KHARTOUM, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Thursday expressed concern over humanitarian situation of thousands of South Sudanese refugees who have recently been relocated from their camps in Khartoum.
"The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation in Sudan is concerned about the inadequate response to the humanitarian needs of South Sudanese refugees in Khartoum," said the UNHCR in a statement Thursday.
"Over the past few months, thousands of refugees have been relocated or had their shelters demolished without adequate planning and consultation with the communities," it added.
It went on saying that "latest reports indicate that some 220 shelters in Dar Es-Salam's open area were removed by police on 23 October, reportedly leaving some 2,000 South Sudanese refugees without shelter. Other refugees have been relocated to Bantiu site in Jebel Auliya locality and Naivasha site in Omdurman."
The UNHCR expressed hope that immediate humanitarian needs of the South Sudanese refugees in Khartoum would be addressed in a timely manner to avoid unnecessary suffering.
"In order to address the immediate and longer-term needs of South Sudanese refugees in Khartoum, agencies will also require donor support," noted the statement.
In mid of current October, Sudan's Interior Minister Hamid Mannan announced that a presidential decision was about to be issued on relocation of 450,000 South Sudanese refugees from Khartoum to areas outside the capital.
He noted that they were waiting for the decision to determine the states which would receive them.
Sudan is hosting around 600,000 South Sudanese in camps distributed in four states including the White Nile, South Kordofan, East Darfur and Khartoum.
On Aug. 15, 2016, Sudan decided to consider the South Sudanese fleeing the war in their country as refugees, opening the door for the UN to provide aid to them in the country.
Famine, which has recently been officially declared in South Sudan, was attributed to several reasons including the civil war and the economic collapse in the new-born state.
