Floods hinder relocation of S. Sudanese refugees in Sudan: UNHCR
January 25, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said that flooding has hindered transfer of South Sudanese refugees to new relocation sites in Sudan’s White Nile state.
Last December, the humanitarian commissioner in Khartoum state, Mustafa al-Sinarri, announced the relocation of South Sudanese refugees from Khartoum state to While Nile state after it was decided to build new refugees camps near the border.
The operation aims to establish camps to provide the refugees with the adequate services as Khartoum state, which hosts over 150,000 South Sudanese who preferred to remain in Sudan at the independence, failed to provide land for the construction of new camps.
According to the UNHCR, an estimated 119,950 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan as of 15 January seeking refuge since violence erupted in South Sudan in December 2013.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) newsletter quoted the UNCHR as saying that flooding in White Nile state, caused by the closing to the Jebel Awlia dam, has affected El Redis, El Redis 2 and Jouri relocation sites, noting that access and delivery of basic services to these refugees have been hindered.
It added the flooding has also forced humanitarian actors to temporarily suspend the relocation of refugees from El Redis to El Redis 2 relocation sites.
Earlier this month, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that it urgently requires $10 million to meet the needs of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan for the next six months.
UNHCR’s regional response plan most likely scenario projects that 196,000 refugees from South Sudan will have arrived in Sudan by the end of 2015.
(ST)