Sudanese refugees continue to pour into South Sudan as they flee aerial bombardments and ground attacks in the war-torn Nuba Mountains in Sudan, the United Nations refugee agency said Friday, as it warned that many of the settlement camps are quickly reaching full capacity.
With arrival rates exceeding 500 people per week, this represents an increase of more than 100 percent compared to the same period of 2013, William Spindler, spokesman at the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva.
"Since 23 December last year, more than 3,000 refugees from South Kordofan and Blue Nile States have arrived at Yida border town, a spontaneous settlement in South Sudan's Unity State already sheltering some 80,000 Sudanese refugees," he added.
"If the current rate of arrivals continues, more than 15,000 refugees may arrive by June 2015 and UNHCR is concerned that current funding may be inadequate to meet the needs of additional refugees, exceeding the original planning figure of 25,000," Spindler warned.
He said that refugees, mainly from Um Dorrein, Heiban and Delami Counties have told UNHCR that they escaped widespread violence in Sudan's Nuba Mountains region. "Refugees have also cited the lack of livelihood opportunities and education in their areas of origin as reasons for leaving. The majority arrived in trucks while others came on foot. Nearly 70 percent of new arrivals are children, and an estimated 10 percent suffer from malnutrition and measles."
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