UN moving refugees from South Sudan camps

Refugee agency says security concerns are deepening along border areasUN refugee agency is working to move refugees from South Sudan’s border areas to safer places due to security concerns, an official statement said on Friday.Sudanese refugees from South Kordofan and Nuba Mountains were fleeing the country to South Sudan’s Ida refugee camp in Unity State. The Sudanese Air Force (SAF) attacked Ida refugee camp on November 10. The attacks didn’t leave any casualties, however, many cattle were killed in the aerial bombardment.Between 60 and 200 Sudanese refugees have been arriving daily at a camp in Ida, Melissa Fleming, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva.Around 23,000 people are already sheltering in Ida, which was the scene of air strikes last week. UN agencies and their partners continue to provide services in Ida, including food, water, sanitation, basic health care and special assistance to the most vulnerable refugees.Since the influx started in August, UNHCR has been urging the residents of Ida camp to move further away from the unsafe border area.“We have prepared a site for them further south in Unity state, but the refugees are reluctant to move as they are worried about family members still in Southern Kordofan and prefer to stay closer to their homes,” said Fleming.She said the agency is ready to assist in moving refugees who are willing to relocate to areas considered safer from military activities as soon as roads affected by heavy rainfall become passable again.However, UNHCR’s attempts to relocate refugees from Ida are being hampered because of the presence of landmines that have recently been found on roads in Unity state.In addition to the refugees in Unity state, South Sudan is also seeing thousands of refugees crossing from Sudan’s Blue Nile state. Fleming said some 1,200 refugees are arriving every day, and between 5,000 and 7,000 refugees are believed to be in the border area.