UN sounds the alarm: Sudan and neighboring countries are threatened with a humanitarian catastrophe

Since April 15, Sudan’s two most powerful men (and their armies) have been fighting each other, killing at least 700 people, most of them civilians. Thousands are on the run. Many of the displaced people cross national borders and seek shelter in neighboring countries, but some are among the poorest countries in the world and cannot cope with the refugee flow.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR writes:

Escaping can be a death sentence. “The streets are controlled by militias,” reported “Arte”.

Example Central African Republic

About 9,700 people have fled Sudan for the Central African Republic alone, according to UN officials returning from a border town in the Central African Republic. But the Central African Republic itself was the seventh poorest country in the world in 2022 – one reason for this is a civil war that has plagued the state for several years.

According to the UN, more than half of the population in the Central African Republic “needs help and protection”. The people there didn’t even have $1.5 a day to live on last year. According to the UN, about 120,000 people in the Central African Republic need food aid.

And now there are more people who need protection from Sudan. About a third of the people who have fled to the Central African Republic from Sudan are said to be Central Africans, according to the UNHCR. They used to flee the civil war in their homeland to the safer Sudan – and now they are forced to flee again. Most of the other refugees are Sudanese.

Ag Ayoya, the UN’s top humanitarian officer in the Central African Republic says:

Some of the refugees could be taken care of by local families, others had to be taken to improvised camps. However, conditions for such camps are currently far from ideal as the rainy season started this month. Accordingly, disease outbreaks, particularly malaria, would be of concern to the World Health Organization (WHO). Gervais Tengomo, a WHO aid worker, told Africa News.

In addition, malnutrition is a problem exacerbated by the refugees, according to the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF. Children are particularly at risk when fleeing.

Example Chad

Chad is also a destination for many fleeing Sudan.

More than 20,000 refugees were received in the village of Koufroun alone, according to “Arte”. This village is just over the border. The UN distributes food or sleeping mats there. A UN official explains:

The people of Chad already live from hand to mouth. The refugees from the north are exacerbating the situation.

There is no end to the fighting. Consultations between the warring parties have not yet been established. The humanitarian tragedy is likely to intensify – in Sudan and elsewhere. The UN estimates that up to 800,000 people may flee Sudan to neighboring countries.

A refugee tells the reporter from “Arte”:

(yum)