfall patterns, as well as unusually long dry spells have impacted the ability of Rumbek East residents to cultivate sustainably and secure adequate pasture for their herds. Typically, markets would provide access to food goods when crop yields are low, however inflation has made this challenging for many households.

Rumbek East is home to three (3) Early Childhood Development centres, fifty-five (55) primary schools and five (5) secondary schools located in five different payams.

Rumbek East County was reported to have twenty-four (24) health facilities, all of which were reported to be functional. Among them are sixteen (16) PHCUs and eight (8) PHCCs in 2022. This means that there were an estimated 1.37 PHCUs per 15,000 people and 2.29 PHCCs per 50,000 people according to the WHO. While Rumbek East has no health facilities that meet the technical criteria of being a hospital, the PHCC-level facilities of Aduel Maternity Hospital and Cuei-Cok Maternity Hospital are among the facilities offering in-patient care in the county.

OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview for 2023 estimated that over 116,400 people in Rumbek East require humanitarian assistance (compared to 110,700 in 2021), which accounts for 66% of the estimated population of the county reported in the HNO.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Rumbek East has been one of the hardest hit counties in Lakes State in terms of inter and intra-clan clashes, some of which go back decades. The segmentary lineage system of Dinka communities means that even small-scale, inter-household incidents of violence can rapidly escalate and spread to higher levels of social organization between villages, sections and clans. Sub-clans of Dinka Agar from Rumbek East County and Dinka Apaak from Yirol West County have been involved in ongoing cycles of revenge attacks and cattle raids. As early as 2012, UNDP noted that the primary security concerns for the county entailed tensions with neighbouring communities from Yirol West County, Wulu County and Unity State, primarily related to access to water sources for fishing, land for grazing, as well as border disputes.

The county did not witness major fighting between government and opposition forces in the most recent civil war, with the exception of alleged raids by opposition groups in the county in early 2014. However, inter- and intra-communal conflict has appeared to worsen since the outbreak of civil war. Political motivations have also emerged as an additional complication to existing disputes. For example, the killing of the Paramount Chief Aparer Chut Dhuol, brother of the state governor, in August 2014 sparked a devastating cycle of violence in Rumbek East. The brothers belonged to the Gony clan and their supporters launched revenge attacks against the rival Thuyic clan from which the assailant was suspected to have been from. The attackers reportedly targeted women and children, ransacked schools, looted homes and killed at least two Thuyic individuals. Media reports indicate that over 3,000 students fled to Rumbek town for safety (Sudan Tribune 2014a).

There have been various attempts by government officials, community leaders and youth to reduce the violence in the county via peace conferences and special courts. For example, in October 2015, the state government attempted to mitigate the impact of the violence and its many economic and socio-political knock-on effects by establishing new courts to address these types of incidents specifically (Eye Radio 2015). The courts were meant to target resolving grievances from violence and cattle raiding specifically, in order to interrupt the cycle of revenge attacks. In December 2015, the Ruop, Kuei and Pakam Dinka Agar sub-clans signed a peace agreement but unfortunately the brief calm was broken by a new wave of clashes in April 2016 near the Rumbek Centre-Rumbek East border.

These security issues are also compounded by the lack of law enforcement presence throughout the county and deep underlying mistrust between state authorities and local residents. The county commissioner stated in 2012 that lack of manpower led to inadequate deployment of police forces. Tensions between cattle camp youth and government security officials reportedly heightened in 2014, sometimes escalating into violence. Media reported that most police officers in Pacong and Malek-agok payams, and Panawac village, had begun deserting their posts by December 2014 due to fear of attacks by armed youth. For example, earlier that month armed youth killed five SPLA soldiers in Panawac village when the soldiers tried to intervene in an intra-clan conflict (Sudan Tribune 2014b).

A REACH assessment in 2019 noted the continued impact of inter-communal violence, as conflict regarding the border with Yirol West became a particular point of contention. This led to internal displacement, cattle raids, as well incidents of inter-communal violence. In 2019, CEPO documented four instances of inter-communal violence in the area, which involved cattle raiding and revenge attacks. The same year, the WHO noted the initiation of reconciliation talks with neighboring counties, specifically Rumbek North and Rumbek Centre counties. In early 2016 the Gony and Thuyic sections began engaging in a reconciliation process which resulted in a peace agreement in November 2019 (Radio Tamazuj 2019). However, fighting at Malek cattle camp between the Durbar and Kokawac sections in Rumbek led to the deaths of 11 people in April 2020. (Radio Tamazuj 2020). This highlights the difficulty of sustaining peace in the face of a patchwork of interconnected conflicts in Rumbek East.

