The displacement crisis prompted by ongoing conflict in Sudan
continues unabated with nearly six million people forced out of
their homes and women and children making up nearly nine in 10 of
those uprooted, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on
Wednesday.
“This is one of the largest protection crises that we are faced
with today,” said Mamadou Dian Balde, UNHCR’s Regional
Director for the East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes.
“Inside Sudan itself there are a lot of people in urban settings
that are affected equally and who do not have the resources to
leave.”
High-level probe
In a related development, the UN Human Rights Council on
Wednesday voted to set up a high-level probe “to investigate and
establish the facts, circumstances and root causes of all alleged
human rights violations” in Sudan.
In accordance with the resolution, the Independent International
Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan is mandated to investigate
violations of international humanitarian law, including those
committed against refugees, and related crimes caused by the
ongoing conflict.
Cease hostilities
In an appeal for a cessation of hostilities, the UNHCR official
urged Sudan’s opposing militaries “to have a peace process that
will help our brothers and sisters who have been obliged to flee
their countries to go back to their countries”.
As a result of the conflict that erupted in mid-April between the
Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)
and other armed groups in mid-April, the UN agency described how
families had faced harrowing journeys and become separated while
on the move, amid increasing reports of gender-based violence.
Malnourishment among children is now described as a major crisis,
along with disease outbreaks.
“I have seen and I have witnessed the level of human rights
violations that have happened within Sudan so that what we hear
from people who have crossed the borders is really heartbreaking
and that’s the protection crisis that we are faced with and it
has been ongoing for the past six months,” Mr. Balde said.
Regional ramifications
The regional ramifications of the Sudanese emergency are deep,
particularly in neighbouring Chad and the Central African
Republic (CAR). Both nations are grappling with the influx of
refugees fleeing the devastating conflict in Sudan, bringing with
them stories of despair, loss, and continued vulnerability.
“In my long career as a humanitarian worker what I have seen in
Chad with this new emergency with such a rapid and vast
displacement of people is the first time,” said Abdouraouf Gnon
Konde, UNHCR’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
There are over 420,000 new refugees in Chad, 300,000 in Egypt,
and about 19,000 in CAR.
Situation in Chad
To put this in perspective, “Chad has hosted more refugees in
these mere five months than it has in the past 20 years becoming
now undeniably the epicentre of this crisis,” Mr. Konde said.
By the end of 2023, the number of refugees in Chad could number
600,000, according to UNHCR estimates.
In response to the emergency there, the UN agency has relocated
42 per cent of refugees away from high-risk border areas, with a
focus on protecting the high percentage of vulnerable women and
children.
