UNHCR: Thousands fleeing Sudan

More than 75,000 people from Sudan have fled political violence in the country to Ethiopia and South Sudan since August, the United Nations said. The U.N. refugee agency estimates at least 60 people are fleeing South Kordofan state in Sudan to South Sudan every day. This is despite the fact that Khartoum was blamed for an airstrike on a refugee camp in the border region. The UNHCR said it was calling on refugees to move further south away from the border area. "We have prepared a site for them further south in Unity State but the refugees are reluctant to move as they are worried about family members still in South Kordofan and prefer to stay closer to their homes," the agency said. More refuges were seen streaming across the border from Blue Nile state in Sudan. Around 1,200 refugees are fleeing every day, the agency said. Since August, the UNHCR said it estimated around 36,000 refugees from Sudan have fled to Ethiopia. South Sudan gained independence in July as part of a comprehensive peace agreement reached with Sudan in 2005. Border disputes, ethnic violence and disagreements over oil revenue threaten to derail the peace agreement, however.