On the Brink of an Abyss: Fabio Bucciarelli in South Sudan

3 minute read

The last time I was in South Sudan was just after its independence. I remember the look on people’s faces — tired but happy, hopeful for a better future after a past full of pain and war. Today, only a couple of short years later, South Sudan is on the brink of an abyss.

The conflict, which began with a power struggle between President Salva Kiir of the Dinka ethnicity, and his deputy Machar, of the Nuer ethnic group, is now likely to transform into a full blown ethnic war.

Over the past two weeks — with help of the Italian NGO CCM (Comitato Collaborazione Medica) — I moved from Juba to Yirol, crossing Mingakaman. Where, over several days, I documented some of the hundreds of thousands of refugees displaced by the current unrest.

These refugees construct makeshift shelters out of seemingly nothing. Under a tropical sun and in scorching temperatures, they seek shelter in the shade of leafless trees, without food, health and medical services. Some non-governmental organizations are working on the ground to provide assistance — trying in vain to alleviate the suffering of these new people without land.

A Dinka man who considers himself lucky to have escaped the recent raids told me, “It seems to be back to 1993. When they deprived us of everything, even of dignity,” In South Sudan, as with all conflicts, it is innocent civilians who are the real victims of war.

Later, from Mingakaman I went to Yirol, where I arrived at a government hospital supported by the NGO CUAMM. It was a hellish scene: injured men, women and children seemingly everywhere; and all this the result of clashes between government soldiers and rebels in East Yirol county near Adior.

I decided to stay there a few days longer than expected, to get in touch with the SPLA Government troops. While I waited, I visited areas not affected by the war to discover the faces of people who live like their ancestors did hundreds of years ago. Then, after a few days, I received a phone call from General Lt. Col Juma Rian Deng, to let me know that I can move with his brigade on the ground—as an unstable South Sudan moves towards a daunting and uncertain future.


Fabio Bucciarelli is a documentary photographer who focuses on conflicts and the humanitarian consequences of war. Fabio has spent many years covering major events in Africa and the Middle East


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Feb. 5, 2014. Internally displaced South Sudanese in a temporary camp for internally displaced persons in Mingkaman, South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 5, 2014. A South Sudanese youth stand by the Italian NGO CCM (Comitato Collaborazione Medica) compound near the temporary camp for internally displaced persons in Mingkaman, South Sudan, Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 5, 2014. A South Sudanese woman lies under a mosquito net in a temporary camp for internally displaced persons in Mingkaman, South Sudan, Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 5, 2014. Internally displaced South Sudanese in a temporary camp for internally displaced persons in Mingkaman, South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 5, 2014. A South Sudanese woman lies on the floor in a temporary camp for internally displaced persons in Mingkaman, South SudanFabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 7, 2014. Children play in a tree in the temporary camp of South Sudanese Internally Displaced People (IDP's) in Mingkaman, South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 7, 2014. A person walks in the temporary camp of South Sudanese Internally Displaced People (IDP's) in Mingkaman, South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 7, 2014. A person is carried to a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) temporary hospital near the camp for South Sudanese Internally Displaced People (IDP's) in Mingkaman, South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 7, 2014. South Sudanese Internally Displaced People (IDP's) clean the temporary camp in Mingkaman, South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 7, 2014. A South Sudanese Internally Displaced Person (IDP) walks in the temporary camp in Mingkaman, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 7, 2014. South Sudanese internally displaced people (IDP) wait to be registered on the list of the World Food Program (WFP) at Mingkaman's temporary camp, South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 9, 2014. South Sudanese internally displaced people (IDP) wait to be registered on the list of the World Food Program (WFP) at Mingkaman's temporary camp, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 9, 2014. South Sudanese internally displaced people (IDP) wait in line for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) food distribution at the Mingkaman temporary camp, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 9, 2014. South Sudanese internally displaced people (IDP) fight for food supplies, distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at the Mingkaman temporary camp, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 9, 2014. A South Sudanese woman reacts as South Sudanese internally displaced people (IDP) fight for food supplies, distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at the Mingkaman temporary camp, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
SSUDAN-UNREST-REFUGEES
Feb. 9, 2014. South Sudanese internally displaced people (IDP) carry food supplies, distributed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at the Mingkaman temporary camp, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 9, 2014. South Sudanese internally displaced people (IDP) get on boats at Mingkaman's temporary camp, as they head back to Bor, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 9, 2014. Soldiers stand next to South Sudanese internally displaced people (IDP) waiting on a boat at Mingkaman's temporary camp, as they head back to Bor, South Sudan..Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 11, 2014. A soldier injured during fighting between Government forces and rebels is hospitalized at Yirol government hospital supported by Italian NGP CUAMM, in South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 11, 2014. A soldier injured during fighting between Government forces and rebels is hospitalized at Yirol government hospital supported by Italian NGP CUAMM, in South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 11, 2014. A soldier injured during fighting between Government forces and rebels is hospitalized at Yirol government hospital supported by Italian NGP CUAMM, in South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 12, 2014.. A South Sudanese man from the Dinka ethnic group stands among the cattle at a cattle camp in the town of Yirol, in central South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 12, 2014.. South Sudanese children from the Dinka ethnic group pose at cattle camp in the town of Yirol, in central South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb.12, 2014.. Government soldiers walk along the road that connects the central South Sudanese town of Yirol with the north of the country. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 13, 2014..South Sudanese government soldiers are seen in a office at the military headquarters near the town of Yirol, in central South Sudan. Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 14, 2014. Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) government soldiers from the 2nd Brigade 6th Division sit on a truck with a heavy machine gun at the SPLA headquarters near Yirol, South Sudan,Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 14, 2014. Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) government soldiers from the 2nd Brigade 6th Division prepare to go on a patrol at the SPLA headquarters near Yirol, South Sudan, Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 15, 2014. A Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) government soldier from the 2nd Battalion smokes a cigarette at the SPLA headquarters in Nyang, in the county of Yirol East, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 15, 2014. Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) government soldiers from the 2nd Battalion pose at the SPLA headquarters in Nyang, in the county of Yirol East, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images
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Feb. 15, 2014. A Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) government soldier from the 2nd Battalion rests under a tree at the SPLA headquarters in Nyang, in the county of Yirol East, South Sudan.Fabio Bucciarelli—AFP/Getty Images

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