New Sudan: Thousands on the move; the specter of ethnic conflict, hunger and thirst
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says that thousands of people refugees from South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea living in the country have fled the conflict between the Sudanese army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the Khartoum area.
The new place of residence is found former refugee camp further east and south, creating new humanitarian challenges.
UNHCR is also particularly concerned about the situation in the Darfur region, where The fear is deep of a revival of ethnic tension.
Darfur alert
The organization’s representative in Sudan, Axel Bisschop, told journalists in Geneva that Darfur may present “greatest challenge” from a humanitarian perspective. “We are concerned that intercommunal violence will increase and we may have some situations which will be repeated in relation to what we had two years ago,” in a region that has experienced great conflict and displacement already, he said. .
UNHCR insists that Darfur presents “a thousands of pressing security issues”, indicating that the number of places hosting displaced persons has been sleep on the groundwhile civilian homes and humanitarian areas were hit by bullets.
Concerns on the environment are shared by the UN human rights office (OHCHR), which warned on Friday that The “serious risk” of violence is increasing in West Darfur as clashes between the RSF and the SAF have led to intercommunal violence.
OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that in El Geneina, West Darfur, “there have been reports of deadly ethnic clashes” and that An estimated 96 people were killed since 24 April.
Guterres is ‘very grateful’ to the governments that helped the UN release
The UN Secretary General expressed his gratitude to France and other countries that helped with the transport and evacuation of UN staff from Khartoum and elsewhere this week.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, António Guterres expressed assistance from France in evacuating more than 400 UN staff and dependents from Sudan.
“The French navy transported more than 350 of our comrades and their families from Port Sudan to Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday night.”
On Thursday, more than 70 UN and associated staff, as well as others, were flown by the French Air Force from El Fasher, Sudan, to the capital of Chad.
“We also thank the authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Chad, Kenya and Uganda for facilitating the arrival of our colleagues and their families.
The Secretary-General is also very grateful to the many other member states, including the United States, Jordan, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada, who helped ensure the movement of UN staff.”
Abuses of rights arise
The total death toll in the conflict has risen to at least 512, according to the latest figures from the Sudanese Ministry of Health reported by the OHCHR on Friday, with the understanding that this is almost certainly a very conservative estimate.
While the weak intervention has led to a reduction in fighting in some areas, allowing some to flee their homes in search of safety, Human rights abuses against people on the move – such as trafficking – are rampant.Ms. Shamdasani said.
UNHCR’s emergency evacuation center in Renk in South Sudan is receiving people who have been displaced from Sudan.
Grow up
Mr. Bisschop said that Sudan hosts more than one million refugees, mainly from South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
UNHCR has received reports from around 33,000 refugees have fled Khartoum to refugee camps in White Nile State, 2,000 to camps in Gedaref and 5,000 to Kassala since the beginning of the crisis two weeks ago.
Thousands of people – Sudanese, including many internally displaced persons, and refugees living in Sudan – also fled the country.
UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh said that in Chad, UNHCR together with the Government registered around 5,000 arrivals so farand less than 20,000 have passed.
Some of them 10,000 people have crossed into South Sudanwhile in Egypt, the Central African Republic and Ethiopia, there are unknown numbers, given the speed of the situation and the size of the country.
Displaced people arriving at UNHCR’s relocation center in Renk, South Sudan, receive relief supplies.
Rescue assistance is delayed
UNHCR says the state of protection is enforced “Wait a while” most of its aid work is in Khartoum, Darfurs and North Kordofan, where it has become “too dangerous to work”.
“Suspension of some humanitarian programs could exacerbate security risks by those who rely on humanitarian aid to survive,” UNHCR warned.
Mr. Bisschop said that UNHCR is working closely with the UN’s World Food Program (WFP), to see how to supply the existing food in the country.
Brenda Kariuki, WFP Regional Communications Officer for East Africa, said that amid the crisis, Millions more across the region may be at risk of starvation. In Sudan, security threats to humanitarian operations, as well as the theft of WFP supplies from warehouses and the theft of vehicles used to transport aid, are the most vulnerable to badly needed aid, the UN agency said.
Almost a third of the country’s population, or some 15.8 million people, were already in need of aid before the conflict began. The UN’s 2023 Sudan Humanitarian Response Plan, for a total of $1.7 billion, is only 13.5 percent funded.
Get into the car
Briefing journalists in New York, UN Deputy Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, said that humanitarians are reporting some 3,000 people have crossed the border of Sudan to the north of the Central African Republic, CAR, setting up shelters.
“Local authorities are exploring the possibility of moving them to Birao, away from the border area”, and more arrivals are expected.
With Sudan a major exporter of essential goods to CAR, especially during the rainy season, which runs from now until October, prices are rising and some items like sugar and millet have doubled in price in CAR since the fighting started.
Some of them 120,000 people are already in need of humanitarian assistance in the northern part of the country, showing the devastating effect of the conflict spilling over the borders of Sudan.
Health care is at risk
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Thursday that in Khartoum, more than 60 percent of health facilities are closed and only 16 percent are working normally.
WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters in Geneva on Friday that the WHO had confirmed 25 attacks on health since the beginning of the conflict, which killed eight people and injured 18.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has previously warned that the ongoing violence has disrupted “critical, life-saving care” for some 50,000 severely malnourished children.
The evacuees from Sudan were assisted by Chadian authorities and IOM staff when they arrived in N’Djamena, the country’s capital.
Those who emigrated to Chad from Sudan
The first group of refugees from Sudan to be helped by the migration agency UN IOM, arrived at N’Djamena’s Hassan Djamous International Airport in Chad late Wednesday, in two special flights contracted by the authorities of Chad.
The group included 116 men and 110 women, 39 of whom were children.
IOM assists Chadian authorities with registration of new arrivals, identification and referral of vulnerable cases, and post-arrival assistance with money to support onward movement to reunite evacuees with their families.
“We are working around the clock to continue supporting the Government of Chad in this delicate and complex situation, despite huge gaps in much-needed funding,” said Anne Kathrin Schaefer, IOM’s Chief Representative in Chad. of IOM in Chad said.
These efforts are closely coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Chadians Abroad and International Cooperation which heads a Government Crisis Group, established to coordinate evacuation operations from Sudan.
“Our priority is to ensure that all those who have arrived receive adequate support to help them reunite with their families, but also medical assistanceincluding mental health and psychosocial support,” he added.
