HIGHLIGHTS
Following the governmental directive on 17 March that all South Sudanese in Sudan are to be treated as foreigners, South Sudanese living in host communities around the Joda border area have received instructions to relocate to the sites in White Nile State. By 30 March, 164 households (683 individuals) from the border area host communities had relocated to the Al Alagaya extension site. This number is expected to rise to over 200 households in the coming days. New arrivals crossing the border into White Nile State are also no longer allowed to stay with host communities, and must proceed to the sites.
The influx of South Sudanese into East Darfur, South Darfur and West Kordofan continues, with some 48,000 arrivals recorded since the end of January 2016. East Darfur has experienced the largest number arrivals with over 40,000 people, the majority of whom have settled in Khor Omer IDP camp in Ed Daein locality. In Khartoum state, 74 South Sudanese households from South Sudan’s Greater Bahr Al Ghazal region have arrived in Bantiu relocation site in poor conditions.
Arrivals into White Nile State continue with a total of 1,102 South Sudanese recorded at the three border reception centres—Joda, El Mquiens and El Kuek since mid-March.
UNHCR and the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) have completed Phase II of the biometric individual registration in Jouri, El Kashafa, Dabat Bosin and Al Alagaya and will now begin the exercise in El Redis II.
Development of the new Al Waral site is progressing with demarcation of the camp’s layout and plots for the initial 2,000 households completed.
Operational Context
The large influx of South Sudanese into Sudan continues. Since the end of January, some 48,000 South Sudanese have arrived in East Darfur, South Darfur and West Kordofan according to verified and unverified figures from the government and aid partners. These arrivals are in addition to continuous flow into White Nile State, where 2,084 new arrivals were recorded in March. Food shortages, high food prices and lack of income sources in South Sudan, particularly in the border states of Northern Bahr El Ghazar, Upper Nile and Warrap, are driving the recent displacements. Further arrivals are expected to continue until the onset of the rainy season, with up to 110,000 arrivals anticipated to arrive in East Darfur, South Darfur and West Kordofan by the end of June.
In East Darfur, 41,157 arrivals have been recorded as of 29 March since late January, according to figures from the Government’s Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), SRCS and local registration committees. The majority of the new arrivals (25,730 individuals) have settled in Khor Omer IDP camp in Ed Daein locality, with the remainder scattered throughout villages in other localities in East Darfur, primarily in Adila (6,042 individuals), Abu Jabra (3,295 individuals) and Asalaya (2,531 individuals). The situation of the arrivals is acute with most reporting famine-like conditions in their villages of origin and traveling up to four weeks en route to Sudan, carrying very few personal belongings and with little access to food. Upon arrival, many are forced to camp in the open or under trees, with some hosted by relatives or extended support networks. Thus far, WFP has provided food distributions to some 16,200 new arrivals with a further distribution for 6,420 arrivals currently ongoing. The primary healthcare centre in Khor Omer IDP camp is providing free health services to the new arrivals, with an average of 75 consultations per day. The State Ministry of Health (SMoH) has sent a medical assistant and two health educators to the clinic, and with the support of WHO, provides medicines on a weekly basis. An additional 6,000 litres water is being trucked into the camp per day by UNAMID, which will soon by supplemented by a further 13,000 litres per day by ASSIST. The SMOH has also begun weekly vector control actives, built 15 community latrines and conducted a cleaning campaign. Non-food items have been distributed to 700 families; however shelter materials have yet to be provided as discussions with the government over the use of semi-permanent materials are ongoing. UNHCR is working together with OCHA and partners to develop an inter-sector response plan in anticipation of continued arrivals and growing needs. Plans for an interagency mission to the area are in progress and UNHCR is strongly advocating with government authorities for direct access to East Darfur to support the ongoing response.
