UNHCR warns of funding shortfall amid refugee influx in South Sudan

JUBA, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday sounded an alarm over a funding shortfall as it grapples with the settlement of refugees fleeing the Sudan conflict into South Sudan.

Marie-Helene Verney, UNHCR's representative in South Sudan, told Xinhua in an interview that the agency is struggling to provide basic needs such as health and education for more than 550,000 Sudanese refugees, as dwindling funds have already led to food ration cuts.