South Sudanese refugees in Kenya hit 46,000

The number of South Sudanese refugees in Kenya has risen to 46,000, bringing the total population of Kakuma camp in the country's northwest to 185,000, far beyond its capacity of 125,000, the UN's refugee agency said Tuesday.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement that the increased population at the camp has led to congestion and impacted assistance.

"With refugees still arriving en masse, life-saving assistance including shelter and basic services are being prioritized," UNHCR said in the statement received in Nairobi.

It said refugee assistance programs across the region are severely underfunded, noting that UNHCR and 38 partners are requesting 810 million U.S. dollars to protect and assist up to 821,000 South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.

"To date, this inter-agency appeal is only funded at 13 percent (102 million dollars)," it said, adding that resources remain insufficient to provide adequate food rations and health services to prevent and treat acute malnutrition, to provide adequate potable water, and to construct latrines.

Critically, about 60 percent of refugee children are without access to quality primary education while only 15 percent of adolescents are enrolled in school.

"Key barriers to quality education are expected to grow, such as overcrowding in classrooms, a lack of trained teachers, and a lack of recreational activities to support constructive social engagement," it said.

South Sudan's civil war and violence started in mid-December 2013. Political efforts so far have failed to bring an end to the conflict, and the outlook for the affected populations remains grim.

Recent weeks have seen an escalation in violence in Unity and Upper Nile states, with heavy fighting forcing tens of thousands of people to flee to the bush and swamplands, to areas that are difficult to reach.