Over 300,000 refugees will need assistance and protection in South Sudan next year: UN

The United Nations said on Friday that it urgently requires funds to provide assistance and protection services to about 337,000 refugees in South Sudan in 2024.
New Sudanese refugees, mostly women and children, arriving in Chad. (UNHCR photo)

By Awan Achiek

The United Nations said on Friday that it urgently requires funds to provide assistance and protection services to about 337,000 refugees in South Sudan in 2024.

“An estimated 9.4 million people in South Sudan, including 2.2 million women, 4.9 million children and 337,000 refugees, are projected to need humanitarian assistance and protection services in 2023 – reflecting a 76 per cent of the country’s population and a 5 per cent increase from 2022,” revealed the 2023 South Sudan Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) report released in Juba.

 It noted that the existing humanitarian conditions have been worsened by sub-national violence, years of conflict, food insecurity, and climate change effects such as flooding and drought and health challenges the report said.

It said an additional 212,000 people are estimated to have humanitarian or protection needs in Abyei Administrative Area, a disputed territory between Sudan and South Sudan.

It disclosed that conflict and insecurity fueled by sub-national and inter-communal violence, crime and wide-scale impunity continue to be among the main drivers of humanitarian needs in South Sudan.

“Throughout 2022, sub-national and inter-communal violence recurred in seven out of ten states and the Abyei Administrative Area, displacing people across the country, limiting their access to critical humanitarian services and disrupting humanitarian operations,” it said.

The United Nations said that sub-national violence has destroyed people’s lives and livelihoods and increased existing vulnerabilities.

It said that during the first half of 2022, inter-communal violence was the primary source of violence affecting civilians, accounting for more than 60 per cent of civilian casualties.

It also said that persistent attacks on civilians by armed cattle keepers, cattle raids and revenge attacks resulted in several killings, displacement of at least 257,000 people and increased incidents of sexual violence, abductions and looting/destruction of property.

South Sudan has about 2.2 million South Sudanese refugees in exile, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

In addition, there are 2.3 million internally displaced persons while the country hosts over 323,000 refugees and received over 600,000 returnees during outbreak of fighting in Sudan crisis since April 2023.

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