United Nations, Jul 8 (IANS): As fighting continues in Sudan, the UN is stepping up support for the growing number of people fleeing to neighbouring countries, said a spokesman.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $8 million from the South Sudan humanitarian fund to help refugees and returnees from Sudan , Xinhua news agency quoted Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, as saying.

The funds will help organisations on the ground provide food, water, shelter and medical care to those affected by the ongoing violence in Sudan.

Some 150,000 people have been recorded arriving in South Sudan since the current hostilities in Sudan began on April 15, and that number is expected to increase as the crisis continues, he said.

Earlier this week, Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths allocated $5 million from the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) to support new arrivals in Ethiopia, the spokesman said.

The money is to help meet the needs of about 100,000 people for six months.

Haq said the humanitarian partners distribute water, health, protection assistance, and other essential services.

More than 60,000 people have crossed into Ethiopia since the onset of the crisis in Sudan.

Overall, CERF has directed a combined $76 million toward the Sudan crisis to support the response both inside the country as well as in Chad, the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The Sudan humanitarian fund has also put $40 million toward relief efforts inside Sudan, he said.

Since fighting broke out in Sudan, over 2.6 million people have fled their homes, with more than 5,60,000 of them becoming international refugees.

The conflict has so far killed nearly 1,000 people, while some 5,000 others have been injured, the Sudanese Doctors' Union said in its latest update.