:00:00. > :00:00.accused of leading unit, never charged. He said he had been doing
:00:00. > :00:30.charity work in Afghanistan. It is one of the world's worst
:00:31. > :00:39.humanitarian crises. A bloody multiethnic conflict.
:00:40. > :00:49.Civilians targeted, raped, and burnt alive in their homes.
:00:50. > :00:58.Millions forced to flee, and now hundreds of thousands of people
:00:59. > :01:40.close to starvation. Whereas you going? Families surviving on grass
:01:41. > :01:53.and leaves. On the outskirts of Bentiu town, South Sudan. Behind the
:01:54. > :02:02.barbed wire, 120,000 people have taken cover. They are being
:02:03. > :02:14.protected by the UN, because if they leave this camp they could be
:02:15. > :02:18.killed. We are about to enter the main gate of the camp, there are
:02:19. > :02:28.truly a number of entrances, this is just one of them, were about 2000
:02:29. > :02:41.people come through each week. -- where. This is the new reality in
:02:42. > :02:45.South Sudan. Bentiu town is strategically important. It lies in
:02:46. > :02:55.oil-rich unity state, en route to the country's vast oilfields, and
:02:56. > :02:58.the front of South Sudan's bloody civil war between the country's
:02:59. > :03:16.president, Salva Kiir, from the Dinka tribe, and his rival, rear --
:03:17. > :03:21.react react masher. About 60 families arrive here each day. They
:03:22. > :03:23.come through that main gate over there to this reception area, where
:03:24. > :03:29.they are register them, ask them health
:03:30. > :03:53.This woman, like the majority of what has happened
:03:54. > :04:00.This woman, like the majority of people in this state, is ethnic
:04:01. > :04:06.Nuer. But there is conflict even within tribes. In this complex,
:04:07. > :04:59.multiethnic war. She is one of the 2 million people
:05:00. > :05:04.forced to flee their homes. But this camp is not safe. 30 children have
:05:05. > :05:13.been dying here each week from malaria. I meet this seven-year-old
:05:14. > :05:37.playing in the mud. I ask what is it he is making?
:05:38. > :05:48.In this camp, children at least have the chance to go to school. These
:05:49. > :05:55.kids are getting their school bags for the first time and they are so
:05:56. > :06:01.excited they are cheering with joy. But 400,000 children in this country
:06:02. > :06:03.are missing out on an education. In the conflict zone, 70% of schools
:06:04. > :06:46.Why do you like this? What else do have closed.
:06:47. > :07:01.Why do you like this? What else do you do in the class? What you want
:07:02. > :07:15.to be when you grow up? What kind of man?
:07:16. > :07:39.It takes me to meet his mum. We have just been speaking to him and he is
:07:40. > :07:43.telling us about some of the things he has seen. What goes through your
:07:44. > :07:51.mind when you know he has seen these things?
:07:52. > :08:56.When the soldiers came, what did you and your family to? You know he is
:08:57. > :09:02.making guns out of clay? Tens of thousands of people have been killed
:09:03. > :09:06.in this conflict, and it is the supply of arms to both sides that
:09:07. > :09:13.the UN says has been instrumental in prolonging and escalating the war.
:09:14. > :09:17.We managed to catch up with this woman who is trying to find a bed
:09:18. > :09:22.for the night. After being registered, she has come here with
:09:23. > :09:34.her family to get ration cards. She has two lineup here to get her food
:09:35. > :09:35.for the evening. After queueing for her food rations she's taken to
:09:36. > :09:58.another part of the camp. It looks like she will have to stay
:09:59. > :10:00.in this temporary shelter tonight. Did you and your family think you
:10:01. > :10:19.would survive this ordeal? There is so much hope for your
:10:20. > :10:20.country, what do you think has happened to it now? What will happen
:10:21. > :11:03.to it? Beyond the camps, out in the bush,
:11:04. > :11:07.war has taken a heavy toll. Almost 4 million people in South Sudan face
:11:08. > :11:09.severe food insecurity, and many thousands are close to starvation
:11:10. > :11:18.according to the latest international assessment. I am with
:11:19. > :11:21.teams from the world food programme and UNICEF who are warning that
:11:22. > :11:28.unless action is taken famine could be just weeks away. We are
:11:29. > :11:44.travelling further across unity state to visit promote settlements.
:11:45. > :11:51.Some people have walked for days to get here. They are in desperate need
:11:52. > :11:53.of food, water and basic shelter. But ceasefire breaches are hampering
:11:54. > :12:15.the effort to deliver much-needed assistance.
