Sudan: Refugee influx from South Sudan in 2018

Event

Humanitarian officials announced that approximately 200,000 refugees from South Sudan are expected to cross into Sudan in 2018. According to the UN, 417,000 South Sudanese nationals have already crossed into the country since the eruption of violence in 2013. The influx of refugees is mostly due to heavy fighting and food insecurity in South Sudan. Most of the refugees have settled in the White Nile, East Darfur, and South Darfur states. Individuals in South Sudan are likely to continue attempting to cross the border in the coming weeks and months due to the ongoing violence.

Context

South Sudan has been wracked by years of political, interethnic, and intercommunal violence - exacerbated by border and oil revenue disputes with Sudan. Following the 2011 signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that gave the country its independence from Sudan, the predominantly north-south conflict has given way to a pattern of internal violence. Since December 2013, the country has experienced an intermittent civil war waged between the government of President Salva Kiir and the SPLA on one side, and former Vice President Riek Machar and the SPLA-IO on the other. The 2015 agreement has failed to prevent outbreaks of ethnic and political violence and the conflict has continued despite international support for state-building and peacekeeping - including the 12,000-strong United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), deployed since 2011.

Advice

All those present in affected areas are advised to monitor the situation and adhere to advice issued by local authorities or their home governments.

On a more general note, many Western governments advise against nonessential travel to Sudan and against all travel to certain regions, including the five Darfur states, South Kordofan, Blue Nile, certain areas of North Kordofan, the Djebel Ouanat region, Dinder National Park, and Sennar state.