Nine months after the war that escalated in Sudan, more than 30 per cent of refugees, asylum seekers, and ethnic South Sudanese have fled to South Sudan, a country that has recently come out of decades of war and is facing one of the worst food crisis in the world, with nine million people said to be in need of humanitarian aid.

As of Jan. 28, more than 528,000 of them, including third-country nationals, had crossed entry points along the South Sudan border into Abyei Administrative Area, Upper Nile, Unity, Northern and Western Bahr El ghazal. A majority of 81 per cent entered Jodrah before making their way to the transit centre in Renk. 

The ethnic South Sudanese who have been labelled as returnees are feared to have no families in the host communities because many of them were born in Sudan and have never been to their country prior. 

With the number of people killed in this crisis and displaced within and from Sudan, there have been devastating impacts on neighbouring countries, with communities having no capacity to cope with the massive displacement, Jan Egeland, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Secretary General, expressed concerns.

He also calls for more humanitarian support. The Humanitarian response plan estimates that 9 million people will need humanitarian aid in South Sudan, with over 1.6 million children under 5 years at risk of acute malnutrition.

Due to rising needs, humanitarian concerns, and emergencies worldwide, donors have announced a 40 to 50 per cent funding cut, with humanitarian organisations aiming to reach 6 million people in 2024, the needs of many will be unmet.

“The outside world must better support South Sudan as it shoulders the cost of more than half a million people fleeing conflict. We cannot look away while unspeakable violations are taking place in Sudan and neighbouring countries shoulder a burden they cannot bear.”

“We call on all parties to the conflict to stop the carnage and allow aid organisations, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, to reach all civilians in need. And we appeal to the international community to donate generously to help civilians survive wherever they are.”

The IPC projects that until March 2024, an estimated 5.8 million people, 46 per cent of the population, are projected to be in IPC Phase 3 (serious and critical) and above. For the lean period of April to July 2024, the number rises dramatically, with 7.1 million people (56 per cent) projected to be in IPC 3 and above. The IPC projection is that 1.6 million children under 5 years of age are at risk of acute malnutrition, of which nearly 500,000 are at risk of severe acute malnutrition.