New South Sudanese refugees arrive in Sudan :HAC
July 13, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) on Wednesday said that new influx of South Sudanese refugees fleeing bloody fighting have arrived in Sudan.
The violence, which has killed hundreds of people, broke out as the world’s newest nation prepared to mark five years of independence from Sudan on July 9.
In response to the mounting pressure from the international community, the rival leaders have unilaterally declared cessation of hostilities to stop the fighting.
In press statements on Wednesday, Sudan’s humanitarian aid commissioner Ahmed Mohamed Adam said that new wave of South Sudanese refugees have poured into Sudan during the past couple of days; pointing their number is yet to be determined.
He stressed readiness to meet any contingencies regarding the South Sudanese refugees if the conflict continues in the neighboring country.
Adam further said that Sudan received 500,000 South Sudanese refugees since 2013, pointing that the border state of the White Nile hosts the majority of those refugees.
Earlier this month, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that refugees fleeing conflict and food insecurity in South Sudan continue to arrive in Sudan.
It pointed out that “as of 3 July, 79,571 people from South Sudan had arrived in Sudan since 1 January 2016, of whom 53,273 in East Darfur”.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s Ministry of Health expressed readiness to receive 100,000 South Sudanese refugees, saying that a plan was put in place to respond to any developments in this regard.
In press statements on Wednesday, the director of emergency department at the Ministry of Health Salah al-Mubarak said that national and regional aid groups are providing health services at refugee camps in the White Nile and North and South Darfur states, pointing that a plan was made to provide medical staff and integrated prevention activities at those camps.
On 17 March, Sudanese government announced a decision that all South Sudanese in Sudan are to be treated as foreigners, instead of ‘brothers and sisters’ as they were previously regarded.
South Sudan broke away from Sudan in July 2011 and established its own independent state after decades of war between the two former northern and southern regions of one country.
(ST)