Fighting in South Sudan leaves more people without homes

(Vatican Radio) The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR says fighting in South Sudan is  triggering new human displacement, including into neighbouring countries.

More than half a million people have fled South Sudan since December 2013 and around one and a half million people are internally displaced in the country where conflicts between different armed groups are waging.

UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards:“Heavy fighting in the country’s Unity and Upper Nile states over the last two months has displaced more than 100,000 people and blocked humanitarian aid deliveries for some 650,000 people as aid organizations have benn forced to withdraw.

“Refugees are citing the upsurge in fighting, but also growing food insecurity as the main reasons for fleeing their homes. It’s estimated that more than 3.8 million people, representing a third of South Sudan’s population of 11 million, do not have sufficient food.”

UNHCR offices in Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda all reported sharp increases in arrivals during May.

Last week alone, some 6,000 South Sudanese arrived in Sudan’s White Nile and South Kordofan states. The majority are in White Nile State, where 87 per cent of refugee families are headed by women and 72 per cent of refugees are children.

Listen to Peter Kenny's report from Geneva