From interviews conducted by UNHCR on 27 April, refugees in Jewi camp expressed deep regret over the violence in their camp on 21 April and assured that it will never happen again. The camp leadership noted that no road accident had occurred in the camp before since it was established about a year ago and blamed the recent violence in the camp as the work of “criminals in their midst”.

Gambella Regional Council announces Pamdong Refugee Camp as a new site and changes the names of Kule 1 to "Kule Camp" and Kule 2 to "Tierkidi Camp".

Global Handwashing Day celebrations were held in all refugee camps in Gambella on 15 October with support from all Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) partners. These celebrations will be peaked with the upcoming World Toilet Day to be celebrated on 19 November.

Heavy fighting in South Sudan's Unity and Upper Nile states over the last two months has displaced more than 100,000 people and blocked humanitarian aid deliveries for some 650,000 people as aid organizations were forced to withdraw. Since the beginning of the year, some 60,000 South Sudanese have fled the country, mostly to Sudan (30,000), Ethiopia (15,000) and Uganda (15,000) bringing the total South Sudanese who fled the country since December 2013 to some 555,000, while some 1.5 million are internally displaced in the country.

In Tierkidi camp, various religious denominations (Presbyterian, Catholic, Nazarene, Seventh Day Adventist, and Evangelical Covenant Churches) held general “prayers for peace” in response to recent fighting in Juba. Various speakers at the event, which was held on 15 July urged compatriots to strive for peace with statements such as: “let us start peace at home; war kills our children; where there is love and forgiveness there will be no revenge and hatred etc”. Generally, refugees considered the development in Juba as a major setback to their hopes of returning home in the near future.

In early April, the Gambella region in western Ethiopia experienced a relatively high number of new South Sudanese arrivals into the region, crossing to Okugo refugee camp through the Raad corridor. Since 5 April 2016, more than 300 new arrivals have been registered by the Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) with support from UNHCR. Dozens of Unaccompanied and Separated children were among the new arrivals. Most of them said they trekked in the jungle for about two weeks before arriving in Okugo. UNHCR and partners have provided the refugees with basic assistance including corn soya blend (CSB) to children, plastic sheets, mosquito nets, blankets, sleeping mats and water jerry cans at the camp. The new arrivals fled intra-ethnic clashes in Ponchalla area which broke out on 21 March in Pochalla town between Pochalla North and Pochalla South Anuak communities and soon spread to nearby towns.

In late April, in Kule camp, refugees celebrated the return of Dr. Riek Machar to South Sudanese capital Juba and his reinstatement as first Vice president of the Republic of South Sudan. Refugees including men, women and children celebrated by singing, cheering and expressing the hope that lasting peace will be restored in their country.

Japan Ambassador visited Pagak and Kule 2 Refugee Camp

Ms. Sandra Bedoya-Hanson, Assistant Refugee Coordinator, Bureau of Population, Refugee, and Migration (PRM) in Addis Ababa was in Gambella from 19 to 21 October during which she witnessed humanitarian assistance being provided to South Sudanese refugees in camps and held meetings with refugees, Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), UNHCR and partners.

New arrivals (since 15 December 2013) from South Sudan into Ethiopia's Gambella Regional State surpassed 100,000 on April 28 (totaling 100,426 individuals).