Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations said here Friday that more refugees, with an overwhelming majority of them women and children, are arriving at a refugee camp in South Sudan to flee "intensified fighting" in neighboring Sudan.

"The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says that there is a sharp rise in new refugee arrivals at South Sudan's largest refugee settlement, Yida, in Unity State," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said at a daily news briefing here.

"Over the past week, 2,100 new refugees arrived in Yida, saying they were fleeing intensified fighting in their home region of South Kordofan in neighboring Sudan," Nesirky said. "UNHCR says that more than 85 percent of the new arrivals are women and children."

The refugees have been through medical and nutritional screening and have received an emergency food ration, as well as other relief items such as jerry cans and kitchen sets, to help them settle," he said.

"The Refugee Agency is also setting up a water point between Yida and the border to ensure access to drinking water, as it is expected that more people will be heading to Yida," he said.

As of last week, there were 175,668 Sudanese refugees in South Sudan due to fighting and insecurity, UN officials said here.