A returnee died and 30 others were injured Monday in a clash among returnees over water in Renk town of Upper Nile State, a local official said
The violence happened at the buildings of Upper Nile University, where hundreds of South Sudanese citizens who fled the escalating conflict in Sudan are accommodated temporarily.
Renk County Commissioner Kak Padiet Kak told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday morning that the violence followed an argument between two girls over water, adding that the fighting then involved two ethnic groups.
“The fighting has forced many returnees to flee the camp and some of them ran towards the United Nations base. The two ethnic groups used sticks and pangas in the fighting,” Padiet said.
The commissioner further said four people had been arrested in connection with the violence at the camp. He noted that the county authorities are working to restore peace after the clashes among the returnees.
“We have put measures to ensure that such incidences do not occur again. We are going to meet and divide the camp and take some returnees to Geiger Payam so that those who remain in Renk can have enough water,” he explained.
The local official pointed out that the authorities have intensified the relocation of the returnees to their areas of origin to avoid overcrowding in the camp.
A returnee who declined to mention her name confirmed that hundreds of returnees at the camp fled following the fighting that occurred at a water point.
“Many people have fled and there are people who sustained injuries in the fight,” she said.
Since the outbreak of the fighting on 15 April, over 32,500 people have been registered crossing the border from Sudan into South Sudan, according to official reports.
The real numbers are likely to be higher as some people entered the country without registration, with the average number of people arriving daily recorded at 3,500 individuals.
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.