Civilians arriving from Sudan gathered in Renk, Upper Nile State. (Photo: Office of the Governor - NBGs).

At least 230,000 refugees and returnees are known to have crossed into South Sudan from war-torn Sudan since April 15, as Juba opens five more border points to ease the movement of the displaced.

South Sudan’s Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Albino Atak Akol said Monday the entry points for civilians fleeing the Sudan conflict have now been increased to 17 from 12 as fighting spread across the neighboring country.

Atak told Eye Radio that as of August 20, the country received more than 230,000 returnees and refugees who have crossed from Sudan – majority of whom arrived through the Jouda entry point in Renk County of Upper Nile State.

The rest are said to have come through five new entry points in the Upper Nile and Western Bahr el Ghazal States.

“Up to now, those who crossed the country are 231,070. As of (Sunday) August 20, 2023, those who have been registered may be more than this because there are those who are not registered,” he told Eye Radio in an exclusive interview in Juba.

“This number includes all who have come and of course, within this number, 91 % are South Sudanese people and it’s only 8% who are the refugees.”

“Now, through these entry points which we identified, it was twelve but later on we discovered them to be more than twelve which is seventeen, so people are moving in different directions to the country.”

Atak said his ministry and partners are anticipating more than half a million civilians from Sudan by the end of this year.

“Majority of these people are on the way coming, and we are anticipating that from now up to the end of this year, we are anticipating that more than half of million would have arrived.”

The four months of fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Force has turned Sudan’s capital Khartoum into an urban battlefield.

Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed, thousands wounded, and millions displaced.