West Kordofan, UNHCR want to aid South Sudanese

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the government of West Kordofan have agreed to address the humanitarian needs of the hundreds of thousands South Sudanese refugees who have fled to Sudan.

The UNHCR and West Kordofan decided to establish two sites for refugees near the border. On Monday, Governor Abulgasim El Amin Baraka told reporters after the meeting that approximately 100,000 refugees from South Sudan have spread in El Fula, Khorsan, El Miram and En Nahud in the states of Kordofan. “We will try to satisfy their humanitarian needs.”

UN's refugee agency recently reported that 332,000 South Sudanese refugees are currently in Sudan. The rate of new arrivals has surpassed UNHCR initial expectations. On 26 March, the Sudanese government announced the opening of a new corridor for humanitarian assistance and food from central Sudan to northern South Sudan. World Food Programme (WFP) will be moving an initial delivery of 11,000 metric tons (MT) of sorghum – including 1,000 MT donated by the Government of Sudan.

In March the EU announced to address the famine and droughts in the Horn of Africa with a support package, and allocated €100 million to South Sudan.

'Bring together all South Sudanese parties'

In a workshop on the effects of the situation in South Sudan State at the National Assembly in Omdurman, imam El Sadig El Mahdi has suggested to revive the idea of twinning Sudan and South Sudan in order to accommodate development in the neighbouring country.

El Mahdi, chairman of the National Umma Party, called for a national meeting to bring together all Southern Sudanese political, military and tribal forces under international auspices to agree on how to achieve national decisions.

He warned that the situation in South Sudan deteriorates “because of the lack of intervention”. The humanitarian and political crises threaten to widen civil war “and open the way for external interventions that leads to ignition of a regional war”.

The chairman of the leading opposition party returned to Sudan in January after more than two years of self-imposed exile in Cairo. He was accused of undermining the Constitution. The former Sudanese Prime-Minister says he is committed to the roadmap for peace in Sudan, while being a leading member of the coalition of the Sudan Appeal forces.