The United Nations said Tuesday that 16 of its staff members initially taken hostage by unarmed South Sudanese refugees at a refugee camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been freed unharmed.

The UN peacekeeping department said in a statement that South Sudanese refugees took 13 of its staff members hostage and demanded that they be relocated to another country to avoid their forced return to South Sudan.

The UN further said the refugees are among a group of 530 who had fled South Sudan last year and have been staying at the UN camp in Munigi, north of the provincial capital Goma.

The majority of those who fled were part of the armed opposition group allied to South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar, who fled the country after clashes with government forces in Juba last year.

The former rebel soldiers preferred to be relocated to Kenya, Uganda or Ethiopia.