Hon. Albino Atak, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs - Credit: Moses Awan/Eye Radio - April 26, 2023

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs says it has deployed senior officials to the Sudan border to facilitate the reception and evacuation of returnees fleeing the conflict in Khartoum.

Albino Atak says the country is receiving a daily arrival of 6000 South Sudanese including Sudanese refugees and other foreign nationals who are escaping the armed struggle in Sudan.

Atak estimates that the daily arrivals are around 600 individuals per the entry route along the border, with a majority of them coming via Renk.

He told reporters today in Juba that the civilians mostly South Sudanese are being camped at 12 entry points along the country’s border with Sudan.

According to him, the ministry has deployed 12 officials to each entry point to assess and arrange for the evacuation of the fleeing civilians to their respective destinations.

The humanitarian official added that the teams comprising senior civil servants are working in collaboration with the humanitarian partners to support the affected population.

“The ministry [Humanitarian Affairs] has now deployed personnel in these 12 entry points, each entry points 12 people. We deployed senior people from headquarters,” Atak said.

“We also took additional 9 people in those areas so that they help in receiving these people coming to South Sudan using twelve entry points,

“The plan is to receive these people who are returning, put them in a temporary reception centre, and arrange the transportation for them to go to their final destinations.”

Minister Atak said the Ministry and aid partners are considering using barges to transport some of the returnees through the River Nile.

“We are also exploring the river transport so that we also reduce the burden and it will be one of these routes,” said Atak.