The United Nations has warned that the ongoing conflict in the North African country of Sudan has spilled into neighbours South Sudan.
This was stated through the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) on Tuesday as the millions of people have been displaced both inside and outside of Sudan during the ten-month conflict between the country’s armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The head of UNMISS and the special representative of the South Sudan UN Secretary, Nicholas Haysom, stated that the warring parties in Sudan may be recruiting young men and boys in the country to increase forces in Sudan, where fighting has been ongoing for almost a year.
“We are worried that the firearms are going to start drifting into South Sudan. These are not issues that we in UNMISS can readily deal with, we don’t maintain the border, and we don’t maintain customs, but we would be keen to alert communities and the authorities, if we can, play a helpful role to minimize what could be potentially very disruptive spillover of the conflict,” Haysom told reporters at the capital city of Juba.
According to the UNMISS official, almost 550,000 people have fled to South Sudan from Sudan with the figures expected to rise.
He said the migration will increase the pressure on the communities and tense up the refugees if it continues.
“The longer the conflict continues, the more stress, the less able communities are to absorb newcomers. And you know it’s happening at a time in which the humanitarian food aid pot is growing smaller. And so, we are beginning to see signs of tension between the newcomers and the host communities which are looking after them.” Haysom said
Last week, the UN pleaded with the international community not to forget civilians trapped in the Sudan conflict.
The UNMISS stated that the number of people displaced since the fighting broke out in the North African country has surpassed 7.2 million.