Nearly 16,000 South Sudanese nationals fleeing Sudan have arrived home: Minister

By Benjamin Takpiny

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) - Around 16,000 South Sudanese nationals have fled home from Sudan since fighting broke out earlier this month in the capital Khartoum and other areas, a government official said Wednesday.

"We have refugees from other nationalities, including Sudan, and the exact number is yet to be identified, and we have returnees of our own (numbering) about 16,000 from that time until now," South Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Minister Albino Akol Atak told reporters in the capital Juba.

"The returnees are using 12 entrance points set up across the border areas," Atak said.

Sudan has been gripped by internal conflict for nearly two weeks as clashes continue between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Atak said large numbers of his country's nationals were present in Sudan, adding they expect about 40,000 people to seek refuge in South Sudan.

"We received these people who are returning and we put them in temporary reception centers and we identified where they were going and then we arranged transportation for them to get to their destinations," he said.

Acting Foreign Minister Deng Dau Deng Malek also said South Sudan had received people of various nationalities.

"Kenya picked up around 24 of its nationals two days ago, and there are over 100 Somalis at the border and 150 Eritreans. We have Ugandans, Indians, and we have other nationalities,” he said.

“They have a lot of issues, including fleeing without even passports and without even IDs.”

Malek said South Sudan’s government has opened up its airspace for countries evacuating diplomats and nationals from war-ravaged neighboring Sudan.