‘More than 191,000 South Sudanese refugees in Sudan’: OCHA

As of 19 August, the number of South Sudanese refugees who have taken refuge in Sudan since mid-December 2013 has reached 191,624, according to the UNHCR.

Of these people, some 114,000 have received some form of assistance, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan reported in its latest weekly bulletin.

Most of the newcomers this week arrived in White Nile state (1,533) and South Kordofan (371) bringing the number of new arrivals in August so far to 2,636. This is significantly less than the influxes in June and July, which is largely owing to heavy rains blocking roads and thus hindering population movements.

Rains have also started to affect humanitarian operations in both states. According to the UNHCR, five out of seven sites in White Nile state are currently inaccessible because of the rain. While food distribution has been completed eight refugee sites, it is still ongoing in Jouri and the immunisation outreach scheduled for the Jouri and Um Sangor sites has been postponed to the last week of August because of the access constraints.

The growing presence of refugees, in particular from South Sudan, is placing additional pressure on the already limited humanitarian resources and funding. The expected total number of refugees in 2015 of 196,000 has nearly been reached.

The 2015 South Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan was launched on 17 December 2014, with inter-agency requirements for Sudan set at $152.1 million. As of 21 August, the response plan had received $30.7 million, about 20 percent of the required amount.