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Renewed fighting in South Sudan forces thousands to flee: UNHCR

Xinhua, November 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned Friday that revived fighting in South Sudan forced an average 3,500 people each day to seek refuge in neighbouring states last month.

"In recent weeks, refugees are increasingly using informal border crossing points, reportedly due to the presence of armed groups preventing people from using main roads," the agency noted in a statement.

"Many refugees report having had to walk through the bush for days, often without food or water," it added.

Those who fled the war-torn country have reported of civilian harassment by armed groups, killings and torture of people suspected of supporting opposing factions, burning villages, sexual assaults of women and girls as well as the recruitment of young men and boys, UNHCR said.

Many have also fled areas facing acute levels of malnutrition amid ongoing food shortages.

According to UNHCR, 90 percent of those fleeing violence in the young African nation is either a woman or a child.

Uganda documented the largest inflow of refugees last month, with some 2,400 arrivals reported every day since the beginning of October.

Significant daily arrivals were also recorded in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan.

Violence flared in South Sudan in July after fighting broke out between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar, causing hundreds of deaths and massive displacement flows into bordering states. Endit