New refugees have arrived in Sherkole (Kubri Khamsa) camp in Ethiopia after fighting intensified in Upper Nile and Blue Nile, restricting aid flows to the larger camp population of Maban County.

About 150 refugees from Geissan area in Sudan’s Blue Nile state have arrived to the camp on 15 April, while over 60 families from South Sudan also arrived in the camp on 30 April.

The camp accommodates a large number of people mostly from Blue Nile State where conflict erupted in 2011 between the Sudan Armed Forces with allied militias and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North.

Refugees in southern Blue Nile and eastern Upper Nile became trapped between two conflicts when South Sudan’s civil war broke out on 15 December 2013.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj yesterday, the supervisor of the Sherkole Camp confirmed the arrival of a number of families, saying some of the new arrivals in the camp have not yet been registered by the humanitarian authorities.

He also noted most of the arrivals that have completed registration are being given some aid assistance by the humanitarian organizations operating in the area.

File photo: IDPs from Nuer ethnic group in Maban County, February 2014 (Radio Tamazuj)