Thousands of South Sudanese Refugees Arrive in Ethiopia
Thousands of South Sudanese Refugees Arrive in Ethiopia
Prensa Latina, 06 May 2014
URL: http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2652921&Itemid=1
Geneva, May 6 (Prensa Latina) Over 11,000 South Sudanese came to Ethiopia to escape from a war that already caused thousands of deaths, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
According to Adrian Edwards, UNHCR spokesman, the exodus began after news that government forces took control of the town of Nasir, considered the headquarters of rebels loyal to former Vice President Riak Mashar.
The refugees from the Nuer ethnicity, in Mashar, crossed the Baro River, border between South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Adrian Edwards added that "refugees told us that there were more people on the roads, and many were waiting in the South Sudanese side to cross the river."
In this context, humanitarian agencies try to deliver aid to the region to help the displaced, some of them wounded.
The official said that another camp is being built with capacity for 30,000 people besides one prepared to receive 40,000.
Since the beginning of the war in South Sudan, on 15 December last year, more than 100,000 refugees from that country went to Ethiopian territory, 205,000 took refuge in Uganda, Sudan and Kenya, and 923,000 internally displaced.
Africa fears that the South Sudanese conflict, with strong economic implications for holding oil and the presence of opposing ethnic groups, can become genocide as happened in Rwanda in 1994.
According to Adrian Edwards, UNHCR spokesman, the exodus began after news that government forces took control of the town of Nasir, considered the headquarters of rebels loyal to former Vice President Riak Mashar.
The refugees from the Nuer ethnicity, in Mashar, crossed the Baro River, border between South Sudan and Ethiopia.
Adrian Edwards added that "refugees told us that there were more people on the roads, and many were waiting in the South Sudanese side to cross the river."
In this context, humanitarian agencies try to deliver aid to the region to help the displaced, some of them wounded.
The official said that another camp is being built with capacity for 30,000 people besides one prepared to receive 40,000.
Since the beginning of the war in South Sudan, on 15 December last year, more than 100,000 refugees from that country went to Ethiopian territory, 205,000 took refuge in Uganda, Sudan and Kenya, and 923,000 internally displaced.
Africa fears that the South Sudanese conflict, with strong economic implications for holding oil and the presence of opposing ethnic groups, can become genocide as happened in Rwanda in 1994.