UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner Inspects Situation of Refugees

The delegation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) led by the Assistant of the High Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, Mr. George William Colin, accompanied by the Commissioner of Refugees, Mr. Mohamed Yassin El- Tohami, the Regional Commissioner for Eastern and Central Africa for Refugees, the High Commissioner for Refugees in Sudan, Ms. Norikwa Oshida, and the Assistant Commissioner for Refugees in the state of White Nile, Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed, Saturday, paid a field visit to the camps of the refugees of the State of South Sudan  in al- Salam locality in White Nile state , during which the delegation inspected the overall humanitarian, health, food and environmental conditions of the refugees.

The delegation has listened during the visit to Khor Al-Waral camp to a detailed reports from the director of the camp, in which he noted that the camp includes more than 54,000 refugees, indicating that the large number of refugees is a challenge, referring to the great number of the unregistered refugees, the health situations, the level of provision of treatment services, the shortages of medicines as well as the problem of education in terms of the school environment and curriculum.

 On his part, the refugees’ Assistant Commissioner in the White Nile state, Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed said that the aim of the visit is to get acquainted with the refugees’ situation in the camps and the level of services provided to them in all areas in addition to the services provided to the host communities.

The Commissioner of the refugees’ Commission, Mohamed Yassin al- Tohami, described the UNHCR in Geneva high level delegation visit as important. Noting that the delegation was briefed on the challenges facing the camps in terms of shelter, food, health and education, and that the meeting has stressed on the formation of mechanisms with all humanitarian and development partners to coordinate efforts to solve these problems and challenges.

The Assistant High Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, George William Colin, stated that the purpose of the visit is to identify the humanitarian and social problems of refugees, and the level of cooperation between the Government of Sudan, UN organizations and partners in providing services to the refugees.

He indicated that all on the local and federal levels and the refugees commission and the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva must work together to find suitable solutions to these challenges.