South Sudanese refugees return to border area, complain of food shortage
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - Over 70,000 South Sudanese refugees have fled the fighting in Khartoum State and recent clashes in Jibal Awlia area, to White Nile state, where a huge community of South Sudanese has been living since 2011 when it gained independence from Sudan.
The Deputy head of the Refugees Commission in the White Nile State, Imad Mustafa Ahmed, visited the camp that was prepared for the refugees who arrived from Khartoum State. The official Sudan News Agency said he was briefed on the measures and preparations put in place to assist and provide food and shelter for the refugees.
The Sudanese Refugees Commission was, meanwhile, quoted as saying that the arrival of the refugees to the region should be organised as already another 80,000 have arrived at another camp in the same state.
The Sudanese official responsible for the refugee camps was quoted by the agency as complaining of conditions and the challenges facing the new arrivals who require more solidarity and support from all concerned parties.
Jabal Awlia is located on the outskirts of Khartoum, southwest of downtown Khartoum and a continuum from South Sudan’s Upper Nile region on the White Nile tributary of the river Nile.
The Sudan News Agency quoted the media director at the Refugee Commission, Mustafa Omar Abarou, as saying that in addition to the 70,000 who arrived to the White Nile State, some 10 lorries arrive daily in the region loaded with refugees fleeing from the fighting in Khartoum and northern Sudan.
“The refugees face a number of challenges here including lack of food after the World Food Programme suspended its activities in the country,” Abarou said.
-0- PANA MO/MA 1May2023
