More than three million people displaced and refugees by war in Sudan, says UN

Sudan's nearly three-month conflict between the army and paramilitaries has forced more than three million people to flee their homes, the UN said on Wednesday (July 12th).

The number of people fleeing fighting abroad in Sudan is close to 724,000, while the number of displaced people in the country exceeds 2.4 million, according to the online data portal of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency.

"We have surpassed the figure of three million people displaced due to the conflict in Sudan," IOM spokeswoman Safa Msehli told AFP.

See also"Disastrous situation": Sudan plunges into a civil war that "worsens day by day"

"It's more than just a number. These are people who have been uprooted, who have fled for their lives, families who have been separated and children who will no longer be able to go to school," she added.

Egypt and Chad are the countries that have received the largest number of people fleeing violence in Sudan.

The actual number of people fleeing the country is almost certainly higher than the figure given by IOM, as the number of arrivals in Egypt – nearly 256,000 – dates back to 18 June.

"An immediate cessation of hostilities urgently needed"

The conflict has pitted the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, against the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo since 15 April.

Once allies, the two generals are now vying for power and seem determined to obtain it by force of arms.

"We simply cannot turn away from Sudan. An immediate cessation of hostilities is urgently needed," the IOM spokesperson stressed on Wednesday. And "we need the sustained support of the international community to provide assistance and protection to people affected by the conflict," she insisted.

The war has plunged the country – among the poorest in the world – into chaos. But as the humanitarian needs of people and people fleeing violence increase, humanitarian agencies complain about the lack of generosity from the international community.

Also on Tuesday, Pierre Honnorat, head of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Chad, told journalists in Geneva via videoconference that the appeal was grossly underfunded in relation to needs. "People are running across the border, injured, scared, with their children in their arms and with only the clothes they are wearing. They need security and humanitarian aid."

With AFP

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