State authorities in Aweil say South Sudanese are crossing the border to Sudan in fear of hunger, despite the threat from Sudanese authorities to treat them as foreigners.

Humanitarian agencies, including the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, say almost 2,000 fled to Khor Omer Camp in the Darfur region less than two weeks ago.

They say the number keeps increasing on daily basis.

Aweil State Minister of Information, James Wieu, says the people are crossing the border due the economic crisis.

“What we know so far is that there is a fear resulting from the market price increases,” Mr Wieu told Eye Radio.

He said most of them walk for two days to get to the camp.

There are almost 22,000 South Sudanese refugees in the Darfur region, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan.