WUNRN
UNHCR - UN Refugee Agency
Over
three quarters of the people UNHCR cares for are women and children, often the
most vulnerable in times of crisis. UNHCR is responding to a crisis unprecedented
in recent history as four major refugee and displacement emergencies occur
simultaneously in Syria, South Sudan, Mali and the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
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SUDAN - REFUGEES FLEE AIR &
GROUND ATTACKS & CROSS TO SOUTH SUDAN - WOMEN & CHILDREN - CRISIS
FOR FOOD, HEALTH, POVERTY
25 September
2012
©
UNHCR/K.Mahoney
Sudanese women and children wait for
treatment for malnutrition at Yida refugee camp.
JUBA, South
Sudan, September 25 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency said Tuesday that fresh air and
ground attacks in Sudan's South Kordofan state are causing a renewed population
influx to South Sudan.
"About 100
refugees a day are arriving in the border town of
"We
anticipate an increased influx into Yida as the rains subside and if fighting
further escalates in
Fleming said
that with tension increasing in border areas, UNHCR was "extremely
concerned" about the safety of the refugees in Yida camp, which lies close
to the border. "UNHCR continues to work with the refugee community to
advocate for the relocation of the settlement to a safer location as soon as
roads reopen [when the rainy season ends in November]," she added.
UNHCR has also
been supporting the South Sudanese authorities in their efforts to ensure there
are no arms or combatants in Yida camp and to prevent forced recruitment.
Recently, however, a search for weapons in the settlement has led to cases of
arbitrary detention and abuse of refugees.
"Together
with our partners, we have been monitoring the situation and intervening to
secure the release of those detained," Fleming stressed.
Meanwhile, UNHCR
is concerned that heavy rains and flooding in South Sudan's Upper Nile state
could cut road access to camps hosting some 105,000 refugees. This could affect
assistance as well as the continuing success of intensive health, hygiene and
nutrition campaigns launched in May to combat malnutrition and an outbreak of
hepatitis E.
Many roads are
already flooded and may soon become impassable. So far, the town of
She added that
these families had been moved to higher, unflooded areas of the camp and
provided with assistance. The three other camps in
Over the
weekend, humanitarian workers delivered 14 tonnes of nutritional aid to Doro,
using tractors and trailers to get through the water and mud. The Upper Nile is
an area largely affected by seasonal rains and it may sustain further
environmental damage should floodwaters from the Ethiopian highlands reach
While the end of
the rainy season should herald easier access to the camps and improved living
conditions, UNHCR and partners anticipate continuing new refugee influxes from
South Sudan
currently hosts some 201,000 refugees, including more than 170,000 in Unity and