By Press Unit

The Governor of Upper Nile State H.E. James Odhok Oyay has visited the border town of Wunthou (Joda) where thousands of returnees and refugees are scrambling for transportation into South Sudan.

The returnees and refugees, fleeing the ongoing war between Hemeti and Al Burhan in Sudan, have been packed for days at the two sides of the border with basic needs, such as food, clean water, shelter and medicine terribly in short supply.

The governor’s visit came as a relief to many refugees and returnees stranded at the northern border.
To help address the pressing challenges of the transportation, the governor donated fuel for the evacuation of the people to a temporary camping site in Renk county of Upper Nile State.

James Odhok, however, called on the national government to take full responsibility of this crisis as its weight is dwarfing the state government’s capacity to deal with it.

According to the statistics from Upper Nile State Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, so far, 7,397 individuals have crossed into South Sudan as a result of escalating violence in Sudan.

The governor has directed the the NGOs working in Upper Nile State to rush to the border towns to help alleviate the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the areas.

IOM is mong the NGOs that have set up emergency coordination centers providing small scale services such, protection, NFI, tracking the movement and sorting the nationalities of the people entering the country.

NGOs in the area worry that it is a matter of days, if not weeks, for the humanitarian situation to get out of hands unless the violence in Sudan stops.

Views exclusive rights: Press Unit, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, April 28, 2023.