Britain contributes $350,000 to support UNHCR efforts in Sudan

December 5, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The United Kingdom (UN) has contributed £ 236, 640 ($ 357,598) to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sudan to address the growing challenge of young refugee and migratory flows in the region.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Saturday, UNHCR representative in Sudan Mohamed Adar said that an increasing number of young refugees are leaving or transiting through Sudan, with the intention to reach Europe, adding they “undertake extremely perilous journeys, resorting to smuggling networks, which puts them at risk of trafficking”.

“The number of minors traveling alone is a great source of concern to us. These young refugees are extremely vulnerable and need specific attention. We are extremely grateful to the UK Government for its support, which will help us provide assistance to unaccompanied children,” he said.

Adar also said the UK contribution will also allow UNHCR to further expand its livelihoods programme in Khartoum, which remains on a small scale, noting that “developing refugees’ skillset is critical to offer them better opportunities and alternatives to secondary movements, including to Europe”.

For his part, the director for migration at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, James Sharp, said during a visit to Khartoum this week his country is “pleased to be supporting this important work to help refugee communities in Khartoum, sheltering them from the risk of taking a perilous onward journey that could lead to trafficking, kidnap or death at sea”.

He pointed out that this contribution comes as part of UK’s wider efforts to develop a comprehensive response to tackling migration challenges in Europe and the Horn of Africa.

“The UK has a proud tradition of assisting and protecting the world’s most vulnerable. This year the UK is contributing £47 million for humanitarian and development assistance to Sudan to help Sudanese people, as well as refugees,” he said

UNHCR in Sudan works with the Commissioner for Refugees (COR), the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), and other national institutions to protect and assist 375,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, as well internally displaced people in Khartoum, the East, South and West Kordofan, White Nile and Darfur.

(ST)