More than 4.5 million people displaced in Sudan conflict: UN
August 23, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – More than 4.5 million people have been displaced inside and outside Sudan due to the conflict that erupted on 15 April between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the UN said.
Nearly 76% of the displaced people, the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) said, are from Khartoum, while adding that recent clashes between the SAF and RSF in Nyala town of South Darfur, have displaced an estimated 50,000 people.
As the conflict SAF and the paramilitary RSF continues across the country, civilian displacement and humanitarian needs reportedly continue to steadily increase.
According to the International Organization for Migration Displacement Tracking Matrix (IOMDTM), to-date, more than 4.5 million people have been displaced inside and outside the country due to the conflict that erupted on April 15.
“More than 3.6 million people have been displaced internally as of 22 August,” it said.
The majority are in River Nile, Northern, East Darfur, Sennar and White Nile states.
In addition, OCHA said, more than 947,000 people have crossed the border into neighbouring countries as of 21 August, including Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
At least 498 children in Sudan, and likely hundreds more, have died from hunger, including two dozen babies in a state orphanage, as critical services run out of food or close, the international children charity Save the Children said in a report.
The IOM’s mobility tracking round six identified the accumulative presence of 3,820,772 internally displaced persons, 1,302,938 permanent returnees from internal displacement, 32,221 seasonal returnees and 309,724 returnees from abroad.
Meanwhile, IOM said it estimates a total cumulative number of 1,688,083 of foreign nationals across Sudan, including 1,129,090 refugees and asylum seekers as estimated by UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Commission for Refugees.
(ST)