‘Blue Nile refugees stuck at the border’

Nearly 43,000 have been making their way to South Sudan’s Upper Nile state, says SPLM-NAround 43,000 citizens of Blue Nile state who have fled towards South Sudan’s Upper Nile district are stuck on the border, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North said on Thursday.The opposition group, which has been fighting the Sudanese government since September, 2011 in Blue Nile state, said that the refugees’ progress was slow because of severe lack of food, medicine and continued aerial bombing the government.Suleiman Osman Hamid, spokesperson of the SPLM-N in Blue Nile State, told Radio Dabanga that the people stranded include women, children and the incapacitated. “The citizens are stranded in the direction of Yabous and Waqfa areas who are on the way to Upper Nile.”He revealed that over 11,000 refugees from Blue Nile were registered in Dardora camp area of Upper Nile state. “But there are many others who are unregistered. There is severe food shortage, there is food enough only to feed 30 percent of the present refugees.” Suleiman said.He appealed to international aid organizations to urgently take action to rescue tens of thousands of people who are still stranded.