Ethiopian region sees influx of S. Sudanese refugees

By Addis Getachew

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AA) - The number of South Sudanese refugees sheltered in Ethiopia’s southwest region of Gambella has reached over 366,000, almost matching the size of the local population, the UNHCR said on Thursday.

“In March alone, 16,274 South Sudanese refugees arrived,” Kisut Gebregziabher, UNHCR spokesman in Ethiopia told Anadolu Agency.

“It is threefold the number registered in the previous month of February,” Gebregziabher added.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in South Sudan’s conflict which erupted after a political fallout between President Salva Kiir and his then deputy Riek Machar.

More than two million people have been displaced.

Nearly half South Sudan’s population faces acute food shortages in a country which boasts the third-biggest oil reserves in Africa.

Ethiopia currently hosts almost 830,000 refugees of which those from South Sudan account for 44 percent.

“Some 65 percent of the total registered new arrivals since September 2016 are children, including 17,709 unaccompanied and separated children,” Gebregziabher said.

Only six percent of a $157.7 million funding total requested by the UNHCR had been met, he added.

“With the wide gap in funding, we are restricted to only focusing on emergency services … which leaves long-term provision, such as education and training, out of the question,” he said.