In South Darfur, 3,485 South Sudanese have been registered in Bileil locality by the Government’s Commissioner for Refugees (COR) as of 26 March. No humanitarian assistance has yet been provided and resources of the existing South Sudanese community, who have absorbed the new arrivals, are being severely over-stretched. Provision of assistance is expected to follow soon after the completion of an interagency mission to the area on 30 March, which comes as a follow-up to the joint OCHA-IOM needs assessment mission on 15 March.
In West Kordofan, HAC reported the arrival of 2,328 South Sudanese in El Meriam and 2,520 in Kharasana in late February. By the end of March, HAC reported an additional 2,180 individuals had arrived in El Meriam and 1,400 individuals in Kharasana. In El Meriam, WFP has verified 1,559 new arrivals as of 18 March. Reports indicate that a further 15-20 people are arriving daily in El Meriam and many new arrivals are taking refuge in nearby areas inaccessible to registration teams, signifying the actual number of arrivals may be higher. Arrivals report walking between three to nine days on foot under extreme thirst and hunger conditions to reach the area. Insecurity along official roads due to the presence of armed groups has forced the arrivals to travel through jungles, and several deaths have been reported to have occurred on route to Sudan. Due to the harsh travel conditions, there are very few elderly or disabled persons among the arrivals in El-Meriam. Most of the arrivals are in very poor health and are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The situation of some 4,000 South Sudanese who already resided in El Meriam before the recent influx is also worsening due to the limited availability of resources. Local authorities are providing one bag of flour per day to the arriving households, and some initial relief items have been provided including non-food items by UNHCR and emergency medicines, nutritional supplements and plastics sheets by the Ministry of Health with the support of UNICEF. In Kharasana, response has been ongoing since the previous influx of arrivals in mid-2015; however critical gaps have persisted in the area that require urgent attention. UNHCR is working together with partners to mobilize further humanitarian response based on the interagency assessment mission that took place to El Meriam on 20 March and earlier assessment missions conducted in Kharasana.
On 17 March, Sudan’s Cabinet of Ministers issued a directive that all South Sudanese in Sudan are to be treated as foreigners. UNHCR is closely monitoring the situation and working with authorities to understand the impact this directive will have on the South Sudanese in practice, with effects already being observed. On 26 March, South Sudanese living within host communities in border areas in White Nile state including Joda, Kilo 4 and surrounding villages were instructed to present documents indicating they had legally entered Sudan or relocate to the existing sites by 28 March. By 30 March, 164 households (683 individuals) from these border areas had arrived in the Al Alagaya extension site in White Nile State, with the number expected to rise above 200 households in the coming days. The affected families are mainly from the Shoulouk tribe, and were seeking refuge in the Joda area escaping conflict in South Sudan or evacuating the Joda Alfukhar border town in April 2015. The arrivals to Al Alagaya are being registered by SRCS, and the majority are in possession of UNHCR ration cards and ID cards from the Sudanese Directorate of Passports and Immigration (IPP). Most arrivals are staying in makeshift shelters made out of clothing and blankets or out in the open exposed to the harsh weather conditions. UNHCR has arranged an initial distribution of shelters and is working with partners to mobilize immediate distribution of further aid items. In addition, new arrivals crossing the border into White Nile State are no longer allowed to stay with host communities and have been asked to proceed to the existing sites. Advocacy with the concerned authorities to better understand and mitigate the potential impact of the directive is ongoing.
In Khartoum state, 74 newly arrived South Sudanese households were recorded in Bantiu relocation site. The arrivals, composed mostly of women and children, have come from Awiel, Wau and Raga in South Sudan’s Bahr El Ghazal region and have entered Sudan through South Darfur and South Kordofan. The arrivals are in a very poor health and nutritional state, having travelled long distances and suffering from a lack of food. Some medical assistance has already been provided to new arrivals through Al Manar organization, but there is a need to increase the number of clinics hosted in the site to accommodate the increased caseload. UNHCR is working with community leaders and partners to continue registering new arrivals, identifying extremely vulnerable individuals and facilitating provision of aid items including distribution of food and female hygiene kits.