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South Sudan + 6 more

South Sudan Situation: UNHCR Regional Update (1 - 31 December 2017)

Attachments

2,435,120* Total South Sudanese refugees in the region as of 31 Dec (preand post-Dec 2013 caseload)

668,192* South Sudanese refugee arrivals in 2017, based on field reports as of 31 December

283,409 Refugees in South Sudan and 1.9 million IDPs as of 31 Dec

KEY FIGURES *

63% of the South Sudanese refugee population are children (under the age of 18 years old)

4.61 million Total population of concern (South Sudanese refugees,
South Sudanese IDPs and refugees inside South Sudan)

2,130,500 2017 RRP Planning figure for the total South Sudanese refugees projected in the region by 31 December 2017. This figure is now surpassed due to ongoing new arrivals and population adjustments in Sudan

Regional Highlights

■ On 13 December, the 4 th anniversary of the outbreak of South Sudan’s civil war in 2013, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Filippo Grandi, appealed for urgent action by all sides to settle the conflict and put an end to the country’s deepening humanitarian crisis and Africa’s largest refugee crisis. “The world cannot continue to stand by as the people of South Sudan are terrorized by a senseless war,” the High Commissioner said. Grandi declared that the devastating effects of the fighting were a direct consequence of tragic failures in political leadership. The full press release can be found here: http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/press/2017/12/5a3135bd4/unhcrs-grandiappeals-urgent-action-south-sudan-crisis-enters-fifth-year.html

■ The rate of new arrivals from South Sudan into the six asylum countries has remained low but steady in December, with 8,391 new arrivals recorded.

■ As of 31 December 2017, the total population of South Sudanese refugees stood at 2.43 million. This represents a slight reduction on November figures, due to ongoing biometric registration and verification in Uganda and Sudan. Some 668,000 South Sudanese refugees sought asylum in 2017. This compares to 761,000 new arrivals in 2016, 156,000 in 2015 and some 482,000 in 2014.

■ In early December, Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan, the UNHCR Advisor on Gender, Forced Displacement and Protection, conducted a mission to South Sudan and Kenya to raise awareness of the South Sudan situation. In South Sudan, she visited several refugee camps and a site for internally displaced people – the Protection of Civilians site 3 - in Juba and Maban, where she witnessed firsthand the complexity and scale of the South Sudan crisis and met internally displaced people who shared their experiences with her. Princess Sarah also visited Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp which hosts over 100,000 South Sudanese refugees. The full press release can be found here: http://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2017/12/5a2aa3f44/princess-sarah-zeid-raisesher-voice-for-women-and-girls-in-south-sudan.html

■ UNHCR, partners and refugees across the region marked the 16 Days of Activism against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) with various campaigns, events and activities.