Over 180,000 S. Sudan refugees arrived in Sudan in 2017: UN

September 17, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – About 182,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan in 2017, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement issued last week.

“Almost 460,000 South Sudanese refugees, fleeing hunger and violence in South Sudan, have arrived in Sudan since December 2013. About 182,000 refugees arrived in 2017 so far. The majority of new arrivals are women and children,” partly reads OCHA’s statement.

According to the agency, the refugee influx into Sudan’s region of South Darfur has continued with more than about 240 South Sudanese refugees arriving in the state every single day.

With the continued security issues in South Sudan and the famine which has hit many part of the young nation, new influxes of South Sudanese refugees are expected to arrive in Sudan, OCHA said.

South Sudanese refugees in Sudan have reportedly been distributed in four states including the White Nile, South Kordofan, East Darfur and Khartoum states, amid concerns the current numbers will sour.

In August last year, Sudan officially declared that South Sudanese fleeing war in their country will be treated as refugees, which opens the door for the UN to provide them with aid and fund aid programs.

The conflict in South Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 2 million into neighbouring its nations since mid-December 2013.

(ST)