200,000 Sudanese have sought refuge in neighboring countries
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UN refugee agency spokesperson says the total number of refugees and returnees is now at 200,000 after clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Army put civilians under the line of fire.
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Residents of Sudan seek refuge in a camp at the UNHCR transit center in Renk, South Sudan, 1 May 2023 (Reuters)
Around 200,000 people have sought refuge outside of Sudan after clashes between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) put civilians under the line of fire while hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced in the country, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.
The spokesperson of the agency Olga Sarrado said, "As violence in Sudan continues for a fourth week, nearly 200,000 refugees and returnees have been forced to flee the country, with more crossing borders daily seeking safety."
Sarrado cautioned against the costs of the humanitarian response in Sudan as she pointed to the fact that "refugees and returnees are arriving in remote border areas where services and infrastructure are scarce or non-existent and the host population was already suffering due to climate change and food scarcity."
"The coming rainy season will make logistics even harder as many roads will become impassable," the UN refugee agency spokesperson underlined.
Sarrado noted that Chad has received around 30,000 refugees in the past few days, which brings the total number of Sudanese refugees up to 60,000 since the deadly confrontation began. She also pointed to the vast number of women and children among Sudanese refugees as "almost 90 percent of refugees are" of that category "including many pregnant women."
The UNHCR reported that 20% of all children aged between six months and five years it examined were found to be acutely malnourished.
The warring parties in Sudan signed on Thursday a humanitarian commitment in the Saudi city of Jeddah
"We affirm our commitment to ensuring the protection of civilians at all times, including by allowing safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active hostilities on a voluntary basis in the direction of their choice," the declaration read.
Sarrado welcomed the agreement saying, "We hope it will allow for much needed humanitarian assistance to be safely delivered and for essential services, like health care, water and electricity to be restored."
This comes as the International Organization for Migration said more than 700,000 people are now internally displaced due to fighting that broke out on April 15, as clashes in Sudan claim the lives of more than 750 people and at least 5,000 injured.
