Escalating conflict in South Sudan forces many thousands to flee just as aid dwindles

Women and children from South Sudan line up to receive aid packages at Rhino Camp refugee settlement in Uganda (© UNHCR/Yonna Tukundane)

GENEVA - Over 165,000 people have fled increasing tensions and conflict in South Sudan in the past three months, seeking safety both within the country and across borders and deepening an already dire humanitarian situation across the region, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, warned on Tuesday.

Since late February, political instability and rising hostilities between armed groups have led to fresh clashes, particularly in Upper Nile state, but also other hot spots, devastating lives and damaging essential services, forcing many people already grappling with displacement, disease and food insecurity to move yet again.

Some 100,000 people seeking safety in the neighboring countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda cited insecurity, inter-communal violence, and deteriorating humanitarian conditions as the main reasons for flight.

“South Sudan cannot afford yet another crisis. The world’s youngest country has received more than 1 million people who fled the ongoing war in Sudan, while millions of its citizens continue to recover from years of conflict and crisis at home,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR’s Regional Director for the East, Horn of Africa and Great Lakes region.

As a result of fighting and movement restrictions in Upper Nile state and other areas, humanitarian access to an estimated 65,000 newly internally displaced people in affected communities remains significantly constrained. Desperately needed aid, including medicine and health care to tackle an increase in cholera cases, has ground to a halt. Looming rains are likely to exacerbate the situation, with flooding making transport problematic and expensive.

As they continue to welcome new arrivals, neighbouring countries are struggling to cope as resources such as food, water, sanitation, shelter and health care run dry.

Around 41,000 people have crossed into Sudan’s White Nile, Blue Nile, Kordofan and Darfur states. This includes over 26,000 into White Nile state alone, which already hosts some 410,000 South Sudanese refugees, including those displaced for a second time due to the ongoing war in their host country. The influx has increased the need for additional space to accommodate new arrivals, while essential services remain severely strained amid cholera outbreaks and a fragile security situation.

In Ethiopia, new arrivals had been staying in precarious conditions in makeshift shelters along riverbanks in the border town of Burbiey, Gambella, but are now receiving assistance away from the border in Matar and Moun. UNHCR, WFP and partners have already assisted some 21,000 new arrivals with food and relief items, with thousands more in need. Infrastructure and services in the Gambella region are already overstretched amid a cholera outbreak.

Uganda hosts the largest population of South Sudanese refugees in Africa, at one 1 million. It has received nearly 18,000 South Sudanese since March, a year-on-year increase of 135 per cent. Nearly 70 per cent of those arriving are children. This group of young refugees are taking increasingly long and dangerous routes to reach safety. 

The DRC has received an estimated 23,000 new arrivals from South Sudan due to recent violence and tension, despite the country grappling with its own ongoing conflict and a major displacement crisis.

Across countries of asylum, UNHCR and partners are delivering critical relief items to new arrivals, such as sleeping material, buckets and soap. We are also providing refugees with documentation and specialized support to survivors of gender-based violence. Border monitoring and engagement with local communities are ongoing.

To deliver initial life-saving protection and assistance and enhance preparedness, UNHCR requires $36 million to support up to 343,000 internally displaced people in South Sudan and refugees arriving in neighbouring countries over the next six months. This funding will allow UNHCR and partners to upgrade and establish reception and transit centres, and provide shelter, water, health and nutrition screening, and cash assistance to new arrivals.

“This emergency could not have come at a worse time. Many of the refugees are seeking safety in countries which have challenges of their own or are already dealing with emergencies amidst ongoing brutal funding cuts, straining our ability to provide even basic life-saving assistance,” Balde added. “We reiterate calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and urge all parties to spare civilians more suffering and find a peaceful solution.”

South Sudan remains one of the largest displacement crises in the region with more than 2.3 million South Sudanese living as refugees in the DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan.

For more information, contact:

• For Sudan, Assadullah Nasrullah, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +254 113 676 413
• In Juba, Carla Calvo, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +211 927 141 812
• In Addis Ababa, Sona Dadi, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +251 93 245 9640
• In Kinshasa, Rachel Criswell, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +243 81 700 9484
• In Nairobi (regional), Faith Kasina, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +254 113 427 094
• In Pretoria (regional), Duniya Aslam Khan, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +27 84 585 720
• In Geneva, Olga Sarrado, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +41 797 402 307
• In Geneva, Eujin Byun, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +41 79 747 8719

Source: https://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/escalating-conflict-south-sudan-forces-many-thousands-flee-just-aid-dwindles