Updated

The International Organization for Migration says it cannot meet the deadline set by Sudan's White Nile State to help relocate up to 15,000 South Sudanese.

IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy says his organization is "deeply concerned" because 12,000 to 15,000 South Sudanese lack the means to get home from the Sudanese town of Kosti, south of Khartoum.

He told reporters Tuesday in Geneva the South Sudanese "cannot be left to fend for themselves, and the international community does not have the logistical capacity to move them all out" by a May 5 deadline.

Millions of southerners fled to northern Sudan during the 22-year war that led to South Sudan's independence last July, and many were stranded in the north after independence was declared.