The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said neighbouring Sudan is now hosting about a quarter of the South Sudanese refugees in the region.

In its weekly humanitarian bulletin, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said UNHCR figures show that over 10,000 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan during the first half of April, bringing the number of refugee arrivals from South Sudan to over 95,000 since the beginning of 2017.

OCHA further said the number is a 32 per cent increase since the end of 2016.

The number of South Sudanese refugees who have sought shelter and assistance in Sudan since December 2013 is almost 390,000 people, according to the UN agency.

 “The highest numbers of new arrivals in 2017 are reported in East Darfur and White Nile states - about 68 per cent. As of 15 April 2017, Sudan hosts about a quarter of the estimated 1.6 million South Sudanese refugees in the region,” said OCHA.

OCHA also further said there are nearly 160,000 people in the disputed area of Abyei who are in need of assistance. The report pointed out that about 20,000 displaced people in Abyei in 2011 after an attack by the Sudanese government.

The UN agency noted that Sudan and South Sudan have failed to resolve the issue of the disputed Abyei region and that has led to the breakdown of the rule of law and lack of service delivery to the people of the area.