Rising numbers of South Sudanese flee into Uganda

Fighting in South Sudan has forced more people to flee the country in the past three weeks than in the whole of the first half of the year, the UN said Tuesday.

According to the UN Refugee agency (UNHCR), some 70,000 people are now sheltering in neighbouring Uganda.

More than half of the refugees have arrived since clashes erupted in early July between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar.

UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards said that the situation remains extremely volatile inside South Sudan, although there is less fighting than in recent weeks:

"New arrivals are reporting ongoing fighting, looting by armed militias, burning down of homes, and murders of civilians. Some of the women and children told us they were separated from their husbands and fathers by armed groups who were reportedly trying to recruit them into the ranks and reportedly preventing them from crossing the border to leave the country."

More than nine in 10 of the arrivals are women and children; most have left the Eastern Equatorial region of South Sudan, along with Juba.

UNHCR says that it is a priority to find new reception facilities for them inside Uganda to offer hot meals, water, shelter and other life-saving care, but severe under-funding is hampering efforts.

SOURCE: Daniel Johnson, United Nations, Geneva