20,000 refugees flee South Sudan violence to Sudan in one week

May 12, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – Around 20,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan’s border areas during a week, fleeing the surge of violence in the Upper Nile region, said the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

“Nearly 20,000 South Sudanese refugees are reported to have fled across the border into Sudan between 29 April and 6 May, arriving in White Nile and South Kordofan,” the UNHCR said in a flash update issued on

The report further pointed that around 1300 people arrived in the White Nile per day from the Shilluk area through Joda and Meganis in the Upper Nile. It further indicated four other entry points via the South Kordofan: Gedeid, Qurayd, Sirijiya and Abu Jabaiha.

This recent wave of refugees comes after intense fighting near Kodok and Tonga in Upper Nile state of South Sudan. It is also triggered by the deteriorating humanitarian situations due to rising needs and security concerns in areas.

Humanitarian groups point that may South Sudanese are stranded along the border because they cannot afford onward transportation.

“Refugees have reported that their transportation into Sudan costs up to 1,000 SDG (150 USD), which has left many refugees unable to pay and stranded near the border at Renk, South Sudan, or forced to embark on a 4 to 7 day journey by foot,” the Update says.

Aid workers say that between 35,000 and 50,000 internally displaced people may try to cross into the Sudan before the rainy season which may limit their movement.

“Given the higher than anticipated arrival figures, UNHCR and inter-agency partners are now anticipating up to 180,000 new refugee arrivals into Sudan by the end of 2017,” said UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)-Sudan in its bimonthly bulletin.

The UNHCR estimates the total number of South Sudanese who sought shelter in Sudan since December 2013 stands at over 375,000 refugees.

(ST)