Thousands of refugees who were living in Maban County in South Sudan’s Upper Nile state have returned to SPLA-N held areas in Sudan’s Blue Nile state.

The refugees are fleeing Maban due to political turmoil in South Sudan, according to El Samawi Adlan, food security officer in Blue Nile's SMPLA-N controlled areas.

Adlan told Radio Tamazuj that approximately 5,000 refugees from Blue Nile have returned to the SPLA-N areas, while others have gone to Ethiopian camps.

Evacuation of aid organizations due to the Upper Nile conflict has negatively affected the refugees, Adlan said, who are experiencing cases of severe malnutrition and other diseases among women and children.