Fresh fighting over past month forces 3,000 to flee Sudan's Nuba Mountains
Refugees, mainly from Um Dorrein, Heiban and Delami counties, also cited the lack of livelihood opportunities and education in their home areas as reasons for leaving.
GENEVA, January 30 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency on Friday reported that fresh fighting in Sudan's Nuba Mountains has led to an increase in the number of people fleeing to South Sudan in the past month.
UNHCR field staff said that more than 3,000 Sudan citizens from South Kordofan and Blue Nile states have arrived since December 23 at the border town of Yida, a spontaneous settlement in South Sudan's Unity state already sheltering some 80,000 Sudanese refugees.
"With arrival rates exceeding 500 people per week, this represents an increase of more than 100 per cent compared to the same period of 2013," UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told journalists in Geneva.
Refugees, mainly from Um Dorrein, Heiban and Delami counties, told UNHCR that they had escaped conflict and widespread violence in the Nuba Mountains region, including air and ground attacks. 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," Spindler said. "Nearly 70 per cent of new arrivals are children, and an estimated 10 per cent suffer from malnutrition and measles. Refugees reported that many more Sudanese are on their way to South Sudan, but we are not in a position to confirm this information," he added.
At the transit centre in Yida, UNHCR and its partners provide assistance to the new arrivals, including hot meals. Refugees are medically screened and receive a measles vaccination upon arrival. UNHCR undertakes biometric registration of new arrivals to ensure that refugees can be identified quickly and are able to access assistance.
To date, more than 80 per cent of new arrivals have been transported from Yida to Ajuong Thok, a camp established in March 2013 to ease overcrowding in the Yida settlement. The remaining 20 per cent have decided to settle in Yida as they have family in the settlement. In Ajuong Thok, all refugees undergo further medical screening and all children under 15 years old are vaccinated against measles.
With 18,000 Sudanese refugees living in Ajuong Thok, the camp has almost reached its full capacity of 25,000 people and UNHCR is concerned that current funding may be inadequate to meet the needs of additional refugees.
Spindler said UNHCR was working with the government of South Sudan to identify a site to set up a new camp in Unity state in preparation for any more arrivals. South Sudan hosts nearly 250,000 refugees, mostly from Sudan, and more than 1.8 million internally displaced people.
Related news and stories
Recurring floods in Sudan displace refugees and their host communities
Across borders, South Sudan's displaced call for peace
Q&A with Mary Maker, UNHCR's newest Global Goodwill Ambassador
UNHCR and partners appeal for US$1.3 billion to support South Sudanese refugees
Coffee connects Ethiopian refugee to home
Coffee connects Ethiopian refugees to home
Your search for « Nuba » matched 108 results. Displaying page 3 of 12 pages.
-
Running on empty, Sudanese refugees urged to leave unsafe border site
30 Dec 2011 ... The 20-year-old heard the explosions and she grabbed her two children and ran. She ran from her home in Lehemid in the Nuba mountains and to the next town. They arrived in the town of Al Reika and ...... -
Sudanese student pursues her dreams in Cairo
21 Feb 2018 ... Today, you can’t do anything if you are not educated.” Despite living through years of insecurity and conflict in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains before fleeing and becoming a refugee, Nousa had never ...... -
Sudanese scholar defies all odds and secures a scholarship in Italy
11 Sep 2020 ... Growing up in Sudan’s Nuba mountains, he only started attending school at the age of 10. Classes ... But at 19, he was forced to leave for Ethiopia after he and other students from the Nuba Mountains ...... -
UNHCR Global Appeal 2011 (update) - Nowhere People: A photo essay the world's stateless
1 Dec 2010 ... ... T he Nubians in Kenya In the late 1880s, Nubians from Sudan were conscripted into the British army and taken to Kenya. They were granted homesteads and issued British colonial passports. However, ...... -
UNHCR fears effect of Sudan border insecurity on refugee safety in Yida
27 Mar 2012 ... to more than 16,000 refugees who settled in Yida after fleeing violence in the Nuba Mountains. ... Refugee leaders say they prefer to stay close to their homes in the Nuba Mountains. Also, they are ...... -
Helping young refugees in South Sudan find physical and emotional security
5 Dec 2012 ... "The people of the Nuba Mountains have been at war for decades," Oteiza says. "They have learned to ... left their village near Umdorein, in the Nuba Mountains, with the understanding that their ...... -
World Refugee Day 2004: Egypt
20 Jun 2004 ... Almost 400 guests enjoyed the open-air atmosphere of Club Mohamed Ali by the Nile. Guests danced to the music of the famous Nubian singer, Mohamed Mounir. The UNHCR gala dinner kicked off to a month ...... -
Sudanese refugees face rising challenges as outflow grows
11 May 2012 ... UNHCR is making preparations for the possibility of a further influx. In South Sudan's Unity state, Yida settlement has received more than 3,200 arrivals from the Nuba Mountains so far this month. ...... -
Uganda: South Sudan conflict leaves women and children to cope as refugees
20 Jan 2014 ... in 2011, and the rest of her family died in aerial bombings in her home region, the Nuba Mountains. ... After learning of her plight, UNHCR introduced her to seven other Nuba families in the centre and ......