On October 25 Ambassador Michael Adler visited the Gorom Refugee Settlement located in Central Equatoria State, 26 kms from Juba city. He was joined by personnel from the U.S. Embassy and from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. The Ambassador was hosted by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Commission on Refugee Affairs and met with refugee and women leaders. He thanked all those who are providing assistance to the refugees.
Ambassador Adler noted that U.S. Government assistance to returnees and refugees in South Sudan this year will exceed $100 million. He said that conditions at Gorom are but one example of the urgent need for the transitional government to increase its financial contribution to humanitarian response in South Sudan. Ambassador Adler said that this is the obligation of the transitional government as well as a necessity given increased global demands for international humanitarian assistance.
The United States supports the Gorom Refugee Settlement through UNHCR and other implementing partners. The Gorom Refugee Settlement was originally built in 2010 and was designed to host 2,500 Ethiopian refugees fleeing conflict in the Gambella region of Ethiopia. However, since the onset of conflict in Sudan in April 2023, the camp has expanded to accommodate over 7,000 Sudanese new arrivals, bringing the total population to more than 10,000 people. As the security situation in Sudan continues to displace people, it will become even more urgent for the transitional government to make sincere commitments to assistance and to take meaningful action to allocate funding, resources, and personnel to address the growing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan.
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For more information, please contact the U.S. Embassy Public Diplomacy Section: Henry Andrea, Information and Media Assistant | andreaHJ@state.gov |+211 0912152994
