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South Sudan fighting triggers new displacement: UNHCR

Xinhua, June 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Fighting in South Sudan's Unity and Upper Nile states has displaced more than 100,000 people over the past two months, said the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

Heavy fighting blocked humanitarian aid deliveries for some 650, 000 people as aid organizations were forced to withdraw, said a statement from UNHCR on Tuesday.

Since the beginning of the year, some 60,000 South Sudanese have fled the country, mostly to Sudan, bringing the total South Sudanese who fled the country since December 2013 to some 555,000, while some 1.5 million are internally displaced in the country, according to the statement.

Refugees cite the upsurge in fighting, but also growing food insecurity as the main reasons for fleeing their homes, said the statement, adding it's estimated that more than 3.8 million people, representing a third of South Sudan's population of 11 million, do not have sufficient food.

UNHCR offices in Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda have all reported sharp increases in arrivals during May, and last week alone, some 6,000 South Sudanese arrived in Sudan's White Nile and South Kordofan states, it said.

With the number of South Sudanese fleeing their country increasing rapidly, the statement said UNHCR is extremely concerned that the 2015 South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan that covers the refugee programs in the neighboring countries, run by UNHCR and 39 partners, is only funded at 10 percent.

This leaves many lifesaving activities such as the provision of clean water, sanitation and health services, food and shelter severely underfunded, said the statement. Endi