KHARTOUM, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Britain has contributed 3 million pounds (approximately 3.7 million USD) to respond to the critical needs of more than 164,000 South Sudanese refugees in Sudan, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced Thursday.
The WFP will use the funds to purchase sorghum, a South Sudanese staple, that will be included in the food assistance it provides to South Sudanese refugees in the border states of White Nile; North, South and West Kordofan; East, North and South Darfur," the WFP said in a press release today.
Meanwhile, Christopher Pycroft, Head of the UK Department for Development (DFID) in Sudan said in the press release that "the UK government remains concerned about the South Sudanese refugee crisis and the vulnerable women and children who are affected by food insecurity and displacement."
"We are committed to responding and assisting refugees in Sudan. To date, the UK government has contributed nearly 16 million pounds to the refugee response. We will continue to monitor the ongoing crisis and provide support as needed," he added.
According to the most recent statistics by the UN High Commission for Refugees, about 263,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Sudan since Dec. 2013.
The armed conflict, which broke out in South Sudan in late 2013, caused hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee to neighboring countries including Sudan.
The majority of the South Sudanese refugees live in the camps distributed in the states of White Nile, East Darfur, West Kordofan and Khartoum.
