20,000 South Sudanese ‘not refugees’

There are currently around 20,000 South Sudanese people who have fled the armed conflict in their country and sought refuge in the border states of Sudan, according to humanitarian organisations. The Sudanese government refuses to consider them refugees but is willing “to meet all of their needs”. The current estimate of newly arrived people from South Sudan stands at 20,000 people according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). This figure may change over the coming days as a full registration in all areas, also South Kordofan, has yet to be completed. The Emergency Coordination Committee of White Nile state estimated that since 15 January, 7,000 people from South Sudan have arrived in El Salam locality and another 5,500 have crossed into El Jebelein locality. Other reports indicated that, as of the 15 January, up to 10,000 people, “mostly nomads”, may have crossed into Sudan and the contested Abyei area. Aid agencies have estimated thousands of people have sought refuge in other areas such as Khartoum, Darfur and Blue Nile, according to the UN’s Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Humanitarian organisations such as the World Food Programme have provided food, non-food relief items, health and water, sanitation and hygiene services in South and West Kordofan. Sudan’s humanitarian commissioner Suleiman Abdel Rahman Suleiman reported on Wednesday that Sudan received more than 8,000 refugees from South Sudan, saying half of them are in White Nile, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. On Sunday, OCHA found that an estimated 490,600 people have been displaced within South Sudan while another 83,900 crossed into neighbouring countries. South Sudanese ‘not refugees’ The Government has indicated that South Sudanese arriving in Sudan are not considered as refugees for the time being, but that they are people with humanitarian needs. The Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir said that he does not want to establish refugee camps, and grants the South Sudanese entrance in his country to settle anywhere without restrictions, according to Sudan Tribune. Al Bashir also grants the South Sudanese special privileges, and to meet all of their needs, including education and vaccination of children. The fighting that broke out on 15 December in the capital of South Sudan is the result of a political struggle between President Salva Kiir and former Vice President Riek Machar, but the political struggle has also heightened ethnic tensions between Dinka and Nuer tribes. In some parts of the country, Nuer troops have attacked Dinka civilians, and vice versa in Juba.   Map: People who have arrived in Sudanese states (UN OCHA bulletin 13-19 January)Related: 2,000 Upper Nile refugees in Sudan’s Abu Jubeiha (21 January 2014)