"Sudan accounts for the largest number of the world uprooted people. More than 4.3 million Sudanese have been forced to flee because of the continuing bloody civil war in the south and east. One out of every eight refugees and displaced persons in the world are Sudanese ». (US Committee for Refugees, USCR Refugee Survey 9 September 1999 www. refugees.org)
The number of refugees escaping to the neighbouring countries away from the war between Khartoum and the South Sudan rebellion has considerably increased since the beginning of March, the UNHCR said. "On average, the HCR personnel  registered 400 new arrivals a week in March" as against about 200 in the preceding months.
Refugees arriving in Kenya close to the town of Lokichokio (North-West) have testified to the HCR that GOS bombardments and bandits raiding villages and cattle have put thousands of people on the road in Eastern Equatoria. In addition, according to the HCR, 900 villagers crossed the border between the towns of Arua and Kitgum, in the north of Uganda, during the first three weeks of March. 
At the end of 1999, at least 500,000 Sudanese were registered as refugees by the HCR in 57 countries. The largest number is in Uganda (200,000), in Ethiopia (70,000), in the Democratic Republic of Congo (68,000), in Kenya (64,000) and in the Central African Republic (35,000). In 1999, more than 51,000 Sudanese fled Southern Sudan. They mostly went to Kenya, Chad, Ethiopia and Uganda (AFP, 24 March 2000).