JUBA: Nearly four years after the UN, in a unique move, threw open its it peacekeepers’ camps to civilians fleeing the violence of South Sudan’s civil war, more than 200,000 people still shelter in the often squalid sites. Now the government is trying to entice them to go home, even as fighting rages on.

Although the crowding and filth are well-documented, the UN refugee agency says some in the seven UN-run camps resort to harmful coping mechanisms like alcohol addiction and survival sex, many people would rather remain than venture into open conflict.

They are called Protection of Civilians sites and as they embark on their fifth year of existence, they are an increasing point of contention. South Sudan government officials complain that their citizens are becoming reliant on aid handouts.

The leaders of South Sudan’s Roman Catholic Church are calling on the pope to visit this war-torn nation.

“We know his heart is in South Sudan,” Samuel Abe, secretary general for the archdiocese of Juba told reporters.

“My wish is if he comes he can be a voice for the voiceless.”

Pope Francis had planned to visit to this country in October, but cancelled citing security concerns caused by the country’s civil war.

He has donated 25 million euros to help feed the country’s most vulnerable citizens ahead of the upcoming dry season. The money was given to the United Nations’ agricultural arm, to alleviate a period of “grave food insecurity and major displacement,” said the Vatican in a statement obtained by media.

Meanwhile, South Sudan launched a closed-circuit television (CCTV) and drone security system on Monday that officials said would help improve safety in the capital Juba where violent crime has spiked on the back of an insurgency.

Kfir Shilder, project manager at Global Group, the Israeli company behind the project, said the surveillance system had 11 cameras installed in Juba and two drones. It would eventually be rolled out across the town. “It will be safe for everybody residing in Juba,” President Salva Kiir said at the system’s launch.

“Those who snatch things...in the streets can now be traced, they cannot get away from their crime.”

Africa’s youngest nation has been gripped by a four-year civil war pitting forces loyal to Kiir and his former vice president Riek Machar. Fighting has killed thousands, displaced hundreds of thousands and battered the economy.

Agencies