Sudan conflict: nearly four million people displaced

The conflict in Sudan has forced nearly four million people to flee their homes in a little over 100 days, the UN migration agency (IOM) revealed.

Latest data from IOM’s displacement matrix indicates that the clash between the Sudanese army and paramilitaries has uprooted a staggering number of people, with more than 926,000 seeking refuge abroad and a total of 3.02 million internally displaced.

The agency’s latest humanitarian situation update shows that individuals have been forced to leave all of Sudan’s 18 states. Those with the highest proportions of displaced people are River Nile (15 per cent), North (11 per cent), North Darfur (9 per cent) and White Nile (9 per cent).

IOM field teams have reported that the majority of internally displaced individuals, 71 per cent, originated from Khartoum State.

They emphasized that the current estimate of displacements over the past 108 days surpasses the total recorded for the previous four years, but also noted that access to many areas remains impossible because of the fighting. This means that current assessments have been based on preliminary reports or estimates.

A total of 926,841 people have now sought refuge in neighboring countries such as Egypt, Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Ethiopia. Sudanese nationals accounted for more than two-thirds of these arrivals, while foreign nationals and returnees made up the remaining third, IOM said.

To mark 100 days since the start of the conflict on 24 July, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that it was “time for all parties to this conflict to immediately end this tragic war”, amid growing concerns for refugees fleeing Sudan.

According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, conditions have been “harrowing” for those reaching shelter in neighbouring countries, where displacement camps are overcrowded, and the looming rainy season has made relocation and aid deliveries even more difficult.

Echoing those concerns, the IOM also warned that the rains pose a significant risk of flooding and could exacerbate the already fragile conditions.

Since mid-April, the conflict between Sudan’s armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has caused displacement, death, injury and an unfolding humanitarian crisis.

Reports of looting, attacks on public institutions and the occupation of private homes continue in the capital Khartoum, while clashes persist in four out of the five Darfur states.