A combination of new fighting in previously peaceful areas, food insecurity and severe humanitarian funding shortages continue to cause a sharp worsening of the situation in South Sudan for many civilians, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said.

    Recent fighting between government and opposition forces in Western Bahr al Ghazal state has displaced more than 96,000 people to Wau, a small town in the north-west of South Sudan, the world's youngest country.

    All the African nation's six neighbours – Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda – are now reporting rising refugee inflows, at a time when operations to meet their needs are severely underfunded.

    "With the Regional Refugee Response Plan funded at just 8%, many life-saving services are threatened and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is extremely concerned," spokesperson Ariane Rummery told a news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

    Since late January, an estimated 52,000 people have fled to neighbouring Sudan. The influx exceeds planning projections for 2016. At present they are mainly in East and South Darfur and West Kordofan.

    The distribution by truck in East Darfur of UNHCR relief items – including plastic sheeting, kitchen sets, sleeping mats and blankets – is expected to begin on Wednesday. Distributions have already taken place to all new arrivals in South Darfur and to some of the new population in West Kordofan. Together with partner agencies a three-month response plan has been prepared to accommodate an additional 120,000 new arrivals before June.

    Neighbouring Uganda has seen a sharp increase in refugee arrivals from South Sudan since January, sometimes as many as 800 individuals per day. In all, 28,000 South Sudanese – 86% of them women and children – have sought refuge there.

    Ethiopia, which hosts some 285,000 South Sudanese refugees, is seeing a recent increase in arrivals after a long period in which there were very few new refugees.

Source: QNA