More than 100,000 South Sudanese refugees now in Sudan

On 8 October, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that the number of South Sudanese refugees in Sudan has surpassed 100,000. Since the start of the civil war in South Sudan in December 2013, large numbers of South Sudanese sought refuge in Sudan. UNHCR estimates that up to 165,000 refugees from South Sudan might seek shelter in Sudan by the end of this year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan announced in its latest weekly bulletin. “This would mean that there would be more than half a million South Sudanese in Sudan by the end of the year, including both refugees who arrived since mid-December 2013 and those already residing in Sudan,” OCHA reported. “Although there is a significant need for additional resources to assist this influx of refugees, Sudan has received the lowest level of funding of all the countries involved in the South Sudan refugee crisis response.” Of the 100,492 South Sudanese refugees in Sudan, about 29,800 are in Khartoum. The new arrivals have been largely accommodated by extended family support networks within the South Sudanese community in Sudan.File photo: New South Sudanese refugees arrive in White Nile state (Reuters)