More Than 37,000 Flee South Sudan For Uganda: UN
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published July 26, 2016 | 05:42 PM
NAIROBI,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th july,2016) : More than 37,000 people have fled South Sudan for neighbouring Uganda in the last three weeks following intense fighting between rival troops that left hundreds dead, the UN's refugee body said Tuesday. An already shaky 2015 peace deal signed after a bloody civil war in the world's newest nation looks uncertain after the clashes between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those allied with former rebel leader Riek Machar. "In the past three weeks there have been more refugee arrivals in Uganda than in the entire first six months of 2016," when 33,838 crossed the border, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.
More than 90 percent of the arrivals were women and children, UNHCR said, with men forcibly recruited by armed groups and prevented from crossing the border. Those who fled were from South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria region, as well as from the capital, Juba, and the last week has seen the greatest surges. Facilities on the Ugandan side were overwhelmed at first with the sheer size of the influx, UNHCR said.
It used the example of Elegu, northern Uganda, where more than 11,000 refugees were at one point staying in a shelter designed for 1,000. Underfunding of the UN bodies helping those displaced compounded the problem, the refugee agency said, adding that 831,582 South Sudanese were now refugees, scattered across Ethiopia, Sudan, and Uganda. South Sudan's President Salva Kiir announced on Monday that former rebel leader Riek Machar had been replaced as vice president, confirming signs of serious divisions within the opposition. Kiir said he had appointed Taban Deng Gai to the post on the "recommendation of the top leadership of the SPLM/A (IO)" -- the group Machar heads. Machar has refused to come back to Juba until the deployment of a neutral force of African troops -- a plan approved by the African Union but rejected by Kiir. Machar and Kiir fell out in 2013, little more than two years after South Sudan became independent, when Kiir accused his vice president of plotting against him. The result was a civil war that killed tens of thousands of people.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Secy religious affairs, Saudi ambassador review Hajj preparations
US puts arms shipment to Israel on hold amid dispute over Rafah attack
Police crackdown on criminals in Bahawalnagar
Bilawal demands accountability for May 9 attacks
Pakistan's Lunar CubeSat ICUBE-Q successfully deployed in orbit on May 08
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar to visit Pakistan on Thursday (Ma ..
Awais Leghari calls on Saudi counterpart
Delegation of dairy industry called on Finance Minister
PM felicitates Vladimir Putin on taking oath as President of Russia
Society free from tribalism and regionalism in AJK stands as foremost priority: ..
Citizens rally in support of Pakistan Army in Bahawalnagar
Minister reviews progress on “Chief Minister Lahore Revamping Plan”, other s ..
More Stories From World
-
US puts arms shipment to Israel on hold amid dispute over Rafah attack
15 minutes ago -
Kenya health ministry says deal signed to end doctors' strike
1 hour ago -
Brazil flooding death toll reaches 100: official
1 hour ago -
Russia says it captured two more villages in Ukraine
3 hours ago -
Suspect held in latest attack on German politicians
3 hours ago -
Second UK lawmaker defects to Labour in new blow for PM
4 hours ago
-
UK says to expel Russia defence attache for intel role
4 hours ago -
EU queries X over cut to content moderation resources
4 hours ago -
Ukraine lawmakers back bill allowing prisoners to join army
4 hours ago -
Flood-hit Kenya reports dozens of cholera cases
5 hours ago -
China's Xi welcomed with 'respect and love' in Serbia
5 hours ago -
UK says to expel Russian defence attache as 'undeclared military intelligence officer'
5 hours ago