Sudan’s SRCS launches appeal to assist South Sudan’s refugees
May 16, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) Tuesday said it will launch an appeal to provide relief to meet needs of the increasing influx of South Sudan’s refugees.
Nearly 500,000 refugees from neighbouring South Sudan, United Nations Higher Commissioner Refugees (UNHCR) estimates show, have fled to Sudan since mid-December 2013.
Famine was officially declared in South Sudan in February, where the government and the U.N said 100,000 people are facing starvation, with one million people classified as being on the brink of starvation.
Speaking at a press conference in Khartoum Tuesday, SRCS Secretary General Osman Gaafar said they are “in the process of launching an appeal within the next two days to provide assistance to the refugees coming from South Sudan”.
He pointed to the continued and increasing influx of South Sudanese refugees crossing into the border states, saying “the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) will release the reserve fund to provide the necessary assistance to South Sudan’s refugees”.
The world’s newest nation has been engulfed by war since 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his rival and former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
The troubled country has reportedly now become the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis with more than 1.8 million refugees, including one million children, having sought safety in Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR).
The UN humanitarian agencies said they are seeking $1.4 billion to provide life-saving aid to South Sudanese refugees in the six neighbouring countries until the end of 2017.
(ST)