PBB, New York, 2/5 (Antara/Xinhua-OANA) - Komisariat Tinggi PBB Urusan Pengungsi (UNHCR) pada Jumat (1/5) menyatakan jumlah pengungsi Sudan Selatan yang telah menyelamatkan diri ke Ethiopia sejak konflik meletus di Sudan Selatan pada Desember 2013 telah melebihi angka 200.000.

"Anggota staf lapangan UNHCR telah mengamati peningkatan tajam kedatangan baru warga Sudan Selatan, terutama perempuan, anak-anak dan orang tua," kata Farhan Haq, Wakil Juru Bicara PBB, dalam taklimat harian di Markas Besar PBB di New York, AS.

Sebanyak 199.000 pengungsi berada di Wilayah Gambella di Ethiopia Barat, sedangkan sebanyak 3.000 orang lagi berada di Wilayah Benishangul-Gumuz, yang berdekatan, kata Xinhua --yang dipantau Antara di Jakarta, Sabtu pagi. Staf lapangan UNHCR telah mengatai peningkatan tajam kedatangan baru warga Sudan Selatan dari sebanyak 1.000 orang per bulan menjadi lebih dari 4.000 pengungsi yang terdaftar pada April.

Badan pengungsi PBB itu saat ini mendaftar lebih dari 10.000 orang yang baru datang di berbagai tempat masuk di Wilayah Gambella.

Orang yang baru datang tersebut bercerita mengenai "betapa mereka berjalan kaki selama berhari-hari melalui semak dan hanya memiliki sedikit, atau tidak sama sekali, makanan dan air, tak membawa banyak harta mereka", demikian laporan UNHCR.

        Para pengungsi itu kini direlokasi ke Kamp Pengungsi Pugnido, yang saat ini menampung hampir 60.000 pengungsi Sudan Selatan, dan Kamp Pengungsi Tierkidi --yang menampung sebanyak 50.000 orang.

        Kedua kamp tersebut akan diperluas agar bisa menampung arus baru pengungsi, kata badan PBB itu.

        Seorang ibu muda mengatakan kepada UNHCR bahwa ia meninggalkan rumahnya ketika hamil sembilan bulan dan melahirkan di jalan. Ia menyeberang ke dalam wilayah Ethiopia bersama keluarganya melalui tempat masuk Pagak. Di sana lebih dari 7.000 pengungsi yang baru tiba akan didaftar sebelum dipindahkan ke berbagai kamp.

        Kedatangan pengungsi tersebut sejak Desember 2013 menambah populasi pengungsi dari Sudan Selatan sebanyak 58.000 lagi. Kebanyakan  dari mereka telah berada di Ethiopia selama lebih dari 20 tahun. Ethiopia adalah negara yang paling banyak menampung pengungsi di Afrika; hampir 700.000 pengungsi dari negara tetangganya --termasuk Sudan Selatan, Sudan, Somalia dan Eritrea.

        Pengungsi yang baru datang itu, yang kini diberi biskuit yang berenergi tinggi dan bantuan lain seperti kasur dan lembaran plastik untuk tempat berteduh, mengatakan masih banyak orang sedang dalam perjalanan ke Ethiopia. UNHCR bekerjasama dengan Pemerintah Ethiopia dan mitra lain untuk menyediakan bantuan kemanusiaan.


OVER 200,000 SOUTH SUDANESE HAVE FLED TO ETHIOPIA SINCE START OF CONFLICT, UN SAYS

         United Nations, May 2 (Antara/Xinhua-OANA) - The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Friday that the number of South Sudanese refugees who have fled to Ethiopia since fighting broke out in South Sudan in mid- December 2013 has passed the 200,000 mark, and more were expected amid fresh conflict across the border, a UN spokesman said.

        "UNHCR field staff members have observed a sharp increase in new South Sudanese arrivals, mainly women, children and older people," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

        "Most are fleeing from renewed fighting in Upper Nile and Jonglei states or as a precautionary measure," he said. "Some young men also say that they are fleeing from alleged forced conscription."
   Some 199,000 of the refugees are in western Ethiopia's Gambella region while about 3,000 are in neighboring Benishangul-Gumuz region. UNHCR field staff has observed a sharp increase in new South Sudanese arrivals from some 1,000 people a month in the first quarter of this year to more than 4,000 refugees registered in April.

        The UN refugee agency is currently registering more than 10,000 new arrivals at various entry points in the Gambella region.

        The new arrivals tell stories of  "walking for several days through the bush with little or no food and water and carrying few or no belongings," UNHCR has reported. The refugees are being relocated to the Pugnido Refugee Camp, which currently hosts nearly 60,000 South Sudanese refugees, and the Tierkidi Refugee Camp, which hosts about 50,000.

        These camps are being enlarged to cope with the new influx, the UN agency said.

        A young mother told UNHCR that she fled her home when nine months pregnant and gave birth on the way. She crossed into Ethiopia with her family at the Pagak entry point, where more than 7,000 new arrivals are being registered before being transferred to camps.

        The arrivals since December 2013 add to a refugee population from southern Sudan of about 58,000, most of who have been staying in the country for more than 20 years. Ethiopia is Africa's largest refugee-hosting nation with nearly 700,000 refugees from neighboring countries, including South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea.

        The new arrivals, who are being provided with high energy biscuits and relief items such as mattresses and plastic sheets for shelter, say more people are on their way to Ethiopia. UNHCR is working with the Ethiopian government and other partners to provide humanitarian assistance.


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