The UNHCR office in Addis Ababa has disclosed that the number of South Sudanese refugees crossing the border into Ethiopia has witnessed a significant decline in recent weeks.Kisut Gebregzabiher, UNHCR’s senior public information officer told the press in Addis Ababa on Monday that there was no more than an average of six South Sudanese refugees arriving at the border on a daily basis.
This is in sharp contrast to the figure last year when up to 2,000 people a day were crossing the borders to escape fierce fighting between the South Sudanese government troops and rebels, the UNHCR official said.
The decline came after the signing of the peace agreement last August.
Ethiopia currently hosts the largest number of South Sudanese refugees who fled the violence in their country.
Nearly 290,000 South Sudanese have fled to Ethiopia since last year in addition to tens of thousands who left before the fighting began in 2013.
They are currently sheltered in camps in the Gambella Regional State.
Last year Ethiopia was forced to open new camps to cope with the influx of South Sudanese refugees
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