[Khartoum, Sudan, TCT] The Voluntary Work Commission of Khartoum State will transport about 160,000 South Sudanese refugees out of the capital as soon as possible.
Speaking to media in a press conference in Khartoum, Mr. Mohamed Mustafa Sennari, the head of the Commission, said the refugees will be relocated to production areas such as El Gezira and El Gedaref states, instead of relying on aid assistance provided by the UN.
The state official said the arrangements for moving the refugees are going smoothly. Only a few refugees at the Naivasha camp in Omdurman's Umbadda district are reported to have created problems, which Sennari explained were quickly handled.
The deputy head of Sudan’s Commissioner of Refugees, Mohamed El Tohami, announced that the total number of refugees in the country stands at 700,000 with about 4,000 living outside of refugee camps. A meeting on the matter with the National Parliament's Social Affairs Committee was recent held, where the relocation was decided.
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 198,448 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan since fighting broke out in South Sudan in mid-December 2013.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan in its November, 2015 reported bulletin indicated that intensified fighting and a worsening food situation in South Sudan's Unity and Upper Nile States will likely lead into a further influx of new refugee arrivals in Sudan in the next few weeks.
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