Dubai: The UN’s refugee agency has praised the UAE’s donation of Dh1.66 million in aid shipments aimed to help South Sudanese fleeing violence.
In September last year, the Dubai government provided support to thousands of South Sudanese refugees in Uganda through an air shipment of more than 100 tonnes of emergency relief items.
The aid was sent on the direction of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and his wife, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain.
The relief cargo was sent from Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport, carrying 10,000 kitchen sets, 4,000 solar lanterns, and 500 plastic sheets, bound for Uganda.
This shipment “helped to provide a safe and dignified environment for refugees”, the UNHCR said in a statement.
“We are very grateful for this generous and timely donation aimed at alleviating the suffering of thousands of South Sudanese refugees,” said Toby Harward, the head of the UAE office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Following an increasing number of violent attacks in South Sudan, the number of South Sudanese forced to flee to Uganda has soared during the recent months.
Some 192,000 have arrived in 2017 with an average of 2,000 refugees fleeing insecurity, violence and famine every day.
The total number of South Sudanese seeking refuge in Uganda now stands at more than 832,000.
Over 62 per cent of the new arrivals are children. More than 1.7 million refugees have so far fled South Sudan, one of the world’s newest — and poorest — nations.
