The Chairperson of South Sudanese refugees living Sudan says their situation is getting worse due to lack of humanitarian assistance in the camps.

Sultan John Maskar, the Chief of Refugees sheltering at Jebel Aulia camp in Khartoum, said the Sudanese government is restricting the number of NGOs willing to provide assistance to the refugees.

He said there is scarce food and medical supplies in the camps.

“The Sudanese government has a problem with organizations that are supposed to be assisting the refugees. It is not giving them permission to enter the camps,” said Sultan Maskar.

Sultan Maskar told Eye Radio that the camp is home to more than 900 households, but there is not a single NGO is based in the camp.

Most of the refugees left South Sudan since the eruption of violence across the country in 2013.

A total of 406,995 South Sudanese refugees fled to Sudan since December 2013, according to the Sudanese government.

He said they even lack basic items like blankets, shelter material, mosquito nets, and other non-food items, forcing many of them to look for manual jobs at the nearby Sudanese homes.

Maskar said most of the women work as housemaids while men seek the limited jobs at construction sites.

“Things are really hard here but we have no option. People are surviving by working at construction places, men do manual jobs, and the women are working in people’s houses. They go clean people’s homes and wash clothes. Sometimes there is work today, but sometimes there is no job at all. So this is how we survive,” he said.

Sultan Maskar also said there are no proper healthcare and schools for the refugees.

Aid organizations reports that acute watery diarrhea outbreaks within refugee communities, with 476 cases among refugee communities in east Darfur, Kassala, south Khordofan and White Nile reported this year.

Sultan John Maskar said they receive minimal support from the Red Crescent Society, once in a while.

He appeals to aid organizations to support refugees at Jebel Awlia camp in Khartoum.

According to the UN, over 8,100 South Sudanese refugees arrived in Sudan in June.