More than 11,383 South Sudanese refugees returned from neighbouring countries in June, the government and the UN refugee agency said.
In a statement on Friday, the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC) and UNHCR said the returns represent a spike compared to the returns reported in April (5 077) and May (4 693).
The figures are contained in South Sudanese Refugees spontaneous returns statistics verified by UNHCR and the government relief agency (RRC) as of June 30.
According to UNHCR, the steady rise in numbers of refugees could be attributed to the exceptional health measures government put in place over the COVID-19 outbreak, including the restriction of cross border movements.
Overall, it stated, 301,033 South Sudanese refugees have spontaneously returned to South Sudan since November 2017, with 180, 347 of them returning after the signing of the revitalized peace agreement in October 2018 and 24, 137 refugees returning since the outbreak of the new coronavirus in the region.
UNHCR cited the onset of the crop season, coupled with the reduction of food assistance in refugee camps in Uganda and Ethiopia, the increase in the cost of living in refugee-hosting locations and the fear for the spread of COVID-19 in Sudan, the armed insurgency in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Ituri areas and some part of the Central African Republic (CAR) as the main reasons for the steady rise in numbers of the returnees last month.