A year after the conflict in Sudan began, thousands of desperate people are still fleeing the country every day “as if the emergency started yesterday,” the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Since the fighting began, more than 8.5 million people have fled their homes, including nearly 1.8 million across the border.
UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado Mur said: “One year on, the war in Sudan continues to rage, and the country and its neighbors are experiencing the largest and most challenging crisis in the world. one of the most severe humanitarian and displacement crises in the world.”
“Ongoing conflicts have devastated people’s lives and left them filled with fear and loss. Attacks on civilians and conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence continue unabated,” she told a news conference in Geneva.
“Sudan’s urban middle class was almost completely destroyed: architects, doctors, teachers, nurses, engineers and students lost everything,” she added.
On April 15, 2023, fighting broke out between the Sudanese regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has killed thousands and triggered a humanitarian disaster.
“Thousands of people are crossing the border every day as if the emergency started yesterday,” Salado Moore said.
She added that those fleeing the country, mainly women and children, crossed the border and arrived in remote areas with “almost nothing and in urgent need of food, water, shelter and medical care”.
“As the conflict continues and the lack of aid and opportunities intensifies, more people will be forced to flee Sudan to neighboring countries or migrate further.”
South Sudan under pressure
The humanitarian response plan within Sudan has received 6% funding to date, while the regional refugee response plan for 2024 has received 7% funding.
The war has destroyed Sudan’s already fragile infrastructure and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
Marie-Helene Verney, the UNHCR representative in South Sudan, said 635,000 people, equivalent to 5% of the country’s population, have arrived in the country since April 15.
“This is the poorest country in the world, so you can imagine the pressure,” she said via video link from the capital, Juba.
Many of the refugees are urban, educated and middle-class, with professional skills that UNHCR is working to fill in South Sudan’s shortfalls, especially in health and education, Winnie said.
“The biggest challenge we face is really the relentless nature of this crisis… things are likely to get worse before they get better,” she said.
She added that many unaccompanied children were arriving, along with “heartbreaking stories” of single women experiencing sexual violence along the way.
The current situation of sexual and gender-based violence in Sudan is “absolutely horrific,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Monday.
“Such crimes are committed by all parties to the conflict in this senseless war,” he said.
Ahead of the anniversary, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement calls on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and those who can no longer fight.
“When homes, hospitals and schools are damaged, and people not involved in the fighting are injured, it not only causes direct harm, but also makes communities’ recovery more difficult,” the campaign said.
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