Sudan’s White Nile state prepares for possible South Sudan refugee influx

March 10, 2025 (KOSTI) – Authorities in Sudan’s White Nile state said on Monday they were taking urgent precautions to monitor a potential influx of refugees from South Sudan amid escalating insecurity.

South Sudan’s capital, Juba, has been grappling with a security and political crisis following the arrest of officials from the opposition SPLM-IO led by Riek Machar. The arrests came after the “White Army” – a Nuer ethnic militia – seized the town of Nasir in Upper Nile state.

Fears are growing that the White Army’s capture of Nasir and the death of an army commander during a U.N. evacuation could trigger a civil war, just years after South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

In a statement, the White Nile state government said that the state security committee, chaired by Governor Omar Al-Khalifa Abdallah, had “directed the development of an urgent plan to take necessary precautions at all the state’s border crossings with South Sudan.” These crossings include Joda, Al-Meqainis, and Um Kweika.

Imad Mustafa Ahmed, Assistant Commissioner for Refugee Affairs in White Nile, said the security committee had reviewed a report on the security situation in South Sudan and its potential to trigger displacement. He added that the committee ordered the monitoring of potential refugee flows and that the refugee commission was contacting relevant authorities to prepare.

Sudan hosts 613,000 South Sudanese refugees, with 411,000 residing in White Nile state, according to a Jan. 31 update from the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR). The remainder are in other states, including Al Jazirah, which hosts 5,500.

Al Jazirah state government said earlier this week it had begun relocating about 3,000 South Sudanese nationals to a border crossing to prepare for their return.