(VOVworld) -
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, said a total of 60,000 people have fled South Sudan since violence broke out in the capital city last month, bringing the overall number of South Sudanese refugees in neighboring countries since December 2013 to nearly 900,000.
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| South Sudanese refugees gather at a UNHCR collection centre on the South Sudan border in Egelo, Uganda. (photo: UNHCR /Will Swanson) |
Refugee flows from South Sudan into Uganda have doubled in the past ten days, bringing to more than 52,000 the total number who have entered the country since the violence escalated three weeks ago.
Neighboring Kenya has reported the arrival of 1,000 refugees in the same period, while 7,000 have fled to Sudan.
UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming told a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday that refugees brought disturbing reports that armed groups operating on roads to Uganda are preventing people from fleeing South Sudan. Armed groups are looting villages, restricting movement and forcibly recruiting young men into their ranks.
UNHCR called all parties to the conflict in South Sudan to ensure the fundamental human right on seeking asylum and to make sure that civilians are provided with unhindered access to safety.