5000 People Flee To Uganda From South Sudan
The United Nations has announced that more than 5000 people have fled from South Sudan to neighbouring Uganda.
South Sudan has been embroiled in violent clashes for the past two weeks, with the government’s army fighting against former rebels. Many have feared that the clashes will trigger a return to civil war.
The UN has said that an estimated 5000 people have now fled the country, crossing over the border to Uganda. They also said that most of the people crossing the border as of late are fleeing from the southern state of Eastern Equatoria.
Others are also fleeing from the capital city of Juba, where most of the violent clashes has taken place over the past two weeks.
The government, along with the rebels, declared a ceasefire last week. However, the ceasefire was not being enforced completely by either side.
The UN said they are expecting more and more people to flee the country within the coming days.
However, getting out of South Sudan is not as easy, as various checkpoints had been implemented along the way. According to Amnesty International, South Sudanese security forces had also been preventing people from fleeing the country.
Earlier in the week, African leaders attending the AU Summit in Rwanda agreed that protection force needs to be deployed to South Sudan in order to aid the UN peacekeeping mission that is currently in the country.
