JUBA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The ongoing conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has forced more than 800,000 people to flee into neighboring South Sudan since April 2023, a South Sudanese official said Wednesday.
Albino Akol Atak, minister for humanitarian affairs and disaster management, said the escalation in fighting has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation compounded by climate change-induced impacts such as delayed rains and flooding.
"This year in South Sudan we have had a lot of crises that have made our people vulnerable, one of them is climate change's impact on our people that is causing floods and drought, and the other is the conflict in Sudan that has forced more than 800,000 people to flee to South Sudan. All these people are coming lacking everything including food," Akol said during a handover ceremony of relief food to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
He noted that most of the arrivals are stranded at some of the transit centers as they arrive with nothing, warning they are straining resources available to the South Sudanese government and host communities.
"This year we are going to deal with very difficult floods, according to information provided to us by the government of Uganda. The water level is rising in Lake Victoria and as a result of that, the government of Uganda has started releasing water from the Owen Falls Dam in Jinja," Akol said.
The Ugandan authorities initially released 2,600 cubic meters per second downstream into South Sudan, but have reduced the amount. "This is based on our request because we cannot afford this water to pass through our Nile River in huge quantities that will worsen flooding," Akol added.
Mary-Ellen McGroarty, WFP's country director and representative in South Sudan, said the WFP is facing a shortfall of 250 million U.S. dollars to respond to the floods, continuing crisis in Sudan, food insecurity, and malnutrition crisis in South Sudan. ■