Princess Haya in appeal for South Sudan refugee help

The wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid says UN 'needs financial support to avert a food crisis for thousands of women and children'.

DUBAI // Princess Haya of Jordan has warned of an impending humanitarian crisis for refugees from South Sudan.

Princess Haya, wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, appealed for help after visiting refugee camps in Ethiopia this week in her role as a United Nations envoy.

The camps are overflowing as more than a 1,000 refugees, mostly women and children, pour into the country each day.

“The mothers I talked to said they don’t have enough food to feed their families now and their situation is getting more desperate by the day,” said Princess Haya. “Aid workers expect food stocks to be depleted as soon as September.

“The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, needs financial support to avert a food crisis for thousands.”

The focus of attention is the city of Gambela, which has become home to 169,000 refugees who fled the civil war that erupted in South Sudan in December. The city was already hosting 58,983 South Sudanese in camps before the onset of renewed hostilities.

Princess Haya visited the Kule 2 camp, where she met local officials, UNHCR staff and other aid agencies’ workers.

A week earlier UNHCR launched a revised appeal for US$658 million (Dh2.42bn) to help up to 715,000 refugees expected in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda this year.