About 2,500 households stranded in Kosti's river port in Sudan's White Nile State have departed by land on 5 October to the greater Bahr el Ghazal states, via the El Obeid and Heglig areas in South Kordofan.

In an interview with Radio Tamazuj on 4 November, South Sudan ambassador in Khartoum, Mayan Dut Wol, explained that the South Sudan embassy, with the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Juba, is coordinating to transport the stranded returnees in the next few months. South Sudan President Salva Kiir has instructed the authorities to transport all the South Sudanese who are still stranded in various Sudanese states.

The total number of South Sudanese returnees who have stranded in Sudan stands at 22,000. The Khartoum state accommodates about 41,000 South Sudanese nationals, staying currently at about 38 refugee camps in the open spaces, according to Wol.

Wol also said that preparations are underway to exchange prisoners between Juba and Khartoum. Both Interior Ministries are likely to sign a memo on the exchange of prisoners as soon as possible.

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Related: About 3,500 South Sudanese stranded returnees arrive in Renk County (4 November 2013)