South Sudan’s years of civil has forced more than 1.5 million people to flee the battle zones into the neighbouring countries creating Africa’s largest refugee crisis.
South Sudan refugee crisis is the third largest in the world after Syria and Afghanistan.
According to a UN refugee agency report, since fighting erupted between the government of President Salva Kiir and rebel forces led by First Vice-President Riek Machar in December more than 3.5 million people have become homeless.
The UN agency further reports that more than 2 million people have been displaced within the country and the other 1.5 million have taken refugee into the neighbouring countries including Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan and Central African Republic.
FRESH VIOLENCE
Last July, fresh fighting in the world’s youngest nation broke and prompted a number of people to flee South Sudan
According to UN refugee agency –UNHCR, more than 760,000 people fled across borders after the collapse of peace deal between President Salva Kiir and his rival and opposition leader, Riek Machar.
About 63,000 people were forced to flee South Sudan every month this in the last four months since September 2016, half a million have fled.
Out of the number that has fled South Sudan, more than 60 percent of the refugees are children, many arriving with alarming levels of malnutrition.
They are suffering and enduring devastating impact of the brutalities of the ongoing conflict, the UN refugee agency pointed.
REFUGEES SURGE, IMPACT TO THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES
Tens of thousands of newly fleeing South Sudan refugees have widespread been reported creating surge in the neighbouring countries.
For example, Uganda is hosting most of the South Sudanese refugees, nearly 700,000 in what has been seen as a huge burden to accommodate more numbers which keeps coming.
Thousands have also been enrolled in the neighbouring Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya. Kenya also has been over burden for years, being home for more than half a million refugees.
A UN Refugee agency official has called for assistance there thousands of these refugees are facing acute food shortage. The official also noted of thousands others being hosted by the local communities, which are some of the poorest in those countries. That is why it is so important that those countries and those communities continue to receive assistance.
