Bentiu, 10 October 2022 – Since conflict broke out between government and opposition forces in South Sudan in 2013, thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) live in the country’s Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites.

Robert is one of them. Before the conflict, he lived a happy life in Tong, a village in Rubkona County in the north of South Sudan. Together with his wife Nyakuola, the 52-year-old tilled the fields and reared cattle to provide for his family.

In early 2014, fighting spilled over to Robert’s village, and like thousands of people in South Sudan, he and his family were forced to leave their home to escape the violence.

They took refuge in the former United Nations PoC site in Bentiu, now a camp for IDPs and home to over 112,000 people.

Then another tragedy struck. Robert and six of his friends were hit by a hand-propelled grenade while burning wood for charcoal.