JUBA, April 24 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan hosts 552,333 refugees and asylum-seekers across 140,445 households, settled in 29 locations nationwide as of March, the United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said this includes 548,430 registered refugees and 3,903 asylum-seekers.
The UNHCR said the majority of the refugees and asylum-seekers are from neighboring Sudan, which has faced a two-year conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023.
"The vast majority -- 94.9 percent (520,815 individuals) -- are Sudanese refugees, followed by populations from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Central African Republic, and other nationalities," the UNHCR said in its latest report released in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
In response to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, the UNHCR said the South Sudanese government continues to grant prima facie refugee status to those fleeing the country.
Among the refugees, 51 percent are women and 77 percent are women and children combined, according to the UN agency. It said the asylum-seeker population is smaller and has a distinct demographic profile, with Ethiopians comprising 35.8 percent and Eritreans 29.3 percent, followed by Burundians, Ugandans, and Congolese.
