Humanitarian needs soar as refugee numbers surge amid continuing Sudan conflict

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that humanitarian needs have soared among people displaced by the ongoing fighting in Sudan, with refugee numbers set to massively surpass previous projections while aid access remains extremely uncertain.

Raouf Mazou, the UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, gave an update at a press conference in Geneva after recently returning from a mission to Sudan.

“The conflict in Sudan started on the 15th of April, a bit more than two months ago. We’ve already seen over 560,000 people crossing into neighboring countries; we’ve seen nearly two million people displaced internally in the country,” he said.

Mazou added that those fleeing Sudan often arrive exhausted after days or sometimes weeks on the road, have been left shocked by the level of violence they have witnessed, and are in need of food, medical care, and relief items.

Based on the continuing violence, the UNHCR expects that its previous estimate of around one million refugees will be significantly surpassed, and warns that the impacts of the ongoing conflict will be widely felt.

“We have those who are affected by the conflict but cannot leave. We have those who are now internally displaced, as I said, 2 million people. Then we have those who fled to neighboring countries. And then you have people who are living in a part of the country that is not necessarily affected by the conflict, but they are seeing the consequences, the socio-economic consequences of the conflict. But all are in need of protection and assistance,” said Mazou.

So far, Egypt has received the highest number of refugees, followed by Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Central African Republic, according to Mazou.

“The country which has received the largest number of refugees so far is Egypt. Egypt has received more than half of the refugees who’ve moved into neighboring countries,” he said.

During a donor conference for Sudan held in Geneva on June 19, a total of 1.52 billion U.S. dollars in pledges were received, though an appeal was made for 3 billion U.S. dollars to be raised. The co-organizers were the UN, the European Union, the African Union, Germany, Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

Source from our partners: China Central Television (CCTV)