UN says about 1.8 million people expected to flee Sudan by year-end
Civilians who fled the war-torn Sudan following the outbreak of fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) walk at the Joda South border point, in Renk County, Upper Nile state, South Sudan April 30, 2023. REUTERS/Jok Solomun
The United Nations refugee agency solicited for $1 billion on Monday to help refugees fleeing violence in Sudan, saying it expects nearly 1.8 million to arrive in five neighboring countries by year’s end.
The figure is roughly double what UNHCR estimated in May, just after the fighting began.
More than a million people have left Sudan to neighboring countries as a result of violence between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and elsewhere.
South Sudan, which is expected to receive one-third of the 1.8 million refugees, has received thousands of people, many of whom are unwell and fatigued after crossing the White Nile River, according to the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières.
Others died on board the boats throughout the around three-day journey, according to the report.
UNHCR expressed growing worry about the well-being of new immigrants, citing increasing malnutrition rates and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera and measles in “several” host countries.
“It is deeply distressing to receive reports of children dying from diseases that are entirely preventable, should partners have had sufficient resources,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR regional refugee coordinator for the Sudan Situation. “Action can no longer be delayed.”
In the meantime, the charity Doctors Without Borders has appealed to the international community to prevent a “catastrophic” humanitarian disaster in Chad, as an influx of refugees from neighboring Sudan overwhelms aid groups’ abilities to cope.
