The fighting in Sudan between the army and paramilitaries has displaced “nearly 8 million” people, deplored the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, on Wednesday January 31, calling for more help. emergency.
The war has raged since April 15, 2023 between the army of General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhane and the Rapid Support Forces (FSR, paramilitary) of General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, nicknamed “Hemetti”, former number two in military power. The conflict has left more than 13,000 dead, according to a very underestimated report from the NGO Armed Conflict Location
The “brutal conflict in Sudan” has left “nearly 8 million” displaced, says Filippo Grandi, traveling in Ethiopia, in a press release, calling for “urgent support (…) to meet their needs”. “I have heard heartbreaking stories of loss of families, friends, homes and livelihoods. But amidst this despair, I also saw the determination of refugees to move forward, if given the support and opportunity,” Grandi said.
On December 21, 2023, a UN spokesperson estimated that the conflict, which had displaced 7.1 million people, was “the largest displacement crisis in the world.”
One of Sudan’s six neighboring countries, Ethiopia, has welcomed more than 100,000 people fleeing fighting since April 2023, according to the UN. These are in addition to the approximately 50,000 Sudanese refugees already in the country. “Last week, the number of new arrivals in Chad exceeded 500,000 since last April, and in South Sudan an average of 1,500 people cross the country daily,” UNHCR added in a statement.