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Situation Overview
Between May and August 2024, 126,012 individuals arrived from Sudan, of whom 38,497 (31%) were Sudanese refugees, the rest South Sudanese. The daily arrival rate decreased by approximately 32.3%, dropping from 1,512 arrivals per day earlier to 1,024 from May to August. The trend in border crossings remained steady, with most new arrivals from Sudan entering through the Joda-Wunthou border crossing (75%). Additionally, there was an increased use of unofficial border crossing points in Renk County during the reporting period, where at least 8,836 individuals— comprising 4,912 returnees and 3,924 refugees — used this route.
Between May and August 2024, the Commission for Refugee Affairs (CRA) and UNHCR registered 29,321 new refugee arrivals, primarily from Sudan, raising the total registered population to 494,487 refugees and asylum-seekers as of August. Of these newly registered refugees, 44% are in camps and settlements (5,482 in Jamjang, 3,731 in Wedweil, and 2,351 in Maban). In Renk, 10,230 refugees and asylum-seekers were registered and remained in transit.
A notable 6,180 refugees were identified and registered in remote, out-of-camp locations in Western Bahr El Ghazal (Boromedina, Raja, Wau), Warrap (Kuajok, Turalei, and Wunrok), and Upper Nile State (Pochala).
RRP partners sustained their presence in key locations such as Renk, Malakal, Abyei, Wedweil, Gorom, Jamjang, and Maban. They provided essential services and protection interventions, shelter, non-food items (NFIs), and food assistance. Despite opening a new extension at the Renk Transit Centre in early January, challenges such as overcrowding at transit centres that increase protection risks, particularly for women and girls, remained.
From May to August, 28,648 refugees and asylum-seekers were transported from the border to transit sites.
Additionally, UNHCR relocated 3,197 refugees from transit locations such as Renk and Abyei to refugee-hosting areas across South Sudan. In close consultation with the Government and refugees, UNHCR expanded its relocation programme to additional camps beyond Maban, the sole destination in 2023. Refugees are now able to relocate to Jamjang and Wedweil. 4,424 refugees were relocated from Renk to Maban and Jamjang between January and April 2024. During the reporting period, UNHCR relocated 2,697 refugees, including 282 to Maban, 1,359 to Jamjang, and 1,056 to Yambio. Many new arrivals from Sudan do not go to camps but rather elect to live among communities, mostly in urban settings.
WFP and UNHCR, in coordination with authorities and RRP partners, rolled out targeted food assistance during the reporting period. Following the joint UNHCR-WFP monitoring exercise in 2023 and an analysis of vulnerability levels, it was decided to reduce blanket food assistance across camps (from 12 months for all camp residents to eight months in Maban camps, six months in Jamjang (Yida) and Gorom (Juba), and four months in Yambio). In all camps, the most vulnerable families (estimated to be 15-30% of the population) will continue receiving 12 months of food assistance.
Refugee families arriving in South Sudan due to the Sudan war will not be affected by these measures in 2024 and will continue receiving food assistance throughout the year. From May to August 2024, partners worked with community structures in refugee camps and settlements to ensure that refugees were informed and prepared for the roll-out of targeted assistance, verifying vulnerability data to minimise exclusion errors and establishing complaint and feedback mechanisms specifically for this purpose. Challenges remain with the rollout, in particular in the Maban camps, where refugees have not accepted the targeting.
Almost 18 months into the crisis, humanitarian actors are also reaching out to stabilisation and development partners to address some of the longer-term issues triggered by the arrivals of close to 800,000 people in fragile communities before the influx. In many localities, including Renk, the response is now evolving to include a longer-term response aimed at expanding infrastructures, increasing the availability of basic services, and reducing tensions between host communities and new arrivals, either refugees or returnees.
These development needs are hampered by a severe economic crisis triggered by the breakdown of the oil pipeline transporting oil from South Sudan to Sudan for refining and exporting, which led to a sharp loss of national revenues.
The South Sudanese pound depreciated sharply against major currencies, crippling the importation of essential goods and services difficult. Inflation is a significant concern in South Sudan, driven by currency depreciation, supply shortages, and soaring prices. The cost of the multi-sectoral survival minimum expenditure basket increased by 146% between July 2023 and July 2024. By August, inflation had surged further to 54.8%. Additionally, the disruption of supply routes from Sudan has decreased availability and increased the cost of consumer goods in the north, which hosts most refugees.
Furthermore, rising water levels in the Nile River, combined with unprecedented rainfall, are expected to result in some of the most severe flooding in South Sudan’s history, significantly impacting vulnerable refugee populations, particularly in Maban, Aweil and Renk. In Maban, where the refugee population exceeds 200,000, flood preparedness and response have been a priority, including pre-positioning emergency supplies, reinforcing dykes, and engaging communities in flood risk mitigation. In Renk, the combined impact of floods and the continued refugee influx from Sudan has overstretched humanitarian capacities, exacerbating food insecurity, protection risks, and health vulnerabilities. The humanitarian community has released an inter-agency flood preparedness and response plan.