Authorities in the Ruweng Administrative Area said they had airlifted 86 returnees from Upper Nile State to Pariang, the area’s headquarters.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Sunday, Sarah Akuot, the area’s minister of information and communications, said they managed to airlift the first batch of 86 returnees from Upper Nile State to the Ruweng Administrative Area on Friday.
“We went to the airstrip on Friday to receive the returnees; they were so delighted because the government of Ruweng took the initiative to transport them from Upper Nile State to Parieng,” she said.
“They are about 86 South Sudanese individuals. There are no households registered, only individuals registered. They are now in Pariang town,” she added.
Akuot said humanitarian organizations were working to ensure that emergency supplies, including food and non-food items, were delivered to the new arrivals.
“Ruweng Administrative authorities will find the accurate number next week because new arrivals are still coming daily. When we went there, we got a lot of people, especially elderly people, and the children were crying, and the number is huge,” she said.
She said the administration would hold an urgent meeting with humanitarians working on the ground to ensure food assistance is delivered to the needy urgently.
Minister Akuot further said the new arrivals would trace their families and re-join the community in Pariang town.
Last week, the National Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs said it registered nearly 70,000 returnees and refugees who fled the conflict in Sudan. The ministry said the figure was recorded as of 17 April.
Most of those arriving are South Sudanese returning home as well as Sudanese seeking asylum, Eritrean refugees, Kenyan and Somali migrants, and other third-country nationals.