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams: Aduel (County HQ), Akot, Atiaba, Cueicok, Maleng-agok, Pacong, Paloch

UN OCHA 2020 map of Rumbek East County: https://reliefweb.int/map/south-sudan/south-sudan-rumbek-east-county-reference-map-march-2020

Roads:

• A primary road runs east to Yirol town and then on to Juba via Terekeka (Central Equatoria State). The Logistics Cluster deemed this road passable during the dry season of 2023, though during the rainy season of 2022 the road was designated impassable between Rumbek and Mingkaman, and “passable with difficulties” between Mingkaman and Terekeka (and thereafter passable to Juba).
• A secondary road runs north to Panyijiar County in Unity State via Amongpiny/Amok Piny in Rumbek Centre County. During the rainy season of 2022 and dry season of 2023, the road was deemed ”passable with difficulties” up to Amongpiny, and thereafter impassable.
• A tertiary road network covers south-west parts of the county. The condition of the road network is unknown.

UNHAS-Recognised Heli-Landing Sites and Airstrips: None

Additional MAF-Recognised Airstrips: Akot

REFERENCES

CEPO. (2019). Intercommunal Violence in Lakes State, Rumbek Centre and Rumbek East. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Eye Radio. (2015). Rumbek E. forms courts to try Revenge fights & killings- Lakes. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

FAO/WFP. (2023). Special Report: FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to South Sudan. Retrieved 31 July 2023. See equivalent versions of the CFSAM report online for data from previous years.

FEWSNET. (2018). Livelihoods Zone Map and Descriptions for the Republic of South Sudan (Updated). Retrieved 13 July 2023.

OCHA. (2021). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2019). Western Lakes communities vow to end revenge killings. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2020). 11 killed, 24 wounded in intercommunal fighting in Lakes. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

REACH. (2019). Western Lakes Pop. Movement, Livelihoods and Food Security Profile. Retrieved 18 July 2023

Sudan Tribune. (2014a). Wau Chief arrested for withholding information. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Sudan Tribune. (2014b). Lakes state death toll rises as police vacate posts. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Voice of America. (2021). 18 Killed in South Sudan Inter-Communal Clashes Despite Police Measures. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

REPORTS on RUMBEK EAST

Deal, J.L. (2011). A land at the centre of the World: An Ethnography of the Dinka Agar of South Sudan. Markoulakis Publications.

IOM. (2013). Village Assessment Survey: County Atlas. Retrieved 31 July 2023.

Smilde, W.M. (2011). Health seeking practices among the Dinka in Rumbek East County. Masters thesis, Wageningen University. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund. (2020). What drives the cattle camps? Exploring the dynamics of pastoralist communities in western Lakes State, South Sudan. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Pendle, N. and Wal, G. (2021). Law, War and Returns: Learning from South Sudan. Retrieved 18 July 2023.-South-Sudan.-Report.pdf

REACH. (2014). Conflict Analysis: Lakes, Northern Bahr El Gazhal and Warrap States. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

Saferworld. (2018). Communities tackling small arms and light weapons in South Sudan lessons learnt and best practices. Retrieved 18 July 2023.-South-Sudan.-Report.pdf

Saferworld. (2023). Conflict, gender-based violence and mental health in Lakes State: Perspectives from South Sudan. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

* Note: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Population Estimation Survey (PES) was published in April 2023 based on data collected in May-June 2021. This uses a different method to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Population Working Group (PWG) figures produced based on a combination of 2008 census data and population movement data up to 2022. The large discrepancies are primarily attributable to these different methods rather than changes in the actual population numbers over time and have been disputed by some civil society and analysts. Although the later PWG figures were produced more recently for the HNO 2023, at the request of the Government of South Sudan the data and method used by the PES is being used as the basis for the Common Operational Dataset (COD) for the UN system for the HNO 2024 and likely beyond. For further detail on this and other sources used in the county profiles, see the accompanying Methodological Note.