as of March 2017 As of November 2025, an estimated 2,412,165 South Sudanese people were refugees in neighboring countries. Before South Sudan became an independent state in 2011, Uganda hosted refugees from the area, many of whom returned home after independence was achieved. However, following the outbreak of civil war in South Sudan in December 2013, refugee flows resumed, and by 1 January 2014 approximately 7,580 South Sudanese had again entered Uganda, with roughly 1,000 people continuing to arrive each day. Many South Sudanese refugees arriving in Uganda were taken to the Dzaipi transit camp near the border, which, although designed for 3,000 people, became overcrowded with more than 25,000, mostly women and children, lacking adequate shelter and basic services. South Sudanese refugees belonged primarily to two ethnic groups, the
Nuer and the
Dinka, between whom tensions emerged within the camps. Transit centres were stretched to their limits. Most refugees were located at
Adjumani,
Arua,
Kiryandongo and
Kampala. The
Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement in Northwestern Uganda became the largest refugee camp in the world in early 2017, with around 280,000 Southern Sudanese refugees. The
Baratuku refugee settlement, established in 1991, hosted successive waves of South Sudanese refugees since the
Second Sudanese War. It continues to operate with, as of 2018, significant challenges in supplies and infrastructure. Refugees at the
Kiryandongo settlement camp have taken up agriculture.
Sudan According to Norwegian Refugees Council (NRC) in Sudan, about 5,000 South Sudanese refugees are settled in semi-settlements around Khartoum; most of which lived in South Sudanese states neighbouring Sudan.
Ethiopia About 272,000 refugees from South Sudan were living in the
Gambela Region of Ethiopia, as of April 2016. Most of them live in these
refugee camps: • Pugnido camp: ~62,801 • Tierkidi camp: ~54,750 • Kule camp: ~49,410 • Leitchuor camp: ~4,480 Blue Nile students at high schools in Bambasi, Tango, Sherkole, and Ashura refugee camps in Ethiopia report difficulties sitting for the Ethiopian National Examinations. As of 2014, around 5,500 refugees from South Sudan were living at Tirgol, Ethiopia.
Kenya In
Kenya, 44,000 South Sudanese refugees arrived between late 2013–2015. As a result, Kenya's
Kakuma refugee camp expanded by almost half. ==Hosting refugees==