Sudan hosts quarter of South Sudanese refugees: UNCHR

April 30, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Sudan is currently hosting about a quarter of the South Sudanese refugees in the region.

In its weekly humanitarian bulletin, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said UNHCR figures show that “over 10,000 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan during the first half of April, bringing the number of refugee arrivals from South Sudan to over 95,000 since the beginning of 2017”.

“This is a 32 percent increase since the end of 2016,” said OCHA.

According to OCHA “the number of South Sudanese refugees who have sought shelter and assistance in Sudan since December 2013 is almost 390,000 people”.

“The highest numbers of new arrivals in 2017 are reported in East Darfur and White Nile states – about 68 per cent. As of 15 April 2017, Sudan hosts about a quarter of the” said OCHA.

The UNHCR was initially expecting 60,000 South Sudanese refugees to arrive in Sudan in the whole of 2017, but that figure has already been exceeded in the first three months.

UNHCR anticipates a continuous influx of South Sudanese refugees throughout this year but is concerned about a drop in funding to meet their needs.

South Sudan has been engulfed by war since 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his rival and former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

(ST)