A letter signed by eight bishops addressed to the government of South Sudan, the international community and humanitarian agencies, called for provision of aid – both within Sudan and in South Sudan – and in other neighbouring countries which are hosting Sudanese refugees.

They said in order to reduce the suffering of the people of Sudan, the way forward is a peace process not war.

“We are deeply concerned about the regional and international components to the conflict [in Sudan]. The conflict is destabilising the region which is already fragile and weakened by internal conflicts,” the bishops said.

A joint effort by the US and Saudi Arabia to broker ceasefires has had limited success. A regional African mission to find peace has so far not made any progress.

Over 130,000 people have fled the fighting and crossed into South Sudan. Most were returning citizens but among them are 10,000 Sudanese refugees, according to a UN estimate.

Most Sudanese refugess have gone to Egypt and Chad.