Newly-established Wedwil refugee camp in Aweil town, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. | Office of NBGs Governor/Facebook

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management says it has established a camp to host refugees fleeing the Sudanese conflict.

Minister Albino Akol Atak said the new refugee camp is in Wed-Wil near Aweil town in Northern Bahr El Ghazal State.

According to Akol, the land is estimated at 6 by 10 kilometers is expected to host tens of thousands of refugees.

“We have already talked to the local authorities especially the governor of Northern Bahr El Ghazal to allocate a piece of land which is inside or very far from the border for us to put up these refugees and the area is just near Aweil town,” he told reporters in Juba on Monday.

“The place is called Wedwil, it is a very big land that was provided by the governor of Northern Bahr El Ghazal for these refugees to be settled there.”

Minister Akol stated that they have directed the state officials to start settling the asylum seekers in the newly allocated camp.

“We have now directed our officials there, the RRC and the refugees’ commission plus our partners to relocate these people from Kiir Adem which is very far at the border. So, we said they should be relocated from there to the area that was specified.”

He added that the number of returnees and refugees continues to increase, and the situation remains dire as the majority live without food and shelter.

Akol further said the refugees will use part of the land to cultivate to sustain their livelihoods.

The fighting in Sudan has so far displaced nearly a million people, with long refugee convoys headed to Egypt, Ethiopia, Chad, and South Sudan.