More than 1,800 South Sudanese refugees have fled fighting in the capital Juba and crossed into Uganda, the UN refugee agency said yesterday.
Thousands more are being kept from crossing, but preparations are being made for their resettlement, said UNHCR spokesman Charles Yaxley.
“We expect thousands of people to move in if the border restrictions are removed,” he continued.
The agency is receiving refugees at their makeshift camp at the border village Elegu, in the Amuru district.
Fighting broke out last week between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those supporting former rebel leader Riek Machar in Juba, displacing an estimated 42,000 people. Hundreds of people have died in the clashes.
The fresh outbreak of violence dealt a blow to hopes of peace after Kiir and Machar signed a peace agreement in August 2015 and formed a national unity government in April.
Kiir said on Thursday that no additional international troops are welcome in the country. There are already more than 12,000 foreign soldiers in South Sudan.
People gather inside a make-shift camp at Nimule border, in Amuru Distric in Uganda yesterday. Uganda began on Friday repatriating its nationals evacuated from Juba, the battle-scarred capital of neighbouring South Sudan.
