UN says over 31,000 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan in January, February

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday said over 31,000 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan during January and February this year.

"Initial expectations were that 60,000 refugees may arrive through 2017, but in the first two months alone, over 31,000 refugees arrived," said UNHCR in a statement on Monday.

It explained that initial estimates show that over 80 percent of the new arrivals are women and children, including unaccompanied and separated children, noting that "they are in need of immediate life-saving assistance, which UNHCR and its sister agencies are trying to address."

Noriko Yoshida, UNHCR's representative in Sudan, said in the statement that "we are extremely concerned at people's condition when they arrive, especially children who are suffering the most."

Last Thursday, Sudanese Commissioner for Refugees Hamad Al-Jizouli said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua that "the number of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan so far has reached 495,000."

On Aug. 15 last year, Sudan officially decided to treat the South Sudanese fleeing the war in their country as refugees, which opens the door for the UN to provide them with aid and fund aid programs.

Recently famine was officially declared in South Sudan, where the South Sudanese government and the UN said 100,000 people facing starvation, with one million people classified as being on the brink of famine.

The famine was attributed to many reasons including the civil war and collapse of the economy in the new-born state. Endit