South Sudanese refugees could surpass 1 million this year

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — The number of South Sudanese refugees in East Africa could pass 1 million this year, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday, calling on armed groups to allow safe passage for people fleeing the latest fighting.

There is concern about fresh outflows of refugees following military clashes in recent days in the capital, Juba, said Ann Encontre, a U.N. refugee coordinator in South Sudan. She appealed for $701 million in relief aid.

"They are supposed to be the generation of tomorrow, the generation that will lead and rebuild their country, but right now, they are suffering enormously," she said. "They have been deprived of a normal life."

In this photo taken Thursday, July 14, 2016 and released by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), people queue at the UN camp in Juba, South Sudan. Some South Sudanese, even those with dual U.S. citizenship, are not being allowed to leave the country, even as the United States, India and other countries continued Thursday to evacuate their citizens while a fragile cease-fire appeared to hold. (Beatrice Mategwa/UNMISS via AP)

Even before the resurgence of violence in the past week, hundreds of thousands of refugees had been sheltering in Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and elsewhere since civil war began in December 2013.

But there are new reports that South Sudan authorities are blocking some citizens, including those with U.S. or Canadian dual nationality, from leaving the country.

Opposing army factions have clashed in Juba over the past week, with forces backing President Salva Kiir pushing many opposition forces out of their bases in the city and bombing the home of former rebel leader Riek Machar, who is now the country's first vice president.

The fighting has threatened a peace deal reached in August to end the civil war between supporters of Kiir and Machar that left tens of thousands dead. The deal called for a transitional government that included members of both sides.

Both Kiir and Machar on Monday called for a cease-fire, which has appeared to hold.

But the U.N. has said more than 40,000 fled their homes in the latest fighting to seek shelter at U.N. and other sites in Juba.

Indians evacuated from South Sudan arrive at Palam airport with Indian junior foreign minister V.K. Singh, in brown waist jacket, in New Delhi, India, Friday, July 15, 2016. At least 156 Indians were evacuated from the violence-hit South Sudan, with 71 arriving by a special Indian Air Force flight to New Delhi. The evacuation was part of Operation Sankat Mochan launched by the Indian government. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

In this photo taken Thursday, July 14, 2016 and released by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), people queue to seek protection at the UN camp in Juba, South Sudan. Some South Sudanese, even those with dual U.S. citizenship, are not being allowed to leave the country, even as the United States, India and other countries continued Thursday to evacuate their citizens while a fragile cease-fire appeared to hold. (Beatrice Mategwa/UNMISS via AP)