About 216 refugees from Sudan’s Blue Nile State and ethnic Nuers from South Sudan’s Upper Nile have arrived recently in Sherkole (Kubri Khamsa) refugee camp in Ethiopia.

The refugees have been temporarily accommodated in the camp awaiting a new settlement site to be designated for them by the local authorities.   

The camp already accommodates a large number of people mostly from Blue Nile State where conflict erupted in 2011 between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, Mama Martha Ahmed, a nursery school teacher at the camp, confirmed the arrival of 216 refugees in the camp in the last two weeks.

She noted the refugees mostly hail from the Nuer tribe who are believed to have fled the current fighting in Upper Nile State as well as Blue Nile refugee from Dajo area.

“Since they reached the camp they were warmly received by the Administration for Refugees Affairs (ARA), afterward they were provided with food, utensils, sheets and blankets, but they are still waiting for a piece of land to be allocated to them,” she explained.

“The ARA these days is doing some investigations with them by asking questions, like why did you decide to come to the refugee camp here, and what were the reasons that forced you to leave your state of origin,” said the teacher.

Health situation inside the camp

In a related development, the Blue Nile refugees in Sherkole refugee camp have complained about the deteriorating health situation.

Diarrhoea and vomiting cases have been recorded among the children and elderly, according to the same source. The Blue Nile refugees suspect an outbreak of meningitis disease in the camp while the doctors so far kept silent on the matter. 

“The doctors only advised the refugees to take any suspected case to the hospital immediately,” Martha explained.

At least three children were reportedly killed by the unknown disease in the camp. “A child from the local people here was killed by this disease, I also heard that one child died in the Anyuak zone and another child in Maban area died as well in the hospital,” she said.

The teacher also revealed that experienced doctors from Addis Ababa are expected to come to the camp in April, so as to make medical examinations for some refugees who are still complaining of an eye disease that broke out earlier in the camp. Infections suspected of resulting in hearing and vision loss were been recorded at the Kubri Khamsa refugee camp in January. 

File photo: IDPs from Nuer ethnic group in Maban County, February 2014 (Radio Tamazuj)