:12:16. > :12:27.Families are being given a 50 day supply of sorghum and green, but
:12:28. > :12:31.there is no guarantee that further help will survive. It seems quite
:12:32. > :12:36.chaotic here, but there is some water. This clinic was vandalised in
:12:37. > :12:41.the fighting but they are using it to treat some of the children, who
:12:42. > :12:52.are extremely malnourished. Do you have small children? Tell me about
:12:53. > :12:56.your family. Wearout they now? -- where are they. When you get to
:12:57. > :13:09.food, where will you go? The risk that fighting may resume
:13:10. > :13:16.means that aid teams can only stay for seven days, and then they have
:13:17. > :13:20.to get out. They are asking both sides in the conflict to provide
:13:21. > :13:32.unrestricted access to the areas of need. How serious is the situation
:13:33. > :13:37.right now? The South of Unity has been identified as one area where
:13:38. > :13:43.potentially we could have famine. Is there a sense of how bad the
:13:44. > :13:49.situation is? There are some locations in central Unity, where
:13:50. > :13:54.they are finding somewhere around nutrition levels of 30%. But we
:13:55. > :14:03.really don't know. We worry that we are not able to reach the ones that
:14:04. > :14:06.may be in a much worse situation. The reason this assistance is
:14:07. > :14:10.allowed to happen or even possible, and the health checks as well, is
:14:11. > :14:14.because the NGOs have struck a deal with both the government and the
:14:15. > :14:18.opposition that there will be no fighting for at least seven days, so
:14:19. > :14:19.these guys can come in and give these people the help they so
:14:20. > :14:30.desperately need. In April, government troops and
:14:31. > :14:33.allied militia carried out a major offensive in this state to push back
:14:34. > :15:00.opposition forces. What happens to you?
:15:01. > :15:05.It must have been a very frightening night, as you were waiting for
:15:06. > :15:23.daytime to find out what would happen?
:15:24. > :15:26.What he says is consistent with reports from both the UN and Human
:15:27. > :15:39.Rights Watch. Right across this country, with
:15:40. > :15:43.government forces and rebel fighters are accused of carrying out serious
:15:44. > :15:50.human rights abuses. Both sides deny the charge. The government says if
:15:51. > :15:51.atrocities did occur they were carried out by people acting on
:15:52. > :16:00.their own behalf. Iron with a team from UNICEF, who
:16:01. > :16:06.have just been given the thumbs up to launch a relief and rescue
:16:07. > :16:13.operation into Jonglei state and into the town of Kaldak. This
:16:14. > :16:17.mission is heading deep into the bush to look for people who have
:16:18. > :16:20.fled from the fighting. We've heard reports that the situation is very
:16:21. > :16:27.desperate, that people could be dying of starvation. We're with the
:16:28. > :16:36.first international team to reach this town.
:16:37. > :16:42.This territory is actually controlled by the opposition, but in
:16:43. > :16:46.November of last year the government launched a massive offensive here
:16:47. > :16:51.and they virtually flattened the whole town. There was a market just
:16:52. > :16:55.over there, there were buildings and homes, and now nothing exists.
:16:56. > :17:02.People are forced to shelter under the trees. Hundreds of families just
:17:03. > :17:14.outside the town has made this patch of earth their home.
:17:15. > :17:27.Women are cooking and what I find is truly shocking.
:17:28. > :17:48.Those pots are full of grass and leaves.
:17:49. > :17:54.I meet Regina, who is cooking grass for her family. Can you tell me what
:17:55. > :18:49.Between ten and 15,000 people have you're doing?
:18:50. > :18:56.Between ten and 15,000 people have arrived in discount from other parts
:18:57. > :18:59.of the country. They're living alongside people who have returned
:19:00. > :19:05.to what's left of their homes and conditions are desperate. There are
:19:06. > :19:10.so many resources here that people could tap into. That water is full
:19:11. > :19:15.of fish. But the people here don't even have fishing rods. They've also
:19:16. > :19:19.been trying to access the waterlilies. Across this country
:19:20. > :19:23.people have been eating the roots from the waterlilies, but they don't
:19:24. > :19:27.even have can use. What they are doing is eating grass and leaves. A
:19:28. > :19:30.lot of the work is done by the women here and they wake up each morning
:19:31. > :19:39.and collect leaves and grass for their families. In this town, South
:19:40. > :19:46.Sudan's two main tribes, the ethnic Nuer and Dinka, mix with the local
:19:47. > :19:56.tribe. Regina and her friends are from this tried. I go with them as
:19:57. > :20:00.they search for their next meal. Where are you going? What's happens
:20:01. > :20:34.to your food? There is very little or no
:20:35. > :20:39.nutritional value in this grass and the sleeves. I've been told by a
:20:40. > :20:42.health expert here that these people could actually develop health
:20:43. > :20:47.problems with their liver and kidneys if they consume this over a
:20:48. > :20:48.long period of time. Some of these people have been eating grass and
:20:49. > :21:54.leaves for about six months. This country has so much great
:21:55. > :22:24.potential. 95% of the land in South Sudan is fertile.
:22:25. > :22:31.Four and a half years ago, the world's youngest nation had promised
:22:32. > :22:40.so much hope for millions. But war has torn this country apart. Now,
:22:41. > :23:15.thousands of its own people are on the brink of famine.
:23:16. > :23:19.Rain around at the moment that will linger in Scotland Saturday morning.