Sudan’s cocktail of war and floods leaves people trapped and unable to flee — Global Issues

To provide life-saving assistance to people displaced from Sudan, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) increased its original appeal from $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion.

Ewan Watson, the UN agency’s head of global communications, said the funds would support and protect up to 3.3 million people over the next six months who were forced to flee violence and “facing famine”.

“As terrible as this is, this is not just about famine, but also about brutal human rights violations.It’s about floods that are expected to be the worst in many years this year. Not only is this hampering the delivery of humanitarian aid, but it also means that people are stuck where they are, with little help and no way to escape.”

Fleeing a brutal war

The war in Sudan began 14 months ago when tensions rose between rival forces, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), and clashes erupted during a transition to civilian rule.

According to UNHCR, thousands of people are leaving Sudan every day “fleeing brutal violence and abuse, death, disrupted services, limited access to humanitarian assistance” and the threat of famine.

Looting and lawlessness

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) shared these concerns, saying that tens of thousands of people have been displaced in recent days following clashes between the SAF and RSF in Sinja in the southeastern state of Sennar.

“There are reports that armed men searched and looted homes and businesses and occupied government buildings”, said spokeswoman Vanessa Hugenin.

She stressed that the situation in Abu Hujar and nearby Ad Dali was additionally insecure, noting that the vast majority of those displaced by the violence were moving east towards the neighboring state of Gedaref.

“We and our humanitarian partners in Gedaref are preparing for the arrival of people who have been displaced by the clashes in Sinja. We have enough food and nutrients in stock to meet the needs of tens of thousands of people,” she said.

Forced to cut rations

With additional funding, UNHCR plans to increase assistance to refugees and host communities in the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, South Sudan and Uganda.

So far, only 19 percent of the funds needed for UNHCR refugee assistance have been received. food rations had to be “drastically reduced”, Said Mr. Watson.

In the Central African Republic, for example, 24,000 refugees are “without any form of humanitarian assistance,” while in Chad 180,000 new arrivals are still waiting to be resettled from the border areas, he noted.

In Egypt, almost 75,000 refugee children do not attend school and in South Sudan, refugee camps and settlements are severely overcrowded.

“Neighbouring countries have shown great solidarity in taking in war refugees, but Services in host communities remain overstretched, making it extremely difficult for refugees to settle down, earn a living and rebuild their lives,” Watson said.

Since the beginning of the conflict, 10 million people have fled Sudan, many of them having to leave their homes several times in search of safety. Of these, almost two million people have arrived in neighboring countries, 7.7 million have become newly displaced persons and 220,000 refugees have resettled themselves within the country.