UNHCR, the UN agency for refugees, said today that there is urgent need to relocate refugees coming from Blue Nile and South Kordofan, in the Sudan, to sites that provide safety and water away from the border.
UNHCR Representative Mireille Girard explained that more than 150,000 refugees from Blue Nile and South Kordofan have been displaced into Upper Nile and Unity states with an average of 2,000 daily arrivals.She said Yida refugee camp is too close to Jau, an area of constant combats between the Sudanese and South Sudanese armies.
Ms Girard added that it was vital to move the refugees to safer sites as a matter of urgency.
She explained that UNHCR and partners have prepared new camps away from the border but very few refugees volunteered to move.
More than 51,000 chose to remain in Yida.
Ms Girard said Governor Simon Kun Pouch of Upper Nile state has given the green light for UNCHR to relocate the refugees from the Jammam camp to an area closer to the River White Nile.
Ms Girard said a team is already on the ground to identify two sites which have been shown to agency.
She added that the new camps should be near the River Nile and near the road.
UNHCR has so far received 36 million US dollars for its emergency response out of the 111 million budgeted.
The agency will require an additional 50 million dollars to cater for the current influx of refugees.