Food shortages in Southern Kordofan have forced more than 65,000 refugees into a camp in Yida, South Sudan.

In the past two months, the camp has seen an escalation from about 50 people per day to over 1,000. With such an influx, food rations are growing scarce. Hussain Gumbla, a spokesman for the camp, confirms that “the food we have right now will be enough for the short time ahead of us.” Despite strong efforts of the World Food Programme (WFP), he says, the large number of new arrivals indicates “the food will not be enough.” The Yida refugee camp relies on a distribution plan that is able to feed 21,000 people for only six months.

Bombing and ground fighting combined with a lack of aid and constructive political solutions will continue to force more people to flee their homes in the Nuba Mountains. The conditions in Yida will likely worsen as people are left with no alternatives but to travel there in search of food and safety. For those who are able to undertake the two to ten day walk, the journey is dangerous and grueling. The United Nations High Commission Refugees (UNHCR) acknowledges that many of the people who arrive at the camp are “in poor condition… People are hungry and there are increasing signs of malnutrition.” Thousands more remain displaced in Southern Kordofan, unable to walk to the camp in Yida. For them, food shortages and ground violence remain an immediate threat.