The UN coordinating agency OCHA says there have been over 7.5 million people forced from their homes since conflict broke out in April last year.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is concerned about the intensifying forced displacement crisis in Sudan and neighbouring countries.
Since the war broke out in mid-April 2023, more than7.5 million people have fled their homes; many of them have moved repeatedly after only finding temporary safety.
Of these, 1.3 million are refugees and over 6 million are internally displaced civilians.
Sudan: 7+ million people have been displaced since last April.@Refugees is working to deliver and distribute urgently-needed relief items amid concerns that the crisis could destabilize the entire region.https://t.co/FgNZ7Q3h6F pic.twitter.com/6AyvwfyRpQ— United Nations (@UN) January 9, 2024
Worsening conditions
Such figures have risen sharply over the past month as humanitarian aid, with insufficient funding, struggles to reach populations in need.
For instance, in the past month, hundreds of thousands people fled from the fighting in Sudan’s central El Gezira State (also spelt Al Jazira) southeast of the capital Khartoum.
“We are also very concerned about reports of an escalation in the conflict in the Darfur Region,” UNHCR spokespeople wrote in astatement.
“On 16 December, renewed fighting in El Fasher, in North Darfur, resulted in civilian casualties, injuries, and further displacement, followed by looting of homes and shops, and arrests of youth.”
In Nyala, South Darfur, a reported aerial attack caused death, injuries and destruction of civilian homes.
Panic has reportedly spread among the civilian population in Wad Madani, with people seen leaving the town in vehicles and on foot- some for the second time in only a few months.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), between 250,000 and 300,000 people have fled Wad Madani and surrounding areas since the recent clashes began.
Dire situation
UNHCR is working to deliver and distribute urgently needed relief items to people newly displaced from El Gezira to Sennar and Gedaref States.
But the humanitarian situation remains dire despite efforts by national and international humanitarian organisations and local actors to provide assistance.
If the fighting further escalates and spreads to White Nile State, it could significantly impact the work of UNHCR and other humanitarian organisations that provide critical assistance to the over 437,000 South Sudanese refugees and some 433,000 internally displaced Sudanese there.
There are also reports of people on the move towardsSouth Sudan, although the border town of Renk is already overcrowded and lacking aid to meet the needs of people that have already arrived.
Heavy rains have also recently made the roads impassable, hampering the relocation of refugees.
“The world must not forget the ongoing situation inSudan,” the UN says, adding that the scale of the crisis could destabilise the entire region.
The funding received from donors is not enough to meet the needs of the families that are facing “unimaginable hardship”.
The 2023 Sudan Regional Refugee Response Plan called for $1 billion to meet the needs of 1.8 million people in Chad, Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan this year, but it is only 38 percent funded for now.
(with newswires)