Sudan’s White Nile State urges aid groups to double support for S.Sudan refugees
September 16, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – The Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) in White Nile State has called on international aid groups and partners to provide more support for the South Sudanese refugees.
The director of aid groups department at the HAC in White Nile Mustafa al-Kamel said thousands of South Sudanese refugees are stranded in the transit points, pointing these refugees suffer from severe shortage of foodstuff due to the rainy season.
He pointed out that the HAC has distributed quotas of edible oil and legumes to the refugees at Gori, Al-Kashafa and Al-Radees Al-Bahar camps in Al-Salam and Al-Jabalain localities.
Al-Kamel called on the United Nations agencies particularly the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide additional amounts of foodstuff to meet the needs of the refugees during the next period.
Over 2 million South Sudanese refugees have been displaced as a result of the conflict that hit the world’s youngest nation in mid-December 2013.
According to the UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of 15 January 2018, the total South Sudanese refugee population in Sudan stood at 770,110.
Other sources estimate a total of 1.3 million South Sudanese refugees in Sudan, but this data requires verification.
South Sudanese refugees in Sudan have reportedly been distributed in four states including the White Nile, South Kordofan, East Darfur and Khartoum states, amid concerns the current numbers will rise.
In August 2016, Sudan officially declared that South Sudanese fleeing war in their country will be treated as refugees, which opens the door for the UN to provide them with aid and fund aid programs.
The UNHCR said 3,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan in the first half of January 2018.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), an estimated 200,000 new South Sudanese refugees are anticipated to arrive in Sudan in 2018.
(ST)