Sudan’s clashes displaces over 540,000 people into South Sudan, says OCHA

February 14, 2023 (JUBA) – 542,000 individuals from Sudan have been displaced into South Sudan since conflict broke out in mid-April 2023 between the Sudanese army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the United Nations said.

The UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) said 80 percent of the returnees are South Sudanese and 19 percent Sudanese, indicating that there are still a lot of people fleeing Sudan, with higher numbers of Sudanese on an average daily basis.

The OCHA report said some 107,802 refugees and asylum-seekers have arrived in South Sudan since the beginning of the response, with 94 percent or 101,097 people processed and biometrically registered.

“The arrival of refugees increased following an escalation of fighting in Sudan in mid-December and continued during the reporting period,” OCHA’s report said.

Deadly clashes have been going on between the SAF and the paramilitary forces since last year. The conflict has killed more than 9,000 people, displacing over 6 million others within and outside Sudan with 25 million in need of assistance.

The OCHA also expressed concerns over the security situation in the Abyei Special Administrative Area, which it said has deteriorated significantly following a wave of attacks across the region, including an attack on a UN based in Agok area.

The attack resulted into suspension of all humanitarian movement until further notice.

“This has subsequently hindered plans to resume the relocation of new arrivals from Abyei to Aweil and the delivery of core relief items and food/cash assistance to the Abyei TC, where about 100 Sudanese refugee arrivals are sheltering and awaiting relocation,” stressed OCHA’s report.

Last week, UN appealed to countries not to forget the civilians caught up in the war in Sudan, calling for $4.1bn to meet their humanitarian needs and support those who have fled the war-torn country to neighbouring nations.

Half of Sudan’s population or 25 million people, need humanitarian assistance and protection, while more than 1.5 million people have fled to the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, according to the UN.

(ST)