Authorities of Yida internally displaced persons camp in Unity state, South Sudan, have stated the deterioration of the humanitarian situation for people fleeing from air strikes in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, Sudan.

A resident told Radio Tamazuj that the camp is currently home to 29,000 people, with 170 to 200 people arriving per day.

He said the residents are suffering from malnutrition and lack of access to food or medicine.

Government informs UN

The government of Sudan said it has informed the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos, of malnutrition and famine, as well as the spread of epidemic diseases in the areas controlled by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in South Kordofan and Blue Nile state.

The Commissioner of Humanitarian Aid Dr. Abdul-Rahman Suleiman, yesterday said in a press statement the government refuses to provide UN agencies any foreign humanitarian assistance in the absence of UN High Commissioner for Refugees aid to those areas.

Suleiman said the situation in South Kordofan and Blue Nile have been the focus of UN agencies and foreign organizations, but that Valerie Amos understood the government's preference to provide humanitarian assistance through national rather than international organizations.