GENEVA, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Friday it feared further clashes between Sudan and South Sudan and was working hard to move 20,000 refugees further away from the growing insecurity along the border.
South Sudan broke away from Sudan in July, becoming the world&${esc.hash}39;s youngest country after a referendum on independence that concluded a peace process ending decades of civil war.
The two countries have since traded regular accusations of supporting insurgencies on each other&${esc.hash}39;s territory. Their armed forces clashed at Jau in a region claimed by both sides on Wednesday in a rare direct confrontation, which followed air strikes by the Khartoum government&${esc.hash}39;s forces last month.
"We are very concerned that some 20,000 refugees who are located at the border between South Sudan and Sudan in (South Sudan&${esc.hash}39;s) Unity State are increasingly at risk as fighting rages...." Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing.
Military confrontations in the border area of Jau have not hit Yida refugee settlement just several kilometres away, "but there are huge fears of attack and these fears have driven many of the refugees who are located there into the bush", she said.
"As we reported in November, there was an aerial strike in Yida. We&${esc.hash}39;re really concerned that this fighting could cross the border - we&${esc.hash}39;re talking about ground fighting now not just aerial," Fleming said.
"As a consequence, we are speeding up our efforts to relocate these refugees away from this border," she added. Landmines on the roads were being cleared so as to ensure safe passage deeper into South Sudan.
About 60 to 110 refugees continue to arrive each day in Yida saying that they are fleeing increased fighting, she said.
South Sudan has received more than 50,000 refugees from Sudan&${esc.hash}39;s Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states in recent months.
Continued fighting and insecurity in Blue Nile state is causing Sudanese refugees to flee across the frontier at the rate of about 650 per day, Fleming said.
"Of course where refugees flee is a sign that things are really bad. The U.N. as a whole is increasingly concerned about the growing insecurity, not only the fighting, but the food insecurity and the humanitarian situation in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile state," she said.
The two countries are already holding tense talks over issues such as oil and debt that have been unresolved since South Sudan seceded in July. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Peter Graff)
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