7,000 South Sudan Refugees Flee to DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo received about 7,000 refugees from South Sudan on Tuesday.

The refugees are fleeing violence in the country following a civil war which broke out in December 2013.

The war precipitated from a dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar whom he accused of planning a coup, leading to a cycle of retaliatory massacres that have split the country along ethnic lines.

According to a senior official from the Haut-el- province where the refugees are making the crossing, there are also refugees from other countries crossing the border to DRC and they been registered in the northeastern border region.

“Seven thousand people have crossed the South Sudanese border at Dungu towards the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Ismael Arama Ziama said.

The town of Dungu in Haut-Uele province lies some 80 kilometres from the South Sudanese frontier.

Killings in South Sudan continue despite a peace deal that was brokered last August.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in July 2011 following an outcome of a 2005 agreement that ended Africa’s longest-running civil war.

In December, the UN Security Council stepped up efforts to boost peace in the country by adding more troops and surveillance drones.

Additionally, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is set to present the Security Council with an action plan to bring peace to the war torn nation by January 15.